Business Portfolio

Q: Are Business Manager, Meta Business Suite and Business Portfolio the same thing?

Almost. Business Manager is the former name of the Business Portfolio. Meta Business Suite is the tool, on the web and on your phone, where you post, answer messages and see your Pages' results. Both open from business.facebook.com.

Q: Can I have more than one?

Yes, but the healthiest setup is one per company. Having WhatsApp in one portfolio and your ads in another makes permissions and verification harder.

What Meta's Business Portfolio (formerly Business Manager) is, what it is for, how to get to it and why you need it to connect WhatsApp to your business.

What it is

A Business Portfolio (Portafolio Comercial in Spanish) is the place in Meta where a company gathers and manages everything it uses to sell on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp: its Pages, ad accounts, WhatsApp Business accounts, catalogs, and the people who work with them.

It used to be called Business Manager. If a tutorial uses that name, it means the same thing.

A simple way to see it: your Facebook profile belongs to you, as a person; the Business Portfolio belongs to your business. Whatever you put inside it is owned by the company, not by the account of whoever created it.

What it's for

It separates personal from business. Your Pages, WhatsApp number and ads are owned by the portfolio. If the person who set them up leaves the company, the business keeps them.
It gives access without sharing passwords. You invite each person with their own email and give them access only to what they need: ads for one, WhatsApp for another.
It is the home of your official WhatsApp Business. To connect WhatsApp to a system like DVA Response AI, the number has to live inside a WhatsApp Business account, and that account lives inside a Business Portfolio. No portfolio, no number to connect.
It is where your business gets verified. Business verification with Meta is done on the portfolio. Some WhatsApp features, such as messaging more customers per day, require it.

What you need to create one

A personal Facebook account. The portfolio is created from it, but your customers never see it: they see your business name.
Your business name and a work email, where Meta will send you notices.

Creating a Business Portfolio is free.

How to get to your Business Portfolio

Go to business.facebook.com with your Facebook account.
If you already have a portfolio, you will see your business name at the top left. If you have more than one, you switch between them right there.
If you have none, Meta will ask you to create one: enter your business name, your name and your work email.
To see your WhatsApp accounts, go to Settings → Accounts → WhatsApp accounts.

Meta changes its screens often. If something is not where we describe it, look for the same name in the left-hand menu.

How it relates to DVA Response AI

When you connect your number from the panel, Meta opens a window where you choose your Business Portfolio (or create one) and, inside it, the WhatsApp Business account and the number your assistant will use.

The portfolio stays yours. DVA Response AI only gets permission to send and receive the messages of that number, and you can remove that permission from your portfolio at any time.

Inside the portfolio, your number is managed in WhatsApp Manager: that is where you add it and see its status.

Before connecting, check what you need to get started.

Frequently asked questions

Is it the same as my Facebook Page?

No. Your Page is what your customers see on Facebook. The Business Portfolio is the office from which you manage that Page, along with your WhatsApp, your ads and your team. A Page can belong to a portfolio.

Are Business Manager, Meta Business Suite and Business Portfolio the same thing?

Almost. Business Manager is the former name of the Business Portfolio. Meta Business Suite is the tool, on the web and on your phone, where you post, answer messages and see your Pages' results. Both open from business.facebook.com.

How do I know if I already have one?

Go to business.facebook.com. If you ever ran an ad on Facebook or Instagram, or set up a WhatsApp Business account with Meta, there is most likely one already with your business name.

Can I have more than one?

Yes, but the healthiest setup is one per company. Having WhatsApp in one portfolio and your ads in another makes permissions and verification harder.

How much does it cost?

Creating and using a Business Portfolio is free. What Meta charges for is certain WhatsApp messages, paid with a card inside your Meta account (see what you need to get started).