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How to set up your Meta account before onboarding Lia

Published 11 min readBy Reinaldo Oliveira · Founder, RIA

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Lia works on Meta's official WhatsApp platform, so your business number has to sit inside a Meta business portfolio, with your business verified. On onboarding day, our team connects the number with you, live, with your screen shared. This tutorial covers what to do beforehand so the call doesn't stall halfway through: create the portfolio, get the number ready on the phone and verify your business.

StepWhat it isWhen
1. Create the business portfolioAt https://business.facebook.com, with the Facebook account of the person who will manage itBefore onboarding
2. Get the number ready and link it to the portfolioWhatsApp Business active on the phone; the connection happens on the callBefore (prepare) and on the call (connect)
3. Verify the businessIn the Security Center, with your business registration documentsBefore onboarding

Submit the verification right after you create the portfolio: Meta's review takes up to 14 business days.

Step 1: create the business portfolio #

The business portfolio is what Meta used to call Business Manager. It is where your number, your business profile and your business verification live. Do this on a computer.

First, check whether you already have one #

Go to https://business.facebook.com and log in with the Facebook account of the person who will manage it. If your business portfolio opens, skip to step 2. Use that exact address: work.meta.com is a different product and will not work.

If the portfolio exists but sits in someone else's account (an agency, a marketing contractor, a partner), ask them to add you as an admin with full access. Nobody needs to share a password. Sort this out a few days ahead, never during the call.

If you don't have one yet, create it now #

  1. On a computer, go to https://business.facebook.com and log in with your Facebook account.
  2. In the top left corner, click the menu under Home, then click Create a business portfolio.
  3. Enter the portfolio name: your business's public name, with no special characters (for example, Smith Dental).
  4. Enter your first and last name and your business email. Meta uses this email to contact you; customers don't see it.
  5. Click Create.
  6. Open the email Meta sends you and confirm your business email. Until you do, you may not be able to add people to the portfolio.

Three things to watch:

  • Limit: each person can create up to two business portfolios. If you have reached that limit, use a portfolio that already exists.
  • Very new Facebook account: Meta may block it. In that case, use an older account from a partner or a portfolio that already exists.
  • One portfolio per number: a WhatsApp number belongs to a single portfolio. Choose your business's portfolio.

Meta recommends two people with full access. If one of their accounts runs into trouble, the other one can still log in and customer service doesn't stop.

  1. In the portfolio, open Settings and click People in the left menu.
  2. Click Invite people and enter the email the person uses on Facebook.
  3. Click Next, give full access to the portfolio and click Invite.
  4. The person opens the invitation email, logs in with Facebook and accepts the invitation.

If you don't see People, you don't have full access to the portfolio. Ask someone who does.

As soon as the portfolio is created, submit the business verification (step 3). Meta's review takes up to 14 business days and must be done before onboarding.

This step has two parts: what you prepare on the phone beforehand, and the connection, which we do together on the onboarding call.

Before the call, on the phone #

  1. Keep the number on the WhatsApp Business app, not on regular WhatsApp, and update the app from your app store.
  2. If the number is on regular WhatsApp today: install WhatsApp Business, tap Agree and continue, choose the number, tap Continue and Allow, enter the code you get by text message and set up your business profile. Your chats and media move over. Contacts saved only inside WhatsApp are lost, so save them to the phone's contacts first.
  3. Make sure the SIM receives text messages or calls.
  4. If the number is linked to another customer service tool or CRM through a QR code, or to another portfolio (an agency's, for example), tell us before the call. It has to be disconnected there first.
  5. Plan for the business phone to be in your hands on the day, charged and online.

On the onboarding call: linking the number to the portfolio #

The connection happens on the computer and the phone, with our team and your screen shared.

  1. On the computer, you log in with the Facebook account of the portfolio admin, in a Meta window we open from our dashboard.
  2. You choose your business portfolio, the one that already exists, and check the business profile details (name, category and website).
  3. A QR code appears on the screen. On the phone, open WhatsApp Business and scan it. Meta also sends a message to the same WhatsApp number with a link to it.
  4. In the app, tap Connect to the Business Platform, confirm, and choose whether to share your chats.
  5. Keep the app open for a few minutes while your contacts and the last 6 months of chats sync.

What stays the same and what changes in the app #

Stays the same: the number and the app are still yours, and you can reply from the phone whenever you want. Calls, catalog, labels and quick replies stay in the app. WhatsApp Web and your other devices can be linked again afterwards.

Changes: broadcast lists (existing ones become read-only), disappearing messages, view once and live location are turned off. WhatsApp for Windows and for smartwatches stop working with this number; use WhatsApp Web. Your customers get a WhatsApp notice about the change.

  • Open the app on the phone at least once every 14 days. A phone left idle for too long drops the connection.
  • Don't move the number back to regular WhatsApp, and tell us before you switch phones or reinstall the app. A phone change can put the account under review for up to 24 hours.
  • The name your customers see: it must clearly relate to your business, such as the business name, or a person's name together with what the business does (for example, Dr. Smith Dentistry). It can't be just a generic term or a city, and it can't include "official" or "verified".

Step 3: verify the business #

Verification proves to Meta that the portfolio belongs to your business. It must be done before onboarding, and it is the step that takes the longest: start right after you create the portfolio.

Without verification, messages your business starts (approved templates, such as reminders and notices) have a low limit of 250 people a day and can be blocked; the portfolio is also limited in phone numbers and message templates. With verification, that limit goes up to 2,000 people a day and then rises on its own as you use it.

How to do it #

  1. On a computer, with full access to the portfolio, open https://business.facebook.com, go to Settings and then Security Center.
  2. Click Start verification. If the button doesn't appear, email [email protected] before the call with a screenshot of the Security Center.
  3. Enter your legal business name, address, phone number and website exactly as they appear on your registration documents. The website must load and start with https.
  4. If Meta can't find your business in the list, choose the option saying your business isn't listed and upload an official document.
  5. Choose how to confirm the connection: email, phone call, text message, WhatsApp or your website's domain.
  6. Click Done. The review takes up to 14 business days.

Accepted documents #

DocumentWhat it proves
Certificate of incorporation, articles of organization or business registrationYour legal business name
Business license or a business tax document issued by the governmentYour legal business name
Business bank statementYour legal business name
Utility or phone bill showing the legal business nameOnly your address and phone number

Documents in the local language are accepted. They can't be expired. Meta asks you to cover personal details that aren't needed, such as personal ID numbers.

  • Most common reasons for rejection: a name that doesn't match the legal name on the document, a website that doesn't load or has no https, an expired document, and a utility bill without the legal business name.
  • Once verified, avoid changing the legal name, phone number or website in the portfolio: Meta will ask you to verify again.
  • If you have your own website, you can confirm through your domain, in the Domains section of the portfolio settings. Whoever manages your website can do it in a few minutes.

What to have ready on onboarding day #

  • Business portfolio created: you can open your business portfolio at https://business.facebook.com on a computer.
  • You are an admin with full access: if the portfolio belongs to someone else (an agency, a partner), they have already added you before the call.
  • The portfolio admin's Facebook login working on the computer you'll use for the call, with the password and two-factor confirmation at hand. This is required: without it, the connection can't be made.
  • The business phone in your hands: WhatsApp Business updated and active, SIM receiving text messages or calls, battery charged and online.
  • The number is free: disconnected from other tools linked by QR code and from other portfolios.
  • Business verified in the portfolio, or the verification already submitted and under review. If it is under review or was rejected, email [email protected] before the call.
  • Your legal business name, registration details and website, if you have one, for the business profile, matching what you used for verification.

Stuck on a step? Email a screenshot of the screen where you stopped to [email protected]. With the screenshot, we can sort it out faster.

Frequently asked questions #

Do I need to buy a new number for Lia? #

No. Lia uses the number your business already has, as long as it is on WhatsApp Business. You keep the number and the app on the phone.

Our portfolio was created by our marketing agency. What now? #

Ask the agency to add you as an admin with full access. You don't need to switch portfolios or share a password.

Can I still reply from the phone once Lia is live? #

Yes. Conversations show up in the app as usual, and you can reply whenever you want.

Verification is still under review and the call is coming up. What now? #

Email [email protected] before the call with a screenshot of the Security Center. That is why it pays to submit verification right after creating the portfolio.

I use WhatsApp on my computer through the Windows app. Does anything change? #

Yes. After the connection, use WhatsApp Web in your browser. The Windows app doesn't work with a connected number.

Sources #

Screens and rules checked in Meta's and WhatsApp's documentation on October 16, 2026. Meta changes its screens often and, in October 2026, is reorganizing the WhatsApp area inside the business portfolio. If a button shows a different name, look for the equivalent or email [email protected]. Lia is a product of RIA Systems LLC.

Signature of Reinaldo OliveiraReinaldo OliveiraFounder, RIA

Published October 16, 2026 by Reinaldo Oliveira, RIA. Markdown version for AI: how-to-set-up-your-meta-account.md · All tutorials in English · Tutoriais em português