How to Create a TikTok Agency Account

Creating a TikTok Agency Account, officially known as a Business Center, is the most effective way to manage multiple client ad accounts without drowning in a sea of logins and spreadsheets. This guide walks you through the entire process, from initial setup to inviting your team and onboarding your first client. We’ll show you exactly how to get your agency's command center up and running on TikTok.

So, What Exactly Is a TikTok Agency Account? (And Why You Need One)

Think of the TikTok Business Center as the master dashboard for your agency. It’s a centralized hub where you can securely manage all of your clients' advertising assets - including their Ad Accounts, TikTok profiles, pixels, and audiences - all from a single place. It’s designed specifically for agencies that need to collaborate with team members and oversee campaigns for multiple brands.

It’s More Than Just a Standard Ad Account

Many VAs, freelancers, and small agencies make the mistake of running client ads through their own personal or business ad account. This gets messy - fast. It blurs billing, makes reporting a nightmare, and creates a massive headache if a client ever leaves. You end up with pixel data from different clients all mixed, you can’t easily share access with your client, and you become the sole owner of all their campaign history.

An Agency Business Center solves this. It establishes a professional structure where:

• Client assets remain theirs. You request access to their ad account, you don’t own it. If you part ways, they retain all their data and history.
• Permissions are granular. You can give team members specific roles, like Admin (full control), Operator (campaign management), or Analyst (view-only access), without sharing sensitive login details.
• Billing is separated. Each client's ad spend is tied to their own payment method, preventing any risk of co-mingled funds and simplifying invoicing.
• Collaboration is efficient. Everyone on your team who needs access to a client account can get it through the Business Center, eliminating password sharing and siloed work.

Getting Started: What You’ll Need Before You Create Your Account

The setup process is pretty straightforward, but you can make it even faster by having a few pieces of information ready to go. Take a few minutes to gather these details:

• Business Center Name: This should be your agency’s name (e.g., "Swell Social Agency Business Center").
• Your Name & Work Email: Use your primary agency email. This email will be used for verification, so make sure you can access it immediately.
• Time Zone and Currency: Select the primary time zone and currency your agency operates in. This is used for general reporting within the Center.
• Company Information (for Verification): Eventually, TikTok may require you to verify your business. It's helpful to know where to find your business registration number, address, and website URL, though it may not be asked for during the initial signup.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your TikTok Agency Business Center

Ready to build your agency's hub? The process takes about 10 minutes. Just follow these steps.

Step 1: Go to the TikTok Business Center Website

First, navigate to the official TikTok for Business homepage. In the top navigation menu, find the "Log in" button. Even if you don’t have an account, this is where to start. A new page will open, where you’ll see an option to "Sign up now."

Step 2: Sign Up and Create Your Account

You’ll be prompted to create your TikTok for Business user account. This is your personal login that grants you access to different business assets, including the Business Center you’re about to create. Fill in your email address and a secure password.

TikTok will send a verification code to your email. Grab it and enter it on the next screen to confirm your account.

Step 3: Create the Business Center

Once your user account is verified, you’ll be taken to a setup screen. Here, you'll be asked if you want to create a Business Account (for advertisers) or a Business Center (for agencies). Make sure to choose Business Center.

Now, enter the information you gathered earlier:

• Business Center Name: Your agency's name.
• Your Name: Your first and last name. This helps identify you within the account.
• Time Zone: Your agency's primary time zone.

Click "Create" and you’re official. Welcome to your new, empty Business Center dashboard!

Setting Up Your Agency Business Center for Clients

An empty dashboard isn’t very useful, so your next moves are critical. This is where you bring in your team and begin connecting client accounts, transforming the empty hub into a functional workspace.

Inviting Your Team Members and Assigning Roles

You probably don’t work alone. The first thing you should do is invite your teammates, creative partners, or contractor specialists into the Business Center. This keeps everything secure and organized.

1. On the left-hand navigation menu in your Business Center, click on "Users" and then select "Members."
2. Click the blue "Invite Member" button.
3. Enter the work email addresses of the people you want to invite. You can invite multiple people at once.
4. Assign them an initial role. The two main roles are:
   
   • Admin: Has full control over the Business Center. They can add/remove members, manage billing, and request access to assets. Reserve this for business owners or senior leadership.
   • Standard: Can work on the ad accounts they are assigned to but cannot edit Business Center settings or add other users. This is perfect for account managers, ad specialists, and analysts.
5. Once you send the invites, your team members will receive an email prompting them to join your Business Center.

Pro Tip: Re-evaluate user permissions every quarter. If someone’s role changes or they leave the company, make sure you update their access immediately from this dashboard.

Connecting Your First Client's Ad Account

This is the moment it all comes together. The main function of an Agency Business Center is to gain access to a client’s ad account so you can run campaigns for them. You have two primary ways to do this: request access to their existing account or create a new one for them.

Option 1: Requesting Access to an Existing Ad Account (Most Common)

This is the ideal scenario. Your client already has an Ad Account, and you just need permission to manage it.

1. In your Business Center, navigate to the "Assets" section and click "Ad Accounts."
2. Click the "Request Access" button.
3. You'll need your client's Ad Account ID. Ask your client to find this by logging into their TikTok Ads Manager - the ID is typically located in the top left corner of their dashboard or in the account settings.
4. Paste their Ad Account ID into the provided field in your Business Center.
5. Choose the level of permission you need (usually Admin or Operator for agencies).
6. Send the request.

Your client will receive a notification in their TikTok Ads Manager. They must approve your request before you can start managing their account. It's smart to email them a heads-up and simple instructions on where to find the approval button.

Option 2: Creating a New Ad Account for a Client

If your client is completely new to TikTok advertising, you can create a new ad account for them directly within your Business Center.

1. Navigate to "Ad Accounts" under "Assets."
2. Click "Create New."
3. Fill in the account details, including the business name, time zone, and billing information. Important: use the client’s information, not your own.
4. Once created, you can assign this new ad account to the relevant team members within your agency.

In this case, your Business Center will own the ad account, but you can transfer ownership to the client’s own Business Center later if needed.

Final Thoughts

Setting up a TikTok Agency Account is the foundational step toward scaling your services professionally. It elevates you from a freelancer managing a few separate profiles into an organized agency that can handle multiple clients securely, efficiently, and transparently.

Once you’ve organized your ad management, the next challenge is wrangling all the brand content, video assets, and post schedules that go with it. When we were running marketing teams, we were constantly frustrated by tools feeling stuck in the past, struggling with short-form video formats. That’s exactly why we built Postbase - to give agencies and creators a clean, modern hub for planning visual content calendars, scheduling TikToks and Reels reliably, and managing all client engagement in one beautiful inbox.