Managing Facebook Ads requires precision, not just in targeting, creatives, or bidding, but also in technical settings that influence performance tracking. One of the most overlooked yet impactful configurations is your ad account's time zone. If you’ve ever noticed your daily budget resetting at odd hours or your reports not matching your CRM data, the culprit might be a wrong time zone setting.

This guide moves beyond the basics. We'll cover the why this setting is so critical, the safe process for migrating to a new account if you got it wrong, and the advanced workarounds you can use if starting over isn't an option.

Why Time Zone Matters in Your Ad Account

Time zones play a crucial role in various aspects of ad management, from budget resets to reporting accuracy. Here’s why you should pay attention to them:

Impact on Daily Budget Reset, Ad Delivery Windows, Scheduling

When you set your ad account to a specific time zone, it directly affects how and when your daily budget resets. The time zone … can impact budget resetting at 00:00 in your chosen time zone. This means if your account is set to a time zone that does not align with your target audience, you might find your ads running at less optimal times, wasting your budget and reducing effectiveness.

Effect on Data Synchronization Across Tools

Many advertisers use multiple tools for analytics, CRM, and reporting. If your ad account's time zone differs from these tools, it can lead to discrepancies in data synchronization, resulting in inaccurate reporting. This misalignment can confuse decision-making, as the data you rely on for performance evaluation may not reflect the actual circumstances.

Challenges When Targeting Multiple Regions

Running global campaigns introduces additional complexity. Mismatched audience active times can lead to inefficient ad delivery. For instance, if you target audiences in different time zones without proper segmentation, your ads may run when your audience is least active, resulting in lower engagement rates and wasted spending.

How to Change Time Zone in Facebook Ads Manager 

You cannot edit the time zone of an active ad account. The only solution is to create a new ad account with the correct settings and migrate your operations. This is a delicate process, and doing it wrong can mean losing data and halting performance.

Verify Your Current Time Zone

Before you do anything, confirm your suspicion. You might be working in an account you inherited and not even know its core setting.

1. Go to Ads Manager.

2. Click the hamburger menu (All Tools) and navigate to Ad Account Settings.

3. Look under the Business Info or "Ad account" section.

4. You will see "Time zone" and "Currency" listed. They will be greyed out and un-editable. This is the setting you are stuck with.

If You Haven’t Run Campaigns Yet

The best time to adjust your time zone is before launching your first campaign.
When you create a new ad account in Business Settings → Accounts → Ad Accounts → Add, you can select both Currency and Time Zone. 

Choose them carefully — they cannot be changed later without creating another account.

If You Already Have Active Campaigns

For 99% of advertisers reading this, this is your reality. You have an active account with a bad time zone. The safe process is a full migration.

1. Pause All Campaigns: Stop all ad delivery in the old ad account.

2. Export Data: Back up all your historical data. Export all-time campaign, ad set, and ad-level performance reports.

3. Save Audiences: Ensure all your Custom Audiences (from website, customer lists) and Lookalike Audiences are saved and accessible. If they were created in the ad account, ensure they are shared to your Business Manager so the new account can access them.

4. Create a New Ad Account: The path to creating a new ad account is often found within your Business Settings or Billing section.

• Navigate to your Business Settings (or Ads Manager → Billing & Payments).

• Go to Ad Accounts.

• Click the blue "Add" button and select "Create a new ad account".

• Here, you will be presented with the "New Ad Account" creation screen. This is where you will input your new Ad account name, Time zone, and Currency.

• Confirm these settings. This new account will now exist alongside your old one within your Business Manager. While you are in your Business Settings, it's also a best practice to verify your business on Meta to ensure full access to advertising features and prevent potential restrictions.

5. Set Up New Account: Add your payment method, verify your Facebook domain, and set up your pixel (you will get a new pixel ID or can share an existing one).

6. Duplicate Campaigns: Re-create your top-performing campaigns, ad sets, and ads in the new account. You can often use the "Duplicate" function and, in the new dialog, select the new ad account as the destination.

7. Update Tracking: This is critical. You must update your website's Meta Pixel and Conversion API (CAPI) tracking to use the new ad account ID.

8. Relaunch: Activate your campaigns in the new account. Be prepared for the campaigns to re-enter the "Learning Phase."

Alternative Methods

Migrating an account is a massive disruption. You lose all ad-level social proof (likes, comments, shares) unless you use complex methods to reuse post IDs, and you reset the algorithm's learning. If the mismatch is minor or the business cost of migrating is too high, you can use these workarounds. But be warned: they are patches, not fixes.

Use "Viewer's Time Zone" Ad Scheduling

This is the most powerful workaround. When you set up an ad schedule (dayparting) at the ad set level, Meta gives you two options:

• Use this ad account's time zone (The default, and the source of the problem)

• Use the viewer's time zone

By selecting "Use the viewer's time zone," you can schedule your ads to run from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM in the local time of the person seeing the ad. This solves the delivery problem, allowing you to run ads at the correct time in any region, regardless of your account's time zone.

Segment Target Markets into Separate Ad Sets

Do not lump multiple time zones into one ad set. If you're targeting the US, create separate ad sets for "US - East," "US - Central," and "US - West." This allows you to either apply different "viewer's time zone" schedules to each or simply monitor performance by region, as the "viewer's time zone" option handles the delivery for you.

fUse Naming Conventions & Reporting Filters

Include time-zone information in campaign names (e.g., “EU_CET_March2025”) and use filters in Ads Manager or reporting dashboards to group by region or schedule pattern. This makes data interpretation clearer. A standardized approach is key; dive deeper into our complete guide on Facebook ad naming conventions to master your account structure

Best Practices for Time Zone Setup in International / Multi-Region Campaigns

When scaling globally, time-zone management should be part of your account strategy — not an afterthought. Here’s how to set it up properly.

Choose a Time Zone Aligned With Your Main Audience

Always choose a time zone where your largest or most profitable market is located. For example, if 70% of your customers are in Singapore, use GMT +8 instead of your agency’s New York location.

If your markets are evenly split, consider using UTC as a neutral baseline — though this requires discipline in scheduling.

Decide Currency and Time Zone Together

Currency and time zone are linked in Meta Ads Manager. Once selected, both are locked. Changing one means creating a new ad account. Before launching global campaigns, align with your finance team and decide which combination best suits your reporting and tax setup.

Use Clear Account Naming Conventions

Maintain clarity by embedding region, currency, and time zone in your account names:

• “Account – US EST – USD”

• “Account – EU CET – EUR”

• “Account – APAC +7 – USD”

This helps when scaling operations or managing multiple Business Managers.

Scheduling Best Practices

Analyze engagement data to identify local peak activity hours. Use ad scheduling (“Run ads on a schedule”) to focus delivery during those times.
Combine this with automated rules — for example, pausing campaigns outside of high-performing time windows.

Monitoring & Reporting

Use dashboards (in Meta Reports, Looker Studio, or Supermetrics) that clearly show which time zone each data set refers to. Mixing reports from different time zones can lead to inaccurate conclusions.

For further optimization insights, explore our guide on Facebook Ads Manager to learn how scheduling integrates with delivery algorithms.

What to Do If You Realize Your Time Zone Was Wrong After Running Campaigns

If you’ve already launched campaigns and now notice your ad account is set to the wrong time zone, don’t panic. Here’s a structured approach.

Assess the Severity of the Mismatch

Consider that:

• How many hours off is the current setting from your target region?

• Does the reset time (midnight) conflict with your campaign schedule?

• Are reports significantly misaligned with your analytics data?

A small difference (1–2 hours) might be tolerable. But anything beyond that warrants correction.

Decision Tree: Keep or Migrate?

• Keep the existing account if:

• You’ve spent a significant budget and built historical data.

• The misalignment is minor or manageable with scheduling rules.

• Migrate to a new account if:

• You target multiple regions with different time zones.

• Reporting and automated rules are heavily time-dependent.

Steps to Fix

1. Pause all running campaigns.

2. Export all relevant data (campaigns, audiences, creatives).

3. Create a new ad account with the correct time zone and currency.

4. Rebuild or import campaigns and reconnect events tracking (Pixel, CAPI).

5. Relaunch and monitor closely for 3–5 days.

Minimize Lost Learning & Optimization

Meta’s algorithm needs to relearn once campaigns move to a new account. To minimize the impact:

• Keep identical campaign structures and naming.

• Reuse winning creatives and audiences.

• Maintain consistent conversion goals and Facebook attribution settings.

Common Questions & Pitfalls (FAQ)

Can You Change Time Zone After Creating an Ad Account?

No. This is the most important takeaway. Once an ad account has been created (and especially after it has recorded any spend), its time zone and currency are permanently locked. As confirmed by sources like SaveMyLeads and Facebook's own help center, the only way to "change" it is to deactivate the current account and create a new one.

What happens to my ads and billing if I change the time zone?

If you create a new ad account to adjust the time zone, your billing cycle and historical data will reset. Existing campaigns, invoices, and performance reports remain tied to the old account, while the new account starts fresh with new payment settings.

Will changing the time zone affect my campaign performance or delivery?

Changing time zone doesn’t alter ad delivery algorithms, but it can impact scheduling and budget resets. Ads might start or stop running at different hours than before, so review delivery windows carefully after switching.

 Can I keep my ad data if I create a new ad account to change the time zone?

No. Campaign history, learning phases, and analytics data cannot be transferred between accounts. However, you can export reports or duplicate existing campaigns manually to replicate performance in the new account.

Will automated rules or budget resets be affected by a time zone change?

Yes. Daily budgets reset at midnight based on your account’s time zone. If you switch to a new account in a different zone, budget resets and rule triggers will follow that new schedule.

Can I transfer audiences and pixel data to a new ad account with a different time zone?

Custom and lookalike audiences can be shared within the same Business Manager. Pixel data can also be reused if the same pixel ID is assigned to the new account. However, campaign performance history won’t carry over.