Google Ads account access should be agreed before an agency starts managing campaigns. Knowing who can sign in, approve expenditure, review performance and change access is part of commissioning the work. A monthly report does not replace the business's ability to understand its own account arrangements.
This guide helps Kenyan businesses prepare an access and handover record for a new advertising engagement or a change of provider. It does not recommend a media budget or promise campaign results. For a campaign-management enquiry, see Mocky's paid advertising services and explain whether you already have an account or need help establishing the right setup.
Identify the account before discussing permissions
Start with the account's customer ID, the business it serves and the person currently responsible for it. Confirm that the account you are discussing is the one associated with the campaigns and reports under review. An email address, a screenshot and an agency's internal client name are not interchangeable account references.
List any separate accounts for different businesses, locations or historic projects. Mark which are in scope and which should remain untouched. This prevents a request to manage current campaigns from becoming an accidental instruction to change an older account that still has business information or reporting value.
Keep the account reference in your handover record, but do not distribute it together with passwords or recovery codes in a shared document. The record should explain who is responsible and where authorised access is managed. It should not become a collection of credentials that anyone with a link can use.
Separate user access from manager-account ownership
Google's account access guidance explains that access can be granted to other users, their levels changed and access later removed. Ask your provider to describe whether it needs an individual user invitation or a link from its manager account, and why that arrangement fits the agreed work.
Google also documents a separate manager ownership relationship. That relationship carries additional administrative abilities, while the client retains its data and the ability to unlink ownership access. Google recommends granting manager ownership only when those privileges are required. A request for ordinary campaign work should therefore include an explanation if it also requests that relationship.
Write down what has been agreed in plain language. Who manages campaigns? Who can manage other users? Who handles security decisions? Which business representative can review the arrangement? You do not need to memorise platform terminology, but you should be able to connect each permission request to an actual responsibility.
Use named access instead of sharing one login
Ask the people doing the work to use an approved access arrangement that identifies them or their organisation. Avoid treating the business owner's personal sign-in as the agency's working account. That makes it harder to distinguish responsibilities and creates unnecessary difficulties when someone leaves the project.
Choose access to match the task. A person reviewing monthly results may have different needs from the person managing campaigns. Ask the provider to identify the appropriate current platform role, show the request to the account administrator and explain any additional privileges before they are granted.
Agree a review point when staff or suppliers change. Keep the names of approved participants and the date the arrangement was checked. Do not remove an unfamiliar user simply because the name is not immediately recognised; establish whether the person supports another active business function before making a change.
Record billing responsibilities separately
Campaign access and financial responsibility need their own discussion. Identify the business contact who approves expenditure, the person monitoring the agreed budget and the person receiving billing notices. Keep actual payment credentials out of the general handover document and use the provider's secure account processes for financial details.
Ask the agency to distinguish media expenditure from its management work and any separate website or tracking work. Record how proposed changes are approved. A discussion about improving results should not be mistaken for unlimited authority to change the commercial scope or raise spending without the agreed decision-maker.
If you are changing providers, reconcile outstanding questions before access changes begin. Ask for the reporting period, the work completed and the responsibilities that remain with each party. Technical access does not resolve a billing disagreement, and a billing conversation should not be used as a substitute for a clear operational handover.
Map the measurement dependencies
Ask which website pages, forms and measurement tools the campaigns depend on. Record the responsible owner for each. A provider may manage advertisements while another team maintains the site, and the person reviewing reports needs to understand where those responsibilities meet.
List the important outcomes in business terms. For example, a submitted enquiry, a completed booking and a click to open WhatsApp are different actions. Ask what the account currently measures and what each reported figure means. Do not assume that a chart labelled leads represents confirmed sales or that every measurement has been checked recently.
Agree a safe validation plan before anyone creates test activity. Use a staging environment, a preview or another appropriately controlled process where possible. If live testing is necessary, establish who authorises it and how it will be identified. A handover review should not generate unapproved leads, payments or campaign events merely to make a report look complete.
Make the work and reporting understandable
Request a short account summary rather than a folder of unexplained screenshots. It should identify the current campaign objectives, intended audience or search themes, landing pages, important exclusions and the decisions awaiting approval. Keep the summary proportionate to the account instead of demanding unnecessary documentation.
Ask for reporting that separates platform activity from business follow-up. The advertising manager can describe campaign information, while the sales team may need to identify whether enquiries were relevant and what happened next. Agree how those observations will be shared without exposing private customer records to people who do not need them.
Retain a decision log for material changes. Record what was approved, by whom and when. This helps the next person understand why a campaign was paused or an offer changed. It is more useful than trying to reconstruct the reason from a series of disconnected messages months later.
Plan a provider change before removing access
Choose a handover date and identify who will maintain the account during the change. Ask the outgoing provider for the agreed account summary, outstanding issues and locations of approved creative assets. Confirm which items are supplied under your agreement rather than assuming every internal agency working document is included.
Have the incoming provider review the references before proposing structural changes. The purpose of a handover is continuity and accountability, not an automatic rebuild. Ask which current arrangements can remain and which need a separately approved change. Keep an explanation of important decisions so useful history is not lost through haste.
When access is changed, verify that the business's authorised representative and the incoming team have the access they require. Review the outgoing arrangement through the platform's proper access controls. Do not declare the handover complete merely because one invitation email was sent or one person can open a report.
Use a simple acceptance record
Keep one page with the customer ID, account purpose, responsible business representative, approved provider and date reviewed. Add the agreed campaign scope, spending approval process and reporting contact. Reference the current access screen and billing arrangements without copying sensitive account credentials into the record.
Include the measurement dependencies and any unresolved limitations. If a form or outcome has not been validated, say so and assign the next action. An honest outstanding item is easier to manage than a vague statement that all tracking is perfect.
Finish with a short confirmation from the people responsible: the business can inspect the relevant account, the provider can perform the agreed work, and everyone knows who approves the next change. This is a management record, not a guarantee that advertising will produce a particular number of customers.
Frequently asked questions
Is an agency report enough if I cannot access the account?
Ask for the access arrangement to be explained and reviewed. Reports can be useful, but you should understand which account they describe, who manages it and how the business can inspect the information relevant to its engagement.
Does linking a manager account automatically require ownership?
Treat manager linking and administrative ownership as separate questions. Review Google's current documentation and ask which privileges the provider needs. Grant an ownership relationship only after its purpose and responsibilities are clear.
Should a new agency rebuild all campaigns immediately?
Request a review first. A provider should explain what it proposes to preserve or change and why. Agree the scope, measurement plan and approval process before making changes that may interrupt current activity.
How can Mocky help with an existing advertising account?
Send the account's situation, business goal and access questions through the project enquiry page. Do not send passwords. Our Google Ads agency guide covers the wider management brief; use this access checklist to clarify the handover responsibilities alongside it.
