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Set up a business-owned Google Ads account and give your agency a clear account handoff before any campaign work begins.
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Clarity, structure and references reviewed in this version. This is not a test in a live account.
Set up a business-owned Google Ads account and give your agency a clear account handoff before any campaign work begins.
This SOP covers:
This does not cover:
An advertiser account holds one business’s campaigns and reports. A manager account lets an agency work across several advertiser accounts. This guide creates the business’s advertiser account directly.
Start an Ads setup note in a private document you can share with the business owner.
Check whether the business already has the intended advertiser account.
Have the owner open Google Ads and check the email under the profile picture. Open the account list and look for the business. A customer ID is the unique number identifying an Ads account; use it to distinguish similar names.
Ask the owner whether a previous employee or agency created an account. Check any known customer ID, Ads invitation, or billing email against the account list. An empty list only shows this Google identity’s access; it does not prove the business has no account. Write the finding in the Ads setup note.
If the intended account exists, record its name and customer ID in the Ads setup note and have its administrator follow the linked SOP for agency access. End this creation procedure. If the owner knows of an account but cannot access it, resolve that access with its administrator before creating anything.
Agree the regional choices with the owner and write them in the Ads setup note before starting signup. Fictional example: Ana confirms a Portuguese billing address, a Lisbon reporting day, and euro billing. Her choices are Portugal, the offered Lisbon time zone, and EUR (euro). Leo’s agency works in London; that does not change Ana’s choices.
Use the country where the business’s billing address is located, not the agency’s location or the countries where future ads may appear. It determines available billing options.
Use the time zone in which the business wants each reporting day to start and end. Ask the owner which zone their team uses for daily reports; do not automatically use the agency’s zone. Time zone does not choose where ads appear.
Use the currency the owner wants for advertising costs and billing, from the options Google supports for that billing country. Confirm it with the person responsible for the business’s finances. If the intended currency is unavailable, ask that person to decide before submitting setup.
Use the account-only choice during signup. Some screens still mention a first campaign; use the account-only link before entering campaign settings. Billing steps may still be required even when no campaign is created.
With the owner signed in, open Google Ads signup. If an account list opens, choose New Google Ads Account, then Create a new account. Confirm the owner’s email under the profile picture before entering the business details.
Set the business’s website and name in About your business, then have the owner review any notices before continuing.
Choose Your website as the destination. If Google preselects a Business Profile, click Select a different option, then choose Your website.
Check any prefilled values and replace them with the business name and website URL from the Ads setup note. Use the business’s name rather than its full website address.
Have the owner read any image-rights and terms notices before clicking Next. A website notice may ask them to confirm rights to use its images and permit Google to process them for advertising. The owner must confirm only if the statement is accurate and acceptable. If a required confirmation is unresolved, write Setup incomplete, the requirement, the owner’s name, and the next action in the Ads setup note; pause until it is resolved. Otherwise, click Next to continue signup.
If Review business info appears, read the suggested business description, products or services, and selected website pages. Check that they describe the intended business; ask the owner to correct inaccurate suggestions using the business’s actual information. Click Next to reach Link accounts.
Use the account-only signup path, rather than choosing a campaign goal.
At Link accounts, click Skip to continue without connecting other Google accounts. If this screen already offers Create an account without a campaign, choose that account-only option instead.
If Choose your goal for this campaign appears, find Not ready for a campaign? at the bottom and click Set up an account only. This link takes you to account settings; you do not need to select a goal. If the link is missing, use Google’s signup guide or Google Ads support before continuing.
On Confirm your account settings, select the Billing country, Time zone, and Currency that the owner confirmed in the Ads setup note. Read the selected labels together with the owner, then click Continue. If your signup shows these fields on a billing screen instead, confirm the same choices there.
A payments profile stores who pays, their legal and tax details, and payment methods. It can be shared across Google products, so the owner must choose the correct profile.
Have the business owner review the remaining signup screens before submitting account setup.
If Google requires a payments profile, payment method, tax information, terms, payment confirmation, or identity documents to finish account creation, have the owner complete the screen using the business’s information. The profile and its Organization or Individual type must describe the actual payer; do not pick the agency’s profile just to continue.
Before the owner submits, read the final confirmation together. It must complete account setup without creating a campaign. If it describes launching a campaign, return to the no-campaign choice or stop for Google Ads support.
If a required owner action or approval remains, write Setup incomplete, the requirement, the owner’s name, and the next action in the Ads setup note. Pause here until it is resolved; a customer ID or “Setup in progress” entry alone does not mean signup is finished.
Confirm the saved account, rather than treating signup fields or an account number as proof of success.
Have the owner reopen Google Ads with the same Google identity and choose the new business account. It should open the dashboard rather than resume signup. Open Admin → Access and security → Users and check that the owner’s email has Admin access. Admin access lets the business manage who can use its account.
Check the saved regional settings against the Ads setup note.
Open the account’s Preferences under Admin and read the saved Time zone. Copy the displayed choice into the Ads setup note under Saved time zone, beside the planned choice.
Open Billing → Settings. If Settings is missing from the menu, open Billing Settings and choose the intended business account. Expand Payer details. Copy its Country/Region into Saved billing country in the Ads setup note, and record the displayed Currency as Saved currency if available. Use its name or code, such as EUR; a symbol like $ can refer to several currencies. If a value is missing, record it as unverified and resolve it in the next check.
Compare each saved value with the owner-confirmed choice. If a value differs or you cannot find it, record the issue and ask the owner to resolve it with Google Ads support before marking setup complete. Do not create another account as a quick fix.
Click the profile picture in the account dashboard. Copy the customer ID shown under the account name into the Ads setup note as Google Ads customer ID, and record the account name. Check that the same name and ID identify the account when you reopen the account list.
Open Campaigns → Campaigns and clear any list filters so you can see the full campaign list. Check that there are no campaigns, including paused campaigns. In the Ads setup note, write No campaigns created and the date of this check.
Add Setup complete, the owner’s Admin email, and the named agency teammate to the Ads setup note once all checks pass. Give the note to those two people through your usual private handoff channel. For the next task, have the owner follow the linked SOP to grant that teammate direct access; the customer ID identifies the account and does not itself grant access.
