The client has invited you into their ad account and the team is already preparing the campaign. Everything seems ready—until nobody can confirm who pays the bills, or the Pixel turns out to be connected to an old store. A quick start can become a delayed launch.
Before building ads, set aside a short account handover session. Establish what you will manage, who can help when something goes wrong, and what needs fixing before money is spent. This is a suggested agency checklist; adapt it to the service agreed with the client.
1. Put accounts and links in one place
Request the ad account, business Page, website or store, Pixel, and product catalog if the campaign uses one. Add the billing entity and the client’s main contact. “Advertising assets” means all these accounts, Pages and data sources—not just the ad account.
For each item, record who owns it and which permissions the agency has received. Access does not mean full administrative control. Google, for example, explains that linking an existing account to a manager account does not automatically give that manager ownership access. [1]
2. Test the permissions the team actually needs
A name in the user list is not enough. Ask the person to open the account, reports and assets needed for their role. Read-only access may suit an analyst; editing ads or billing may require different permissions.
On TikTok, members’ permissions depend on the accounts and assets assigned to them. Check the ad account, Pixel and catalog separately instead of assuming Business Center access unlocks everything. [2]
3. Identify genuine launch blockers
Not every gap needs to stop the project. An old campaign name can wait; an unconfirmed payer needs resolving before spending. If sales will determine campaign success, a broken purchase event matters more to the decision than the appearance of a dashboard.
Use this illustrative table as a starting point. It does not describe a real client’s account.
| Area checked | Finding | Next step | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing | Payer is unclear | Confirm the payer before launch | Client lead |
| Purchase tracking | Test order does not appear as expected | Check tracking before relying on the numbers | Tracking specialist |
| Product catalog | No one owns updates | Assign an owner before product campaigns | Store team |
Attach evidence that each issue is resolved: confirmation from the responsible person, a test result, or access that now works. This avoids reopening the same discussion on launch day.
4. Give the team a clear decision
Close the handover with what is ready, what is pending, and whether part of the work can start now. Name the owner of each outstanding item and the agreed review date.
Keep the current settings before changing them. Avoid bundling billing, permissions and tracking changes into one step without a reason. When someone leaves the account, check what depends on their access before removing it.
The useful outcome is not a long document. It is a checklist anyone on the team can open to see where to begin, what they need from the client, and when the account is ready to run.
Official sources
Source documentation reviewed: 16 October 2026. Features and eligibility may change; check the linked documentation before implementation.
