An e-commerce business in Brno lost three weeks of conversions last year. Not because of a bad product, not because of competition. Simply because when switching agencies, they paused their campaigns before the new agency had been granted access. The estimated cost of that outage was 180,000 CZK — and it could have been avoided entirely by following the right sequence of steps.
If you’ve already decided to change agencies, this page is not about how to choose the right one. That part is done. Here we deal with the technical side and the process: how to transfer Google Ads, GA4, Meta and Sklik without campaign downtime, without losing historical data, and without unpleasant surprises buried in the contract.
You’ll get a concrete 5-step process, an access checklist for every platform, and answers to questions that clients only think to ask when it’s already too late.
First Things First: Who Actually Owns Your Ad Accounts?
Ad accounts always belong to the client — that’s you. The agency should have access, not ownership. This is both the legal and practical foundation of any agency transition.
In practice, unfortunately, things often look different. Some agencies create Google Ads or Meta accounts using their own email address, or set up your account under their own MCC as the primary owner. They give the client access, but the client has no real control. When the relationship ends, the problem surfaces: the agency refuses to hand over access or makes it conditional on settling outstanding invoices.
How to Check Whether You’re the Real Owner
In Google Ads, go to Admin → Access and Security. Your email address should have the Administrator role. If your email isn’t listed at all — or only has Read-only access — then the account belongs to the agency, not you.
In Meta Business Manager, go to Business Settings → Ad Accounts. If the account is owned by the agency’s business rather than yours, you’re in a disadvantaged position.
What to Do If the Agency Refuses to Return Access
An unpleasant situation, but a solvable one. Start with the contract — what does it say about data and account ownership? A well-written contract addresses this explicitly. Client data, client accounts.
If the contract is silent or unfavourable, contact Google or Meta directly — both platforms have processes for resolving account ownership disputes. In parallel, back up everything you still have access to: report exports, GA4 data, historical campaign results.
Step 1: Terminating the Contract — What to Check Before You Give Notice
The notice period is the first thing to look at. The standard is 30 days, but contracts sometimes include 60- or 90-day notice periods. Giving notice too late means you’ll be paying an agency you no longer want to work with.
What to check in the contract:
- The length of the notice period and the method of delivery — email may not be sufficient if the contract requires formal written notice
- Early termination penalties — especially if the contract includes a minimum engagement period
- Clauses on ownership of deliverables: do you own the ad copy, landing pages, reports?
- Third-party commitments — the agency may have signed contracts with suppliers on your behalf
- What happens to created materials — photos, banners, creatives
| The most common mistake? The client lets campaigns pause while the new agency is still getting set up with access. The result: a drop in conversions lasting 2–3 weeks. This is entirely preventable — you just need to follow the order of steps described below. We recommend reviewing specific contractual language with a lawyer, especially if the contract contains non-standard clauses or confidentiality provisions. |
| Not sure what your contract actually says? We’re happy to take a look — free consultation. |
Step 2: Access Checklist — What to Secure Before You Leave
Two rules apply to every platform without exception: add the new agency before you remove the old one. And never delete campaigns or conversion actions — only remove access for specific people.
| Platform
|
How to add the new agency
|
How to remove the old one
|
Notes
|
| Google Ads | Admin → Access and Security → + → email, Campaign Manager or Administrator role | Same menu → click the agency → Remove access | The new agency confirms the invitation from their own account |
| GA4 | Admin → Access Management → + → email with Editor role | Same menu → remove user or change role to Viewer | GA4 data cannot be transferred between accounts — back it up |
| GTM | Admin → User Management → + → email with Publish permission | Remove user from container management | Don’t let the agency publish changes without approval |
| Meta BM | Business Settings → Partners → Add → new agency’s Business ID | Partners → current agency → Remove | Moving an ad account between Business Managers is very difficult — verify ownership in advance |
| Sklik | Account Management → User Management → Add User → Administrator role | User Management → remove agency email | Sklik supports access via login or via delegated access |
| Google Business Profile | Manage Business → Users → Add → Manager or Owner role | Users → remove agency | If the agency is the primary owner, request a transfer |
Special Case: MCC Agency vs. Direct Access
If your current agency managed campaigns through their own MCC (manager account), your campaigns and their entire history remain in your account. The MCC gives the agency access, but doesn’t copy data. The new agency will create their own MCC and request to link it — see our guide:
Google Ads vs. Meta Ads — a guide for businesses.
Step 3: How to Transfer Campaign History Without Losing Data
Good news that will reassure most clients: historical Google Ads campaign data doesn’t go anywhere. It stays in the account, not with the agency. The new agency gains access to the same account — and can see everything from the very first day of campaigns.
What Transfers and What Doesn’t
- Transfers: full Google Ads campaign history (clicks, conversions, spend, quality score), ad group structure, bidding strategy settings, audiences and remarketing lists
- Transfers: Meta advertising results in Business Manager (if access to the same account is maintained)
- Does not transfer: GA4 data when moving to a new GA4 account — data is tied to the property, not the domain
- Does not transfer: historical Sklik reports outside the account
Backing Up GA4 Data — How to Do It
If there’s a risk of losing GA4 data (for example, if the agency owns the GA4 property), back it up by exporting to Google Sheets or BigQuery. Full instructions are in our article GA4 for e-commerce — setup and reporting.
What else to save before you leave:
- Screenshots or exports of key reports for the last 12–24 months
- A list of active UTM parameters and their structure
- Conversion action settings (which are primary, what values they have)
Document your UTM parameters using the Google Campaign URL Builder — if the agency used them inconsistently, now is the time to fix that.
Step 4: The Audit as the First Step of a New Partnership
A good agency doesn’t start running campaigns on day one. It starts with an audit. And this is in your interest, not theirs — because the audit will reveal what the previous agency was doing wrong, or not doing at all.
Typical findings: conversion tracking set up with duplicates, campaigns targeting irrelevant keywords, bidding strategies running without sufficient data and systematically overpaying per click. None of these things are visible at first glance — only an audit will surface them.
What to Focus on in the Account Audit
- Campaign structure — are they logically divided by objective, product, stage of the customer journey?
- Conversion tracking — are conversions measured via GA4 or imported from the Google Ads tag? Are there duplicates?
- GA4 + Google Ads integration — is it active? Are audiences and conversions being imported correctly?
- Performance data for the last 90 days — what are the actual ROAS, CPA, conversion rate?
- Negative keywords — do they exist? Are they up to date?
- Ad copy structure — do they follow RSA best practices? Are variants being tested?
You can see what a proper audit looks like in practice on our campaign and analytics audit page.
Step 5: How to Manage the Transition So Campaigns Never Stop Running
The riskiest moment in the transition is the window between the old agency leaving and the new one fully taking over. The goal is to shrink this interval to zero — or better still, to overlap it entirely.
Recommended Order of Steps
- Sign the contract with the new agency and agree on a handover date
- Add the new agency to all accounts (see Step 2) — before giving notice to the old one
- Give the new agency 5–7 working days for the audit and preparation
- Only then send notice to the old agency
- On the handover date, remove the old agency’s access — campaigns remain active
What to Avoid
- Don’t delete any campaigns, ad groups or keywords — even paused ones may contain valuable historical data
- Don’t pause bidding strategies just because you’re changing agencies — Target CPA or Maximise Conversions needs time to learn, and a reset sets it back by weeks
- Don’t allow the new agency to make major changes before the audit — let them first understand what’s working
- Don’t give both agencies conflicting instructions — decide clearly from which date the new agency takes responsibility
How Long Does the Transition Take?
With good preparation, you can complete a smooth transition in 2–3 weeks. The audit and initial campaign adjustments will take another 2–4 weeks. For fully stable results, allow 4–8 weeks — that’s typically how long Smart Bidding strategies need for their learning phase. For Performance Max campaigns, this period may be longer. The exact timeline depends on your conversion volume and the length of your business’s conversion cycle.
Switching Agencies Doesn’t Have to Hurt
Technically, the transition can be completed in 2–3 weeks without a single moment of downtime — if you follow the right order. You hand over access before you serve notice. The audit takes place while the old agency is still active. And bidding strategies keep running throughout.
Historical Google Ads campaign data stays in your account. Protect your GA4 data with backups. Review the contract in advance — and ideally with a lawyer if it contains non-standard clauses.
| Considering a change of agency? We’ll carry out a free audit of your campaigns and give you an honest assessment of what’s working and what isn’t. Book a consultation → |
Or take a look at how we approach PPC campaign management.
