How to Choose an Agency Account Provider: A Pre-Contract Checklist

Editorial team Spend Ledger

An agency-provided advertising account is a work arrangement, not a shortcut around a platform’s rules. Before signing, establish what the provider actually supplies, who controls the account, how money and data move, and what happens if the relationship ends. Treat each point below as something to confirm in writing, rather than an assumption based on a sales conversation.

The account structure can affect access, billing, reporting and responsibility for activity. Those details matter whether the account is new, already in use, or connected to a broader business-level structure. If the provider cannot explain an arrangement clearly, pause and resolve the uncertainty before committing funds or sharing sensitive information.

Confirm the platform relationship

• Ask the provider to describe its relationship with the advertising platform. Clarify whether it acts as an agency, manages access through a business-level structure, or offers another arrangement, because these roles may carry different responsibilities and controls.

• Verify the claimed relationship in the platform’s own materials. Check the platform’s official help and policy pages for how it describes relevant account structures and partner roles, since a provider’s explanation alone does not establish platform recognition.

• Ask what evidence the provider can show without exposing private information. Appropriate documentation may help you understand the arrangement, but it should not require you to rely on screenshots or claims that cannot be checked against the platform’s own guidance.

• Confirm that the proposed use is permitted under the platform’s current rules. Review the rules that apply to account ownership, access, advertising activity and payment, because a provider’s commercial terms cannot override platform requirements.

• Ask whether the account will be created for your business or supplied from an existing structure. The distinction can affect history, ownership, permissions and billing, so the contract should describe the actual arrangement rather than using a broad label such as “agency account.”

• Pause if the provider suggests concealing who is responsible for the account. The account should be used transparently and in line with the platform’s requirements, not as a way to obscure identity, bypass a restriction or avoid review.

Establish who holds the account

• Identify the legal entity that will own or control the account. Record whose business details are attached to the account and who has authority to change its settings, because day-to-day access does not necessarily mean ownership.

• Ask whether your business will have direct platform access. Direct access can help you review settings and activity independently, while a provider-only arrangement may leave you dependent on its cooperation.

• Clarify which party controls the business-level structure and its linked accounts. A clear account map helps show where the advertising account sits and which permissions apply to your team and the provider.

• Request a written list of each party’s permissions. Specify who can create or edit campaigns, manage users, change billing settings and view reports, so responsibilities are not inferred from informal practice.

• Ask how access is granted and removed. The process should use the platform’s available permission controls and leave a clear record, rather than relying on shared credentials or informal handovers.

• Confirm who is responsible for the account’s policy compliance. Your contract should distinguish the provider’s management duties from your responsibility for the business, advertising claims, destinations and materials you supply.

Make the contract and fees understandable

• Request a complete written description of the service. State whether the provider supplies account access, campaign management, billing administration, reporting or other work, because an account by itself is not the same as an ongoing service.

• Ask for every fee and charge to be explained before signing. Separate management fees, account-related charges, payment costs and any other applicable amounts, so you can compare the full arrangement with managing accounts yourself.

• Clarify how fees are calculated and when they can change. The contract should explain the basis for each charge and how changes are communicated, rather than leaving important costs to discretionary decisions.

• Ask whether advertising spend passes through the provider or is paid directly to the platform. The payment route affects reconciliation and your visibility into spend, so it should be explicit in the contract and reflected in the reporting process.

• Check how taxes, credits, refunds and disputed charges are handled. Agree on which party records and communicates each item, because unclear treatment can make the actual cost of advertising difficult to assess.

• Read the terms that describe suspension, non-payment and policy concerns. They should explain what the provider may do, what notice it gives where possible, and what steps are available to resolve a disagreement.

• Keep promises about account status out of the decision unless they can be verified. No provider can guarantee that a platform will approve, maintain or restore an account, and a contract should not present those outcomes as certain.

Agree on billing and payment terms

• Map the full path of funds from your business to advertising spend. Identify who receives payment, who pays the platform and how the amount applied to advertising is recorded, because each handoff creates a point that needs reconciliation.

• Ask what records you will receive for each billing cycle. Invoices, platform billing records and spend reports should be sufficiently clear to help you compare what was paid with what was charged or delivered.

• Confirm which payment methods are accepted and who is responsible for failed or delayed payments. This clarifies whether a payment issue is your responsibility, the provider’s responsibility or a matter requiring action with the platform.

• Agree how unspent funds and adjustments are treated. Put in writing how remaining balances, credits or billing corrections are tracked and returned or applied, subject to the platform’s own processes and rules.

• Ask how billing disputes are raised and documented. A defined contact and recordkeeping process helps preserve the facts while the parties investigate a charge or reconciliation difference.

• Check that the provider will not use your payment information beyond the agreed purpose. Specify who can access payment details and how access is managed, because payment information should not be treated as a general account credential.

Set expectations for reporting and data access

• Agree on what performance and spend information you will receive. Define the reporting scope in plain language so you can assess campaign activity, cost and delivery without assuming that a summary covers every relevant detail.

• Ask how you can inspect information inside the platform. Reports supplied by the provider are useful, but direct access where available can help you verify account activity independently.

• Clarify who owns campaign materials and records created during the work. Address the treatment of creative assets, settings, audience information and historical reports, while observing the platform’s rules and any applicable privacy obligations.

• Ask how data is stored, shared and protected. The provider should explain which team members or service providers can access your business information and how access is limited to the work.

• Confirm what data can be exported or retained when the relationship ends. Agree on a practical handover that gives you the records you are entitled to keep without implying that platform data can always be transferred in every form.

• Ask how changes to reports or account access are recorded. A basic record of material changes helps your team understand what happened and supports review if results or billing later become unclear.

Check support and decision-making

• Ask who will handle routine questions and account issues. Identify the responsible contact and the route for escalating an unresolved matter, so you are not left guessing who can act.

• Confirm the provider’s support hours and how they are defined. Understand when the team is normally available and how urgent issues are handled, rather than assuming continuous coverage.

• Ask what response and action expectations the contract actually sets. Clear service expectations help both sides plan, but they should not be confused with a guarantee that the platform will resolve an issue within a particular period.

• Find out who can approve changes to budgets, campaigns and account settings. Agree on whether the provider needs your approval before material changes, because authority should match your internal financial controls.

• Ask how the provider will notify you about policy notices or account restrictions. Timely, accurate communication gives you a chance to understand the issue and use the platform’s official support or appeal channels where appropriate.

• Confirm that the provider will help address the cause of a platform concern. The appropriate response is to review the relevant activity and correct problems, not to evade a restriction or move the same issue elsewhere.

Define exit terms before you begin

• Read how either party can end the agreement. The contract should explain notice, outstanding obligations and any conditions for ending service, so departure is not left to an informal understanding.

• Ask what happens to account access when the contract ends. Specify which permissions are removed, who retains control and how the platform’s own ownership and access rules affect the handover.

• Agree how final billing and unused balances will be reconciled. A documented closing process can help distinguish unpaid charges, remaining funds and adjustments without relying on estimates.

• Request a clear handover of available records and work product. Identify the materials the provider will return or make accessible, including reports and relevant campaign information, subject to platform controls and applicable rights.

• Clarify whether the provider may retain any of your data after exit. Set out what must be deleted, what may need to be retained for legitimate obligations and how access is restricted during that period.

• Ask how unresolved platform issues will be handled during a transition. A plan for notices, pending reviews and active campaigns can reduce confusion while keeping the response within official platform processes.

Before signing, compare the provider’s written answers with the platform’s current help and policy pages, and keep a copy of the terms you accept. If account ownership, billing, data access or exit rights remain unclear, resolve those points first. Current platform requirements and account features can change, so rely on the platform’s own help and policy pages for the latest information.