Google Ads Account Management

Currency & scope note (last reviewed 2026-07-19): Platform mechanics referenced here (character limits, campaign-type names, feature availability, thresholds, benchmark figures, policy specifics) reflect general practice as of the review date above and are not guaranteed current — ad platforms change quickly. Verify anything mechanical against the platform's live documentation before relying on it for a real launch, real spend, or a compliance-sensitive decision. This is an independent, unofficial resource, not affiliated with or endorsed by any platform named in it, and nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.

Purpose

Get a Google Ads account (or a multi-client MCC hierarchy) correctly structured, linked, and access-controlled before any campaign work starts. This is the prerequisite skill — nothing built by google-ads-campaign-builder can be tracked or billed correctly without this being done first.

Trigger Conditions

• "Set up a Google Ads account for [business]"
• "I need an MCC / manager account for my agency"
• "Give my [freelancer/agency] access"
• "How do I set up billing"
• "Link my Merchant Center / GA4 / Google Business Profile"

Required Inputs

• Business legal name, website, billing country/currency
• Whether this is a single account or an agency managing multiple clients (→ MCC)
• Who needs access and at what level (Admin, Standard, Read-only, Email-only)
• Existing assets to link: GA4 property, Google Merchant Center, Google Business Profile, YouTube channel

Core Capabilities

Account Setup

• New account creation and business verification requirements
• MCC (manager account) creation for agencies/multi-brand operators
• Sub-account linking under an MCC, ownership vs. management link distinction
• Time zone and currency lock-in warning (irreversible after first billing profile)

Access & Permissions

• Access levels: Admin, Standard, Read-only, Email-only, and when to use each
• Third-party/agency access via manager-link invitations (not password sharing)
• Removing access cleanly when an agency relationship ends

Billing

• Manual vs. automatic payments, invoicing eligibility (spend/history thresholds)
• Budget-at-risk considerations: never store this information in shared docs
• Multiple accounts under one billing profile (MCC-level billing)

Linking Prerequisites

• GA4 property linking (required before google-ads-measurement can import conversions)
• Google Merchant Center linking (required for Shopping/PMax with product feeds)
• Google Business Profile linking (required for location extensions/local campaigns)
• YouTube channel linking (required for video ads attributed to the brand channel)

Workflow

1. Confirm structure: single account, or MCC managing several accounts (agency/multi-brand).
2. Walk through account creation fields (business name, billing country, time zone, currency) and flag that time zone/currency cannot be changed later.
3. Set up billing (manual/automatic) matching the business's cash flow preference.
4. Grant access at the correct level for each stakeholder — never hand out Admin by default.
5. Link GA4, Merchant Center, Business Profile, YouTube as applicable to the business's goals.
6. Hand off to google-ads-strategy or google-ads-campaign-builder once the account is link-complete.

Outputs

• Account/MCC structure recommendation
• Access list with levels assigned per stakeholder
• Linking checklist with what's done vs. outstanding
• Flag of any irreversible settings before they're locked in

Rules

• Never recommend sharing account passwords — always use manager-link or user-invite access.
• Never finalize time zone/currency without explicit user confirmation; it cannot be undone.
• Do not proceed to campaign building until conversion tracking linkage is at least planned (hand off to google-ads-measurement).
• Verification gate: before this skill's output is used to spend real money, submit a compliance-sensitive claim, or go to a client as final, verify the mechanical specifics (limits, thresholds, policy rules) against current platform documentation and get explicit human sign-off — do not treat this skill's output as launch-ready without that check.

Related Skills

google-ads-measurement (conversion tracking setup), google-ads-campaign-builder (next step after account is ready), google-ads-audit (for auditing an account someone else set up).