The 7-account check
Answer Yes only when your own login, not the agency's, shows the top role: Admin in Google Ads, Administrator in GA4, Owner in Search Console, Primary owner in Business Profile, full control in Meta, and your business as domain registrant.
| Account | What to check | Does your own login show it? |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Open: Admin menu, then Access and security. Find your own email in the Access level column. Role that counts: Admin. Google lists Admin as the only level that can change access levels, accept manager link requests and unlink managers. | |
| Meta Business Manager | Open: Settings of your own business portfolio. People: who has full control. Accounts, then Ad accounts: the ad account must be created or claimed in your portfolio, not requested from another one. If the screen does not say, ask the agency which portfolio created it. Role that counts: Full control of the business portfolio, with the ad account created or claimed in your portfolio. Meta says full control is the highest level, and an ad account can be in only one portfolio. | |
| GA4 | Open: Admin, then Account access management. Find your own email and its role. Role that counts: Administrator on the account. Google says you must be an Administrator to assign roles, and a role given at account level applies to every property in it. | |
| Search Console | Open: Settings, then Users and permissions. Google shows this page only to owners. Your own line should read Owner. Role that counts: Owner. Google says owners have full control and can add and remove other users. | |
| Google Business Profile | Open: Open the profile, then More Business Profile settings, then People and access. Select your own name and read Access. Role that counts: Primary owner. Google says a profile has several owners but one primary owner, and only the primary owner can transfer primary ownership. | |
| Your domain | Open: Log in at the registrar where the domain is paid for, with your own email and password. Open the registrant contact. Role that counts: Your business is the registered name holder and your own login opens the registrar account. ICANN says only the registered name holder can approve a transfer. | |
| Your site code | Open: Log in to the hosting account with your own email. Check that you can download the site files or open the site's admin screen. Role that counts: Your own hosting login, plus a full copy of the site files or an admin login to the site editor. Our rule, not a platform's |
7 rows left.
How it decides
Yes counts as held, No is a gap, and Not sure never counts because nothing is confirmed.
| If your answers are | The result is |
|---|---|
| All 7 rows Yes, no warning ticked | All held: your login holds the top role on all 7. |
| All 7 rows Yes, a warning ticked | Held with warnings. Each warning is listed. |
| At least one row No | Gaps: how many of 7 are held, each gap with what to ask for, and any Not sure row with its screen. |
| No row No, at least one Not sure | Check first: the screens to open are listed. |
| Any row unanswered | No result. Answer all 7 rows. |
| Search Console Yes, and your line reads Owner without Verified | Warning: you are a delegated owner, and access depends on a verified owner staying. |
| Search Console Yes, and Unused ownership tokens lists a token | Warning: the removed owner can re-verify while the token remains. |
| Business Profile Yes, and you became an owner under 7 days ago | Warning: you cannot yet remove other owners or transfer primary ownership. |
| A warning ticked on a row that is not Yes | Ignored. |
What it cannot tell you
- Legal ownership. Roles are not contracts, and this is not legal advice.
- Who pays. This check does not cover billing; see who owns your Google Ads account.
- Accounts outside these 7, such as email tools, call tracking or other ad platforms.
- Whether your answers are right. Answers stay in your browser; only the verdict name goes to analytics.
Our standard
Montrelia's standard: you own all 7: Google Ads, Meta Business Manager, GA4, Search Console, Google Business Profile, your domain, your site code. For the website: Hosting and domain renewal sit in your own accounts and you pay for them. We set them up. Ask us to walk you through each screen before you sign. See how we work, what you keep when you leave an agency and how to choose an agency.
Sources
| Source | What it says | Date | Who publishes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads Help: About access levels | Admin is the only level that can give access, change access levels, accept or reject manager link requests and unlink managers. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Google, which sells Google Ads. |
| Google Ads Help: About ownership of client accounts | A client account has one owner. A manager that creates the account becomes owner automatically. Client users cannot transfer ownership but can always unlink an owner manager. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Google, which sells Google Ads. |
| Google Ads Help: Manage access to your Google Ads account | Access and security is in the Admin menu, and the Access level column lists each user's level. With only one administrator, access to the account's tags may be lost if that user becomes unavailable, and Google suggests adding another. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Google, which sells Google Ads. |
| Google Analytics Help: Access and data-restriction management | Administrators can manage users and Editors cannot. You must be an Administrator to assign roles. A role given at account level applies to every property in the account. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Google, the vendor of the product it describes. |
| Search Console Help: Managing owners, users, and permissions | Owners have full control and can add and remove users. A property needs at least one verified owner. Removing an owner does not delete their verification tokens, so they can re-verify while a token remains. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Google, the vendor of the product it describes. |
| Business Profile Help: Manage owners and managers | Only owners add or remove users. A profile has several owners but one primary owner, who cannot leave before transferring primary ownership. A new owner waits 7 days before removing other owners or transferring primary ownership. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Google, the vendor of the product it describes. |
| Business Profile Help: Transfer primary ownership | Only the primary owner can transfer primary ownership: People and access, select the user, Access, Edit, Primary owner. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Google, the vendor of the product it describes. |
| Meta Business Help Center: Add an ad account to your business portfolio | An ad account created in a portfolio stays in it and cannot be deleted or transferred. An ad account can be in only one portfolio, and another business can request shared access. A new portfolio can create 1 ad account, and 3 once a campaign delivers and a payment is made. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Meta, which sells Meta ads. |
| Meta Business Help Center: Give a partner access to business assets | Only people with full control of the portfolio can add partners. A partner with full control of an asset cannot share it with another business; only the owning organization can. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Meta, which sells Meta ads. |
| Meta Business Help Center: Business portfolio and asset permissions | Full control is the highest level of access. Partial access is limited to assigned assets or tasks. | Read October 6, 2026. The page shows no date. | Meta, which sells Meta ads. |
| ICANN: Transfer Policy | The registered name holder is the only party that can approve or deny a transfer (I.A.1.1). A registrar with no self-service tool must give the holder the transfer code within 5 calendar days (I.A.5.2) and may not refuse it solely over a payment dispute (I.A.5.4). A registrar may deny a transfer within 60 days of creation (I.A.3.7.5), and must lock transfers for 60 days after a change of registrant unless the holder opted out first, where the registrar allows that (II.C.2). | Read October 6, 2026. Updated February 21, 2024; registrars had to implement it by August 21, 2025. | ICANN, which sets the policy registrars follow. Registrars, not ICANN, sell the domains. |
| Montrelia standard | You own Google Ads, Meta Business Manager, GA4, Search Console, Google Business Profile, your domain, your site code. Hosting and domain renewal sit in your own accounts and you pay for them. We set them up. | Read October 6, 2026. | Montrelia, which sells the services on this site. |
Questions people ask
Can I take back an ad account my agency created for me?
It depends on the platform. In Google Ads, a client account can always unlink a manager that owns it, if your own login has Admin. In Meta, an ad account created inside a portfolio cannot be transferred out of it, so an account made in your agency's portfolio can only be shared with you.
How fast must a registrar give me the domain transfer code?
ICANN's Transfer Policy says a registrar that offers no self-service tool must give the registered name holder the code within 5 calendar days of the request. It may not refuse the code solely over a payment dispute. The duty runs to the registered name holder, so check whose name is on the registration first.
Does removing someone from Search Console end their access?
Not always. Google says a removed verified owner can re-verify while their token remains: an HTML file, an HTML tag, a DNS record or a Google Analytics link. The Unused ownership tokens list shows what is left, and current owners are notified if a removed owner re-verifies.
Is it a problem if my agency also has the top role?
Not by itself. This check asks only whether your own login holds the role. Google says a Google Ads account with one administrator may lose tag access if that user becomes unavailable, so Google suggests adding a second administrator. Business Profile is the exception: several owners are allowed, but only one is the primary owner.
Last updated October 6, 2026