Someone is waiting on you. Maybe it is a new employee who needs to edit campaigns, a bookkeeper who wants to see the charges, or an agency that cannot start until it gets in. You need to give someone access to your Google Ads account, and you would like to do it without handing over your password, your billing, or the account itself. You can. Google built individual invitations and manager account links for exactly this, so nobody needs your login. The part that takes thought is choosing the level, because the names are close together and the powers behind them are not. Pick too low and the person is stuck. Pick too high and they can change who else has access. The steps below take about ten minutes and leave you in control.
Key Takeaways
Open Admin, then Access and security, select the plus button, enter the person's email, choose a level, and send the invitation. They accept from their own Google Account.
Standard covers campaign editing. Admin adds user management, manager link decisions and advertiser verification, so give it only to someone you trust with those powers.
An agency's manager account can work in your account without owning it. Ownership is a separate setting, and you can remove it by unlinking.
Google recommends at least one additional administrator, so one person leaving cannot lock the business out.
How do you give someone access to your Google Ads account?
Sign in to your Google Ads account with an Admin login. Only Admins can invite people; Standard users cannot. Open Admin, then Access and security, and select the plus button. Enter the person's email address, choose an access level, and select Send invitation. The person must use a Google Account, or create one, and accept the invitation from their email. Until they accept, the invitation is pending, not active access, so a "she still cannot get in" message usually means the email has not been accepted yet.
Google renames and reshuffles menu items from time to time, so if you do not see the exact words above, look for the section named Access and security. The Google Ads Help page on managing access is the current reference for the clicks.
The email is the whole trick. Because each person signs in with their own Google Account, you can see who did what, change their level later, and remove them without touching anyone else. Sharing a password does none of that. It leaves you with one login that several people know, no way to remove just one of them, and a security setup that may ask for a code on your phone every time someone signs in.
Which access level should you choose?
Google Ads currently lists five levels: Email-only, Billing, Read-only, Standard and Admin. Each one adds to what the person can see or change. The table below summarizes what Google's access levels page lists for each.
| Level | What it covers | Good fit |
|---|---|---|
| Email-only | Notification emails and reports, no account sign-in work | Someone who only needs to read monthly reports |
| Billing | Viewing and editing billing information, billing reports, payment methods and payments | A bookkeeper who pays or reconciles invoices |
| Read-only | Viewing campaigns, planning tools, billing information, users, managers, product links and reports; no editing of campaigns | An owner's partner, an auditor, or a person learning the account |
| Standard | Everything in Read-only, plus campaign editing and some payment actions | An employee or agency that runs the campaigns |
| Admin | Everything in Standard, plus user management, access-level changes, invitation cancellation, product link management, manager link approval or rejection, unlinking managers, payment profile editing and advertiser verification | The owner, plus one trusted backup |
Two details in that table decide most cases. First, Standard is the level that lets someone edit campaigns. If the job is to write ads, change budgets or adjust keywords, Standard is enough, and Admin adds powers that the job does not need. Second, Admin is not a synonym for "the person who manages our campaigns." Admin controls who else gets in and which manager accounts are linked. Give that to someone who works for you daily, not to a contractor whose engagement may end.
Google's own security guidance says to grant the minimum access needed for each user. That is the rule to follow here. If you are unsure, start one level lower. An Admin can raise a person's level in seconds by hovering over their current level in the Access and security list and picking a different one.
What should an employee, a bookkeeper, or a freelancer get?
Match the level to the task, not to how much you trust the person. Trust is not the issue; a person with more power than the job needs simply has more ways to cause an accident.
An employee who writes ads and adjusts budgets gets Standard. An employee who only checks results gets Read-only. A bookkeeper who pays invoices or downloads billing reports gets Billing, which covers payment methods and payments without touching campaigns. A partner, a board member or an auditor who needs to look around gets Read-only. Someone who should only see the report in their inbox gets Email-only. A freelancer who runs your campaigns gets Standard, with the understanding that you can remove them when the contract ends.
| Person | Task | Level to start with |
|---|---|---|
| Employee | Edits ads, budgets and keywords | Standard |
| Employee | Reviews performance only | Read-only |
| Bookkeeper | Pays invoices, downloads billing reports | Billing |
| Freelancer | Runs campaigns for a set period | Standard |
| Business partner | Needs full control alongside you | Admin |
| Advisor | Reads reports by email | Email-only |
One limit on billing is worth knowing before you promise a bookkeeper anything. Billing access inside Google Ads is separate from who is a user of the Payments profile behind it. Google says users cannot directly add or remove Payments profile users from inside Google Ads, and that the Payments profile primary contact, or an eligible user on the same domain, has to contact Google support for those changes. See Google's payment settings page for the details, and confirm what your bookkeeper can see in your own Payments profile before you plan around it.
How does an agency get into your account?
An agency has two routes, and they work differently. You can invite the agency person by email exactly as you would an employee, usually at Standard. Or the agency can use a manager account, which is a separate Google Ads account that sits above client accounts and lets an agency work in many of them from one place. You can read how that works in Google's page on manager accounts.
With the manager route, you do not send anything. The agency sends you a link request, using your Customer ID, from inside its manager account. You then see the request in your own account and accept it as a user who has permission to approve manager links. After you accept, your account appears inside the agency's manager account. Google lays out the agency side in its guide to linking accounts to a manager account.
Ask the agency which route it wants, and ask for its manager Customer ID before you accept anything. Never send a password. If an agency tells you it needs your login to start, tell it you will invite or link instead, and wait for that request.
The manager route is often easier for the agency, but it is not different in who controls what. Your account stays your account. Keep a note of your own Customer ID, because you will be asked for it again if you ever change agencies.
Does linking an agency's manager account give it ownership?
No. A manager account linked to an existing client account does not automatically become its owner. Ownership is a separate setting, and Google explains it on its page about ownership of client accounts. If ownership is enabled, the manager gains broad administrative and data access privileges. Google says the client account still owns its data and can remove ownership access by unlinking, and it recommends making a manager the owner only when those extra privileges are required. A client account can have only one owner manager.
For ordinary campaign management, Standard access or a plain manager link is enough. The agency does not need to own your account to run it. If an agency asks to be made the owner, ask what task needs it, and agree in writing before you turn it on.
Keep ownership with the business in the way that costs nothing. Create the Google Ads account yourself, under your own Google login, instead of letting an agency create the only copy under its own manager account. Record your Customer ID. Keep billing under your control. And keep at least one Admin who belongs to your business. If you are already in a standoff over an account an agency set up, read what to do when an agency will not give you your Google Ads account.
How do you remove or change someone's access?
Open Admin, then Access and security, and find the person in the list. To remove them, open the Actions column for that row and select Remove access. To change their level, hover over their current level and pick a different one. A pending invitation can be cancelled by an Admin before it is accepted.
Removing a person and removing a manager are two separate jobs. Taking a former agency employee off your user list does not end the agency's manager link. Open the Managers section and look at what is linked. A client account can unlink a manager, as Google's unlinking page explains, and a manager can unlink a client account when the account still has at least one user or a manager with administrative ownership.
When a vendor's work ends, do both: remove their users, then review the Managers section. If your Google Business Profile has the same kind of access list, the steps are the same idea in a different place, and our posts on adding a manager to a Google Business Profile and adding an owner to a Google Business Profile cover them.
What is a ten-minute check of who has access today?
Do this once now, then again whenever a person or vendor leaves. Open your account, go to Admin, then Access and security, and work through the list.
- List every email address that appears in the users list.
- Write down each person's level next to their name.
- Confirm that at least one Admin email belongs to your business, and ideally two. Google warns that an account with only one administrator may lose access to its tags if that person becomes unavailable.
- Remove anyone who has left, including former employees, old vendors and addresses nobody recognizes.
- Check that the agency or contractor has only the level the job needs.
- Look for unexpected Admin or Billing users.
- Open the Managers section and note every linked manager account.
- Note whether any manager is marked as owner, and whether you agreed to that.
- Write down your Customer ID.
- Review billing separately if someone else pays the invoices.
Google also notes that its data processing terms call for unique user IDs, strong passwords, two-factor authentication and access lists that are watched. Each person on your list should therefore have their own login and a password they have not shared. The Google Ads data processing terms spell those expectations out.
When can you do this yourself, and when does help make sense?
You can do this yourself. Adding one trusted person at the right level is a few clicks and needs no vendor, no fee and no special software. If your account has an Admin from your business, a short user list and no manager links you do not recognize, you are done after the ten-minute check.
Help makes sense when the access screen is not the real problem. Examples include an account where nobody on your side is an Admin, a former agency that still sits in the Managers section, several managers linked at once, an agency that set up the account under its own manager account, or billing split across more than one person. In those cases, someone who knows the account can map out who has what and suggest what to change, while you keep control. Ask any helper which level they need, why, and how they will remove it when the work ends.
Final Thoughts
To give someone access to a Google Ads account, invite them by email from Admin, then Access and security, at the lowest level that covers their work. Standard is enough to edit campaigns, Billing handles payments and billing reports, and Read-only or Email-only handle viewing. An agency can use a manager link that you accept, and that link is not ownership. Keep two business-controlled Admins, record your Customer ID, and review the user list and the Managers section whenever a person or vendor leaves.
Done this way, access is easy to give and easy to take back. You can bring in a new bookkeeper on Monday, replace an agency without rebuilding anything, and know exactly who can change your budget.
If you want a second set of eyes on who can reach your account today, or you want someone to run the campaigns while you keep the Admin seat, Web Leveling can help. Our Google Ads management service keeps the Admin seat with you and ends with a clean handoff, and you can contact us about your Google Ads account to talk it through. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas.
Do you know the right Google Ads access level?
Pick an answer to begin.
1. Your new employee needs to edit campaigns and budgets but should not manage other users. Which level fits?
2. An agency sends a manager account link request. What does accepting it do?
3. Why should you keep more than one business-controlled Admin?
Frequently Asked Questions About give someone access to google ads account
How do I add someone to Google Ads?
Sign in as an Admin, open Admin, then Access and security, select the plus button, enter the person's Google Account email, choose the access level and select Send invitation. They need to accept the email invitation.
What access should I give my agency?
Standard when the agency needs to edit campaigns. Admin only if it must manage users, manager links, product links, advertiser verification or other account controls, and only after you ask why.
Does an agency need my Google password?
No. Invite the agency user or accept the agency's manager account link request. Keep your own login to yourself.
What can a Read-only user do?
Read-only lets a person view campaigns, planning tools, billing information, users, managers, product links and reports. It does not allow campaign editing.
What does Billing access allow?
It covers viewing and editing billing information, billing reports, payment methods and payments. Adding or removing Payments profile users is separate and goes through the Payments profile primary contact and Google support.
How do I remove access?
Open Admin, then Access and security, find the person, open the Actions column and select Remove access. Then check the Managers section for any linked manager account that should also come off.
Terms
Google Ads access words in this post
Tap a term to see what it means.
Admin. The highest access level, which adds user management, manager link decisions and advertiser verification to everything Standard can do.
Standard. A level that includes viewing plus campaign editing and some payment actions, but not user management.
Manager account. A separate Google Ads account, often used by agencies, that links to client accounts so one login can work in many of them.
Customer ID. The number that identifies a Google Ads account, which an agency uses to send a link request.
Owner manager. A manager account given ownership privileges over a client account; a client account can have only one.
Payments profile. The Google billing record behind an account, whose users are managed separately from Google Ads access.
