Short answer
What has to be handed over when you leave an agency?
Switching agencies means taking back five assets: the domain and DNS, hosting, the analytics and Search Console properties, the ad accounts and the source files. If those were opened under the company's own identity before the decision to leave, handover is a change of permissions; if they sit in the agency's own accounts, handover becomes a negotiation.
Key takeaways
- The handover list should be prepared before leaving is on the table; your leverage is decided by who holds the access.
- If the ad account was opened inside the agency's manager account, campaign history and conversion data do not transfer; learning restarts from zero in the new account.
- If the analytics property is not transferred, the historical data goes with it and a before/after comparison becomes impossible.
- Source files (design, code where relevant, raw footage) do not have to be handed over unless the contract says so.
- The item most often forgotten in a handover is the domain's contact email: if the registration is tied to an agency employee's address, a transfer cannot even be started without access to it.
What has to come back?
The handover list and what losing each item costs
Domain and DNS
- Where it belongs
- Registered on the company's own email
- If lost
- The site can be taken down; the transfer becomes a negotiation
Hosting
- Where it belongs
- The company's account
- If lost
- A migration is needed, with downtime risk
Analytics and Search Console
- Where it belongs
- Company account, agency granted access
- If lost
- Historical data and any comparison go with it
Ad accounts
- Where it belongs
- The company's business or manager account
- If lost
- Campaign history and learning reset to zero
Source files
- Where it belongs
- The company's cloud storage
- If lost
- Design and code have to be produced again
| Asset | Where it belongs | If lost |
|---|---|---|
| Domain and DNS | Registered on the company's own email | The site can be taken down; the transfer becomes a negotiation |
| Hosting | The company's account | A migration is needed, with downtime risk |
| Analytics and Search Console | Company account, agency granted access | Historical data and any comparison go with it |
| Ad accounts | The company's business or manager account | Campaign history and learning reset to zero |
| Source files | The company's cloud storage | Design and code have to be produced again |
How should the handover run?
Make the list first, give notice second
Work out quietly which account is in whose name before leaving is on the table. Reverse the order and the leverage moves to the other side.
Duplicate access before removing any
Add the new team to every account, verify, and only then remove the old access. Done the other way round, the risk of locking yourself out is real.
Ask for files in their raw form
A PDF or a screenshot is not a handover. Ask for editable design files, repository access where relevant, and the raw footage.
Tie the final payment to the handover
An account closed before the handover completes also closes the route to recovering whatever is missing. The final instalment should be paid when the handover list is signed off.
Frequently asked
What if the agency refuses to hand over the files?
- The contract decides. If transfer of intellectual property and delivery of source files are written in, the request has a legal basis; if not, the obligation becomes arguable. That is why those two clauses belong in the contract while the relationship is good — they cannot be added once it is not.
Can an ad account be transferred?
- It depends whose name the account is in. If it is the company's own account, the handover is a change of manager access and the history is preserved. If it is a sub-account created inside the agency's manager account, the transfer depends on their consent; without it you open a new account and restart the learning period.
Sources
- 01How the Google Ads auction works — Google Ads Help, 2026
- 02How to write and submit a robots.txt file — Google Search Central, 2026
Queries this page answers
- switching agencies
- agency handover checklist
- transfer google ads account
- domain transfer from agency