To take over your ads from an agency, make sure the ad accounts, Facebook Page, Instagram account, pixel and lead forms belong to your own business and that you hold full admin access, then download your lead data and past reports before the agency leaves. Do not pause everything on day one; keep what is working running, and compare results over the same days so you can judge the change fairly.
Why ownership matters more than the agency itself
Most agencies are honest and do a fair job. The trouble starts when the assets were set up in the agency’s name, because then leaving means starting again: a new ad account with no history, a new pixel with no data, sometimes even a new Page. Years of results can stay behind with the agency, through nobody’s bad intent.
The rule is simple and worth applying even if you never plan to leave: your business owns the accounts, and the agency is given access to them. Not the other way round.
💡 If the agency owns the ad account, you are renting your own advertising history. Check ownership now, while the relationship is good, not on the day you want to leave.
What should you own? A checklist
| Asset | What “you own it” means | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| Meta business portfolio | Your business created it; you are a full admin | Meta Business Settings, People |
| Meta ad account | Owned by your business portfolio, not shared from the agency’s | Business Settings, Ad accounts, Owner |
| Facebook Page and Instagram account | Owned by your portfolio; you have full control | Business Settings, Pages / Instagram accounts |
| Pixel and website data | Created in your portfolio and installed on your site | Events Manager, data source owner |
| Lead forms | Built on your Page, so leads sit with your Page | Page publishing tools or Leads Center |
| Google Ads account | You are an admin on the account itself, not only on the agency’s manager account | Google Ads, Admin, Access and security |
| Google Analytics and tag manager | Your login is an administrator | Admin settings in each tool |
| Billing | Your card or invoicing in your company’s name | Billing settings on each platform |
If any line shows the agency as owner, ask them to transfer it or to add your business as owner before anything else. Many platforms allow this, and a good agency will do it without fuss.
What to ask for before the last invoice
- 1Full admin access for at least two people in your business, so one person leaving cannot lock you out.
- 2Ownership transfer of any asset still in the agency’s name.
- 3An export of every lead from every lead form, with dates, from the start. Lead form data is not kept forever, so download it now.
- 4Monthly reports for the whole period, plus the campaign names and what each was for.
- 5Every ad image, video and the text used, in a shared folder.
- 6Any customer lists that were uploaded, with confirmation of where they came from.
- 7A note of anything paused deliberately and why, so you do not switch on something that failed for a reason.
- 8Confirmation that no payment method of theirs remains on your accounts, and that you are not still billed through them.
Should I switch everything off on day one?
No. Switching every campaign off on the day the agency leaves is the most common and most expensive mistake. You lose the leads that were coming in, you lose the learning those campaigns have built, and you have nothing to compare your new approach against.
A calmer way: keep the best-performing campaign running unchanged, start your new campaigns alongside it, and compare over the same days. After two to four weeks, move budget towards whichever is producing better leads at a better cost. That is fair to the agency’s work and fair to whatever replaces it.
How to compare old and new campaigns fairly
Same days
Compare results from the same dates. Weeks differ because of holidays, weather and paydays; side by side removes that noise.
Same goal
Compare lead-form campaigns with lead-form campaigns. A message campaign and a form campaign count different things.
Leads by arrival
Count leads on the day they arrive, so every report agrees with what you actually received.
Quality, not just cost
Call a sample from each side. A cheaper lead that never answers is not cheaper.
One honest example. In October 2026 a UK company selling professional analysis devices to beauty, fitness and hair businesses ran an agency’s campaigns and Adyft-built lead-form campaigns in the same ad account at the same time. On the days compared side by side, the Adyft-built lead forms brought leads at roughly £9–13 each, against roughly £16–22 for the agency’s campaigns on those same days. The numbers are small and it was a few days, so it is an early signal, not proof. The point is the method: same account, same days, leads counted when they arrived.
What changes once the ads are back in your hands
Owning the accounts does not mean you have to do all the work yourself. It means whoever does the work, you, a freelancer, a new agency or a tool, works inside accounts you control, and you can see everything. That is the setup Adyft is built around.
Adyft builds complete Meta and Google campaigns from a short description of your business and launches them into your own ad accounts. You preview and approve every ad before launch. Each campaign is checked first, with the budget above the platform’s real minimum, the lead form or destination working and nothing published half-built. A leads campaign uses a real lead form that always asks for name and phone. Spend, leads and cost per lead are reported plainly, including when something is not working.
Ad spend goes straight to Meta and Google. Adyft charges a fixed monthly price and takes 0% of ad spend: £39, £79 or £159 a month in the UK, $49, $99 or $199 in the US. There is a 14-day free trial with no card.
When staying with an agency is the right call
Plenty of businesses should keep their agency: large budgets across many channels, brand work, video production, or simply an owner who wants a person to call. Taking ownership of your accounts is still right in all of those cases. It keeps the relationship honest and makes any future change painless.
Questions about taking ads back from an agency
Can an agency keep my Facebook ad account?
If the ad account was created in the agency’s business portfolio, they own it and can remove your access. Ask them to transfer it, or create a new one in your own portfolio and keep the old one’s reports.
How do I get my Google Ads account back from an agency?
Ask to be made an admin on the Google Ads account itself, not only through their manager account. Once you are admin, they can unlink their manager account and the account and its history stay with you.
Will I lose my results history if I change agency?
Not if the accounts are yours. History stays with the ad account and pixel. It is lost only when you have to start new accounts.
Should I download my leads before leaving?
Yes. Export every lead from every form with dates. Lead form data is not kept indefinitely on the platform, and it is your customer record.
How long should I run old and new campaigns side by side?
Two to four weeks is usually enough to see a pattern, as long as you compare the same days, the same goal and the quality of the leads, not just the cost.
Does Adyft need ownership of my accounts?
No. Adyft launches campaigns into your own ad accounts. You keep ownership, data and access, and you can remove any app’s access from your Meta or Google settings whenever you choose.
Your accounts, your data, campaigns you can see
Adyft builds and launches Meta and Google campaigns inside your own ad accounts, checked before launch and approved by you. 14-day free trial, no card, 0% of ad spend.