A billing transfer, also known as "Change who pays", is the process of moving the billing ownership of a Google Ads account from one Payments profile to another. The responsibility to pay for that account’s advertising costs will be moved from the previous Payments profile to the new Payments profile.
Depending on where the Ads account is moving, you can perform one of the following transfer types:
- Internal billing transfer: When you need to move an account within your existing Google Ads Manager account hierarchy and change the payments profiles for individual accounts. During this process, all the Ads accounts under the previous Payments profile needs to move to a new paying manager account that belongs to the new agency.
- External billing transfer: When you need to move an account to a new paying manager outside your current hierarchy.
This article explains the requirements, scenarios, and steps to complete each kind of billing transfer.
On this page
- Before you begin
- When to use an internal billing transfer
- When to use an external billing transfer
- How to make a billing transfer
- Next steps
Before you begin
Glossary
- Paying manager: A manager account that controls monthly invoicing setups used by Ads accounts in a hierarchy.
- Change who pays or Billing Transfer: The transfer of billing ownership of a Google Ads account from one payments profile to another.
- Link/Unlink Payment Profile: Connecting your manager account to a payments profile to turn on billing actions like creating budgets or viewing invoices.
Requirements
Before you can start the billing transfer process, check that you meet these requirements:
| Access levels: Log in to the Ads account through the current Paying manager . You must have Admin, Standard, or Billing-only access on the Ads account in order to enable the "Change who pays" option. If you’re unsure who the paying manager is, check the Billing " Settings " page. | |
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Payments profile linking: Make sure the new Payments profile is linked to your Ads Manager account if you are moving the account around within your existing account hierarchy. Linking the Payments profile enables billing actions like creating budgets or viewing invoices. Learn how to Link your manager account to a payments profile on monthly invoicing . |
If you need additional assistance with your billing setup, contact Support .
When to use an internal billing transfer
Use an internal billing transfer for scenarios where the future paying manager is already within your existing account hierarchy. For example:
- Company restructure between regional entities: You need to move an Ads account’s billing from a US-based entity to a regional entity for tax purposes.
- Company acquisition: Your company acquired a new company and needs to move the new company’s billing into your Payments profile.
- Hierarchy reorganization: You need to move a child Ads account from a sub-manager (Sub-MCC) invoice setup to a top-level manager (Top-MCC) invoice within the same Payments profile.
When to use an external billing transfer
Use an external billing transfer when you need to move an account to a new paying manager that is outside your current hierarchy. For example:
- Agency transitions:You have a client account that is moving to a new agency and you need to transfer the client’s billing from your Payments profile to the new agency’s Payments profile.
For more detailed instructions on agency to agency transfers, refer to the following articles:
- Learn how to Transfer your client account to another agency .
- Learn how to Approve or decline incoming billing transfer requests .
How to make a billing transfer (change who pays)
- Go to Accounts
in your Google Ads manager account .
- Select Budgetsin the left menu.
- From the “Payments account” column, select a client account to edit.
- After you are in the child account, select Billing transfersin the left menu.
- Select the pencil icon
or select Change who pays.
- Note: If the pencil icon or the "Change who pays" option is greyed out, it could be due to several reasons:
- You are not logged in as an admin of the account's current paying manager. Verify the paying manager on the client account's "Billing settings" page and log in through that manager account.
- The current and future profiles are not linked to the paying manager account . Ensure the profiles are linked.
- Note: If the pencil icon or the "Change who pays" option is greyed out, it could be due to several reasons:
- Select Internal Billing Transferor External Billing Transfer.
- Choose a date for the transfer to go into effect, or select As soon as possible.
- Next to "Billing configuration", choose Select existing billing setupor Create new billing setup.
- Select existing billing setup: A new window will open where you can select an existing billing setup.
- Note:Only billing setups associated with your manager account (or any manager account below that) are displayed. If the desired setup isn't shown, you will need to verify who's the paying manager for. This action will add this account to a consolidated invoice.
- Create a new billing setup: You can search for a new payments profile that is already linked to your manager account.
- Note: Only payment profiles already linked to your manager account are displayed. If the desired profile isn't shown, you will need to link it before continuing. Learn how to Link your manager account to a payments profile on monthly invoicing .
- Select existing billing setup: A new window will open where you can select an existing billing setup.
- Select Save and continue.
- On the "Budget setup" page, enter your budget details.
- Select Save and finish.
Next steps
Accept the invitation email: The admin or primary contact of the destination payment profile or Google Ads account will receive emails to accept the billing transfer. For example, Account Transfer Agreement, Budget Agreement, or Service Agreement. These invitations must be accepted to finalize the transfer. It is important to act on these emails promptly.
