What Is a Google Ads Agency Account (MCC) and How Does It Work?

A Google agency ad account — officially a Google Ads Manager Account (MCC) — is a free Google Ads account type that allows agencies, advertisers, and businesses to manage multiple Google Ads accounts from a single login.

Google calls it a Manager Account. The industry still calls it MCC — My Client Center. The name from Google's documentation (Manager Accounts overview) makes the distinction clear: this is a management account, not an advertising account. You cannot run campaigns from an MCC. You run campaigns from the individual accounts linked to it.

What an MCC includes

Cross-account management. From the MCC dashboard, you can view and manage all linked accounts. Switching between accounts takes one click. You can view a consolidated performance dashboard that shows metrics across every account, or drill into an individual account's detailed reports.

Google's MCC documentation emphasizes that cross-account reporting is the feature most agencies use daily: the ability to see which accounts are underperforming or over-performing without logging into each one separately.

Granular access control. MCC supports three permission levels:

This tiered permission model allows agencies to give junior team members campaign access without exposing billing, and to give clients read-only access to see their own performance.

Bulk operations. MCC supports making changes to multiple accounts simultaneously — adjusting budgets across accounts, applying the same negative keyword list, or pausing campaigns during a policy update. Google's bulk operations feature processes changes across up to 1,000 accounts in a single action.

Account creation. You can create new Google Ads accounts directly from your MCC. New accounts are automatically linked to the manager and can be configured with default settings before you assign them to a client or team.

The client ownership structure

The most important structural feature of Google Ads MCC is that the client always retains ownership. Here is how it works:

1. The agency creates an MCC using a fresh email address that has never been used for an individual Google Ads account.

2. The agency sends a linking request to the client's Google Ads account using the client's 10-digit Customer ID.

3. The client accepts the request from within their own Google Ads account.

4. The client can revoke the agency's access at any time — without the agency's involvement.

Google's policy is explicit: the account belongs to the advertiser, not the agency. This is a protection for the advertiser that is harder to replicate on other platforms. If the relationship ends, the client keeps their account, their campaign history, their conversion tracking, and their quality score data.

Portcast provides Google Ads agency accounts through the same customer-owned structure: the account is opened and delegated to the advertiser's Google account. We do not retain ownership or control after delegation. This is the difference between an asset and a dependency — and it is the reason we publish our account model openly rather than leaving it ambiguous.

The linking process for Google Ads Manager Accounts is straightforward but requires the client's active participation. Google does not allow agencies to unilaterally take control of client accounts.

Step-by-step linking process

Step 1: Create the MCC. Go to Google Ads Manager Account setup and create your MCC. If you are looking for a qualified accountant or Google Ads agency near me to manage your campaigns, the MCC structure means you can grant access to a remote agency regardless of geographic proximity — no local office visit required but finding a good accountant Google Ads agency near me that understands your vertical still matters for compliance and strategy. Use a fresh email address — one that has never been used for a standalone Google Ads account. If you use an email that already has a Google Ads account associated with it, the MCC creation will fail or create conflicts.

Step 2: Get the client's Customer ID. Each Google Ads account has a 10-digit Customer ID, formatted as `123-456-7890`. The client can find this in the top-right corner of their Google Ads dashboard under Account Settings.

Step 3: Send a linking request. From your MCC dashboard, navigate to Accounts and select "Link existing account." Enter the client's Customer ID and select the permission level you need (admin for full management, standard for campaign-only access).

Google's support documentation specifies that the client will receive the linking request in their Google Ads account under "Notifications" and must manually approve it.

Step 4: Client approves the request. The client logs into their Google Ads account, goes to "Notifications" or "Access and Security," and approves the linking request. Once approved, the agency can see and manage the account through their MCC.

Step 5: Configure access for your team. Once the client account is linked, assign your internal team members appropriate permission levels. Each team member needs their own Google account to be added to the MCC.

What happens after linking

• The client account appears in your MCC dashboard alongside all other linked accounts.
• You can view performance data, create campaigns, and manage settings — subject to the permission level granted.
• The client retains full control of their billing, their account settings, and their ability to revoke your access.
• If the client revokes access, the account disappears from your MCC immediately. No campaign data, no conversion data transfers to your MCC.

Common linking issues

Email conflict. If your MCC was created with an email already associated with a Google Ads account, the linking process may fail. Create a dedicated email for MCC management.

Pending requests. If a linking request stays in "pending" status for more than 30 days, Google expires it. The client needs to check their notifications and approve within the window.

Multiple MCCs. A single Google Ads account can be linked to multiple MCCs (for example, an in-house manager and an external agency), but each link request must be individually approved by the account owner.

Portcast handles the linking process as part of onboarding: we provision the account, delegate access to the advertiser's Google account, and confirm the link is active before any ad spend begins. We do not take control of existing accounts — the account is opened as a new, separate asset that the advertiser owns from day one.

A Google ad agency account typically uses either consolidated or separate billing. Consolidated billing is an optional Google Ads MCC feature that changes who pays for the campaigns and how invoices are structured.

How consolidated billing works

In the standard model — called "separate billing" — each client account pays for its own campaigns. The client enters their own payment method. Google sends invoices directly to the client. The agency never handles payments.

In the consolidated billing model — called "Manager Defined Spend" or MDS — the manager account pays for all linked client accounts. Google sends a single invoice to the agency, and the agency is responsible for collecting payment from each client.

Google Ads Help documents that consolidated billing is available to MCC accounts that meet specific qualification criteria — typically based on the total spend managed through the MCC and the agency's payment history with Google.

When to use consolidated billing

Consolidated billing makes sense if:

• You manage clients who do not want to set up their own billing with Google.
• You want to offer net payment terms to your clients and handle the billing relationship yourself.
• You need centralized visibility into total spend across all accounts for your own financial reporting.

When to avoid consolidated billing

Consolidated billing adds risk. The agency becomes responsible for paying Google regardless of whether the client has paid the agency. If a client defaults, the agency still owes Google the full amount.

For most advertisers, separate billing (client pays Google directly) is the simpler and lower-risk option. The client maintains direct control of their ad spend, and the agency does not take on financial liability.

What changes with billing structure

Portcast does not publish cashback terms — they depend on platform, volume, and advertiser qualification. Our AM discloses the exact terms during the fit review. The model we use is transparent, prepaid, and client-controlled: we open the account, the client prepays into their wallet, and the client controls allocation through their dashboard.