Lesson 2: Account Setup, Billing and Access

Why setup matters before you spend £1

In Level 1 you saw how the ad auction decides who appears and what they pay. Before you can take part in that auction you need an account, and some of the choices you make in the first ten minutes can never be changed. If you get them wrong you have to start a new account.

We will build two example accounts throughout this course:

• Brightwater Plumbing: a local plumber in Leeds who wants phone calls and booked jobs.
• Fern & Fold: a small online stationery shop that ships across the UK.

Both are UK businesses, pay in pounds and work on London time.

Steps below are based on Google Ads Help, read on 20 October 2026. Google changes these screens often, so labels may differ slightly.

Task 1: Create the account in Expert Mode

By default, Google Ads walks new users through a simplified Smart Mode setup that pushes you to build and launch a campaign straight away. You have no keywords, no tracking and no plan yet, so that campaign would spend money before you can measure anything. Skip it.

Do this for each business:

1. Sign in at ads.google.com with a Google account the business owns. Use a company address such as ads@brightwaterplumbing.co.uk, not one person's private Gmail.
2. On the first campaign screen, find the small link Switch to Expert Mode and click it.
3. Choose Create an account without a campaign.
4. On the account information screen, check the billing country, time zone and currency (see Task 2) before you click Submit.
5. Stop there. Campaigns come later in the course.

If a campaign does get created by mistake, pause it straight away so it cannot spend.

Task 2: Set the permanent settings correctly

Think of these settings as the foundations of a house: easy to get right at the start and very expensive to change afterwards.

Why the time zone matters: your daily budgets, ad schedules and all time-based reports run on the account's time zone. If Brightwater wants ads shown only 7am to 7pm, the wrong time zone shifts those hours.

Task 3: Set up billing and the payments profile

The payments profile holds the legal name, address and payment methods. It is shared with other Google products, so the details must match the business for tax and verification purposes.

Do this:

1. Choose the profile type Business and enter the registered business name and address.
2. Add a payment method.
3. Choose a payment setting. Which ones you are offered depends on your billing country and currency:
   • Automatic payments: Google charges you after your ads run, on the first day of each month or when your spending reaches a set amount (the threshold), whichever comes first. This is the simplest choice for most small businesses.
   • Manual payments: you pay in advance, and your ads stop once that credit is used up. This is good for Fern & Fold if it wants a strict cap on cash flow, but ads can stop without warning.
   • Monthly invoicing: Google gives you a line of credit and sends a monthly invoice. Only accounts that qualify can use it, and setting it up needs an Admin user.
4. Send VAT invoices and receipts to whoever does your books (see Task 4).

Task 4: Give people the right level of access

Never share your login. Invite each person with their own Google account and give them the lowest level they need, the same way you would give a cleaner a front-door key but not the key to the safe.

The five access levels:

• Admin: full control, including managing users, linking accounts, accepting manager-account requests and all billing changes. Keep this for the business owner, plus one trusted backup.
• Standard: can edit campaigns and run reports, but cannot manage user access. This suits a freelancer or agency staff who run the ads.
• Read-only: can view campaigns, billing and reports, but cannot change anything. This suits a business partner who wants to watch performance.
• Billing: can manage payment methods, make payments and see billing reports, but cannot edit campaigns. This suits your bookkeeper.
• Email-only: receives notification emails and reports only.

Do this:

1. Go to Admin, then Access and security.
2. Click the plus (+) button.
3. Enter the person's email address and pick their access level.
4. Click Send invitation. They must accept it.

Agencies usually manage clients from a manager account. They send a link request, and an Admin on your account accepts it. Make sure you stay an Admin. Do not hand the agency the only Admin access to your own account.

If an account has more than 3 administrators, Google applies multi-party approval: adding or removing users or changing someone's role must be approved by another administrator within 20 days. These requests appear as in-product notifications, not emails.

Task 5: Turn on 2-step verification

Google Ads accounts are a common target for hijackers, because a stolen account can spend your money fast. 2-step verification asks for a second check, such as a code or security key, as well as your password.

Do this for every user:

1. Go to Admin, then Access and security.
2. Open the Security tab.
3. Under Verification during sign-in, open the 2-Step Verification drop-down and select Turn on.

An authenticator app is more secure than text-message codes. Google may also ask you to confirm sensitive actions, such as adding users, with a passkey. Google support often asks for 2-step verification to confirm who you are.

Your task and checklist

Set up accounts for Brightwater Plumbing and Fern & Fold (or your own business), then tick off each item:

• Signed in with a business-owned Google account
• Switched to Expert Mode and created the account without a campaign
• Currency set to GBP and time zone to London before submitting
• Payments profile set as Business, with the correct UK name and address
• Payment setting chosen (automatic or manual)
• Owner plus one backup set as Admin; everyone else at the lowest level they need
• Agency linked through its manager account, with you still an Admin
• 2-step verification turned on for every user

Key takeaways

• Switch to Expert Mode and create the account without a campaign so you don't spend money before you have a plan.
• Currency, time zone, payments profile type and country are permanent. Check them before you click Submit.
• Automatic payments charge you after ads run. Manual payments are prepaid, and ads stop when the credit runs out.
• Give each person their own login at the lowest access level they need, and keep Admin with the business.
• Turn on 2-step verification for every user under Admin, then Access and security.