How to Set Up a Google Ads Account in 10 Minutes (and Hand It to Your Agency)

If you've ever hired an agency to run Google Ads for you, you've probably hit the same wall: "Send me your Customer ID and we'll get started." And you stare at the email thinking, what Customer ID? I don't have a Google Ads account. This guide is for that moment.

The steps below take about 10 minutes. The point is to get the account live and the Customer ID in your hand — so you can hand it to your agency (or to me) and we can get to work running ads. There's one critical trap in the middle of the setup that Google buries in small text. Miss it and you'll get locked into Smart Campaigns, which limits what your agency can do. Don't worry — I'll show you exactly where it is.

I'm Jason Geiman — I scaled a Christmas light install business from \$2,000 to \$1M+, sold it in 2018, and now run Christmas Lights HQ plus Christmas Lights University (43,000+ contractors). I've helped a lot of service business owners — Christmas light installers, pressure washers, painters, lawn care, HVAC, roofers — set up their first Google Ads account so I (or another agency) can run ads for them. This is the walkthrough I send them.

Before you start — what you'll need

• A business email address. Gmail is easiest because Google Ads runs on it natively. Don't use your kid's school email or an old AOL account — use something like billing@yourcompany.com.
• A business credit card for billing. Personal cards work but make expense tracking messy.
• About 10 minutes. That's it.
• Your agency's Manager (MCC) ID if they've already sent it. If they haven't, you can still finish the account first — they'll send the link request after you give them your Customer ID.

Step 1 — Go to ads.google.com and click Start now

Navigate to ads.google.com and click the big blue Start now button in the middle of the page.

If you're already signed into a Google account in this browser (you'll see your profile photo in the top right), Google will use that account. If that's not the right account for billing, sign out first or open an incognito window.

Step 2 — Sign in with the email you want this account billed to

This is the single most important decision in the whole setup, and 90% of people get it wrong. The email you sign in with becomes the owner of the Google Ads account. If you sign in with the wrong email, you have to start over from scratch.

Use a business Gmail. If your company is named "Pressure Wash Pros," create billing@pressurewashpros.com as a Google Workspace account first, then use that to sign in. If you don't have Workspace, create a free Gmail like pressurewashpros.billing@gmail.com — anything but your personal email.

Step 3 — Switch to Expert Mode (THE TRAP)

Here's the step that ruins most first-time setups. After you sign in, Google shows you a welcome screen pushing you toward "Smart Campaigns." The big blue Next button takes you into Smart Campaign mode — and once you're in, your agency can't run real campaigns for you. They're stuck with Google's autopilot.

Do not click the big blue Next button. Look at the very bottom of the page, under the buttons, for a small text link that says "Switch to Expert Mode." Click that link instead.

Step 4 — Skip the campaign creation step

Once you're in Expert Mode, Google tries one more trick: it forces you through a campaign-builder workflow. Pick an objective, build a campaign, set a budget — all before your account is even fully live.

You don't need to do any of that. Your agency will build the real campaigns. You just want the empty account.

On the "What's your campaign objective?" screen, ignore the four big objective tiles. Look just below them for a small blue text link that says "Create a campaign without a goal's guidance." Click that to skip past the campaign builder.

(Google may then still ask a couple of follow-up questions — keep clicking through and picking the most basic options. You're not actually creating a campaign, you're just getting past Google's checklist so the account can finish setting up.)

Step 5 — Confirm your business information

Google needs three things to finalize the account: your billing country, your time zone, and your currency. These three settings cannot be changed later. If you pick the wrong currency, you have to delete the account and start over on a fresh email. So go slow.

• Billing country: The country where your business is registered and pays taxes. For most U.S. service businesses, this is United States.
• Time zone: Your actual local time zone. This determines what time of day your ads run and when your reports refresh.
• Currency: Match this to your business bank account. Almost always USD for U.S. businesses. Do not pick the currency of your customers — pick the currency you'll be billed in.

Click Submit. The account is almost live.

Step 6 — Add a payment method (Google won't charge you yet)

Google now asks for a credit card. This is just to attach a payment method to the account — Google will not charge you until ads start running. You can leave the account empty for weeks or months without spending a dollar.

Use a business credit card if you have one. It makes expense tracking and tax-time accounting dramatically easier. A personal card works in a pinch but you'll regret it the first time tax season rolls around.

After you save the payment method, Google might try one more time to push you into starting a \$5/day campaign. Close that prompt. Your account is created. You're done with the setup flow.

Step 7 — Find your Customer ID (the 10-digit number)

This is the number your agency needs. It lives in the top-right corner of the Google Ads UI, just to the left of your profile photo. It's always 10 digits long, formatted as XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Copy that number. Email or text it to your agency. That's literally all they need to send you a manager link request.

Step 8 — Accept the manager link request from your agency

Within a few minutes of you sending the Customer ID, your agency will send a "manager link" request from inside their MCC (Manager Account). You'll get an email from Google about it, and you can also find it inside your Google Ads UI.

To find the request inside Google Ads:

1. Click Tools & Settings (gear icon, top toolbar)
2. Under Setup, click Account access
3. Click the Managers tab
4. You'll see a pending invitation card with your agency's name. Click Accept.

That's it. Your agency now has access to build, launch, and manage campaigns inside your account. You keep full ownership — they have permission to act on your behalf, and you can revoke that permission at any time from the same screen.

What happens next

You don't have to do anything else. Your agency will:

1. Build the first campaign (search ads usually — going after the keywords your customers are typing into Google)
2. Set up conversion tracking on your website so they can see which clicks turn into phone calls, form fills, and sales
3. Set a starting budget you both agree on
4. Launch the campaign
5. Optimize based on what's working (this is the part where good agencies separate themselves from bad ones — they actually watch the data and adjust)

You'll get reports on what's running, what's converting, and what your cost-per-lead looks like. The first 4-6 weeks are usually a learning phase while Google figures out who responds to your ads — don't panic if early results look noisy. Things stabilize.

Common questions

Do I have to pay Google directly?

Yes. Google bills the card you attached, not your agency. Your agency manages the campaigns but the ad spend goes directly from Google to your card on file. The agency typically charges a separate management fee (usually a flat monthly or a percentage of spend) on top of what Google charges.

How much should I budget for ads?

For most local service businesses, \$1,000-\$3,000/month is a reasonable starting budget for Google search ads. That gets enough data flowing for the campaign to optimize. Less than \$500/month is usually too thin to learn anything useful. Your agency will give you a budget recommendation based on your service area and the cost-per-click in your industry.

What if I want to revoke my agency's access later?

Same screen. Tools & Settings > Account Access > Managers, find your agency in the list, click Remove. Their access disappears instantly. Your account, your campaigns, your data all stay — you just take back exclusive control.

I clicked Next instead of Switch to Expert Mode. What now?

You can usually switch out of Smart Campaigns later by going to Tools & Settings > Setup > Preferences and turning on Expert Mode. If that doesn't work or you've made it too far into the Smart Campaign flow, the cleanest fix is to create a new Google Ads account on a different email and start over. The first account stays "stuck" but it doesn't hurt anything — just unused.

Can I set up Google Ads myself without an agency?

Technically yes. Realistically, most service business owners burn \$2,000-\$5,000 in their first few months learning what an agency would do correctly on day one. Google's interface is built to push you toward broad-match keywords, autopilot bidding, and Display network targeting — all of which look great in Google's pitch and burn cash for local service businesses. A decent agency pays for itself inside the first 60-90 days. A bad agency costs you twice — once for the management fee and once for the wasted ad spend.

About the author

Jason Geiman is the founder of Christmas Lights HQ (wholesale Christmas light supplies) and Christmas Lights University (43,000+ contractor community). He scaled a Christmas light installation business from \$2,000 to \$1M+ with four crews before selling in 2018, and now helps service business owners — Christmas light installers, pressure washers, painters, lawn care, HVAC, roofers — set up the marketing infrastructure to grow. Jason is a firefighter, ASE/EVT certified technician, EMT, and hazmat responder.