What should an ads management contract include?
An ads management contract should name the platforms and campaigns in scope, who supplies and approves materials, who pays the platform, and who owns the accounts and data. Add measurement, reporting, term, exit and handover. Before comparing proposals, write down your business goals and what your own team can provide.
Separate the management fee from platform spend
Ask the agreement to show two items: the management fee, and the amount paid to the advertising platform. State who pays the platform, how spend is approved and where you can check it. When one figure appears with no definition, each side may believe it pays for something different, the service or the media.
Set a cap or an approval step for any rise in spend. Write whether a change needs written approval, who can give it and when it takes effect. The business owner should know where to see actual spend and keep suitable access to the account.
If taxes or other charges apply, check how the agreement treats them, and leave the exact financial terms to the contract both sides approve.
Define work both sides can check
Name the platforms, the type of advertising and the campaigns or accounts covered. List the expected tasks: planning, ad set-up, audience review, uploading materials, checking spend and reporting. Replace a broad phrase such as “marketing management” with a statement of what is included and what needs a separate agreement.
Say who produces images, video, copy and landing pages. One side may write the text while the other designs, or you may supply both. Name who collects approvals and checks links and claims before publication.
If the work needs a photo shoot, translation or website changes, say whether those tasks are included.
The contract as a table: who does what
| Clause | What to write | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Platforms, campaigns, tasks | Prevents argument over what was included |
| Materials | Who produces, who approves, review deadline | Stops campaigns stalling on approvals |
| Spend | Who pays the platform, cap on increases | Controls the budget |
| Account | Owner and access roles | Keeps your history if the manager changes |
| Measurement | Events, their sources, who owns tracking accounts | Defines what counts as a result |
| Reports | Dates and contents | Lets you understand what happened |
| Term and exit | Start, renewal, handover | Protects you at the end |
Name responsibilities and approvals
State who supplies information on the product, offer and audience, and who approves copy, design and the destination page. Set a review period and a way to record approval or requested changes. The person responsible for the business should approve material through the agreed process before it goes live.
Say who may change or pause a campaign. The manager needs access for the agreed tasks, while you keep ownership and account recovery. Review permissions when someone joins or leaves the team.
Use platform access roles rather than sending personal passwords, and adjust or remove a role when the need ends.
Fix ownership of accounts and files
It is clearer for the business to own its advertising accounts and give the contractor the access the work needs. On Google Ads your account is the principal and the manager is invited through access; on Meta your business account is the principal. Write down the account owner and how access and files transfer when the engagement ends. If another party owns an existing account, settle what happens to management and records before you sign.
State who owns ad materials, designs and copy after production, and how each side receives a copy. Set limits for licensed images, music and typefaces, including who supplies the licences. Access to an account does not automatically mean ownership of every original file or the right to use it elsewhere.
Agree how results are measured and reported
Choose what the campaign tracks: clicks, enquiries, orders or bookings, depending on the goal and on what can be measured. Agree the definition and source of each result, such as a website form, an order record or a tracking set-up.
Ask which attribution window and result definition each source uses, and compare them with your company records before you read a report. An ad dashboard can count one order twice or credit a campaign that did not bring it.
Set report dates and contents. A report can show platform spend, changes made, measured data and tracking limits. Do not treat a purchase value in an advertising dashboard as collected revenue or profit.
If conversion tracking is in scope, name the systems, who owns their accounts and what both sides will test. Conversion tracking can be separate from media buying. Advertising reports also need agreed data sources and fields.
A sample list of monthly report fields
- Spend per platform and campaign.
- Enquiries, orders or bookings per campaign, with the source of each figure.
- Cost per enquiry or order, calculated from the measured figures.
- Changes made this month: new ads, adjusted audiences, moved budget.
- Tracking limits: what could not be measured and why.
- Proposed decisions for next month.
Check the term, changes and exit
Set the start date and term, and write what happens if either side renews or stops. Say how changes to scope or platforms are requested and how the fee moves when tasks are added. If the business pauses, say who stops campaigns and checks billing and data.
Plan the exit: when management ends, how materials and reports are handed over, which permissions are removed or transferred and which records each side keeps. Allow a transition period if you need time to move the work. Make each obligation clear and ask a lawyer to review the agreement for your circumstances and jurisdiction.
Questions before signing
Ask who owns the ad account, how you will review spend and which tasks are included. Check who answers for content and approvals, how budget changes work and what each reported result means. If the proposal includes reporting, ask for a sample or a list of its fields.
Check what the manager needs from you: account access, product images, current stock and offer details, approval times and campaign information. If an input is late, agree its effect on the schedule. Write down how to request new work and who responds, so each addition does not create a different verbal expectation.
Read the scope of paid advertising management too. For the step after an enquiry, see our guide to customer follow-up.