Free · printable · no email
The ownership checklist.
Eleven checks, about a minute each, that tell you exactly what stops working if you part ways with your agency. From part 2 and part 3 of Inside the Black Box.
The accounts
| Asset | You own it if… | Own it? |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Your email is Admin; the account is not under an agency manager account (MCC) you can't leave; billing profile is yours | |
| Google Business Profile | You are Primary owner — not Manager, not Owner-but-not-primary | |
| Local Services Ads | The LSA account sits under a manager account you control | |
| Meta Business Manager | Ad account and pixel are owned by your Business Manager | |
| Analytics / Tag Manager / Search Console | Properties live in your Google account; the agency is a user | |
| Tracking phone numbers | Provisioned in an account that bills to you, or portable to you in writing | |
| Email marketing list | You can export every contact today |
The website
| Asset | You own it if… | Own it? |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | Registered to your company, in a registrar account you can log in to. The single most important row on this page | |
| Hosting | You can log in and download the complete site | |
| Site files & content | The contract says design, code, copy and images are yours to take — not "an export" | |
| No platform clause | The contract does not say "proprietary platform", "license", or "buyout" near the word website |
Most owners check two or three boxes the first time. Nothing here is irreversible — but fix it while you're a paying customer, not after you've given notice. The email that fixes it is in part 2; the 30-day exit plan is part 11.
Want us to run the checks with you?
The free audit is read-only: we look, we tell you what we'd fix, you decide.