This is the most consequential clause in any marketing contract and the least discussed. The question is simple: if you left your agency tomorrow, what would you walk away with?
If the answer is “I'm not sure,” read on.
The assets that must be in your name
| Asset | Why it matters | Correct setup |
|---|---|---|
| Ad account | Holds spend history and optimisation data | Your company's name; agency has access |
| Pixel / tracking | Accumulates over months and cannot be transferred | Installed on your domain, under your account |
| Brand page | Your audience and followers | You are the primary admin |
| Domain | Your website's address | Registered in your name and email |
| Hosting | Your site's files | Your account, or transferred to you |
| Analytics | Your site's performance history | Owned by you, access granted to them |
| Source files | So you can edit later | Delivered regularly, not at the end |
Why the pixel specifically matters
A pixel learns who buys from you over time. After six months it has built a real understanding of your audience that makes your campaigns cheaper and more accurate.
If that pixel sits on the agency's account, leaving means starting from zero. You don't just lose the pixel — you lose the months you paid for it to learn. Your cost per result rises immediately at the new agency, through no fault of theirs.
A pixel isn't a file you can transfer. If it isn't yours, the months you paid for are erased.
And the content?
In principle, what you paid for is yours — but there's a legal difference between a licence to use and full ownership, and a vague contract leaves room for interpretation.
Ask for an explicit clause: all deliverables become the client's property on payment. And ask for source files — PSD, AI, Figma, editing projects — not just exported images. Without source files, a small change later means redesigning from scratch.
Fonts and licences
If your brand uses a licensed typeface, the licence must be in your name. And if it was never licensed at all, that's a deferred legal problem that lands on you, not the agency.
Ask: “are the fonts in our identity licensed, and whose name is the licence in?”
How to protect yourself from day one
- Create the accounts yourself before you start — Business Manager, ad account, analytics in your name, then grant the agency access.
- Put ownership in the contract — an explicit clause per asset.
- Request source files regularly — monthly or quarterly, not at the end of the relationship.
- Keep the domain in your name and email — and don't let anyone else hold the renewal.
- Ask for an asset register — a document listing every account, its owner, and who has access.
If you're already in this situation
If you discover the agency owns things, don't panic. Most reputable agencies transfer ownership when asked calmly — it's your right and it's the normal arrangement.
If they refuse, that's your answer. An agency clinging to ownership of your assets is telling you it isn't confident you'd stay on the strength of the work.
For us this rule isn't negotiable: accounts are always in the client's name. See our pricing or talk to us.
Whose name should the ad account be in?
Yours — your company's. The agency gets partner access only. If the account is theirs, every month of pixel data and custom audiences you paid to build disappears when you leave.
Who owns the designs and content?
In principle whatever you paid for is yours, but it must be stated explicitly in the contract. Also ask for source files (PSD/AI/Figma), not just exported images — without them you can't edit anything later.
What if the agency already owns everything?
Ask calmly for a transfer. Most reputable agencies agree. If they refuse, that refusal answers the question of whether to stay with them.