Linking to an existing account

Linking to an existing account

An account link is a powerful thing. When you link to another Microsoft Advertising account, you gain access and control over that account, including:

• Running campaigns
• Ability to take over billing and payment responsibilities
• Granting and removing account access by managing link requests
• Other account management activities

Conversely, if you give someone access to your account, that person—known as a direct manager—has full control to manage your account and your advertising. This includes the ability to take over billing as the bill-to customer responsible for billing and payments. Only one person can serve as the bill-to customer.

Direct managers can grant and remove account access to other direct managers by managing link requests. This means that a direct manager has the power to remove existing direct managers or add new direct managers. However, a direct manager can't remove other users on the account they're linked to (such as Super Admins, Standard Users, Advertiser Campaign Managers, or Viewers who are managed by the account owner).

You can opt to take over billing when you link to an account. When you do so, you assume responsibility for all advertising charges, including any charges that are pending when the link is established. Therefore, it's best to have an agreement in place with the current bill-to customer (which may be the account owner or another third party) before proceeding with this optional step.

Taking over billing

If you take over billing, you'll need to have a valid payment method on hand. If you plan to prepay the account or use monthly invoice billing, take note:

• If you are trying to fund a prepay account that is in a country/region that taxes online services like Microsoft Advertising, we might be required to deduct tax from the prepay amount. Here are tax requirements for each country/region.
• For a monthly invoice account, you'll need to create an insertion order to serve ads, or else the account will be paused. If your account manager or Microsoft Advertising support creates a linking request on your behalf, it will include an insertion order that you can pre-approve. The insertion order becomes active on its effective date only if the account link is accepted. Learn more about insertion orders.

Keep in mind

Before you link to another account, you'll need to work with the account owner to have a few things ready:

• Have the account number of the account you'd like to link to.
• Determine the start date, which can be immediate or scheduled for a later date.
• Agree on who is responsible for billing.

Link to one account

To link to one account:

1. From the top menu, select Tools > Accounts.

   If you're using the new Microsoft Advertising navigation, from the navigation menu on the left, select Tools > Accounts.

2. Select Accounts Summary > Requests.
3. Select Link to account.
4. Under Linking details, enter the Account number.
   The account number is an 8-digit mix of numbers and letters.
5. Enter the Start date, which is the date you want to start managing the account.
6. Add an optional Note, which you can use as a helpful note to the account owner.
7. Select Send request if you don't wish to take over billing, or select I will take over billing for this account for Who pays.
8. Select How you pay (prepay, postpay threshold, or monthly invoice) and What you pay with (your payment method).
   For monthly invoice accounts, we encourage you to create an insertion order so that the account will continue to serve ads even as the management responsibilities change hands.
9. Select Send request.

We'll send an email to the account owner, notifying them of the linking request. The owner has 30 days to accept the request. After 30 days, the request is automatically declined.

Link to multiple accounts in one request

In a bulk link request, you can request access for up to 1000 accounts:

1. From the top menu, select Tools > Accounts.

   If you're using the new Microsoft Advertising navigation, from the navigation menu on the left, select Tools > Accounts.

2. Select Accounts Summary > Requests.
3. Select Link to account.
4. Under Linking details, enter up to 1000 account numbers in Account numbers.
   The account number is an 8-digit mix of numbers and letters.
5. Enter the Start date, which is the date you want to start managing the account.
6. Add an optional Note, which you can use as a helpful note to the account owner.
7. Select Send request if you don't wish to take over billing, or select I will take over billing for this account for Who pays.
8. Select How you pay (prepay, postpay threshold, or monthly invoice) and What you pay with (your payment method).
   For monthly invoice accounts, we encourage you to create an insertion order so that the account will continue to serve ads even as the management responsibilities change hands.
9. Select Next, and you'll see a summary of your request.
10. Correct any errors, and select then Send request.

We'll send an email to the account owner, notifying them of the linking request. The owner has 30 days to accept the request. After 30 days, the request is automatically declined.

Taking over billing

As a direct manager, you can take over billing of any account you're linked to. If you're an account owner, you can resume billing responsibilities at any time by taking over billing. The steps are the same, regardless of account ownership. Be sure you have a payment method on file before starting:

1. From the top menu, select Tools > Billing & Payments.

   If you're using the new Microsoft Advertising navigation, from the navigation menu on the left, hover over Billing and select Payments.

2. If you have multiple accounts, choose one from the account selector in the top menu.
3. In Billing summary, select Change who pays in the Who pays tile.
4. You'll be directed to a new page where you can schedule the take over, specify How you will pay (prepay, postpay threshold, or monthly invoice) and What you pay with (your payment method).
   For monthly invoice accounts, we encourage you to create an insertion order so that the account will continue to serve ads even as the management responsibilities change hands.
5. Select Submit.

Note

Unless it's scheduled for a later date, the billing take over will take place once the account owner accepts the linking request.

Cancel a pending billing take over request

You have until the day before a scheduled billing change takes place to cancel your take over request. If you don't cancel in time and the request is processed, you'll need to work with the account owner to identify a bill-to customer who can take over billing.

1. From the top menu, select Tools > Billing & Payments.

   If you're using the new Microsoft Advertising navigation, from the navigation menu on the left, hover over Billing and select Payments.

2. Select Billing Settings.
3. If you have multiple accounts, choose one from the account selector in the top menu.
4. Select Pending Change (which will include the date of the scheduled take over) next to Who pays under Payment.
5. You'll be directed to a new page, where you can cancel the pending change.

Find your account link and unlink requests

1. From the top menu, select Tools > Accounts.

   If you're using the new Microsoft Advertising navigation, from the navigation menu on the left, select Tools > Accounts.

2. Select Accounts Summary > Requests. There, you'll see a grid containing account link and unlink requests.
3. Select Received to display active requests you've received, which is the table's default view. If someone wants to link to your account, you'll see a request that contains three options:
   • View, which will display the details of the linking request
   • Approve, which will grant account access to the requester
   • Reject, which will deny account access to the requester
   
   You can also display the full history of Received account link and unlink requests by switching the filter just above the table to Show all requests.
4. Select Sent to see active requests you've sent, which is the table's default view. You can display the full history of Sent account link and unlink requests by switching the drop-down menu to Show all requests.

Verify who has access to your account

1. From the top menu, select Tools > Account access > Direct managers.

   If you're using the new Microsoft Advertising navigation, from the navigation menu on the left, hover over Settings and select Direct managers.

2. Under Access, you'll see the Account owner, as well as any Direct manager who are linked to the account.
   If you want to remove a direct manager's access to your account, select Unlink to start the process. You'll be directed to a new page where you can confirm the date of when access will be removed.

Stop managing a linked account

If you no longer want to manage someone else's account, you need to unlink from them.

Note

If you unlink from a postpay threshold or a monthly invoice account where you are the bill-to customer responsible for billing, the account will be paused for up to 3 hours. No ads will serve while Microsoft Advertising settles outstanding charges. So before you unlink, we encourage you to work with the account owner to coordinate the downtime and to identify who will serve as the new bill-to customer on the account.

1. From the top menu, select Tools > Account access > Direct managers.

   If you're using the new Microsoft Advertising navigation, from the navigation menu on the left, hover over Settings and select Direct managers.

2. Select the linked account, and then select Unlink from account.
3. Enter the Start date, which is the date you want to stop managing the account.
4. Add an optional Note, which you can use as a helpful note to the account owner.
5. Select Unlink.