How do I check an online store’s ad accounts before buying?
To check an online store’s ad accounts, ask for read-only access, compare spend with sales over time, look for past warnings or suspensions, and find out whose personal profile or payment card each account sits on. Then plan how each account moves to you at handover.
If an online store’s sales depend on paid ads, a buyer needs to see how that engine runs and whether it can be handed over. The buying answer and the due-diligence guide mention ad accounts in passing.
Ask for read-only access
Ask the seller to give you read-only access to each ad account, or to share screens while you look. Check which platforms are used and which campaigns drive orders. Compare what the seller says with what the account shows. Never ask for the seller’s login and password; ask the seller to add you as a user instead.
Compare spend with sales over time
Look at ad spend next to sales across a long stretch, not a single good month. Ask what happened when spend went up or down, and whether sales held when ads were paused. If sales fall away without ads, the store depends on them. Your accountant can help you read the numbers and judge how reliable they are.
Look for warnings and suspensions
Ask whether any account has had policy warnings, rejected ads or a suspension, and how the seller dealt with them. A history of trouble can mean an account is more fragile than it looks. Ask how many accounts there are, and whether any were opened under another name to get around a past problem.
Find out whose name each account is in
- Is each account tied to a business profile or to the owner’s personal profile?
- Whose payment card pays for the ads?
- Which accounts can be transferred, and which have to be rebuilt?
- Who else, such as a freelancer or agency, has access?
Related reading
15 pages on the same subject, grouped by topic.
Selling
- Expert answerWhat changes hands when I sell my online shop business in Canada?
- Expert answerWhat happens to an indemnity if the seller dissolves the company?
- Expert answerWhat if the seller’s numbered company has no assets left?
- Expert answerCan I split my business into two companies before selling?
- Expert answerHow do I move my industrial supply store’s online catalogue to the next owner?
Buying
- Expert answerDo indemnities survive if the buyer amalgamates the target company?
- Expert answerWhat product-safety and pricing rules should a buyer check before buying a dollar store in Canada?
- Expert answerHow do I check a sporting goods store’s team and league sales accounts?
- Expert answerHow do I check where an online store’s website traffic really comes from?
Due diligence
- Expert answerHow do I find undisclosed debts and personal guarantees before buying a business?
- Expert answerWhat happens to gift cards and deposits when a store sells?
- Expert answerIs GST/HST charged when a non-resident sells a business in Canada?
- Expert answerDo you need a licence to be a business broker in Canada?
Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
- 03Office of the Privacy Commissioner of CanadaGovernmentPIPEDA requirements in brief
- 04Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentUnderstanding post-merger operational integration
Deavo is an advertising and listings platform, not a brokerage, law firm or valuation firm. This page is general information, not legal, tax, accounting or valuation advice, and rules differ by province. Confirm anything you rely on with a qualified professional before you act on it.