The short answer: before you hand client accounts to a white-label PPC contractor, check seven things: how they’re contracted, how they access accounts, how they protect your client relationships, how they report, whether they can handle tracking, how their hours overlap with yours, and how you’ll test the fit. Getting these right up front saves you from the two biggest risks: an account you don’t control, and a client who notices something’s off.
1. Contract structure: is this a business-to-business arrangement?
A corp-to-corp (C2C) contractor invoices you through their own registered company, so you’re buying a service rather than taking on an employee. That keeps billing simple and avoids employment complexity on your side. Ask for the company’s registration details and a written agreement covering scope, rates, notice period and ownership of work. If the contractor’s company is outside the US, they’ll typically provide a W-8BEN-E form instead of a W-9. Check the details with your accountant.
2. Account access: never shared logins
The accounts should always belong to you or your client. A good contractor will ask to be added through proper access:
- Google Ads: linked to your manager account (MCC), or added as a user with the right access level.
- Meta: added as a partner or user in your Business Manager, never by logging in as you.
- GA4 and Google Tag Manager: user access at the correct level.
If someone asks for your password, walk away. If they offer to run ads from accounts they own, think carefully about what happens if you part ways.
3. Confidentiality and white-label rules
Agree in writing on how invisible the contractor should be. Will they speak to your clients directly, or only to you? Can they appear on calls under your agency’s name? Ask for a non-disclosure agreement and a non-solicitation clause so your clients stay your clients.
4. Reporting you can put your logo on
Find out what reporting looks like before you sign. Ideally you’ll get a live dashboard (Looker Studio works well) that you can brand as your own, plus short written summaries that explain what changed and what happens next. If you have to translate raw exports into something client-ready every month, you’ve hired half a contractor.
5. Tracking skills, not just campaign skills
Most “underperforming” accounts I audit have a tracking problem before they have a bidding problem: duplicate conversions, missing Conversions API, broken GA4 key events, or no offline conversion imports for lead gen. Ask candidates how they’d check the conversion tracking in a new account. If the answer is vague, the optimization will be too.
6. Time-zone overlap and response times
You don’t need someone in your exact time zone. You need predictable overlap. A contractor in South Africa, for example, overlaps naturally with US Eastern and Central mornings, which is often when agencies hold internal stand-ups and client calls. Agree on response times, a regular check-in slot, and what happens when something urgent comes up after hours.
7. A trial with a clear scope
Start with a paid audit or a 60 to 90-day onboarding period on one or two accounts. That’s long enough to see how someone thinks, communicates and actually moves numbers, without committing your whole portfolio. After that, a month-to-month arrangement keeps both sides honest.
A quick checklist
- Written agreement with their registered company
- Access through MCC or Business Manager, never shared passwords
- NDA and non-solicitation in place
- Brandable dashboard and written summaries
- A clear answer on how they audit tracking
- Agreed overlap hours and response times
- Defined trial scope before scaling up
I work with US agencies on exactly this basis, as a corp-to-corp contractor through Stargaze Marketing Pty Ltd. If you’re weighing up white-label PPC support, I’m happy to walk you through how I’d slot into your team.