# How to onboard a new client account in one pass

> Tier: deep. Full contract: quantified decision rules and evidence requirements.

Day-one snapshot of a client's accounts across every connected platform: access verified, structure mapped, history read, risks flagged, baseline recorded.

**Intent.** Compress the first week of account discovery into one structured pass with a written baseline.

## When to use

- An agency takes over accounts.
- In-housing: the team inherits accounts from an agency.
- A new freelancer needs the lay of the land today.

## When not to use

- Access not yet granted: this skill starts after OAuth and account ticking, which are human steps by design.

## Sources

Required: Google Ads
Optional: Meta Ads, TikTok Ads, Pinterest Ads, Google Analytics 4, Search Console

## Preconditions

- The client's accounts connected and ticked, only theirs, verified via list_accounts.
- The client's stated targets collected before reading, so the baseline is judged against their number.

## Inputs

- `targets` (required): The client's KPI targets, as they state them.

## Procedure

1. Verify reachable scope on every platform: exactly the client's accounts, nothing else. — tools: `google_ads_list_accounts`, `meta_list_ad_accounts`, `tiktok_list_advertisers`, `pinterest_list_ad_accounts`
2. Health-check each connection. — tools: `google_ads_health_check`, `meta_health_check`, `tiktok_health_check`, `pinterest_health_check`, `ga4_health_check`, `gsc_health_check`
3. Map structures and settings per platform. — tools: `google_ads_get_account_details`, `google_ads_get_account_hierarchy`, `meta_get_campaign_structure`, `tiktok_get_advertiser_info`
4. Read 90 days of performance as the baseline, against the stated targets. — tools: `google_ads_get_insights`, `meta_get_insights`, `tiktok_get_insights`, `pinterest_run_report`
5. Read recent change history: what the previous team did on the way out. — tools: `google_ads_get_change_events`, `meta_get_ad_activity`
6. Record the baseline document: numbers, structure, risks, unknowns.

## Decision rules

- **When** list_accounts shows accounts that are not this client's → **conclude** Stop and fix scoping first: cross-client exposure is the one unrecoverable onboarding error.
- **When** Heavy changes appear in the last 30 days of handover → **conclude** Flag them dated: performance during transition reflects the transition, and the baseline must say so.
- **When** The stated target is far from the trailing baseline → **conclude** Surface the gap in the onboarding note; renegotiating targets on day one beats missing them for a quarter.

## Evidence requirements

- The baseline quotes every number with platform, window, currency.
- The risks list distinguishes measured findings from unknowns still to verify.

## Human approval boundary

- Nothing is changed during onboarding: the pass is read-only by intent, whatever the plan allows.
- Client communication of findings is the account lead's, with this as the annex.

## Failure modes

- Judging the previous agency on transition-period data: the dip is the handover, usually.
- Currency and timezone differences across the client's accounts corrupt the merged baseline; record each account's settings first.
- Missing history (deleted campaigns, expired change logs) reads as calm; absence of records is not absence of events.

## Output

- **Access and scope**: What is reachable, verified account by account.
- **Baseline**: 90-day numbers against stated targets.
- **Risk register**: Findings and unknowns, ranked.

## Related

- Skill: [account-audit](https://www.getmcpads.com/skills/account-audit.md)
- Skill: [agency-client-review](https://www.getmcpads.com/skills/agency-client-review.md)
- Skill: [tracking-audit](https://www.getmcpads.com/skills/tracking-audit.md)
- Guide: [campaign-audit](https://www.getmcpads.com/guides/campaign-audit.md)