How to transfer ad accounts in TikTok Business Center
The self-service ad account transfer feature empowers Business Center admins to securely relocate advertiser accounts from one Business Center to another. By transferring your ad accounts, you can shift account ownership to accommodate organizational changes.
Because this process involves sensitive billing and ownership data, strict prerequisites apply. If your ad accounts do not meet the eligibility requirements outlined below, the transfer cannot be completed. In those cases, we recommend simply creating new ad accounts in your Business Center.
Note: This feature may not be available to you yet.
Before you begin
Before initiating a transfer, review the following guidelines to ensure a successful and uninterrupted process:
Requirement Category | Details |
|---|---|
User permission requirement | You must be a Business Center admin to transfer ad accounts in your Business Center. |
Basic request requirements | • A single transfer request can include a maximum of 30 advertiser accounts. • Campaign delivery: Active campaigns within transferred accounts will pause automatically during the transition and must be manually resumed in the recipient Business Center. |
Advertiser account eligibility | The advertiser account must: • Be an auction ad account (reservation ad accounts are not eligible). • Be in "Approved" status. • Not have a TikTok Shop qualification that cannot be detached. |
Ownership and transfer restrictions | • The source Business Center must be the current owner of the advertiser account (they must have an ownership relationship). • The advertiser account cannot have another pending or scheduled transfer request. |
Recipient Business Center requirements | • Both the source Business Center and recipient Business Center must be in "approved" status. • The recipient Business Center cannot be a Creator Agency Business Center. • The recipient Business Center must have sufficient account quota. • The recipient Business Center must have enabled Payment Portfolio. • The ad account currency must match the recipient Business Center currency. • Managed advertiser accounts cannot be transferred to a self-serve Business Center. • The ad account cannot already be under the recipient Business Center. • When transferring an ad account to a recipient Business Center registered in the Chinese mainland (CN) or Hong Kong (HK), the ad account must be verified with a valid business license first. |
Payment and billing restrictions | A transfer may be blocked in any of the following scenarios: • The advertiser or billing information is incomplete. • The ad account is involved in Billing Sharing or another unsupported billing relationship. • A payment method or billing option change is currently in progress. • The payer still has an unsettled prepaid balance under a shared Payment Portfolio. • The ad account has unpaid or unbilled Auto Pay invoices. You must stop any ongoing campaigns and settle all outstanding invoices before proceeding with the transfer. • The advertiser account has an active system punishment unrelated to the transfer process. • The prepaid billing country restrictions are unmet. Japan, India, and Russia together are treated as a special country group. Transfers are blocked if one billing country is inside this group and the other is outside it. • A conflicting financial asset settlement request is in progress. |
How to transfer an ad account in TikTok Business Center
To successfully transfer an account, you must first initiate the request from the source Business Center, and then an admin must approve it from the recipient Business Center.
Initiate the transfer (Source Business Center)
To initiate an ad account transfer:
Log in to your source TikTok Business Center account.
In the left-side menu, click Accounts.
Under the All accounts tab, go to Advertiser accounts.
Click More located next to the Add advertiser account button.
Click Transfer advertiser accounts.
Enter the recipient Business Center ID, then choose to begin the transfer process immediately or schedule it for a later date.
Note: The transfer processing time varies and may take several minutes to a few hours to complete.
Select the specific ad accounts you want to transfer and click Next.
Carefully review the funds and payment details for the selected accounts, then click Next.
Note: How ad account funds are handled depends on the type of transfer:
Cross-Company Transfer: Ad account funds will not transfer to the new Business Center. Any remaining balance will be returned to the original Payment Portfolio or Business Center, and the standard refund process applies. GMV Pay will be automatically toggled off during the transfer and must be manually re-enabled after the transfer is complete.
Same-Company Transfer: Ad account funds will remain intact and will not be cleared out. However, GMV Pay will still be automatically toggled off and must be manually re-enabled after the transfer is complete.
Review the transfer request summary, then click Confirm to send the transfer request to the recipient Business Center.
Review and approve the transfer (Recipient Business Center)
To review an ad account transfer:
Look for the transfer request notification.
You can access the approval page by:
clicking the link in your email notification.
clicking the account transfer action card on the recipient TikTok Business Center homepage.
clicking the account transfer request banner on the advertiser account page.
Review the account and asset access details on the transfer detail page.
Most transfer scenarios must pass a funds and financial asset settlement pre-check. This check evaluates account-level funds and settlement items, including balances, billing relationships, payment accounts, cash collection, and conflicting financial asset settlement requests. Learn more about the payment and billing restrictions in Before you begin.
Note: Transfers between Business Centers under the same Company may skip certain settlement checks.
Click Approve request to finalize the transfer or click Reject request to decline it.
(Optional) On the linked asset details page, request access to assets currently linked to the transferring ad accounts. This ensures these linked assets will transfer alongside the ad accounts.
(Optional) If you want certain members within your Business Center to automatically gain access to these ad accounts post-transfer, you can pre-assign them on the linked asset details page.
Asset handling best practices
Upon approval, the recipient Business Center will gain full ownership of the transferred ad accounts. It's important to understand the distinction between owned and linked assets during this transition:
Owned assets will automatically detach from the source Business Center and move alongside the transferred ad accounts.
Linked assets (including pixels, catalogs, audiences, TikTok accounts, Shops, and other advertising-related assets) are not automatically transferred unless the recipient Business Center has already obtained the required permissions prior to execution.
Missing permissions for a linked asset will not block the account transfer itself. If access is granted after the transfer is complete, the system will not automatically link the asset.
Best practices before transferring:
Stop active campaigns: Pause all active campaigns before the transfer's effective date. Campaigns that use linked assets cannot be resumed after the transfer, even if access is restored later. You will need to create new campaigns to resume delivery.
Manage Pixels: If a Pixel owned by the source Business Center is still needed, the source must share it with the recipient Business Center. Pixel access cannot be requested during the transfer flow.
Disconnect TikTok Shops: If a TikTok Shop is owned by the source Business Center, disconnect it in the TikTok Shop Seller Center before the transfer. TikTok Shops are not included in this flow and must be set up separately.
Review asset requests: After submitting the transfer request, the source Business Center should review and approve any asset access requests from the recipient before the Effective Date.
Check audiences: Review any audience-sharing relationships involving these ad accounts, as existing access may change or be lost after the transfer.
