LSA Migration Checklist: 9 Things to Save Before Your Account Moves

Create one controlled folder before opening the first report. A useful convention is Business-Name_Customer-ID_Migration-Date. Inside it, separate performance reports, settings evidence, access records, profile assets, and business-owned outcome data. Keep customer contact records in the approved system your business already uses.

The word save has four meanings in this checklist: export structured data when the account offers it, record a value in the inventory, take a screenshot when visual context matters, or document an operating owner. A screenshot is useful for settings context. A structured file is the better working record when one is available.

Google says previous campaign performance reports will not carry over and the old dashboard becomes inaccessible after migration. Start with the current Reports view. Google's Local Services Ads report guide says the report can show charged leads, total lead spend, category or Direct Business Search, call/message/booking mix, a filtered lead list, and lead credits.

Save a recent complete operating period, the preceding equal period, and a seasonal or year-over-year period when the business has reliable history. Avoid a partial current month unless it is labeled as partial. Open each saved file and confirm the business, dates, columns, and totals are readable.

Build a one-page baseline that an owner can read without reconstructing the old interface. Include spend, charged leads, cost per charged lead, call leads, message leads, booking leads, Direct Business Search leads, credits, and the date range.

Add business-owned outcomes in separate columns: qualified leads, booked jobs, completed jobs, revenue, answered calls, and missed calls. Write the definition beside each field. A Google charged lead is not automatically qualified, booked, completed, or paid.

Record operating context for each period: schedule changes, staffing, weather, promotions, seasonality, service-area edits, and any outage. This context is what prevents a normal business change from being misattributed to the platform migration.

Record the weekly budget and bid settings before Google converts the campaign. Google says the historical average weekly budget is divided by seven to create a daily average, with a monthly spending limit equal to the daily average multiplied by 30.4. Save the weekly value and capture date so the conversion can be checked.

Manual bidding and vertical-level Target CPA are being deprecated. A unified campaign-level Target CPA will apply when multiple categories remain together. Preserve each old target and the business reason behind it. Different average job value, lead quality, geography, capacity, or season can matter when the business later decides whether it needs separate campaigns.

List every active business category and selected service or job type. Include inactive selections that may explain prior lead mix, but mark them inactive. Record the exact account labels rather than inventing broader editorial categories.

Assign an operator who can confirm that the selections match work the business currently provides. This is a fulfillment and lead-fit record, not a public description of PrimeLSA's diagnostic logic.

After migration, compare the saved list with the campaign settings in Google Ads. Resolve a missing or unexpected service before judging lead volume.

Export or record every selected city, county, ZIP code, radius, or other service-area control visible in the account. Save exclusions as well as included areas. Add the ad schedule and the business's real answering coverage, especially nights and weekends.

Google says targeted locations and ad schedules transfer, and that they can be customized independently in Google Ads after migration. Your saved record supports a field-by-field check. It also distinguishes the Google Ads schedule from standard Business Profile hours.

Avoid treating a larger service area as a guaranteed lead-growth tactic. Record only areas the business can serve reliably, then compare city mix and lead quality after the new campaign has a stable observation period.

Document where calls route, who owns message replies, how booking leads enter the calendar, and where business outcomes are recorded. Include the after-hours path, missed-call process, backup owner, and manager-account users who need to inspect leads.

Google says the new Lead Manager lives under Goals, Conversions, and Leads in Google Ads. The table carries past customer lead history and supports charged status, lead type, feedback, and lead downloads. Verify the live permissions before assuming every user can export personal data.

Run a privacy-safe test of the operating path. Confirm an authorized user can reach the lead table and that a call or message reaches the responsible team. Never place caller names, phone numbers, message text, or recordings in the public checklist.

Keep the original business photo files instead of relying on screenshots of thumbnails. Record which photos are selected, when the list was captured, and who owns the source library. Google says business photos transfer and that migrated campaigns can manage additional photos in the Assets area.

Save the current callout text in a dated list. Google says Better Business Bureau callouts are no longer supported and recommends at least six other structured callouts, such as business hours, specialties, or accepted payment methods. Confirm each replacement is accurate and supported by the business.

Avoid creating a fictional migrated-UI screenshot. Use real account images only after checking provenance, redaction, displayed totals, and the rollout state.

Record the Google Business Profile name, storefront address when applicable, standard hours, phone number, primary category, profile managers, and capture date. Identify the person authorized to correct the profile.

Google says the business name, physical address, and standard hours sync one way from the Business Profile into Google Ads. Significant changes to the name, storefront address, or primary category can trigger a verification review and a temporary pause. Make required real-world corrections, but keep unrelated profile experiments out of the migration window.

After migration, inspect Business Profile-synced details separately from Google Ads service areas and ad schedule. The latter can be customized independently.

Save access and ownership as a dated record. Google Ads access-level documentation says Read-only users can view campaigns and reporting, Standard users can edit campaigns, and Admin users can manage access. For a manager account, document whether it has ownership and which client administrator can approve access changes.

Avoid shared credentials. Confirm each responsible person can sign in with their own account before the final reminder. If the only administrator is unavailable, solve that access problem through the supported account process while the original dashboard is still reachable.

Google says past customer lead history transfers into Lead Manager, including customer contact details, message history, and older call recordings. Google also says completed verification and the Google Verified badge carry over. Those records still need an access check, but they are different from the campaign performance report that stays behind.

Google intends to transfer targeted locations, service types, business categories, budget limits, ad schedule, and photos. Save a settings record because it is the baseline for verification. Avoid describing the record as proof that Google expects to lose the settings.

A backup is complete only after three tests. Completeness means the intended accounts and date ranges are present. Readability means each file opens and clearly identifies its account, period, and fields. Recoverability means an authorized second person can locate the archive without asking the original owner to rebuild it.

Use YYYY-MM-DD_customer-id_business_period_data-type for saved files. Add a short manifest listing the file, source screen, date range, account time zone, capture date, and owner. Keep the manifest free of caller contact data.

Reconcile the archive against the old dashboard before the migration window closes. For each saved reporting period, compare charged lead count, spend, credits, lead-type totals, and the first and last visible lead dates with the source screen. Record any difference in the manifest instead of silently editing the exported file.

Keep the raw download unchanged. If your team adds qualification, booking, completed-job, or revenue fields, put that work in a separate analysis copy with a clear version date. This preserves an original Google-sourced record and a business-outcome record without confusing the two.

For agencies, ask a second authorized reviewer to spot-check one account from each campaign pattern: single-service, multi-service, multi-location, and manager-owned access. A sample review can expose missing time zones, partial date ranges, broken files, or permission-dependent exports before the same mistake reaches every client folder.

Agencies should maintain one row per client account. Sort the tracker by migration date and unresolved risk. Useful fields include Customer ID, business, time zone, administrator, notice date, migration date, export owner, export status, access risk, service-mix risk, Day 1 reviewer, and Day 14 owner.

A multi-location tracker is an ownership system, not a customer database. Keep call recordings, contact details, and message history in the approved lead or CRM system. Link to the authorized storage location only when policy permits it.

Print this article's nine-item evidence register or download the blank CSV above. Replace the placeholder values, complete the formula fields for daily average and monthly limit, and keep one dated copy with the report archive.

Calculated daily average equals the current weekly budget divided by seven. Calculated monthly limit equals the daily average multiplied by 30.4. These calculations implement the conversion Google describes; they do not predict daily spend.

Source review completed July 28, 2026. Transfer, report, budget, bidding, Lead Manager, Business Profile, and asset claims come from Google's LSA migration announcement. Report-field definitions come from Google's Local Services Ads report guide. The nine-item structure, file convention, evidence tests, and owner fields are PrimeLSA's operating workflow.