If you build websites, decide early which model you are using.
THE OPTIONS
You hold the account and bill the client yourself. Simple, but you carry the payment risk and the client has no direct relationship with us. The client holds their own account and you are added as a contact with appropriate permissions. Cleaner when the relationship ends. You use reseller hosting, which is designed for this.
WHICHEVER YOU CHOOSE
Put it in writing with the client: who owns the account, who pays, what happens at the end.
DOMAINS
Register the domain with the client as registrant, not yourself. A client discovering they do not own their own domain is the most common and most damaging dispute in this line of work. Put yourself as technical contact if you want notifications.
Never withhold a client's domain over a billing dispute. Pursue the debt separately.
ADDING YOURSELF TO THEIR ACCOUNT
Account > Contacts, with sub-account access and the permissions you need. Typically services, cPanel access and tickets, without billing.
AT HANDOVER
Transfer the account formally through our ownership transfer process, not by sharing a password.
