Create and manage sub-accounts

An advanced Merchant Center account (sometimes referred to as a multi-client account) is designed for larger, more complex businesses that manage multiple sellers or domains. This includes marketplaces, multi-country retailers, or third-party providers who manage accounts on behalf of their clients. A key feature of advanced accounts is the ability to create and manage sub-accounts directly under their own account structure.

This guide explains how to use Merchant API to create and manage these sub-accounts. Sub-accounts are distinct Merchant Center accounts that are nested under your advanced account, allowing for centralized management while maintaining separate settings, websites, and data feeds. You can use the Merchant Accounts sub-API to create new sub-accounts under your advanced account.

To create sub-accounts, you must first have an advanced account setup. You must be an account administrator to convert your Merchant Center account to an advanced account, and your account must not have any pending issues. Note that you cannot use Merchant API to move existing standalone Merchant Center accounts into a sub-account relationship under your advanced account.

Create a sub-account

To create a new sub-account under your advanced account, call accounts.createAndConfigure. In the request body:

1. Provide the details of the sub-account you want to create in the account field.
2. Optionally, specify any new authorized users in the users field. User access for the sub-account is also inherited from the parent advanced account.
3. In the service field, specify accountAggregation and set the provider to the resource name of your advanced account (for example, providers/{ADVANCED_ACCOUNT_ID}). This establishes your advanced account as the aggregator for the new sub-account.

Here's an example request to create a sub-account named "merchantStore" under the advanced account {ADVANCED_ACCOUNT_ID}:

POST https://merchantapi.googleapis.com/accounts/v1beta/accounts:createAndConfigure

{
  "account": {
    "accountName": "merchantStore",
    "adultContent": false,
    "timeZone": {
      "id": "America/New_York"
    },
    "languageCode": "en-US"
  },
  "service": [
    {
      "accountAggregation": {},
      "provider": "providers/{ADVANCED_ACCOUNT_ID}"
    }
  ]
}

A successful call creates the new sub-account and links it under your specified advanced account. The response body will contain the newly created Account resource.

The following samples demonstrate how you can use the accounts.createAndConfigure to create a new sub-account.

Java

import com.google.api.gax.core.FixedCredentialsProvider;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.Account;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.AccountAggregation;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.AccountsServiceClient;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.AccountsServiceSettings;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest.AddAccountService;
import com.google.type.TimeZone;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Authenticator;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Config;

/** This class demonstrates how to create a sub-account under an MCA account. */
public class CreateSubAccountSample {

  private static String getParent(String accountId) {
    return String.format("accounts/%s", accountId);
  }

  public static void createSubAccount(Config config) throws Exception {

    // Obtains OAuth token based on the user's configuration.
    GoogleCredentials credential = new Authenticator().authenticate();

    // Creates service settings using the credentials retrieved above.
    AccountsServiceSettings accountsServiceSettings =
        AccountsServiceSettings.newBuilder()
            .setCredentialsProvider(FixedCredentialsProvider.create(credential))
            .build();

    // Creates parent/provider to identify the MCA account into which to insert the subaccount.
    String parent = getParent(config.getAccountId().toString());

    // Calls the API and catches and prints any network failures/errors.
    try (AccountsServiceClient accountsServiceClient =
        AccountsServiceClient.create(accountsServiceSettings)) {

      CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest request =
          CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest.newBuilder()
              .setAccount(
                  Account.newBuilder()
                      .setAccountName("Demo Business")
                      .setAdultContent(false)
                      .setTimeZone(TimeZone.newBuilder().setId("America/New_York").build())
                      .setLanguageCode("en-US")
                      .build())
              .addService(
                  AddAccountService.newBuilder()
                      .setProvider(parent)
                      .setAccountAggregation(AccountAggregation.getDefaultInstance())
                      .build())
              .build();

      System.out.println("Sending Create SubAccount request");
      Account response = accountsServiceClient.createAndConfigureAccount(request);
      System.out.println("Inserted Account Name below");
      // Format: `accounts/{account}
      System.out.println(response.getName());
    } catch (Exception e) {
      System.out.println(e);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    Config config = Config.load();

    createSubAccount(config);
  }
}
CreateSubAccountSample.java

PHP

use Google\ApiCore\ApiException;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\Account;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\AccountAggregation;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\Client\AccountsServiceClient;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest\AddAccountService;
use Google\Type\TimeZone;

/**
 * This class demonstrates how to create a sub-account under an MCA account.
 */
class CreateSubAccount
{

    private static function getParent(string $accountId): string
    {
        return sprintf("accounts/%s", $accountId);
    }


    public static function createSubAccount(array $config): void
    {
        // Gets the OAuth credentials to make the request.
        $credentials = Authentication::useServiceAccountOrTokenFile();

        // Creates options config containing credentials for the client to use.
        $options = ['credentials' => $credentials];

        // Creates a client.
        $accountsServiceClient = new AccountsServiceClient($options);

        // Creates parent/provider to identify the MCA account into which to insert the subaccount.
        $parent = self::getParent($config['accountId']);

        // Calls the API and catches and prints any network failures/errors.
        try {
            $request = new CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest([
                'account' => (new Account([
                    'account_name' => 'Demo Business',
                    'adult_content' => false,
                    'time_zone' => (new TimeZone(['id' => 'America/New_York'])),
                    'language_code' => 'en-US',
                ])),
                'service' => [
                    (new AddAccountService([
                        'provider' => $parent,
                        'account_aggregation' => new AccountAggregation,
                    ])),
                ],
            ]);

            print "Sending Create SubAccount request\n";
            $response = $accountsServiceClient->createAndConfigureAccount($request);
            print "Inserted Account Name below\n";
            // Format: `accounts/{account}
            print $response->getName() . PHP_EOL;
        } catch (ApiException $e) {
            print $e->getMessage();
        }
    }
    public function callSample(): void
    {
        $config = Config::generateConfig();
        self::createSubAccount($config);
    }
}

$sample = new CreateSubAccount();
$sample->callSample();
CreateSubAccountSample.php

Python

from examples.authentication import configuration
from examples.authentication import generate_user_credentials
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import Account
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import AccountAggregation
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import AccountsServiceClient
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest

_ACCOUNT = configuration.Configuration().read_merchant_info()


def get_parent(account_id):
  return f"accounts/{account_id}"


def create_sub_account():
  """Creates a sub-account under an MCA account."""

  # Get OAuth credentials.
  credentials = generate_user_credentials.main()

  # Create a client.
  client = AccountsServiceClient(credentials=credentials)

  # Get the parent MCA account ID.
  parent = get_parent(_ACCOUNT)

  # Create the request.
  request = CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest(
      account=Account(
          account_name="Demo Business",
          adult_content=False,
          time_zone={"id": "America/New_York"},
          language_code="en-US",
      ),
      service=[
          CreateAndConfigureAccountRequest.AddAccountService(
              provider=parent,
              account_aggregation=AccountAggregation(),
          )
      ],
  )

  # Make the request and print the response.
  try:
    print("Sending Create SubAccount request")
    response = client.create_and_configure_account(request=request)
    print("Inserted Account Name below")
    print(response.name)
  except RuntimeError as e:
    print(e)


if __name__ == "__main__":
  create_sub_account()
create_sub_account_sample.py

cURL

curl -X POST \
"https://merchantapi.googleapis.com/accounts/v1beta/accounts:createAndConfigure" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "account": {
    "accountName": "Demo Business",
    "adultContent": false,
    "timeZone": {
      "id": "America/New_York"
    },
    "languageCode": "en-US"
  },
  "service": [
    {
      "accountAggregation": {},
      "provider": "providers/{ADVANCED_ACCOUNT_ID}"
    }
  ]
}'

Retrieve sub-accounts

To list all sub-accounts for a given advanced account, use the accounts.listSubaccounts method. Provide the ID of your advanced account in the provider field of the request URL.

Here's a sample request:

GET https://merchantapi.googleapis.com/accounts/v1beta/accounts/{ADVANCED_ACCOUNT_ID}:listSubaccounts

Here's a sample response from a successful call:

{
"accounts": [
    {
      "name": "accounts/<var class=\"readonly\">{SUB_ACCOUNT_ID_1}</var>",
      "accountId": "<var class=\"readonly\">{SUB_ACCOUNT_ID_1}</var>",
      "accountName": "<var class=\"readonly\">{SUB_ACCOUNT_NAME_1}</var>",
      "timeZone": {
        "id": "America/Los_Angeles"
      },
      "languageCode": "en-US"
    },
    {
      "name": "accounts/<var class=\"readonly\">{SUB_ACCOUNT_ID_2}</var>",
      "accountId": "<var class=\"readonly\">{SUB_ACCOUNT_ID_2}</var>",
      "accountName": "<var class=\"readonly\">{SUB_ACCOUNT_NAME_2}</var>",
      "timeZone": {
        "id": "America/Los_Angeles"
      },
      "languageCode": "en-US"
    }
  ]
}

Note: The accounts.get request, when used to retrieve details about a specific sub-account, does not include information about the parent advanced account.

The following samples demonstrate how to list all sub-accounts for your advanced account.

Java

import com.google.api.gax.core.FixedCredentialsProvider;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.Account;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.AccountsServiceClient;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.AccountsServiceClient.ListSubAccountsPagedResponse;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.AccountsServiceSettings;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.ListSubAccountsRequest;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Authenticator;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Config;

/** This class demonstrates how to list all the subaccounts of an MCA. */
public class ListSubAccountsSample {

  private static String getParent(String accountId) {
    return String.format("accounts/%s", accountId);
  }

  public static void listSubAccounts(Config config) throws Exception {

    // Obtains OAuth token based on the user's configuration.
    GoogleCredentials credential = new Authenticator().authenticate();

    // Creates service settings using the credentials retrieved above.
    AccountsServiceSettings accountsServiceSettings =
        AccountsServiceSettings.newBuilder()
            .setCredentialsProvider(FixedCredentialsProvider.create(credential))
            .build();

    // Creates parent/provider to identify the MCA account from which to list all accounts.
    String parent = getParent(config.getAccountId().toString());

    // Calls the API and catches and prints any network failures/errors.
    try (AccountsServiceClient accountsServiceClient =
        AccountsServiceClient.create(accountsServiceSettings)) {

      // The parent has the format: accounts/{account}
      ListSubAccountsRequest request =
          ListSubAccountsRequest.newBuilder().setProvider(parent).build();
      System.out.println("Sending list subaccounts request:");

      ListSubAccountsPagedResponse response = accountsServiceClient.listSubAccounts(request);

      int count = 0;

      // Iterates over all rows in all pages and prints the datasource in each row.
      // Automatically uses the `nextPageToken` if returned to fetch all pages of data.
      for (Account account : response.iterateAll()) {
        System.out.println(account);
        count++;
      }
      System.out.print("The following count of accounts were returned: ");
      System.out.println(count);
    } catch (Exception e) {
      System.out.println("An error has occured: ");
      System.out.println(e);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    Config config = Config.load();
    listSubAccounts(config);
  }
}
ListSubAccountsSample.java

PHP

use Google\ApiCore\ApiException;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\Client\AccountsServiceClient;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\ListSubAccountsRequest;

/**
 * This class demonstrates how to list all the subaccounts of an MCA.
 */
class ListSubAccounts
{
    private static function getParent(string $accountId): string
    {
        return sprintf("accounts/%s", $accountId);
    }


    public static function listSubAccounts(array $config): void
    {
        // Gets the OAuth credentials to make the request.
        $credentials = Authentication::useServiceAccountOrTokenFile();

        // Creates options config containing credentials for the client to use.
        $options = ['credentials' => $credentials];

        // Creates a client.
        $accountsServiceClient = new AccountsServiceClient($options);

        // Creates parent/provider to identify the MCA account from which to list all accounts.
        $parent = self::getParent($config['accountId']);

        // Calls the API and catches and prints any network failures/errors.
        try {

            // The parent has the format: accounts/{account}
            $request = new ListSubAccountsRequest(['provider' => $parent]);
            print "Sending list subaccounts request:\n";

            $response = $accountsServiceClient->listSubAccounts($request);

            $count = 0;

            // Iterates over all rows in all pages and prints the datasource in each row.
            // Automatically uses the `nextPageToken` if returned to fetch all pages of data.
            foreach ($response->iterateAllElements() as $account) {
                print_r($account);
                $count++;
            }
            print "The following count of accounts were returned: ";
            print $count . PHP_EOL;
        } catch (ApiException $e) {
            print "An error has occured: \n";
            print $e->getMessage();
        }
    }

    public function callSample(): void
    {
        $config = Config::generateConfig();
        self::listSubAccounts($config);
    }
}

$sample = new ListSubAccounts();
$sample->callSample();
ListSubAccountsSample.php

Python

from examples.authentication import configuration
from examples.authentication import generate_user_credentials
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import AccountsServiceClient
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import ListSubAccountsRequest

_ACCOUNT = configuration.Configuration().read_merchant_info()


def get_parent(account_id):
  return f"accounts/{account_id}"


def list_sub_accounts():
  """Lists all the subaccounts of an MCA."""

  # Get OAuth credentials.
  credentials = generate_user_credentials.main()

  # Create a client.
  client = AccountsServiceClient(credentials=credentials)

  # Get the parent MCA account ID.
  parent = get_parent(_ACCOUNT)

  # Create the request.
  request = ListSubAccountsRequest(provider=parent)

  # Make the request and print the response.
  try:
    print("Sending list subaccounts request:")
    response = client.list_sub_accounts(request=request)

    count = 0
    for account in response:
      print(account)
      count += 1

    print(f"The following count of accounts were returned: {count}")

  except RuntimeError as e:
    print("An error has occured: ")
    print(e)


if __name__ == "__main__":
  list_sub_accounts()
list_sub_accounts_sample.py

cURL

curl -X GET \
"https://merchantapi.googleapis.com/accounts/v1beta/accounts/{ADVANCED_ACCOUNT_ID}:listSubaccounts" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"

Delete a sub-account

If you no longer need to manage a sub-account under your advanced account, you can delete it using the accounts.delete method.

Executing this method requires administrator access to the sub-account being deleted.

Here's a sample request:

DELETE https://merchantapi.googleapis.com/accounts/v1beta/accounts/{SUB_ACCOUNT_ID}

If successful, the response body is an empty JSON object, indicating the sub-account has been deleted.

The following samples demonstrate how to delete a sub-account.

Java

import com.google.api.gax.core.FixedCredentialsProvider;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.AccountName;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.AccountsServiceClient;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.AccountsServiceSettings;
import com.google.shopping.merchant.accounts.v1beta.DeleteAccountRequest;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Authenticator;
import shopping.merchant.samples.utils.Config;

/** This class demonstrates how to delete a given Merchant Center account. */
public class DeleteAccountSample {

  // This method can delete a standalone, MCA or sub-account. If you delete an MCA,
  // all sub-accounts will also be deleted.
  // Admin user access is required to execute this method.

  public static void deleteAccount(Config config) throws Exception {

    // Obtains OAuth token based on the user's configuration.
    GoogleCredentials credential = new Authenticator().authenticate();

    // Creates service settings using the credentials retrieved above.
    AccountsServiceSettings accountsServiceSettings =
        AccountsServiceSettings.newBuilder()
            .setCredentialsProvider(FixedCredentialsProvider.create(credential))
            .build();

    // Gets the account ID from the config file.
    String accountId = config.getAccountId().toString();

    // Creates account name to identify the account.
    String name =
        AccountName.newBuilder()
            .setAccount(accountId)
            .build()
            .toString();

    // Calls the API and catches and prints any network failures/errors.
    try (AccountsServiceClient accountsServiceClient =
        AccountsServiceClient.create(accountsServiceSettings)) {
      DeleteAccountRequest request =
          DeleteAccountRequest.newBuilder()
              .setName(name)
              // Optional. If set to true, the account will be deleted even if it has offers or
              // provides services to other accounts. Defaults to 'false'.
              .setForce(true)
              .build();

      System.out.println("Sending Delete Account request");
      accountsServiceClient.deleteAccount(request); // No response returned on success.
      System.out.println("Delete successful.");
    } catch (Exception e) {
      System.out.println(e);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    Config config = Config.load();
    deleteAccount(config);
  }
}
DeleteAccountSample.java

PHP

use Google\ApiCore\ApiException;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\Client\AccountsServiceClient;
use Google\Shopping\Merchant\Accounts\V1beta\DeleteAccountRequest;


/**
 * This class demonstrates how to delete a given Merchant Center account.
 */
class DeleteAccount
{
    private static function getParent(string $accountId): string
    {
        return sprintf("accounts/%s", $accountId);
    }

    // This method can delete a standalone, MCA or sub-account. If you delete an MCA,
    // all sub-accounts will also be deleted.
    // Admin user access is required to execute this method.
    public static function deleteAccount(array $config): void
    {
        // Gets the OAuth credentials to make the request.
        $credentials = Authentication::useServiceAccountOrTokenFile();

        // Creates options config containing credentials for the client to use.
        $options = ['credentials' => $credentials];

        // Creates a client.
        $accountsServiceClient = new AccountsServiceClient($options);


        // Gets the account ID from the config file.
        $accountId = $config['accountId'];

        // Creates account name to identify the account.
        $name = self::getParent($accountId);

        // Calls the API and catches and prints any network failures/errors.
        try {
            $request = new DeleteAccountRequest([
                'name' => $name,
                // Optional. If set to true, the account will be deleted even if it has offers or
                // provides services to other accounts. Defaults to 'false'.
                'force' => true,
            ]);

            print "Sending Delete Account request\n";
            $accountsServiceClient->deleteAccount($request); // No response returned on success.
            print "Delete successful.\n";
        } catch (ApiException $e) {
            print $e->getMessage();
        }
    }

    public function callSample(): void
    {
        $config = Config::generateConfig();
        self::deleteAccount($config);
    }
}

$sample = new DeleteAccount();
$sample->callSample();
DeleteAccountSample.php

Python

from examples.authentication import configuration
from examples.authentication import generate_user_credentials
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import AccountsServiceClient
from google.shopping.merchant_accounts_v1beta import DeleteAccountRequest

_ACCOUNT = configuration.Configuration().read_merchant_info()


def get_parent(account_id):
  return f"accounts/{account_id}"


def delete_account():
  """Deletes a given Merchant Center account."""

  # Get OAuth credentials.
  credentials = generate_user_credentials.main()

  # Create a client.
  client = AccountsServiceClient(credentials=credentials)

  # Create the account name.
  name = get_parent(_ACCOUNT)

  # Create the request.
  request = DeleteAccountRequest(name=name, force=True)

  # Make the request and print the response.
  try:
    print("Sending Delete Account request")
    client.delete_account(request=request)
    print("Delete successful.")
  except RuntimeError as e:
    print(e)


if __name__ == "__main__":
  delete_account()
delete_account_sample.py

cURL

curl -X DELETE \
"https://merchantapi.googleapis.com/accounts/v1beta/accounts/{SUB_ACCOUNT_ID}?force=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"

Accept the Terms of Service

Sub-accounts inherit the Merchant Center Terms of Service (TOS) that the parent advanced account signed.

Update your business information

You can use the Merchant Accounts API to edit the business information for your sub-accounts.

• To view a sub-account's business information, call accounts.getBusinessInfo.
• To edit a sub-account's business information, call accounts.updateBusinessInfo.