## Account structure

*** ** * ** ***

At a high level, a Local Feeds Partnership set up involves:

- A Multi-Client account and sub-accounts in the retailer's name
- A specific sub-account referred to as "Local Feed Partnership" (LFP) provider account used to submit Free Local Listings and Local inventory ads data on retailer's behalf.
- Merchants' sub-accounts linked to a Google Business Profile containing their stores.
- Merchants' sub-accounts linked to the LFP MC account.

The resulting structure is:

![local_account_structure](https://developers.google.com/static/merchant/storebuilder/images/blueprint/local_account_structure.png)

> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Key Point:** The retailers' Merchant Center accounts need [to be linked to a
> Google business profile in order](https://developers.google.com/merchant/storebuilder/local/sections/account_structure/3_0_google_business_profile_linking) to map the offers to the correct store in the dedicated Google Business profile. The retailers' Merchant Center sub-accounts also need to be linked to the LFP MC sub-account in order to have inventory data (price, quantity and store code) bypass inventory or guideline checks once a "Trusted" status is achieved.

Since the LFP MC account is only used for data transmission purposes, linking a
Google Business profile is not needed for this account.

## Sub-account management and creation

Merchant Center sub-accounts can be managed and created either through the
Merchant Center MCA UI by:

- Logging into the MCA Account
- Click "Accounts" on the top left menu
- Click "Add Account" and follow the subsequent steps

![accountcreationmca](https://developers.google.com/static/merchant/storebuilder/images/blueprint/accountcreationmca.png)

or [using the Merchant API](https://developers.google.com/merchant/api/guides/accounts/sub-accounts).

> [!TIP]
> **Tip:** if you have many accounts to manage, the [Merchant API](https://developers.google.com/merchant/api/guides/accounts/sub-accounts) is the recommended option to manage all your sub-accounts.