Two separate things people conflate: being able to take a card, and having that money in your account. Accepting is instant; the payout is on a schedule, and knowing the schedule is what stops you thinking a sale went missing.
- 1
Open the payments settings
Go to Settings → Payments. This is where card processing is set up for your business, separate from the payment-method toggles that decide what the cashier sees.
- 2
Complete the application
Processing requires your business details and where you want to be paid. Fill in the payout destination carefully — this is the account the money lands in, and a wrong digit is a delay you find out about a week later.
- 3
Understand the payout schedule
Money from card sales is paid out on a schedule — a set number of business days after the sale — into your account, with a breakdown of the orders it covers. That breakdown is the thing to keep: it is how you match a deposit to the days that produced it.
- 4
Connect the hardware you will use
A card terminal is set up separately and has its own guide. Manual card entry and payment links work without a terminal, and are the right tools for a customer who is not standing in front of you.
- 5
Watch the payouts screen
The payouts view is where you see what has been sent and what is pending. Check it against your bank, not against your sales — sales tell you what you earned, payouts tell you what arrived.
- 6
Decide about the card fee
Once you know what processing costs you, decide whether to pass it on. The fee is set per payment method, and the payment-type report tells you what share of your revenue it would actually apply to.
Pro tips
- Reconcile the payout breakdown to the day, monthly. A difference between what you sold on card and what was paid out is almost always fees — but you want it to be a number you checked, not one you assumed.
- Refunds and disputes come out of payouts too. A week with several refunds can produce a smaller deposit than the sales suggest, and that is normal rather than an error.
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