How do I accept online payments with PayPal?

PayPal is one of our many online payment processors, also known as payment gateways, to allow you to receive online payments in several currencies with PayPal balances, as well as credit and debit cards.

• Details
• Set Up
• Activate PayPal on an Invoice
• FAQs

 

Details

• Availability - For international businesses with PayPal Business only
• Transaction Fee - Review PayPal’s list of transaction fees
• Setup - Quick to create an account, no setup, monthly or cancellation fees; takes 3-5 business days before enabling PayPal on recurring templates once PayPal account is connected
• Processing / Payout Schedule - Payments are processed and settled in 2-3 business days for PayPal balance, credit and debit cards
  • New accounts may have payments held for up to 21 days while being reviewed
• Statement Descriptor - Your clients will view "PayPal *business_name" on their statements, to customize this, review PayPal's details here
• Chargebacks - Review PayPal’s disputes, claims, chargebacks and bank reversals

 

Set Up

Set up your new or existing PayPal Business account in your Online Payments Settings with the below steps:

1. Ensure you have a country selected in your Basic Information settings first
2. Go directly to Online Payments here, or select the Settings section
3. Under Connections and Integrations, select Online Payments
4. Next, select Connect with PayPal
   
   
5. In the PayPal connection screen, enter in an email address in the Email field
   
6. Then select the Country or region dropdown and select your Country
7. Select Next to continue
   1. If you are an existing user, enter your Password in the field and select Log In 
      
      
   2. If needed, answer any additional questions about your PayPal account
   3. Read the permissions and select the Agree and Connect button to continue
8. Otherwise if you are a new user, create a new password and fill out your business information
9. Once your connection is complete, you can return to your FreshBooks account. It can take up to 3-5 business days for your PayPal Business account to be activated to process payments on recurring templates.

 

Note: You can also set up your PayPal account while making a new invoice by selecting Connect under Accept Online Payments.

 

Paying your own invoice with your own online payment information, also known as self-pay or test payments, is a violation of PayPal's terms of services and may result in your PayPal account being shut down.  

 

Activate PayPal on an Invoice

Once your PayPal Business account is connected, you can begin accepting payments with PayPal using the below steps:

1. When creating or editing an invoice, select the Accept Online Payments option in the Settings panel to the right of the invoice
   
2. Select PayPal
   
3. If you want your clients to pay with debit or credit cards without needing a PayPal account, check off the box next to Accept debit or credit cards from clients who don’t have PayPal (available for PayPal accounts in select countries)
   
4. If you want your clients to be able to pay the invoice partially (even with payment schedules activated as well), check off Allow Clients to make partial online payments for this Invoice
5. Select Done to finish applying the payment settings and continue editing the rest of your invoice.

 

Notes:

• To view what the experience looks like for your clients when paying by PayPal, review As a client, how do I pay an invoice with online payments? here
• Only one payment can be processed at a time on an invoice to prevent accidental double payments
• Your clients may also have additional payment methods provided by PayPal's Checkout depending on their region:
  • Bancontact - Belgium
  • BLIK - Poland
  • eps - Austria
  • Giropay - Germany
  • iDEAL - Netherlands
  • MyBank - Italy
  • Przelewy24 - Poland
  • Sofort - Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain
  • Venmo - United States 

 

FAQs

Do my clients need their own PayPal account to pay my invoice through PayPal?

Depending on where the client is located, clients do not need a PayPal account if you’ve also checked off the Accept debit or credit cards from clients who don’t have a PayPal account option when creating or editing an invoice. PayPal limits the amount your clients can pay without a PayPal account on a case-by-case basis. Once the limit is reached, your clients will need to create a PayPal account to keep paying with the same debit or credit card.

A PayPal account is required for clients to opt into recurring payments on recurring templates.