How do I accept online payments with PayPal?

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

Important: As of Oct 1, 2026, FreshBooks no longer supports setting up new PayPal connections to accept online payments. If you want to start accepting online payments, set up FreshBooks Payments for Canadian and US businesses, or Stripe Standard for international businesses instead.

PayPal Details
Activate PayPal on an Invoice
FAQs

PayPal Details

Availability - For existing connections only
Transaction Fee - Review PayPal’s list of transaction fees
Processing / Payout Schedule - Payments are processed and settled in 2-3 business days for PayPal balance, credit and debit cards
- Bank transfers (ACH) is not available with PayPal
Statement Descriptor - Your clients will view "PayPal *business_name" on their statements, to customize this, review PayPal's details
Chargebacks - Review PayPal’s disputes, claims, chargebacks and bank reversals

Activate PayPal on an Invoice

Important: 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.

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

When creating or editing an invoice, select the Accept Online Payments option in the Settings panel to the right of the invoice
Under PayPal, check off any box(es) to allow your clients to pay by any of the below methods:
1. Credit and Debit Cards - Allow your clients to pay with debit or credit cards without needing a PayPal account, available for PayPal accounts in certain countries
2. PayPal Account
If you want your clients to be able to pay the invoice partially, even with payment schedules, check off Allow clients to make partial online payments for this invoice
Select Done to finish applying the payment settings and continue editing the rest of your invoice.

PayPal Notes:

Client Experience - 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?
Online Payments - Only one payment can be processed at a time on an invoice to prevent accidental double payments
Additional Payment Options - 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.