Many of us have personal PayPal accounts that come in handy. However, if you are looking to accept payments or donations online through your website for a business or organization, you need to know that there is a difference between a standard (personal) PayPal account and a Business PayPal Account. Since most PayPal accounts are tied to a checking account, you don’t want to mix your business transactions with your personal accounts.
PayPal offers a Business account that is fairly simple to set up, but equipped to handle specific fields related to business. Before you sit down to create a business account, you will want to collect a few items to make the process go more smoothly.
- Email: You will want a unique email to use with your business PayPal account that is not associated with another PayPal account.
- You will need to list your business name. If you are a start-up, a DBA, or in the process of incorporating, make sure you know what name you want on the account.
- You will need a Tax ID number or Social Security number. Never share confidential information like Social Security numbers over email, social media or text messages. If you are helping someone set up the account, it’s best to talk to them in person or on the phone to gather this information.
- You will need a physical address. PO Box addresses are not permitted with a PayPal Business account.
- You will need to select a Category and Sub-Category that most accurately reflects your business. Some are very straightforward, and others will take a little searching/stretching/creativity to figure out given the finite number of categories from which PayPal will have you select.
- Checking Account. You will need a checking account for funds to be deposited/transferred. If you do not already have an account, you will want to do this first. If you do, you will need to have the Bank Routing number and the Bank Account number handy. Do not use the Routing number on a deposit slip, as it is often not the 9 digit number needed. Once you enter this information, PayPal should know your bank and you will see it pop-up on your screen.
That’s about all there is to the simple set up. You should get a verification email that you will need to click on to verify the account. After your bank information is entered, you should get another email from PayPal letting you know that they will make two very small deposits into your bank account within a couple of days, and then withdrawn that amount. After you know the exact amount, you’ll need to log back in and verify the process worked correctly.
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