Payment Processor Setup

If you are running an online business and want to accept payments from customers, setting up a payment processor is essential. Stripe is OCV’s recommended payment processor as it is one of the most popular payment processing platforms that offers a wide range of features and benefits for businesses of all sizes.

To set up payment processing in Stripe, you will need to create a payment form on your website. This form will allow customers to enter their payment details and complete the transaction. You can create a payment form using Stripe's API or use one of Stripe's plugins and integrations.

There is a significant amount of lead time that will likely be dedicated to development in integration of payments and some of the associated setup processes for different companies. Registration for VAT may take a significant amount of time though US sales tax registration is comparatively quicker. Appropriate configuration and testing may take a significant amount of time as well.

It is recommended to loop in a company’s accounting team as early as possible when considering launching paid features. The company’s controllers should have access to the company’s Stripe account which will enable them to add necessary integrations and coordinate on setup. Stripe will be integrated with the company’s bank account (checking) and the company’s controllers will account for revenue recognition. Controllers will only have direct visibility into the live web page of a company, so it is important to communicate on appropriate designation as integrations are set up.

All in all, the charges per transaction that tend to be associated with Stripe range from 5-8%.

It is important to configure stripe to appropriately target sales taxes and VAT for the type of customer and location that each company is targeting. Stripe will help manage this when marked appropriately. Part of appropriately designating purchases includes if the type of transaction is B2B or B2C.

Stripe offers specific Tax Set up for VAT taxes, United States Taxes as well as other Countries taxes to be added to each transaction when invoicing. Once you receive your Tax Registration you can add the registration in the ‘Tax Settings’ area of Stripe. The ‘Tax Settings’ is also where Stripe monitors the thresholds for charging VAT, Sales Tax and other taxes.

When setting up customers it is critical to obtain their location (address) and ensure it is entered correctly. This allows the Monitoring of Tax Thresholds to work and inform users of the data correctly.

It is important that companies create a separate line in payments to differentiate charges associated with the products and services they provide and the taxes associated with them.

Before you launch your payment processing system, it's important to test it thoroughly. You can do this by using Stripe's test mode to simulate transactions and ensure that everything is working correctly. Once you are satisfied with your payment processing system, you can launch it on your website and start accepting payments from customers.

See also: Stripe Payments Documentation, Address Element