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Set Up Autessa Payments

Autessa Payments lets your business send invoices, take card and bank payments online, sell subscriptions inside the apps you build, and cash out to your bank, all from inside Autessa. Setup is a short checklist, and the Payments guide on the right of the page walks you through it and can do much of it for you.

What it's for​

Most small businesses need the same few things: bill a customer, get paid online, charge the right sales tax, and see the money land in the bank. Autessa Payments covers all of it without a separate payments dashboard. Your customers see your business name, logo, and color on every invoice, email, and payment page.

Payments are processed and verified by Stripe, a leading payment processor.

From the dashboard, select Payments in the sidebar.

Open Payments →

Payments has its own permission. The company owner always has it, and the built-in Admin and Accountant roles include it. Members with other roles don't see Payments in the sidebar. See Team to change someone's role.

Key concepts​

  • The setup checklist. Until you're fully set up, the top of the Payments page shows six steps: open your payments account, verify your business, link your bank for payouts, add your business address, tell us what you sell (for sales tax), and send your first invoice. Each step shows whether it's done, and the current step has a button that takes you straight to it.
  • The Payments guide. A chat panel on the right of the page that knows exactly where you are in setup. Ask it anything about setup, sales tax, or invoices. It can also do things for you, such as saving your business address, setting up sales tax, or drafting an invoice, but only after you click Do it on what it proposes.
  • Verification. Before you can take payments, the payment processor has to confirm who you are and who owns the business. You answer a few questions right on the Payments page; your answers save as you go.
  • Drafts before verification. You can create and save invoices as soon as your account is open. Sending them turns on as soon as verification finishes.

How to open your payments account​

  1. Open Payments. The first checklist step, Open your payments account, shows your business name and country, filled in from your company's billing details.
  2. Check both. The country is where your business is registered, and it can't be changed later.
  3. Click Start.

Autessa Payments works for businesses registered in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the euro-area countries listed in the country picker.

How to verify your business​

  1. On the Verify your business step, click Continue. The page scrolls to the verification form.
  2. Answer the questions. Depending on your business and country, you may be asked for:
    • a photo of your ID,
    • your Social Security number or tax ID,
    • your business tax ID (EIN),
    • your date of birth and home address,
    • your business address and a phone number,
    • your website or a short description of what you sell,
    • details about the business owners.
  3. Submit the form. The step changes to We're reviewing your details. That usually takes a few minutes and sometimes a day.

When verification finishes you get an email, You're verified — send your first invoice. If more information is needed later, you get an email titled Autessa Payments needs your attention listing exactly what's missing, and the checklist shows it under Still needed.

The guide can't see or fill in the verification form. Identity and bank details are only ever typed by you. Ask the guide what a question means and it will highlight the right part of the page.

  1. On the Link your bank for payouts step, click Link bank.
  2. Pick your bank in the secure bank picker and sign in to choose the account. You never leave Autessa.
  3. The account appears under Payout bank accounts, and payouts go to it. You can link more than one with Link another bank and choose which is the default.

You can link your bank while verification is still in review. See Payouts for schedules and fees.

How to add your business address​

  1. On the Add your business address step, click Add address. The page scrolls to Business details.
  2. The address is filled in from your company's billing details or from verification when we have it. Check it, add a support email and phone if you like, and click Save.

Your business address appears on your invoices and is also used as your tax address. Sales tax can't be calculated until it's saved. See Sales Tax.

How to use the guide​

The guide opens on the right of the Payments page while setup is unfinished, and collapses to a Payments guide button once you're done. Start with one of the suggestions (Walk me through setup, What sales tax do I need to charge?, Create my first invoice) or type your own question.

What the guide can do after you click Do it:

  • save your business name, address, and support contact,
  • set what you sell, so each place taxes it correctly,
  • add a state or country where you collect sales tax,
  • draft an invoice, and send a draft invoice.

What it does on its own, with nothing to confirm:

  • check where you are in setup,
  • explain sales tax rules for your business and estimate tax on an amount,
  • highlight the part of the page you need.

What only you can do: verify your identity, link a bank account, and change payout settings. Nothing is created or sent until you click Do it. Click Not now to skip a proposal.

A very long chat stops with "This chat has gotten long." Close the guide and open it again to start fresh. It picks up from your current setup.