{"schema":"exacc.help.page/1","url":"https://exacc.au/help/take-paypal-payments/","title":"Take PayPal payments on invoices","description":"Connect a PayPal business account so customers can pay invoices with PayPal. Create an app, enter its Client ID and Secret, choose the accounts.","category":"Invoicing & Payments","summary":"Create an app in your PayPal business account and copy its **Client ID** and **Secret**. In **Business Details › Online Payments** click **Set up PayPal**, enter them, choose the clearing, fees and payment method accounts, then pick **PayPal** under **Card payments on your invoices**. Payments land in your PayPal balance and Exacc records them, with PayPal's fee, against the invoice.","lastVerified":"2026-10-12","apps":["app"],"processIds":["paypal_connect"],"start":{"label":"Open PayPal settings","url":"https://app.exacc.au/{dbId}/business-details/paypal"},"menuPath":["Manage","Configuration","Business Details","Online Payments","Set up PayPal"],"before":["A PayPal business account.","In your chart of accounts: a PayPal clearing account (current asset) and an expense account for PayPal fees (e.g. Merchant fees), plus a payment method such as \"PayPal (online)\"."],"steps":[{"step":1,"title":"Create an app in PayPal","body":["Sign in at developer.paypal.com with your business account and open **Apps & Credentials**. Make sure **Live** is selected (not Sandbox), then open or create an app and copy its **Client ID** and **Secret** (click **Show** under Secret key). To let customers save their PayPal account for future invoices, turn on **Vault** for the app."]},{"step":2,"title":"1. Your PayPal account","body":["In Exacc, open **Manage › Configuration › Business Details**, the **Online Payments** tab, then **Set up PayPal**. Paste the Client ID and Secret and click **Save and check**. Exacc checks them with PayPal before saving."],"url":"https://app.exacc.au/{dbId}/business-details/paypal","fields":[{"name":"Client ID","help":"from your PayPal app.","required":true},{"name":"Secret","help":"the app's secret key, not your PayPal password.","required":true},{"name":"What your customers see","help":"the name of the payment option on the invoice page."},{"name":"These are sandbox (test) details","help":"only for testing with PayPal sandbox apps; leave off for real payments."}]},{"step":3,"title":"2. Where PayPal payments are booked","body":["Choose the three accounts and save. Each payment is recorded in full in the clearing account; PayPal's fee is recorded separately as an expense."],"fields":[{"name":"PayPal clearing account (current asset)","help":"where each payment is recorded; it mirrors your PayPal balance.","required":true},{"name":"PayPal fees account (expense)","help":"where PayPal's fee on each payment is recorded.","required":true},{"name":"Payment method","help":"how the payment is labelled, e.g. PayPal (online).","required":true}]},{"step":4,"title":"Choose PayPal for your invoices","body":["Back on the **Online Payments** tab, pick **PayPal** under **Card payments on your invoices**. The status line changes to **Active: PayPal**."],"url":"https://app.exacc.au/{dbId}/business-details?tab=stripe"}],"sections":[{"heading":"What your customer sees","body":["On the invoice page the customer clicks **Pay … with PayPal**, logs in to PayPal and approves the payment. They return to a \"Payment received\" page and the invoice is marked paid in Exacc."]},{"heading":"Moving money out of PayPal","body":["When you transfer your PayPal balance to your bank, record it as a transfer from the PayPal clearing account to your bank account."]}],"faqs":[{"q":"Exacc says \"PayPal rejected the Client ID and Secret\".","a":"Check that both come from the same app, that you copied the Secret and not the Client ID twice, and that live details are not marked as sandbox (or the other way round)."},{"q":"Can customers pay by card without a PayPal account?","a":"That depends on your PayPal account settings; PayPal decides which options it offers on its page."}],"related":["https://exacc.au/help/accept-online-payments/","https://exacc.au/help/charge-saved-card/","https://exacc.au/help/chart-of-accounts/","https://exacc.au/help/payment-methods/"],"linkNote":"Links containing {dbId} open that screen in the business file whose id is dbId. A person can also open this help page with ?db=<dbId> to get the same links as buttons."}