Process a credit card payment in QuickBooks Online

Learn how to accept a credit or debit card payment in QuickBooks Online.

You need a QuickBooks Payments account to process credit cards in QuickBooks Online.

If you don’t use QuickBooks Payments, you should record a credit card payment you processed outside of QuickBooks.

Before you continue, make sure you:

1. Sign up for a QuickBooks Payments account.
2. Choose where to record your payments and fees.

There are two ways to process card payments with your payments account. How you do it depends on if you create invoices in QuickBooks.

Option 1: Receive a payment toward an invoice #

If you invoice your customers, you’ll want to receive a payment. This way, you can apply the payment you process to an open invoice.

Tip: Let your customers pay you at their convenience. Send them an invoice they can pay online.

1. Select + New.
2. Select Receive payment or Receive invoice payment.
3. Fill out the customer info and payment date.
4. In the Outstanding Transactions section, select an open invoice to apply the payment toward. To take a partial payment, change what’s in the Amount Received field.
5. From the Payment method drop-down menu, select Credit card.
6. Select Enter credit card details.
7. Enter the credit card info, or select Swipe Card.
8. Optional: To save this customer’s credit card, select  Use this credit card in the future.
9. Select Process credit card.
10. Select Save.
11. Select Save and close or Save and new.

Option 2: Create a sales receipt #

If you don’t use invoices, you can process a credit card with a sales receipt.

1. Select + New.
2. Select Sales receipt or Make a sale, then fill out the customer info.
3. Add a product or service to sell.
4. From the Payment method drop-down menu, select Credit card.
5. Select Enter credit card details.
6. Enter the credit card info, or select Swipe Card.
7. Optional: To save this customer’s credit card, select Use this credit card in the future.
8. Select Process credit card.
9. Select Save.
10. Select Save and close or Save and new.

To learn more about using your payments account in QuickBooks, check out our payments tutorial.