5 Min. Read

How to Set Up a PayPal Account: A Step By Step Guide

March 1, 2024

Whether you’re a small business looking for a reliable payment gateway for your online payment platform, or a customer looking for a consistent checkout experience, PayPal has you covered.

These simple steps will guide you through setting up your own PayPal Account.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

About PayPal for Businesses

Step One: Sign Up with PayPal

Step Two: Select Account Type

Step Three: Enter Business Information

Step Four: Describe Your Business

Step Four: Add Personal Information

Learn More About Your PayPal Business Account

Online Services Simplified with PayPal Business

More PayPal Resources for Businesses

About PayPal for Businesses

Small business owners, freelancers, and independent contractors alike know the importance of a reliable purchasing platform for their clients and customers.

When building a business, choosing a platform that allows a consistently safe and simple checkout process will eliminate the hassle of having to manage it all yourself.

PayPal has you covered with their PayPal Business Account.

If you’re just starting out as an e-commerce and looking to legitimize your business, creating and learning how to navigate a PayPal business account will set you up for sales success.

PayPal User benefits:

Faster checkout process for online shopping
Set up recurring payments
Create and send invoices
Send money to friends and family
International payment options

Step One: Sign Up with PayPal

Signing up for a PayPal personal or business account is free, so when you’re ready to create your account, click Sign Up with PayPal.

Make sure you’re ready with the email address you use for your business.

Step Two: Select Account Type

Upon building your account, you’ll be asked what type of account you want to create.

Select a business account.

Now is when you’ll enter your business email and create a password for your account.

Choose a password with integrity that you will remember (must be at least 8 characters and include a number or symbol).

Step Three: Enter Business Information

After you input your email and password, you’ll transition to a page that states, Tell us about your business.

Here is where you’ll add basic information on your business or company.

Be sure to include:

Business contacts name
Business name
Contact information

Read through the e-communication delivery policy and the user agreement & policy statement. When you’re done, select Agree and Create Account.

Step Four: Describe Your Business

On the next page you’ll be asked to describe your business in detail. Start by choosing your business type on the drop down list.

Depending on what you select, you may be required to include additional information on the specifics of what you offer with your services.

You may be asked to include:

Business type
Product or service keywords
Monthly sales
Employer Identification Number
Website URL

In this step, you may be given the option to receive a PayPal Business Debit Mastercard. You can pause and learn more about that option, or continue with your sign up process.

Step Four: Add Personal Information

Now you’ll be asked to include some personal information about yourself, the business owner.

Personal Information includes:

Full name of the business owner
Last 4 digits of your social security number
Business owners home address
Your birthdate

Paypal will not run a background check with this information, it’s used for account setup purposes.

After you’ve added all of your personal information, click Submit.

Learn More About Your PayPal Business Account

Once your information is submitted and processed, your business account will be created and active.

You’ll now have the option to learn all of the features of your new account, and how to navigate your business e-commerce platform.

Features of your PayPal account include:

Building invoices
Requesting invoices
Setting up recurring payments
PayPal checkout services

You also have access to credit card reader services, can issue refunds, and you can connect to any online marketplace that has Paypal checkout implemented, and start accepting payments that way.

Familiarize yourself with all of the features of your new PayPal account. Once you learn how to navigate your new account and start accepting payments, you’ll be able to take full advantage of the many resources that your new PayPal business account has to offer.

Online Services Simplified with PayPal Business

Once you’ve created your PayPal account, you can start accepting payments through PayPal with any online business.

Ease the stress of navigating online transactions, collecting payment from clients, and keeping track of your accounting. Your new PayPal Business account will simplify the payment process for you and your clients to ensure a swift checkout process that is safer for you and your business.