Using merchant accounts with third-party software

Using merchant accounts with third-party software

For small businesses looking to stay on top of customer billing, the most popular software choice is Quicken. Quicken's Home & Business edition allows small business owners to track business expenses, integrate with online banking Web sites and bill clients.

If you've already signed up to accept credit cards (either online or in person) through a merchant account provider, you should already be able to use the sales data to update your financial and customer records for accurate bookkeeping. But for true integration with Quicken's software, you'll need to go a step further. Quicken-maker Intuit offers a program called Quicken Merchant Services, a merchant account that allows full integration with Quicken.

Credit card processing with a Quicken Merchant Services account allows customers that use Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB or a bank card to pay you, either in person or online.

In fact, all that is required is the merchant account and access to the Internet, and you're in business. If you have an existing merchant account and want to use Quicken to process credit cards, you will need to also have a Quicken Merchant Services account. Fortunately, applying for one is quick and easy, and you'll be up and running in no time.

Processing credit cards couldn't be simpler. Simply log into any computer with an Internet connection and go to the Intuit Merchant Service for Quicken site and select the "charge a card" option. After doing so, swipe the credit card (if you have a card swiper), or enter in the card and customer information (choosing as much information as you want to keep for your records), or enter the minimum information required to complete the transaction. Once the transaction is completed, you can view and print the receipt, and you're finished.

The major advantage to using Quicken as your credit card processing gateway is its full integration with Quicken accounting software. If you run your business through Quicken, this is a huge benefit, as all your customer and bank data is already available to you, and can make entering credit card transactions a fast and easy process. If you already have another merchant account, you will either need to leave it behind and get a Quicken Merchant Account, or lose some of the offered functionality. Either way, integrating your data should be no problem. For actually using Quicken to perform transactions, the Quicken Merchant Account appears to offer the most functionality and tightest integration.

Published: June 23,2023