QuickBooks Merchant Services

Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started with Virtual Terminal Plus

Virtual Terminal Plus works with QuickBooks Financial Software version 2003 and higher or QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 3.0.

Step 1. Logging In

Each time you use Virtual Terminal Plus, you must log in using your QuickBooks Business Services login information.

To access Virtual Terminal Plus, go to: http://merchantaccount.quickbooks.com/virtualterminalplus/
Log in with your QuickBooks Business Services login. (If you do not have this login, please see below.)

Not sure if you have a QuickBooks Business Services login?

If you are unable to recover your QuickBooks Business Services login information, follow the steps below to create one.

To create a login name and password

If you do not have QuickBooks Business Services login, QuickBooks prompts you to create one whenever you connect to the QuickBooks Merchant Service or another QuickBooks business service. This prompt appears only once a day, the first time you connect to the service. If you have already used a business service today, you need to wait a day before completing these steps.

Start QuickBooks and open the company file you use with your QuickBooks Merchant Service.

From the Customers menu, choose Credit Card Processing Activities and then Process Payments.

If you have not yet created a QuickBooks Business Services login, you will see a "Create a login" page.

Choose the option to create a login. Be sure to record or remember your login information.

Return to Virtual Terminal Plus and log in.

To protect your QuickBooks Merchant Service from unauthorized access, safeguard your login information and log out whenever you are not using Virtual Terminal Plus.

Step 2. Uploading Your QuickBooks Customer List

When you process a payment using Virtual Terminal Plus, you can select the customer you are receiving the payment from, just as you do in QuickBooks. By selecting a customer, QuickBooks can automatically apply the payment to any outstanding invoices for that customer when you later download the payment to QuickBooks.

To use this feature, you must first upload your QuickBooks customer list to Virtual Terminal Plus:

Log out of Virtual Terminal Plus.
Follow the steps for downloading Virtual Terminal Plus payments to QuickBooks (see Step 6).
Whenever you download payments, QuickBooks automatically synchronizes your Virtual Terminal Plus customer list with your QuickBooks Customer:Job list.

Note: Uploading your customer list the first time can take several minutes if you have a large number of customers.
Return to Virtual Terminal Plus and log in.

The Select customer list should display all your customers.

Step 3. Processing Transactions

Set up payment

You can use Virtual Terminal Plus to process both payments and credits.

When you process a payment, you can choose to save a record of the transaction for downloading to QuickBooks.

To set up a transaction:

Log in to Virtual Terminal Plus.
On the Set up payment page, choose either the Sale or Credit tab.
Follow the onscreen instructions to process your transaction.
You can either key-enter or swipe a customer's credit card.
If you key-enter, credit card information or address information is required to perform an AVS check.
Once the transaction has been approved, you can print a receipt for your customer and for your records.

Step 4. Printing Receipts

When you process a transaction using Virtual Terminal Plus, you receive prompt notification on the screen as soon as the payment or credit is approved.
From this screen, you can print copies of the transaction receipt.
If you swipe a credit card, print two copies of the receipt. Have your customer sign the "Merchant Copy" and give your customer the "Customer Copy."

Step 5. Voiding Transactions

In Virtual Terminal Plus, voiding is available immediately after processing, on the screen that notifies you of the payment approval. If you need to void a transaction after the notification screen has closed, use Merchant Account Service Manager:

From the QuickBooks Customers menu, choose Credit Card Processing Activities and then Manage Merchant Service.

Note: You can void a credit card payment on the day you process the transaction. After that time, the transaction has been settled and cannot be voided. To reverse a credit card payment after the settlement period, you must issue the customer a credit instead.

Step 6. Downloading Transactions in QuickBooks

When you process transactions using Virtual Terminal Plus, your books will not be up-to-date until you record the transactions in QuickBooks. To simplify this task, you can download a list of all the payments processed using Virtual Terminal Plus in QuickBooks. (Currently, it's not possible to download a list of credits processed.) If you process credits using Virtual Terminal Plus, you need to remember to record them in QuickBooks.

To download and record payments

Open the company file you use with your QuickBooks Merchant Service.
To download payments, you may either:
- Click on the message in your reminder list, or:
- Choose Receive Payments from the Customers Menu, and then click Get Online Pmts on the toolbar. In the Get Online Pmts window, choose Virtual Terminal Plus payments and click OK.

QuickBooks connects to Virtual Terminal Plus and displays a list of all the payments processed since your last download. At the same time, QuickBooks applies the payments to any outstanding invoices for those customers.

Note: Whenever you download payments, QuickBooks automatically synchronizes your Virtual Terminal Plus customer list with your QuickBooks Customer:Job list.

Applying payments to invoices
When you download Virtual Terminal Plus payments, QuickBooks automatically applies the payments to outstanding invoices for those customers.

How does QuickBooks apply payments to invoices?
By default, QuickBooks is set to automatically apply payments for you.

Where to find this preference
From the QuickBooks Edit menu, choose Preferences, and then select the Sales & Customers icon. Click the Company Preferences tab.

When Automatically apply payments is on, QuickBooks applies payments to the outstanding invoices for that customer. If the amount received is less than the customer's outstanding balance, QuickBooks applies the payment to the oldest invoices first.

Step 7. Creating Transaction Reports

Use the Merchant Account Service Manager to create a variety of reports about credit card transactions you have processed:

From the Customers menu, choose Credit Card Processing Activities and then Manage Merchant Service.
Use the report options and filters to create a report that meets your needs.

Need more information? Browse our Frequently Asked Questions for more information on using the QuickBooks Merchant Service.

Related Topics
- Virtual Terminal Plus Help

Click here for additional terms and conditions by service.

QuickBooks Merchant Service for PCs