Getting Started with your Helcim Account

Getting Started with your Helcim Account

Welcome to Helcim!

Welcome to Helcim, we’ve put together this handy guide to help you set up and get the most out of your account! This guide will show you how to optimize your account to start taking payments, quickly and affordably. For information on our pricing structure as well as any terms and conditions click the links below:

• Pricing page

• Terms and Conditions
  

Below is our 10 step guide to setting up your Helcim account:

Step 1: Link a Bank Account

To process payments through your Helcim account, first, you need to link your bank account.

In order to link your bank account:

• Log into your Helcim account

• Click the ‘Link a Bank Account’ action block
  

  

• Choose either Instant Link or Upload a Void Check

  • Instant Link will guide you through our integration with PLAID. This allows you to log into your selected bank account in order to complete linking the account

  • Alternatively you can upload a void check. Our team will then review this within 1-2 business days

Learn more through our step-by-step guide about linking your bank account.

Once a bank account is uploaded you can receive your funding!

For more information on funding timelines and getting paid, click here.

Step 2: Configure your Account

Now you have connected your bank account, it’s time to explore your Helcim account! The nine gray dots in the top left of the dashboard is the ‘All Tools’ menu. Use this to navigate around your Helcim Account. You can pin your favorite tools to the collapsible sidebar so they will always be displayed.

For more tips and tricks on navigating your tools and dashboard, click here.

Below is a breakdown of our different tool sections.

• Payment Tools: here you will find all our online tools for taking payments including subscription manager, invoicing and payment pages. You can find an overview of our payment tools here:

  • Subscriptions

  • Invoicing

  • Online Checkout

  • Viewing Transactions

  • Using the Virtual Terminal

• Merchant Tools: here you will find the tools used for managing your account including the customer management, products and services, integrations (including our accounting partners), reporting and your account settings.

  • Creating Customers

  • Adding Products and Services

  • Reporting

  • Integrations

    • Quickbooks

    • Use our devdocs to explore more about API's!

• Back Office Tools: all the tools relating to the operation of your business with Helcim including employee management, equipment ordering and banking.

  • Employee Management

  • Equipment Ordering

  • Bank Deposits

  • Support Tickets

• Settings: We recommend using the ‘Settings’ tool to add taxes to your account as well as ensure all other settings are tailored to your business.

  • General Settings

Step 3: Configure Tax Settings

Helcim calculates taxes on orders and purchases automatically, unless the product is marked as tax-exempt.

To configure the tax settings on your account:

Go to All Tools > Settings and Under Merchant Account Settings, select Taxes

The billing address determines the applicable taxes - you must have your customer's address in the system if you want Helcim to correctly auto-calculate taxes. Helcim has Canadian and U.S. tax defaults based on the Province/State. If you need to add a tax for a specific country or edit the existing tax settings, you can do so by following the steps below.

Editing an Existing Tax Region

Begin by selecting the tax region that you want to edit. For this example, we will be editing the Canadian tax settings.

• Once you have selected the country, you need to edit the tax settings at the country level, and for the individual state or provinces

• The first screen that opens will allow you to edit the Country, Tax Name, and the Tax Rate

• If you need to edit the tax settings on a provincial or state level, click on State/Province Taxes under the options tab on the left-hand side of your screen

  • If this doesn't appear immediately, we recommend refreshing your page!

• From here, you can see the State or Province the tax applies to, the Tax Name, Tax Rate, how it is calculated, and the Tax Total for each region. If you need to edit any of the regions, simply click into the text box and make the required changes

• In the top right-hand corner of the screen, there are two buttons

• Clear taxes will remove all of the default tax options, and Save will allow you to apply any changes you have made

Step 4: Update Invoice Settings:

Any transaction processed on your account will generate an invoice. In the invoice settings you can set the default name of your invoices (inv, purchase order, etc.) as well as amend the codes and payment terms.

You can also decide how you want customers to view your invoices, either through our online viewer or through the customer portal. For more information on Invoicing and Customer Portal, click the links below:

• An Overview of Helcim Invoicing

• Configuring Your Customer Portal

Step 5: Configure your User Settings

In your Helcim user settings you can modify your personal information including email and phone number, as well as set up security settings on your account such as 2FA and PIN login to the Helcim App.

For more information review our article on editing your user settings here.

Step 6: Order Equipment

To take in person payments with your Helcim Account you will need to order a Helcim Card Reader or Helcim Smart Terminal.

• From the dashboard, select the ‘Order Equipment’ action block

• You can also access this from the ‘All Tools’ menu and clicking on ‘Equipment’

Either option will open the online store.

• Choose the color and number of devices you wish to order and click ‘Add to Order’

• Click the ‘Review Order’ and then ‘Checkout’ to continue purchasing

• Enter your shipping information and click ‘Continue’

• Enter your Billing information to complete your order

Your device should be delivered in 3-6 business days! For a step by step guide on ordering equipment, click here.

Step 7: Take in-person payments

Once you receive your Helcim Card Reader or Smart Terminal, you can connect it to your account to start taking in-person payments.

Smart Terminal:

You can check out the getting started guide for the Helcim Smart Terminal here.

Simply turn on your Smart Terminal and connect it to a Wi-Fi network. This will prompt the Helcim app to download directly onto your device. Log in to your Helcim account and you will be ready to start taking payments!

Helcim Card Reader:

First, you will need to download the Helcim App:

• Log into your Helcim account

• Select the All Tools menu and select ‘App’

• From the options on the left select download

• Choose which version of the App you want to download (Desktop, Tablet or Smartphone)

• Once downloaded, log in using your Helcim account log in credentials

For detailed instructions on downloading the App, click here.

Once the App has been downloaded you can connect your Card Reader!

• When you first log into the App, you will receive a prompt to connect a card reader

• Click Connect

• Make sure your Helcim Card Reader is turned on and has been charged

• Follow the steps in the app to connect your card reader to your account

For detailed steps on connecting your Card Reader, click below:

• For Mobile or Tablet

• For Workstation

Once you have connected the card reader, you can process a payment!

• In the App select the POS option (the credit card icon on the lower toolbar)

• Enter the amount you wish to charge and select ‘process’

If your app is connected to the Helcim Card Reader, then the device will prompt your customer to enter or tap their card.

Step 8: Process your first transaction - on us!

For some added peace of mind, go ahead and take your first transaction to get comfortable using your new Helcim tools. We have waived 100% of the fees on your first $5 worth of transactions with Helcim.

For more information on trying Helcim Payments for the first time, click here.

To take online payments using the Virtual Terminal select the ‘All Tools’ menu in the top left, then select ‘Payments’

From the options list on the left select ‘Virtual Terminal’

Enter the customer and card information on the left hand side

Once completed, select ‘Charge Now’

For a more detailed guide on using the Virtual Terminal, click here.

Are you a business that accepts payments in-person? Don’t worry, you can still take your first payments worth $5 on our card reader at absolutely no fees! Follow the steps on trying out Helcim payments for the first time.

Step 9: Explore your Helcim Account

With our all-in-one Merchant Platform, we’ve got your back when it comes to growing your business! Our powerful suite of free tools are designed to help you unlock your business's full potential.

As part of your Helcim account you also have access to our Invoicing, Online Checkout, Subscription Manager tool and Hosted Payment pages.

• Getting Started with Online Checkout

• Subscription Manager

For information about our APIs and integrations, you can check out Dev Docs here.

These contain step by step guides to using our API to process payments and manage your Helcim account.

If you require support or need help troubleshooting API’s or integrations you can contact our Tier 2 team at tier2@helcim.com

Step 10: Start Processing!

Congratulations! You are all set to start taking payments with Helcim!

If you need specific help setting up your account or want to learn more about our payment tools and how you can get the most out of your Helcim account, please reach out to our Support team via ticket, by calling us at 1 (877) 643- 5246 or by email at help@helcim.com.