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have any mail. Most mail-service places will also accept your UPS
and FedEx deliveries, which is handy. If you order from a com­
pany that will not deliver to P.O. boxes, you usually scoot around
that rule by having your mail-service box. Another nice feature of a
mail-service box is that you don't have to pay extra for home-office
deliveries because the mail service signs for it.

Once you have your DBA, seller's permit, and postal box, you
are ready to proceed.

Accepting Cre dit Cards

Now that you have a legal company name, set up a business check­
ing account so that you can be issued company checks and possi­
bly a company credit card and the capability to accept payment by
credit cards. Banks require you to open what's known as a "Mer­
chant Account" to do so. Once you set this up, when you charge a
customer on your credit card machine, all credit card payments will
go directly into your business bank account.

Setting Up a Merchant Account

To set up an account, talk to the bank where you have your busi­
ness account, or feel free to use another if they have a plan more
suited to your needs. You don't have to have a business account
with, say, Wells Fargo, to use them as your merchant account bank.
The second bank can wire the credit card funds to your business
account, wherever that may be.

Generally speaking, a merchant account is an arrangement
where a bank facilitates credit card payments from customers to
the merchant's bank account. When a customer pays by credit
card, they will see your company name and charge amount on
their monthly statement. You cannot use your merchant account for
accepting payment for anything other than your specific business
transactions .