How Long Does Shopify Take To Pay You?

Congratulations! You have just made your first sale through your Shopify online store.

Now you are wondering how long does Shopify take to pay you? 

Some people using the Shopify platform become concerned when they see a customer has made a purchase, but no money reflects in their merchant account after the transaction. 

Several things influence how long payment takes to appear in your bank account. This article looks at the payment process and why it takes time for payments to reflect in your bank.

How Long Does it Take Shopify to Pay You?

Shopify payouts are straightforward. And once you understand how the payment system works, you will feel more at ease. 

Shopify Payments does not provide instant payouts. So don’t expect instant cash. 

Your first payout will take at least a week or seven working days to be processed. Underwriting teams check new accounts to ensure everything is in order and legitimate. 

But how long does Shopify take to payout future transactions? 

After your first payment, payouts in the US are typically sent three working days after the credit card company processes the order. 

The purchase amount will reflect in your merchant account within three days of receipt when the payment is processed. 

Why Do Shopify Payouts Take So Long?

When customers buy an item, they fill in their payment details at the checkout. The customers' credit card payment is immediately processed through the payment provider.

There can be a time-lapse between the customer card payment and when the money shows in the provider account. The exact process applies if you use Shopify Payments or a third-party provider. 

However, the payment gateway you choose can determine how long it takes for the money to show in your account. 

The time it takes to transfer the money from the payment platform into your bank account also depends on the terms of your provider and your bank.

Once the money reflects in your Shopify merchant account, you can withdraw it into your bank account. 

How Often Does Shopify Pay Out?

By default, Shopify is set to perform daily payouts into your bank account on working days. This cycle is automatic, but you can change it to weekly or monthly payouts if you prefer.

If you are using a third-party provider, you will need to manually transfer the money from your third-party account into your bank account. 

After the payout is processed, the third-party provider sends it to your banking institute. From that point, the time it takes for the money to reflect in your bank account is based on your banks' speed. 

While using Shopify Payments saves you on transaction fees and the inconvenience of setting up third-party providers, it is not available in every country. 

Some vendors will have to choose third-party providers, for example, Paypal, Amazon, and PayFast.

The Process Behind A Sale

If Shopify is the payment platform you are using, the payment goes into your Shopify account. If you use a different service, the amount will sit in that service account. 

You will have to withdraw the money into your account in both instances.

Remember that any money paid by customers will only reflect in Shopify Payments if that is the payment platform you have chosen to use. 

If you are using any other third-party payment platform, you will have to log onto your account with that platform to see the payment. 

When you set up your Shopify account, you have a choice of over 100 payment gateways.

Shopify allows you to opt to use more than one platform for your customers' convenience. 

Using multiple platforms can make it hard to keep track of transactions, but using a tool like Reconcile.ly can simplify all your Shopify transactions in seconds. 

Reconcile.ly automatically exports your Shopify payouts into invoices. They are then synced and allocated correctly within your Xero accounts. 

What is convenient about Reconcile.ly is that even transactions that use payment gateways other than Shopify can be imported into Xero. A real benefit to vendors using multiple payment gateways. 

Pay Periods In Other Countries

Shopify Payments is not available worldwide. The service is only available to Shopify stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. 

Pay periods can vary from country to country. A pay period is the time it takes from placing an order in your store to when the payment for that item reflects in your bank account. 

Remember that payments are processed on working days only - no weekends or national holidays. So, payments made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are combined and sent as a single payment. 

A Final Note

“How long does it take to get paid by Shopify” is a common question people consider using the online platform for retail business. 

As you see, timing can vary depending on the payment platform you use, the provider you bank with, and the country you live in.

Shopify combines all transactions when they payout into your merchant account, paying out in one chunk of money. 

Receiving one lump sum makes it difficult for merchants to attribute orders to specific clients or see transaction fees. 

It might be worth offering multiple payment gateways for customer convenience, but this makes things more challenging when keeping track of transactions. 

Fortunately, there is a great tool to solve this problem. Reconcilely reconciles Shopify orders with accounting software (Xero). Merchants who use Reconcile.ly can see exactly where money is coming in and going out, making it effortless to reconcile their books.

‍