Whether you’re just getting started or scaling fast, Mercury makes it easy to get your business finances set up from day one. This guide walks you through the key steps to set up your account, so you can start sending payments, organizing your finances, and controlling spend with confidence.
Before you begin make sure you have:
- Completed your application and received account approval.
- Set up 2-factor authentication and have logged into your dashboard.
Deposit funds
Funding your account is the foundation of everything you’ll do with Mercury. Before you can pay vendors, use cards, cover expenses, or receive payments, you’ll need funds in your account.
You can make your first deposit by wiring funds, transferring money from another account, depositing a check, issuing a SAFE, or requesting a payment from a customer or financial platform. Simply navigate to the Move Money dropdown in your dashboard and choose Deposit.
Tips:
- The fastest way to fund your account is by initiating a domestic wire (0-1 business days) or international wire (3-9 business days). All wires in USD are free on Mercury
- Waiting on sales to fund your account? Add your Mercury account and routing numbers to platforms like Shopify, Stripe, Amazon, or Etsy so payouts land directly in your Mercury account
Set up Ecommerce platform integrations (e.g. Shopify, Stripe)
Connecting Mercury to your ecommerce tools, like Shopify for storefront sales and Stripe for payment processing, will help bring all your incoming and outgoing funds into one centralized place so you can track revenue, understand cashflow, and reconcile payments without logging into multiple tools.
Integrating your accounts also helps reduce manual data entry, mismatched transactions, and errors. For growing ecommerce companies, this means more accurate financial records and cleaner books, especially when working with accountants, a fractional CFO, or preparing for financing.
Tips:
- To integrate with these services, you'll need to take your Mercury account and routing number and add it as a payment account on the processor's site. Make sure to use your company’s legal name as the account holder to avoid payout failures due to name mismatches.
- Once your payouts land in Mercury, you’ll see all your cash inflows and outflows in one place—sales revenue coming in, vendor payments, ad spend, and operating expenses going out—so you can easily track cash flow without hopping between platforms, and know exactly how much you have available to reinvest in growth.
Create debit and credit cards
Debit cards
Once your account is funded, you can create debit cards to manage everyday business expenses like hardware, office space, or other company purchases. Virtual cards are available instantly and can be used right away; physical cards can be ordered for in-person needs.
To create a card, go to the Cards tab in your dashboard and click Create Card. You can name the card (e.g. "Software," "Advertising Spend"), choose which checking account it pulls from, and set spend limits.
Credit cards
With Mercury’s IO card eligible orgs can earn 1.5% cashback on all spend and start building business credit from day one. You can activate IO as soon as your account is funded, starting with daily repayment terms and a lower credit limit. Eligibility is based on several factors, such as your company’s size, spending patterns, and fundraising history.
Once your Mercury balance reaches $15K, you’ll unlock higher limits and switch to a monthly repayment schedule with the same great cashback and no personal guarantee required.
To create an IO card, go to the Cards tab and click Create Card. You can issue virtual or physical cards and manage spend with built-in controls.
Tips:
- Create separate virtual cards for subscriptions, ad spend, or travel.
- Manage spend policies to control who can spend what, where, and how.
- Use merchant-locked cards to limit purchases to a single vendor or tool.
Set up multiple accounts to separate funds
Managing cash flow is critical when you’re juggling inventory, marketing, and operating expenses. With Mercury, you can open multiple checking and savings accounts to organize your funds with intention, whether you’re separating ad spend and inventory costs for clearer control or setting aside taxes and profit as part of a profit-first approach.
To create an account, go to the Accounts tab and Create Account. You can name each account (e.g. Ad spend, Operating Expenses, Taxes).
Set up auto transfer rules to automatically move funds between your checking and savings accounts for things like taxes, expenses, and profit to make cash management and runway tracking easier. You can use rules to maintain a target balance or distribute funds by percentage into multiple accounts.
Tips:
- Use auto-transfer rules to follow a Profit First approach—automatically setting aside a percentage of each payout for taxes, profit, and operating expenses. That way, you’ll always know what’s truly available to spend versus what needs to be saved.
- Download the Mercury iOS or Android app to check balances and move money between accounts anytime, anywhere.
Send money
Whether you’re paying contractors or suppliers, you can send ACHs, wires,
or
checks right from your Mercury dashboard through the
Send Money
flow.
Go to Send from your Dashboard (or your Payments page) to
upload
a bill or select a recipient, choose your payment method, set the amount
and
timing, and confirm. ACHs and domestic wires are free to send when in USD,
and
checks can be mailed directly from Mercury, giving you a simple, centralized
way to pay vendors and manage cash flow.
Add team members, bookkeepers, and contractors
With Mercury, you can invite your team (employees, bookkeepers, contractors, etc.) to your accounts and decide exactly what they can see or do, from managing payments to spending on cards.. Assigning permissions and spending limits can help you maintain control as your team grows. To get started navigate to your Team page to invite a new user and choose an existing role: Admin, Employee or create a Custom role from scratch.
Tips:
- Give contractors virtual cards with vendor limits (e.g. "Meta Ad Spend")
- Add your accountant with read-only access to reduce back-and-forth during tax season
Set up accounting integrations
Mercury connects seamlessly with accounting tools like QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite, so you can manage your books without juggling exports or chasing receipts. Once connected, your transactions sync automatically, saving you time and making it easier to stay organized.
To connect your accounting software, go to Settings > Integrations, select your provider, and follow the prompts to authorize the connection. Once linked, all your transactions, invoices, and payments will sync automatically.
Tips:
- Invite your bookkeeper or accountant as a team member so they can access synced transactions directly.
- Use categorization rules to auto-tag ad spend or subscriptions transactions by vendor.
Access working capital
Need extra cash for a bulk inventory order or a paid ads push?
Mercury Working Capital gives ecommerce businesses flexible, transparent financing based on all your revenue streams, not just your bank balance. Get predictable payback schedules with no prepayment penalties or personal guarantees.
Check your eligibility or apply directly in the Capital tab.
To qualify:
- You need to be an ecommerce brand incorporated in the United States. At this time, we are unable to offer working capital loans to businesses operating in California.
- You need to be generating at least $250k of annual sales with at least 6 months of trading history.
Perks
Mercury gets you deals on the best tools for your business. Checkout our Ecommerce bundle with discounts and credits for storefronts, shipping, ads, and more from ShipBob, Base, and others.
More resources for your businesses like yours
Here are a few additional resources to help you get your business started—from setting up your finances to accessing exclusive perks to help you save money:
- Ecommerce Founder Guide: Getting started
- Exploring financing options for ecommerce companies
- Is a merchant cash advance right for my ecommerce company?
- Building economic resilience for your ecommerce business
Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.
The Mercury Debit Cards are issued by Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC, pursuant to licenses from Mastercard®.
The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®. To receive cash back, your Mercury accounts must be open and in good standing, meaning they cannot be suspended, restricted, past due, or otherwise in default.
Loan amounts are subject to eligibility and credit criteria. Mercury’s Venture Debt and Working Capital loans are originated by Mercury Lending, LLC (NMLS: 2606284) and serviced by Mercury Servicing, LLC (NMLS: 2606285). Mercury Lending and Mercury Servicing are wholly-owned, separately managed subsidiaries of Mercury Technologies, Inc. At this time, we are unable to offer working capital or venture debt loans to businesses operating in California.
Some features are only accessible to paid subscribers. Learn more about Mercury subscription plans here.