> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect payments

> Connect your payment account and build your checkout — the step with the longest lead time outside your control.

Step 2 of the [launch path](/docs/guides/launch/overview). This is second, not later, for one reason: **payment verification is outside your control.** Everything else on this path moves when you move it. This one waits on someone else, so start it before you need it.

## Connect the account

Connect card payments under **Settings → Payments** — an existing Stripe account, or a new one. Add the offline methods you accept, such as pay on collection or invoice; they appear at checkout and are reconciled by hand.

If your application is still in verification, keep going with the rest of the path. Nothing before [Test your processes](/docs/guides/launch/test-end-to-end) depends on it.

<Note>
  A guide for connecting payments is in progress. Until it lands: [Payments](/docs/settings/payments) and the [payments](/docs/concepts/orders/payments) and [deposits](/docs/concepts/orders/deposits) concepts.
</Note>

**Done when:** payments are connected, verification is complete, and every method you accept appears at checkout.

## Build the checkout

The checkout is what the customer fills in, and what you ask for there is what you have afterwards. Decide it now rather than discovering at the counter that you never collected a phone number.

If you take deposits, configure them on the checkouts that take them.

<Note>
  A guide for building your checkout is in progress. Until it lands: [Checkouts](/docs/settings/checkouts) and its [steps](/docs/settings/checkouts/steps), [Collect customer data at checkout](/docs/guides/customers/collect-customer-data-at-checkout), [Ask for information on a listing](/docs/guides/catalog/listing-checkout-fields).
</Note>

**Done when:** a checkout exists, is attached to the channel that will use it, and asks for everything you need and nothing you do not.

## Prove a live payment before you launch

A test-mode payment proves the integration is wired up. It does not prove your account is verified, that payouts arrive, or that the money reaches the right bank account.

You will run this properly at [Test your processes](/docs/guides/launch/test-end-to-end). Note it here so it is not a surprise: **a live-mode payment, taken and refunded on a real card, is a go-live condition.**

## Related articles

<CardGroup cols={2} className="doc-rows-condensed">
  <Card title="Launch path" href="/docs/guides/launch/overview">
    The whole path, in order.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Before you start" href="/docs/guides/launch/before-you-start">
    The previous step: the decisions behind this configuration.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Set up your business" href="/docs/guides/launch/set-up-the-foundation">
    The next step: the structure everything else attaches to.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>