Regulatory changes for financial institutions aimed at improving financial transparency require our Online Payments processor to identify and verify the identity of all business owners. If you're an Individual/Sole Proprietor or a Non-profit, this requires you to update your practice information. If you own a Corporation or LLC, this requires you to update your practice information and provide information about all owners who own more than 25% of your business.
Below you'll find answers to the following questions:
- If I'm a Sole Proprietor/Individual or Non-profit, what steps do I need to take?
- What exactly do I need to do if I have a Corporation or LLC?
- What do I need to do if I'm part of a group practice and am not the account owner?
- Once I submit the required information for my Online Payments account, what happens?
- If I don't submit the required information for my Online Payments account by the deadline, what happens?
- What happens if no one owns 25% or more of the business?
- Can my Online Payments account get disabled even if I provide the required information by the deadline?
- Will I receive my pending payouts if my Online Payments account gets disabled?
- Can I still use my SimplePractice account if my Online Payments account gets disabled?
- What if I can't get my updated EIN to save on the verification form?
- Is there specific information available about the regulatory changes that are going into effect?
If I'm a Sole Proprietor/Individual or Non-profit, what steps do I need to take?
Once you see the Additional information is required to verify your Online Payments account banner on your Calendar homepage, you can click update your information to be directed to complete the verification process through a secure link.
This process will take approximately 15 minutes, and will require you to have the following information on hand:
- Business phone number
- Business website, social profile, or product description
- Industry
- Email address
- Job title
- Phone number
Once the above steps are completed, you’ll be redirected to SimplePractice and see an updated banner under Settings > Billing and Services > Online Payments which will indicate that your account is under review and may take up to 5 business days to be verified. During this time, you may continue charging credit cards and receiving payouts. All status updates will be communicated to you via email.
What exactly do I need to do if I have a Corporation or LLC?
Once you see the Additional information is required to verify your Online Payments account banner on your Calendar homepage, you can click update your information to be directed to complete the verification process through a secure link.
This process will take approximately 15 minutes, and will require you to have the following information on hand:
- Business phone number
- Business website, social profile, or product description
- Industry
- Email address
- Job title
- Phone number
You will also need to have on hand the following information about each individual who owns 25% or more of your business to complete the verification on their behalf:
- Legal name (first and last)
- Email address
- Date of birth
- Home address
- Phone number
- Last 4 digits of their Social Security Number
Once the above steps are completed, you’ll be redirected to SimplePractice and see an updated banner under Settings > Billing and Services > Online Payments which will indicate that your account is under review and may take up to 5 business days to be verified. During this time, you may continue charging credit cards and receiving payouts. All status updates will be communicated to you via email.
What do I need to do if I'm part of a group practice and am not the account owner?
If you are part of a group practice, but you are not the account owner, we strongly encourage you to reach out to your account owner for status updates, questions, or concerns. Only the account owner can provide the required information.
Once I submit the required information for my Online Payments account, what happens?
You'll see an updated banner under on your Online Payments page informing you that your Online Payments account is under review and that it may take up to 5 business days to be verified. During the verification window, you can continue charging credit cards and receiving payouts. All status updates will be communicated to you via email.
If I don't submit the required information for my Online Payments account by the deadline, what happens?
If you do not submit the required information by the deadline, your Online Payments account will be disabled and you will not be able to process online payments or receive payouts.
What happens if no one owns 25% or more of the business?
The exact rules vary by country, but beneficial owners can include one or both of the following types of individuals:
- Individuals who own 25% or more of your business, and/or
- Individuals who exercise significant control over your business
- Individuals considered to “exercise significant control” over your company are those responsible for managing and directing the business and may include executive officers or senior managers, such as CEO, CFO, COO, Managing Member, General Partner, President, Vice President, or Treasurer.
Can my Online Payments account get disabled even if I provide the required information by the deadline?
In very rare cases, an Online Payments account can get disabled due to being flagged as suspicious. If this occurs, you will need to provide more information to assist with the verification process.
Will I receive my pending payouts if my Online Payments account gets disabled?
You should still receive your pending payouts if your Online Payments account gets disabled.
Can I still use my SimplePractice account if my Online Payments account gets disabled?
You can absolutely still use your SimplePractice account if your Online Payments account gets disabled.
What if I can't get my updated EIN to save on the verification form?
In most cases where we've seen customers report having trouble saving their updated EIN on the verification form, they have been able to save their information successfully by double-checking that the information saved matches the information the IRS has on file. For detailed steps to take, please see this guide: Using IRS documentation as reference when entering business name and tax ID number (TIN) for US-based businesses.
Is there specific information available about the regulatory changes that are going into effect?
The regulatory changes going into effect are relatively recent. Our processor has been managing this process and working with financial institutions to ensure that both they and customers like you are in compliance. Requiring customers to verify their information is our processor’s step to comply with these regulatory changes.