Stripe Connect setup
One time, and the account is yours
Stripe Connect onboarding is the gateway to accepting card payments + deposits + tap-to-pay on goldenhour. The account is a Standard one, so it is yours: your Stripe login, your Stripe dashboard, your disputes. The flow is hosted by Stripe (not us); goldenhour never sees your SSN. Bring the five things below and you can do it in one sitting. How long Stripe takes depends on your country and business type, so we don’t put a number on it.
What you need
Five-item checklist
Legal name + SSN
The owner of record on the bank account. Stripe verifies identity against your SSN: goldenhour never sees this data; it flows directly from your browser to Stripe.
Business name + DBA (if any)
Your business name as you want it to appear on customer card statements. If you operate under a DBA, use that; otherwise your legal name works.
Business address
Where the business is officially located. Home address is fine for solo pros + service-area businesses; PO boxes aren't accepted by Stripe.
Bank account info
Routing + account number for where payouts should land. Personal checking accounts work; business checking accounts are cleaner for bookkeeping. Stripe verifies via micro-deposits or instant verification depending on your bank.
Date of birth
Required for KYC. Stripe uses it as a tiebreaker against SSN-shared identity records.
The flow
Four steps
- 01Settings → Payments → Connect with Stripe.
- 02You bounce to a Stripe-hosted form (URL bar shows connect.stripe.com). Fill in the five items above.
- 03Stripe verifies + bounces you back to goldenhour. If instant verification works, you’re charges-enabled immediately. If micro-deposits are needed, allow 1-2 business days.
- 04Goldenhour’s payment indicator turns green; you can now collect deposits + run checkout on the booking page.
When it fails
Three common holdups
- Routing number issue. Some online-only banks (Chime, Cash App, etc.) have routing numbers that confuse Stripe. Use a checking account at a traditional bank or Stripe-supported neobank.
- SSN-mismatch verification fail. Most common reason: address on file at the IRS differs from what you entered. Update with the IRS first (Form 8822) then retry Stripe in 48-72 hours.
- Document upload requested. Driver’s license photo (both sides), bank statement screenshot. Not a problem with you: just standard KYC review. Provide what they ask + check status in Stripe’s dashboard.
Privacy posture
Goldenhour never sees your SSN. The Stripe onboarding form runs on connect.stripe.com: your browser posts directly to Stripe. We only store the resulting Connect account ID (e.g. acct_1ABC123…) + a flag indicating you’re charges-enabled.
Stripe is SOC 2 Type II certified, PCI Level 1, and the most-used payment processor for SaaS businesses globally. Your data is in the safest hands available in this part of the stack.
FAQ
- Why do I need to give Stripe my SSN?
- US federal law (KYC + AML) requires payment processors to verify the identity of business owners receiving money. Stripe asks for SSN as part of identity verification: the data is stored at Stripe (not goldenhour) under SOC-2-certified processes. Goldenhour never sees your SSN.
- Sole prop vs LLC: which should I pick during Stripe onboarding?
- Pick what matches your tax filing. Most solo artists start as sole prop (default for one-person businesses) and switch to LLC later. The Stripe flow asks the same identity questions either way; the difference is the business-type field + the tax-reporting structure.
- What's the payout schedule?
- Your first payout lands 2-7 business days after your first appointment. After that, about two days after each sale. That is Stripe's default 2-day rolling schedule for new accounts, accelerating to next-day after the first 90 days. Goldenhour doesn't override this; whatever Stripe sets is what flows. You can also enable instant payouts (15-minute, 1% fee per payout) from the Stripe dashboard.
- What if Stripe asks for additional documents?
- Stripe sometimes requests additional ID verification (a driver's license photo, a bank-statement screenshot) when the algorithm flags an account for review. It's not a sign that you've done something wrong: just routine KYC. Provide what they ask; the dashboard tells you the next-step status.