How to set up your Stripe account - Admins

Tip - The advice below is for Admins setting up a Stripe account to be used on behalf of a PTA or school, to sell tickets to events.

If you want to collect money personally, eg to collect money for a class event, see here.

The easiest way to set up a Stripe account is to create a draft Community Event on Classlist, and from there you will be taken to set up Stripe (to fill out a single page form). It only takes a few minutes, using information that you will already know.   You are basically giving Stripe permission to send ticket money to your organisation's bank account.

Once the main Stripe account has been set up you can give other members access to it by adding them as additional admins with their own login to Stripe.  If several people run events at your school they can all use one Stripe account, but with their own login, which maintains a record of who transfers money in and out, for instance.

Who should set up the Stripe account

The person setting up the Stripe account needs to be authorised to 'sign' on behalf of your organisation. For a PTA this is generally a committee member who is a bank signatory.  You will give Stripe details of the bank account you want your ticket money transferred to.  

If the PTA does not have its own bank account then the money taken on Classlist can be transferred directly to the school bank account from Stripe.  In that case the school will need to help you by setting up the account on Stripe - but don't worry, it is simple for a member of staff at your school to set up a Stripe account for use with Classlist. You could sit with them for a few minutes while they do it.  The person doing this need to be authorised to sign on behalf of the school. 

Whoever will be using the Stripe account to connect to Classlist needs to have full admin status on the Stripe account.  Please see the section below 'How to add additional users to the Stripe account' for how to do this.

How to set up a Stripe account

To access Stripe set up, create a draft Community Event, add a title and date, and then click 'add tickets', and 'paid tickets' and then click on 'Get paid using Stripe'.

Tip: If you are doing this with a member of staff, login them into a Classlist account and create a draft event to get to the right page to set up Stripe, as it is a simpler set up process than starting directly at Stripe. 

Also: Once the Stripe account is set up the account owner can add other people (eg the PTA) as extra admins from within Stripe, and you can then use your own Stripe details to set up events on Classlist.  Details below.

You will see this page:

Tip: if someone else has already set up a Stripe account for your PTA and invited you to it, you just need to connect your account to Classlist.   Look at the top right of the page and choose 'Sign In' to sign in to Stripe.  You don't need to go through the Stripe set up process.

Tip: If you have another Stripe account that you use for other purposes, you would need to logout of that account before choosing 'Connect to Stripe'. This is because if you are already logged into Stripe when you Connect that account will be connected to Classlist!

Next you will be taken through some questions. (NB The standard business wording of the questions from Stripe can appear odd to Classlist PTA/school members!).  Below we will explain what the questions mean.

The Stripe account needs to be set up by someone with access to your bank account as you will be connecting the Stripe account to your organisation's bank account and the money can only be transferred to that account.

Let's go:

Business Website - you can put a PTA or school website or a PTA social media profile here. 

If you are a PTA and you do not have a website, web page on the school website, or a social media profile you could put the school website.  This 'Business Website' info is not displayed anywhere or used by Classlist.  Stripe are using it to check that the organisation you are collecting funds for is a bona fide organisation.

Business Description - put text which describes how you raise money such as "We are a school's Parent Teacher Association. We arrange events for parents of the school in order to fundraise for the school.  We fundraise by selling tickets, accepting donations, and selling PTA merchandise for example." 

Type of Business - Choose 'Not for Profit' if you are a charity.

NB even if you choose 'Not for Profit' here you need to email your charity document to Stripe to get their lower fees for charities.

Company Number - this is where you should put your charity registration number. 

Stripe accepts 7 or 8 digit numbers.  If you only have 6 digits, please add 0 in front to make it 7 digits. 

NB if you are a PTA, but you are not a registered charity because you raise less than the required amount to register as a charity, choose 'Sole trader'.

In some cases schools themselves are charities and the PTA raising money for the school is not a separate registered charity or legal entity because it is linked to the school and fundraises for it.  In this case you would put the school charity details and should confirm details with the school.

VAT number - you can leave this blank unless you have one

Business Address - registered address of your organisation

Fill out your details.  

Financial services regulations mean Stripe need to know your role and personal details to verify you. 

Job title - you can say here if you are Treasurer of the PTA or Trustee.

Additional officers and trustees 

NB You can add additional administrators of the Stripe account later, once it is set up.  This section is not for that.

If your organisation is a charity you would add the trustees' names here.

More information about your charity can be found on the Charities Commission website here.

Credit card statement details - This helps parents recognise a payment to your organisation on their card statement.  It is a good idea to include 'Classlist'.

eg Statement Descriptor - 'St Martin's PTA Classlist account'

Support phone number.  Stripe makes it mandatory that you give a contact number for your 'customers' to contact you, but we don't display this info to your members, so don't worry, you won't be contacted via it!

Bank Details

You are stating that you authorise Stripe to transfer money to and from the PTA or school bank account.  Therefore you need to be a bank account signatory to complete this.   

Generally you will be transferring money out of your Stripe account to the bank account.   Stripe have a direct debit instruction as an insurance against you having a negative balance in your Stripe account, which they may need to settle from your bank account. 

(This is very unlikely to occur, but could occur if you transferred all the funds out of the Stripe account, and then a parent challenged the charge to their credit card.  In that case the credit card company may wish to retract the funds while they investigated, and so Stripe would go into a negative balance).

If you have dual or multiple signatories on your bank account you will need to get a different direct debit instruction from Stripe.  Details here.

Your Stripe login details

Two-step authentication - this is to ensure that only you can log into your account - you will be sent a text message.

Finally, put the email you want to use to login to the Stripe account, and a long password.  The email does not need to be the same one you use for Classlist.    Create a long and secure password. 

Multiple people should not share a single login to Stripe for security reasons. For instance, if someone logged into the Stripe account in your name and made changes to the account it would record that you made those changes, so protect yourself you should all have your own Stripe login.  

You can add additional administrators to Stripe by following the instructions further below in this article.

Email address confirmation

After you finish this page by clicking 'Authorize access to this account' you will be sent an email to confirm your email address.    Go to your email account and confirm your email right away.

NB You can ignore the info in the email about integrating Stripe.  The other information in the email from Stripe is gives you a link to your Stripe Dashboard and their support function. 

After confirming your email you will be told that your account is connected.   

Well done!  You can start selling tickets now.

Please note that you may not be able to remove your funds from Stripe for the first time until you have been verified - see 'Next' below. 

Every time you create a new paid event on Classlist you will choose 'Connect to Stripe'.

Choose 'Sign In' at the top right of the Stripe page to do that.

Next

Photo ID - If Stripe don't verify you or one of your account administrators based on the personal information you provided, you may be emailed by Stripe after set up asking you to upload a scan of your Passport or driving licence photo to your account. This is nothing to worry about and is to meet financial services regulations. 

Charitable Status

If the PTA or school which set up the Stripe account is a charity you can get your Stripe fees reduced from 1.4% to 1.2% by emailing Stripe and giving them details.   It is simple to do.  More info here. 

NB We cannot guarantee the fees won't change.  For events Classlist charges 1% on top of the Stripe fee.

Managing your Stripe account

Two-step authentication - when you first login you will be offered two-step authentication to keep your account more secure.  (This means that when you login the first time on a new device Stripe will send you an SMS with a security code to ensure it is you).  This helps prevent fraud.  We recommend you use two-step authentication.  You will be given a back up code to keep in a safe place in case you lose your phone.

How to add additional users to the Stripe account

Within Stripe, select Settings from the bottom of the menu on the left.

Click on Team Members in the right hand column.

Or go to this webpage on Stripe: 

Enter the email address of people who will be setting up events for you and need Stripe access.

You need to give them 'Administrator' status on Stripe for them to connect Stripe to Classlist. Administrator status gives them full access to the Stripe account, so it is best to restrict the number of people accessing the Stripe account.  However funds cannot be transferred anywhere except the nominated bank account.

What to do when you are invited to join a Stripe account

If you are invited to join the Stripe account you will get an emailed invitation.  Click on the email and set a password and login to Stripe. Then open Classlist on the same browser, create a draft community event, add paid tickets and choose 'Get paid with Stripe'.   Because you will already be logged into Stripe the account will connect immediately.

If you are not logged into Stripe when you try to connect via Classlist choose 'Sign In' at the top of the Stripe set up page.  You don't need to fill out the set up page!

Adjusting some other Settings on Stripe

Choose Settings on the menu again and then choose:

Account Information

The account name may show as the website url you entered.  You can edit this name to that of your PTA/organisation. 

Support email and phone.  Stripe makes it mandatory that you give a contact number but we don't display this info to your members.

If your members do need support you can direct them to the Classlist Help Centre.

Bank accounts and scheduling

Edit the Payout schedule to either 'Automatic - every month' or 'Manual'.  (It will be set as daily be default).

Other info

Photo ID - You will probably be emailed by Stripe after set up asking you to upload a scan of your Passport or driving licence photo to your account. This is nothing to worry about and is to meet financial services regulations.   In some cases they can verify you from the information you have already supplied.

You can delete your draft event once you have connected Stripe to your Classlist account, as the Stripe account will be remembered in your Classlist account for future events that you set up.

Admin at 2 schools?

NB if you are a Classlist Admin at 2 schools with 2 Stripe accounts make sure you connect the right Stripe account to each school!  Stripe may stay logged in on your browser, so if you are logged into Stripe for one school and then log into Classlist for another school on the same browser you will see the wrong Stripe account within Classlist.  Don't worry, you can switch the Stripe account if you do connect the wrong one.  

Help

If you need help with your Stripe account itself you can contact Stripe's Support Centre.  If you need help with Classlist please contact our Help Centre.