# Getting started

> Open a Soca business account and take your first USDC payment in minutes: no bank account, no code, and no crypto knowledge required.

Part of the Soca documentation (https://soca.finance/docs). Human version: https://soca.finance/docs/business/getting-started
Soca gives your business a complete payments stack, including checkout, subscriptions, invoices, and an in-person terminal. USDC settles directly to a wallet you control. Setup takes a few minutes and nothing is required up front: no bank account, no paperwork, and no code. This page walks through your first session, from sign-up to your first payment.

## How do I create a business account?

1. **Sign up**: Continue with **email** or **Google** to create a secure embedded wallet automatically, or connect a Solana wallet you already use (Phantom, Solflare, Backpack). Either way, you hold the keys.
2. **Choose Business**: On first run, Soca asks whether this is a personal or business account. Pick **Business** to get the merchant dashboard: payments, plans, invoices, treasury, and analytics.
3. **Pick your @username**: Your username is your public identity on Soca. Customers see it at checkout and can pay you by name, so choose the one you want on receipts.
4. **Get paid**: Share the checkout link for a [plan](/docs/business/subscriptions), send an [invoice](/docs/business/invoices), or open the phone terminal for an [in-person charge](/docs/business/in-person). The dashboard header has **New plan**, **New invoice**, and **Charge** buttons for exactly these three.
5. **Money lands in your wallet**: When a customer pays, USDC settles straight to your wallet inside the payment transaction itself. Funds settle wallet-to-wallet inside the payment transaction itself: there is no pooled balance, no payout schedule, and no withdrawal step.

## What do I need before I can accept payments?

Less than you might expect. The dashboard shows a short getting-started checklist, and the first item, connecting a settlement wallet, is already done the moment you sign in.

- **No bank account.** Payments settle in USDC, a fully-backed digital dollar, to your own wallet. You can start charging before you have set up any banking at all.
- **No code.** Every product works from the dashboard: create a plan or invoice and share its hosted link. The [API](/docs/developers/quickstart) exists for when you want it, not before.
- **No crypto knowledge.** Your customers can pay with just an email address, and neither of you handles gas, tokens, or seed phrases to get started. Customers never pay network fees. Soca sponsors gas on every transaction.
- **No setup or monthly fees.** Soca charges 1.5% when you get paid, online or in person, and nothing otherwise. See [Pricing and fees](/docs/pricing).

## Is there a test mode?

Yes. Everything in Soca is scoped as either **test** or **live**, and the two never mix. Test activity runs on Solana devnet with test USDC. These are real transactions on a rehearsal network, so the full flow (checkout, settlement, receipts, webhooks) behaves exactly like production without moving real money. Live activity runs on Solana mainnet.

If you use the API, the mode follows your key: `sk_test_...` keys create and read test objects, `sk_live_...` keys work with live ones. A test key can never see live payments, and vice versa.

> **Your money stays yours**: Soca is non-custodial: money settles to wallets you hold the keys for, and any wallet key can be exported at any time. There is no platform balance holding your funds and no payout schedule to wait on.

## Where should I go next?

- [Accepting payments](/docs/business/payments): Checkout links, the hosted checkout, and how settlement works.
- [Subscriptions and plans](/docs/business/subscriptions): Recurring billing with one customer approval and automatic renewals.
- [Invoices](/docs/business/invoices): One-time payment requests with hosted pages and automatic reconciliation.