---
title: "Prepare your account | Timbro"
description: "Create the business account and the keys your system uses to collect and invoice"
canonical: "https://timbro.do/en/docs/empieza/antes-de-integrar/"
---

Get started

# Prepare your account

Create your account in [Portal Timbro](https://app.timbro.do/) with your email and confirm the business’s RNC. Whoever confirms the business becomes its owner. Every business starts in Test mode, where no real money moves and invoices have no fiscal value.

## Create the keys

Create the keys in Portal Timbro, in Settings › Connections › Credentials. When you create a key, you choose its mode, Test or Live, and for an API key you also choose its access: Collect, Invoicing, or both.

| Key                           | What it is for                                                                             |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| API key with Collect access   | Create and retrieve payments and refunds                                                   |
| API key with Invoicing access | Issue and retrieve invoices                                                                |
| API key with both accesses    | Collect invoices and invoice at the time of payment                                        |
| Administrator key             | Configure invoicing, the digital certificate, and the ITBIS applied to payments by default |

The examples in this documentation read each key from an environment variable:

- `TIMBRO_PAYMENTS_SECRET_KEY`, the key with Collect access.
- `TIMBRO_INVOICES_API_KEY`, the key with Invoicing access.
- `TIMBRO_API_KEY`, the key with both accesses.
- `TIMBRO_ADMIN_KEY`, the administrator key.

Portal Timbro shows each key only once. Store it on your server, in an environment variable or a secrets manager, and never in the browser, in a URL, or in your logs.

The key identifies the business and the mode, so your requests do not state them. Test and Live have separate keys and configuration: a payment or invoice created with a Test key can only be retrieved with a Test key. You can create a Live key once the business can work Live with every access you give it: for Collect it needs its merchant account connected Live, and for Invoicing it needs Live invoicing set up.

To change a key without stopping your system, call `POST /v1/api-keys/rotate` with the current API key and an idempotency key (`Idempotency-Key`) that you reuse if you have to retry. The response contains the new key, and the previous one keeps working for 24 hours.

## If several businesses use your system

If you build a point-of-sale system or an ERP that several businesses use, each business creates its own keys in its Portal Timbro account and enters them in your system. Store each business’s keys separately, and use that business’s key in each request. Your system never needs the RNC or another identifier to choose the business.

## What each business needs

- **To invoice**, the business needs its digital certificate and, to invoice Live, the e-NCF sequences the DGII granted it. [Set up invoicing](https://timbro.do/en/docs/comprobantes/configurar-facturacion/) explains how to do it with the API, although an owner or administrator can also do it in Portal Timbro. Invoicing does not require a merchant account.
- **To collect by card**, the business needs to connect in Portal Timbro the merchant account it has with its acquirer: Azul, CardNet, or Portal. The guide [Connect your merchant account](https://timbro.do/en/docs/negocio/conectar-afiliacion/) explains each step, and you can share it with whoever manages the business. Timbro also needs to know what part of each payment’s amount is ITBIS: you can [configure the default ITBIS](https://timbro.do/en/docs/cobros/impuestos-y-articulos/) or state it on each payment.

Then, [choose how to integrate your system](https://timbro.do/en/docs/empieza/como-funciona/).

[Previous\
Choose how to integrate your system](https://timbro.do/en/docs/empieza/como-funciona/)[Next\
Create a payment](https://timbro.do/en/docs/empieza/primer-pago/)

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## Products

[Invoicing](https://timbro.do/en/facturacion-electronica/)[Serve](https://timbro.do/en/atiende/)[Collect](https://timbro.do/en/pagos/)[Portal Timbro](https://timbro.do/en/portal-timbro/)[Integrations](https://timbro.do/en/integraciones/)[Cuenta Timbro](https://timbro.do/en/cuenta-timbro/)[Pricing](https://timbro.do/en/precios/)

## Developers

[SDKs and API](https://timbro.do/en/desarrolladores/)[Documentation](https://timbro.do/en/docs/)[API reference](https://timbro.do/en/docs/reference/payments/)

## Company

[INDEXA, the company behind Timbro](https://indexa.do/)[Presentations](https://timbro.do/en/presentaciones/)

## Help

[How to start](https://timbro.do/en/como-empezar/)[Electronic invoicing guide](https://timbro.do/en/guias/facturacion-electronica-republica-dominicana/)[Contact](https://timbro.do/en/contacto/)<hola@timbro.do>

## Legal

[Business Terms](https://timbro.do/en/politicas/negocios/)[Terms of use](https://timbro.do/en/politicas/uso/)[Privacy](https://timbro.do/en/politicas/privacidad/)[Security](https://timbro.do/en/politicas/seguridad/)[All documents](https://timbro.do/en/politicas/)