--- title: "Require Payment of an Application Fee" slug: "collecting-payments-from-the-application" updated: 2026-05-26T15:25:57Z published: 2026-05-26T15:25:57Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://knowledge.technolutions.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Require Payment of an Application Fee > [!NOTE] > 📚 Part of the series **Application Building Phase II:**[**The Slate-hosted Application**](/v1/docs/introduction-to-the-slate-hosted-application) [Application logic](/v1/docs/submission-requirements-hard-and-soft-fails), including hard and soft fails, ensure applicants enter all necessary data prior to submitting an application. **Charging an application fee**upon submission of the Slate-hosted application is straightforward and adaptable to your application process. ## Determining the fee Calculate the application fee with **rules**that run upon application submission. If your application process has variable fees and fee waivers, organize these payment rules within an **exclusivity group.** 📖****[Charge an Application Fee When an Application Is Submitted](/v1/docs/charge-application-fee) ## Requiring payment to submit application You can require that the application fee is either paid or waived at submission time by selecting **Yes** for the **Require Payment** option on a particular application round. [![Setting.png](https://cdn.us.document360.io/cd8ea7a6-07f3-4846-a554-627ac016d3e3/Images/Documentation/setting.png)](https://cdn.us.document360.io/cd8ea7a6-07f3-4846-a554-627ac016d3e3/Images/Documentation/setting.png) Enabling the **Require Payment to Submit Application** within an Application Round configuration has three primary effects: 1. Changes the "Submit Application" button on the Review page to read "**Finalize Application and Pay."** 2. After selecting Finalize Application and Pay, and until payment has been completed for an application, the Application Management page displays that application's status as **"Awaiting Payment."** 3. After selecting Finalize Application and Pay, and until payment has been completed for an application, opening an application automatically takes the user to the **Application Fee Payment** page. Only until payment has been received or waived can the applicant proceed to the Application Status Portal. > [!CAUTION] > 🔔 **Important! > > There are some practical considerations to be made when enabling this functionality, since selecting Finalize Application and Pay *immediately sets the application's submission date*. > > - You can continue to configure Application Fee activity rules by using the **Upon Application Submission Only** trigger. > - It is advisable to employ an **Awaiting Payment** application status rule to identify applicants who have finalized their application and who did not submit payment immediately. > - If **Application Waivers** are offered, make a plan to address applicants paying the fee and discovering they were eligible for a waiver at a later time. #### The `[application].[submitted_paid]` Column On the application table, there is a column called `“submitted_paid" ([application].[submitted_paid])` that determines whether Slate should send applicants to the payment page or to the status page. Slate populates this column when the applicant first accesses their status page, which can happen after they pay their fee, or if they did not owe a fee in the first place. It follows this logic: - If the column is **populated**, Slate routes the record to the **status page** - If the column is **not populated**, Slate routes the record to the **payment page** This requirement is set on the application’s**round**. > [!WARNING] > 📝 [Payment widgets](/v1/docs/form-payment-widget) don’t currently function on [Slate-hosted-application-scoped forms](/v1/docs/creating-a-custom-application-page). #### Creating the requirement on the round To require applicants to pay a fee or fees before they can access their status portal: 1. Go to **Database** → **Application Rounds**. 2. Select the round for which you want to require payment. 3. Configure the following [settings](/v1/docs/creating-application-rounds#application-round-setting-descriptions): - **Payment Grace Period (Days):** Lets the applicant pay the fee after the round deadline within the number of days specified. For example, if the application submission deadline is January 1, but application fee payments will be accepted through January 15, enter `15` here. - The round must have a value in **Deadline** to configure a grace period. - Defaults to 1 day if left blank. Enter `0` if you do not want to allow a grace period. - **Require Payment to Submit Application:**Yes ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/cd8ea7a6-07f3-4846-a554-627ac016d3e3/Images/Documentation/Edit Application Round - Require Payment to Submit Application.png) 4. Select **Save.** With this setting activated, the `Submit Application` button at the end of the application’s *Review*page becomes `Finalize Application and Pay`. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/cd8ea7a6-07f3-4846-a554-627ac016d3e3/Images/Documentation/Submit application button becomes Finalize application and pay.png) #### Customize button text To customize this button’s text: 1. From the main navigation, select **Database.** 2. Select **Application Editor.** 3. Select the part ID `review`. 4. In the **Custom Label for Finalize Application and Pay**field, enter your custom text. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/cd8ea7a6-07f3-4846-a554-627ac016d3e3/Images/Documentation/Custom button text setting in Review part General Settings.png) 5. Select **Save.** #### The applicant clicks Finalize Application and Pay 1. Internally, the application is considered submitted. 2. All rules with the trigger **Upon application submission**run immediately. 3. When routed to the payment processor, the amount charged reflects the current balance of **all application-scoped payments**. By contrast, if the round setting **Require Payment to Submit Application** had been set to *No*, payment activities set by rules would be added to the record and could be completed at any time through a payment link in an email or a payment widget on the application status page. ## Collecting the fee with Slate Payments To use Slate to collect an application fee, **configure a deposit account**with Slate Payments. This process is fueled by Stripe and is PCI compliant. No financial information is stored in Slate. ➡️ [Create deposit accounts with Slate Payments](/v1/docs/slate-payments-setup) - All databases include an *Application Fee*payment account prompt, which can be used for this purpose. - If you use Slate Payments, you can configure a deposit account to collect payouts for the Application Fee in the **application editor.** - Many external payment processors require an XSLT configuration, which you can request through the Support Desk and requires setup. - You can create additional payment account prompts if you have multiple deposit accounts to send the payouts for application fees. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/cd8ea7a6-07f3-4846-a554-627ac016d3e3/Images/Documentation/image(579).png) ## Collecting the fee with an external payment processor The steps for setting up an external payment processor vary slightly depending on the third party, and always involves an initial integration with help with the Slate Support Desk. 📖 [Collecting fees with an external payment processor](/v1/docs/using-an-external-processor-to-collect-payments-through-slate) ## Waiving fees You can create *Fee Waiver*as a custom field, with the fee waiver codes as custom prompts. 📖 [Collecting application fee waiver codes](/v1/docs/free-text-field-for-application-fee-waiver-codes)