How Submission Fees Work

Some programs require applicants to pay a fee when submitting their application. This might cover administrative costs, act as a commitment signal from applicants, or support the program itself.

Setting Up a Submission Fee

Organization admins can enable a submission fee for any program from the program settings page. You set the fee amount in dollars (e.g., $25.00), and Applly displays a live preview of how the fee will be broken down.

The Applicant Experience

When a program requires a submission fee:

1. The applicant completes all steps of the application form
2. On the final step, they see a clear notice about the required fee and the exact amount
3. Clicking Pay & Submit redirects them to Stripe's secure hosted checkout page
4. After successful payment, they are returned to Applly with a submission confirmation

Applicants pay using any major credit or debit card. Stripe's checkout is PCI-compliant and trusted by millions of businesses worldwide.

What Happens if Payment Fails?

If a payment attempt fails (e.g., due to an insufficient funds error or a declined card), the applicant's application remains in a Payment Pending state. They can retry payment from their applications dashboard. The submission is not recorded as "Submitted" until payment is successfully confirmed.

Payouts to Your Organization

Stripe deposits collected fees into your connected Stripe account on a rolling basis (typically 2–7 business days after each transaction, depending on your Stripe account settings). To receive payouts, your organization must connect a Stripe account in Settings > Payments.

Taxes and Receipts

Stripe provides automated receipts to applicants at their email address. If your organization is required to collect or remit sales tax on submission fees, consult a tax professional — Stripe's tax tools can help with this, but Applly does not provide tax advice.