Payment Links
Send payment request links to students via email or SMS.
Last updated 22 Oct 2026
Payment Links
Send a payment link directly to a student so they can pay for their enrolment. The student receives a link via email, SMS, or both. The link opens a printable payment page with your bank details and a short reference such as INV-0042, alongside any online payment option you offer.
Access required
Choose the task you are doing. Each row is a separate action.
| Task | Required access |
|---|---|
| Open the enrolment | Enrolments: View |
| See payments and requests | Enrolments: View and Invoices and payments: View |
| Send or renew a payment request | Enrolments: View and Invoices and payments: Edit |
The payer uses the payment link. They do not need a staff role, and the link does not open other learner records.
Prerequisites
- Offer bank transfer, set up an online gateway, or both. See Setting Up Payments. Without either, the payment page asks the learner to contact you
- The student must have an active enrolment
- For a qualification delivered through unit courses, send the link from the qualification enrolment. Its Payments tab shows the qualification fee, what has been paid and the balance owing. Under A booked session, it lists sessions booked on the qualification and on its unit courses. Unit course enrolments have no Payments tab.
Sending a payment link
Open the enrolment
Navigate to Enrolments and click on the enrolment.
Go to the Payments tab
Click the Payments tab on the enrolment detail page.
Create a payment request
Click Create payment request.
Configure the payment request
RequestShown when the enrolment has booked sessions without a pending or paid request. Choose A booked session to request one session, or Custom amount for any other amount. On a course paid per session, the dialog starts on A booked session. See Payment for each booked session.
SessionShown for A booked session. Pick the session. Each session shows its fee, or no set fee.
AmountRequiredThe amount in AUD. For a booked session, this is the session's fee. Change it to charge a custom amount for that session. For a custom amount on an individual-booking enrolment, this is pre-populated from the fee quoted for that learner's booking, unless the course is paid per session. Other enrolments use the course price when one is set.
DescriptionAn optional note shown to the student (e.g., "Tuition fee for Term 1"). Shown for a custom amount. A session request is described by its session.
Deliver byRequiredShown when more than one channel is available. Choose how the student receives the link when you send it from the review after saving:
- Email: Sent to the student's email address
- SMS: Sent to the student's Australian mobile number
- Both: Sent via email and SMS
Expires inRequiredHow long the link remains valid:
- 7 days
- 14 days
- 30 days
- 60 days
- 90 days
Create and optionally send
Click Create payment request to save without sending. When the enrolment has an employer payer, the form starts with that employer; copying the student stays off until selected. The next step shows the saved payer, amount, subject and full email or SMS. Select each email, SMS or calendar invitation you want to send, then choose Send selected. Every message starts unselected. Choose Finish without sending to skip them all. Closing the review also keeps the request unsent. The payment history records when the request was created; delivery History records its messages.
Choose who receives the request
The request can go to the learner, a linked employer contact or another payer. If the employer contact you need is missing, choose Add contact in the employer contact list. The contact needs an email. RTObase saves the contact, selects it, and sends nothing: any portal welcome email waits in the same review as on the employer's Contacts tab. Check the saved recipient in the review before sending. Employer-paid enrolments start with their employer payer; copying the learner is a separate choice. Choosing another recipient does not change which enrolment the payment belongs to.
Correct a session payment
Open an enrolment's Payments tab to record a payment against the correct session or allocate an existing eligible manual receipt. Payment details retain the source receipt and its allocation history. A session waiver asks for a reason. Mark paid and Mark unpaid on a student-paid booking are office annotations for that session; they do not record money, settle a payment request or replace a receipt.
What the student sees
Payment request emails include Pay Now and a copyable link below it. If the button does not open, the student can paste the link into their browser.
When the student opens the link, they see a payment page with your logo, the payment reference, the learner, the course, any description and the amount due. Print / save PDF prints the page or saves it as a PDF. Under Payment options, the page shows:
- Pay online when your gateway (Stripe Connect, BYO Stripe or eWAY) is set up. A test gateway says no real money will be charged.
- Bank transfer when you offer it. See Paying by bank transfer.
Dates on the page use the enrolment's class location timezone, or the organisation timezone when it has no class location. Once the payment is recorded, the same link shows a Payment receipt.
A successful online payment lands on a confirmation page; a failed or declined payment lands on an error page that invites them to try again, the link stays valid, so nothing needs re-sending. If online checkout cannot start, the page shows the error and refreshes so the learner can try again or use another option shown.
While an online payment is in progress, the page hides the other payment options so the learner does not pay twice. When the started checkout can still be finished, the page shows Continue online payment.
A payment link for a Test enrolment cannot take a real payment. It still works with test checkout.
The confirmation page waits for the verified payment record before showing success. If the provider confirmation takes too long, it stops the spinner, warns the payer not to pay again, and offers Check again. Refreshing the confirmation page in the same browser tab continues the check safely. If it remains unconfirmed, the payer should contact the training provider.
Opening the same link again reuses a checkout that is still available. If that provider checkout has expired but the payment link has not, RTObase creates a fresh checkout automatically. This keeps longer-lived payment links usable without creating overlapping payment attempts.
Paying by bank transfer
If you offer bank transfer in Settings > Payment Settings > Payment methods, the payment page also shows your bank details and a short Payment reference, such as INV-0042, with a Copy button. Each new payment request takes the next number in your invoice series, the same numbers your employer invoices use. Set the prefix, digits and next number in Settings > Payment Settings > Invoices. Payment requests created before short references keep their longer reference. Any instructions you saved appear below the bank details, and the page tells the learner that you confirm receipt once the transfer arrives.
When the money arrives, find the payment request with that reference on the enrolment's Payments tab and click Record Payment. The request picker shows each request's reference.
Warning
If two checkout attempts are paid, RTObase keeps the first payment as the payment request's completed payment and records the additional capture for refund action. The student sees a duplicate-payment warning and is told that the training provider will contact them to arrange the refund.
Tracking payment links
Sent payment links appear in the Payments tab on the enrolment with their status:
The payment badge in the enrolment header shows the current overall status and links directly to this history.
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Pending | Request created, awaiting payment |
| Paid | Student has completed payment |
| Expired | Link expired before payment was made |
| Cancelled | Staff cancelled the request |
Copy, resend or cancel a link
Open a pending request's actions menu on the Payments tab:
- Copy Link copies the link on your own learner payment site: your verified custom domain, or your RTObase site address. If the link cannot load, RTObase shows an error and tries again. Click Copy Link again.
- Resend sends the link again through its original channel.
- Cancel cancels the request. The learner can no longer pay through the link.
Payment for each booked session
On a course delivered as individual bookings, each booked session has its own payment request. A retest is requested at its own fee. The learner can pay each session separately, and one paid session never hides another unpaid one.
RTObase creates the request when a scheduled session with a fee is booked. It does not create one when:
- An employer pays for the enrolment. Invoice the employer instead.
- The course has no session fees, only a flat course price.
- The enrolment was paid as a whole: money was recorded, or a custom amount was requested, before its first session request.
- The enrolment existed before session payment requests were released. See Enrolments from before session payments.
Send session links
Saving a booking sends nothing. Its next review collects the booking notices and related pending session-payment messages together. Each message shows its recipient and full preview, starts unticked, and can be selected separately. Choose Send selected once for the chosen messages, or Finish without sending to skip the whole batch. You need permission to edit invoices and payments to review payment messages. Use the enrolment’s Payments tab for standalone requests and later resends.
A session link expires 30 days after the session starts, and never sooner than 7 days after it was created. An expired session link still counts as owed. Choose Renew and review to give the same link a new expiry, then review and send it, or Waive if the learner does not need to pay.
Track session payments
Session requests appear in the Payment Requests list on the Payments tab, named after their session, such as a lesson label and date or Retest. Each shows one of these states:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Waiting for payment |
| Paid | The learner paid for the session |
| Expired | The link expired. The session is still owed |
| Waived | Staff waived the session. It stays booked and no longer owes money |
| Session cancelled | The session was cancelled, so its request was cancelled |
| Paid, session cancelled | The session was paid and later cancelled. Refund the learner yourself if needed |
When sessions are owed, a badge such as 2 session payments outstanding ($180.00) shows beside the payment status in the enrolment header and next to Payment Requests. While any session is still owed, the payment badge in the enrolment header shows Part paid instead of Paid. The enrolment's Bookings card warns Session payments outstanding with a link to the Payments tab. In Edit booking, each session shows its payment state, such as Outstanding, Paid or Link expired. Outstanding session payments are a flag only. They do not block delivery, booking or completion.
Session fee changes
A pending session request follows its session. If you change a session's length, lunch break or retest fee, the request's amount changes and the link stays the same. A paid session keeps the amount paid, and its fee and type lock. You can still add a retest after another session was paid. A custom amount you set for a session is kept when the session changes. The fee total in Edit booking counts a paid session at the amount paid, and a session with a custom amount still owed at that amount.
Cancelling a session cancels its pending request. Restoring the session creates a new request.
Enrolments from before session payments
Enrolments that existed when session payment requests were released keep the old model. RTObase does not create session requests for them, and their booking quote locks once payment is pending or recorded. To move one of these enrolments to per-session payment, request one of its sessions by hand with A booked session. Its later sessions are then requested automatically.
Tips
Tip
Set a course price, or the training hourly rate and test fee for an individual-booking course, in Course Settings. RTObase then pre-populates the applicable enrolment amount when you send a payment link.
Cancel a payment request
| Task | Required access |
|---|---|
| Cancel an existing payment request | Enrolments: View and Invoices and payments: Manage |
Keep going
How to Track Enrolment Progress →
Monitor student progress through units, assessments, and towards completion.
Setting Up Payments →
Configure bank transfer, Stripe or eWAY for learner payments, and review and pay RTObase platform fees in Billing.
How to Enrol a Student →
Create an enrolment linking a student to a class, with payment and compliance options.
Appointment Scheduling →
Schedule one-on-one sessions, driving lessons, practical assessments, simulator time, by matching a qualified trainer, the right asset, and a free time slot.