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Billing & payments

Some evaluations require payment before they can be processed.

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Signup offers

Some programmes issue a percentage discount after you register through their signup page. If you receive one, your dashboard and registration email show the offer percentage and expiry date. At checkout, an eligible signup offer is selected automatically unless another discount provides a larger saving. Signup offers and coupon codes cannot be combined. If another discount is selected, you can choose Use signup offer to switch back while the offer remains available. When reminder intervals are configured, RapidCert emails the person who received an unused offer before it expires. The reminder shows the discount and expiry and links back to RapidCert to begin the accreditation.

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When payment is required

The initial evaluation payment is taken at the start of the process — when you click Begin Accreditation (for a new accreditation) or Renew (for a renewal). Your evaluation is created only after this payment is confirmed. Payment may be required for:

• New accreditations — when starting for the first time
• Renewals — when renewing an existing accreditation
• Urgent upgrades — when changing an eligible paid Standard evaluation to Urgent processing
• Score reviews — when requesting a review of an assessed evaluation (if a fee applies, it is non-refundable)

An evaluation that was closed after an inactivity review is a special case. Starting that accreditation again creates a blank evaluation and requires a new total greater than $0, even when the accreditation would otherwise be free. The exception is a discount code settled by invoice: it reduces the checkout total to $0 but still counts as a payment for the restart. Contact support if the payment screen says a positive payment is required.

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Fixed-price accreditation slots

Some accreditation slots are assigned by your client group administrator with a fixed price. When a slot has a fixed price set:

• The checkout modal shows the pricing type as Fixed next to the template name.
• The price shown during checkout is final and cannot be reduced by a coupon or consultant discount code.
• The coupon code field may still appear in the checkout flow but any code entered is not applied to the total.
• Urgent pricing is not offered on fixed-price slots — the processing-speed choice is not shown.
• A fixed price of $0 skips the Stripe checkout step entirely; the evaluation is created immediately after you confirm.

If you believe the price shown is incorrect, contact your client group administrator — the fixed price is set by them, not by you.

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Payments and labelled slots

If an accreditation has a slot label, the label is carried through the payment flow:

• Payment receipt emails include the label alongside the certification type (e.g. SHEPrequal Assessment - Auckland Hotel).
• Your billing history page shows the label on each transaction row for the affected accreditation.

This lets you match a payment to the specific accreditation slot it relates to when your company holds more than one slot of the same type.

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Payment flow

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Urgent upgrade payments

You can change an eligible paid Standard evaluation to Urgent processing after it has been created. See Upgrading an evaluation to urgent for eligible statuses and turnaround timing. The upgrade checkout charges only the difference between the current Standard and Urgent prices. Any selected discount is calculated against that difference, and the upgrade dialog shows the final total before you continue to Stripe. If your company profile does not contain a complete billing address, RapidCert asks you to supply the missing address details before starting the urgent-upgrade checkout. The same recovery step applies when a paid score review needs an address. After checkout, the payment result page shows whether the upgrade was applied or is still processing. If RapidCert cannot apply the upgrade because the evaluation is no longer eligible, it starts an automatic refund of the upgrade payment. Contact support with the transaction ID shown on the result page if the refund fails or the upgrade needs attention.

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Zero-total ($0) accreditations

There are two ways a checkout can result in a $0 total, and they behave differently: Free templates — some evaluation types are configured with no charge. In this case:

• The action button reads Confirm and Continue rather than Continue to Checkout.
• No billing address is collected and there is no Stripe redirect.
• Submitting it creates your evaluation directly.
• The transaction still appears in your billing history marked as paid with a $0 amount.

Paid templates with a zero-dollar total — if a coupon or consultant discount reduces a paid template’s price to $0:

• You are still redirected to Stripe Checkout, even though no charge is made.
• Stripe records the discount for tracking purposes.
• After Stripe confirms the $0 session, you are returned to RapidCert and your evaluation is created.

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Discount codes settled by invoice

Your client may give you a discount code that is settled by invoice. You pay nothing at checkout because your client invoices you directly for the agreed amount.

• The code takes the checkout total to $0, and you still go through Stripe Checkout without a card charge.
• RapidCert records the sale at the amount your client set for the code, or at the list price if no amount was set.
• The sale appears in your billing history with Invoice as the payment method and a Paid via Invoice status. There is no Stripe receipt.
• The code can pay for starting again an accreditation that was closed after an inactivity review.
• These codes cannot be used for urgent upgrades.

Contact your client about the invoice itself, including any refund or credit.

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Billing history

Navigate to Billing & Payments in the sidebar to view your payment history. The table shows: An individual evaluation also lists its paid Evaluation, Urgent upgrade, and Score review amounts in the evaluation details, with receipt links when available. Fully discounted or otherwise zero-dollar payments are not included in this evaluation-specific list. Refunded payments are marked as partially or fully refunded.

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Refunds

Contact support with your payment details to request a refund. Refund policies vary by evaluation type and client group. When a refund is processed, RapidCert sends a confirmation to the address that received the original payment receipt. It identifies the company, refunded amount, full or partial refund type, accreditation, and processed date. The refund is returned to the original payment method, but your bank may take additional time to display it.

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Troubleshooting

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Next steps