Payment Fields

Use payment fields to insert dynamic payment information into messages, templates, and auto message rules.

Apptoto provides a set of fields you can use to personalize payment-related messages. These fields pull real-time payment data — amounts, statuses, links, and prompts — directly into your SMS, email, and voice messages.

Payment fields are available under Insert Field > Payments when editing any message or template.

Fields that require an existing payment

The following fields only return a value when a payment record already exists for the appointment. If no payment has been created, these fields return blank.

Field	Description
{{payment.total}}	The charged amount, currency-formatted (e.g. “$50.00”).
{{payment.status}}	The current payment status. Possible values: Intended, Paid in Full, Copay Collected, Deposit Collected, No Show Fee Collected, Refunded, Card Required, Awaiting Capture, Canceled, Failed.
{{payment.receipt_url}}	A link to the Stripe or Square merchant receipt for the transaction.
{{payment.refunded}}	Returns whether the payment has been refunded. See the note below.
{{payment.description}}	A short label for the payment type — e.g. “deposit”, “refund”, “no show fee payment”, “credit card submission”, or “payment”.

payment.description has two layers

When a payment record exists, {{payment.description}} returns the stored payment type label (e.g. “deposit”, “refund”). When no payment exists, the same field falls through to the payment settings described below and returns a generated description instead (e.g. “payment of $50.00”). In practice, payment settings take priority in most messaging contexts.

payment.refunded may not behave like a true boolean

The {{payment.refunded}} field is boolean-ish — it indicates whether a refund has occurred, but its value may not be true/false in every case. Avoid using it for strict conditional logic in auto message rules. Instead, check {{payment.status}} for the value Refunded.

Fields that work with or without a payment

These fields pull from the payment settings (configured on the appointment type or booking page) rather than from a completed transaction. They work whether or not a payment has already been collected.

Field	Description
{{payment.description}}	A generated description based on the payment configuration — e.g. “payment of $50.00”, “deposit of $25.00”, “copay of $30.00”, or “payment method on file”.
{{payment.prompt}}	A full pay-now prompt tailored to the communication type. Example: “Reply ‘p’ to pay $50.00 using card ending in 4242 or click <link>.”
{{payment.link}}	A secure link to the payment page for the participant.
{{payment.needed}}	Whether an initial payment or card submission is still needed for this appointment.
{{payment.is_due}}	Whether a payment is due and no payment has already been collected. Useful as a filter condition in Auto Messages.
{{payment.amount_due}}	The numeric amount to charge. Returns 0 if nothing is due.
{{payment.amount_due_formatted}}	The amount to charge, currency-formatted (e.g. “$50.00”). Returns blank if nothing is due.

Common uses

Filtering auto messages by payment status

Use {{payment.is_due}} as a condition in an auto message rule to only send messages when a payment is outstanding. See Payments for Appointments for a step-by-step walkthrough.

Adding a payment prompt to a message

Insert {{payment.prompt}} into any message template to give clients a one-tap way to pay. The prompt automatically adapts based on whether the message is sent via SMS or email and whether the client has a card on file.

Including a payment link

Use {{payment.link}} to add a direct link to the client’s payment page. This is useful when you want to build a fully custom payment message rather than using the pre-built prompt.

Displaying the amount owed

Use {{payment.amount_due_formatted}} to show clients exactly how much they owe in a currency-formatted string. Pair it with {{payment.is_due}} as a filter so the message only sends when there’s an outstanding balance.