This guide is for System Admins managing invoice corrections and credit held for customers.
A credit note records a reduction or correction to an invoice. It is not proof that money has been refunded.
Customer credit is an available amount held for the billed individual or organisation. It can be applied to an eligible invoice for that same customer.
A refund returns money already paid, or records a return made outside Cademy. Applying customer credit does not move money through a bank or payment provider.
Find and understand a credit note
In the Admin Dashboard, open Orders, then select the Credit Notes tab. You can also open a linked credit note from its order or invoice.
Select the credit note. Check the customer, currency, original invoice, reason and total.
Review how much has been refunded, applied elsewhere or remains available. An available credit amount and a refundable cash amount are not necessarily the same.
Use Download PDF for the document. Use Resend only when you intend to send the credit-note email again.
Credit notes can be created as part of cancelling or reducing an invoiced order. Check the confirmation for the action: it explains whether an invoice is adjusted, money refunded or credit retained. Do not assume that every price change leaves spendable customer credit.
When a correction offers Hold [amount] as credit, that amount stays available for the billed customer instead of being refunded. A reduction first covers any unpaid amount on the invoice; only the excess can remain as credit or be refunded. For example, reducing a £100 invoice by £30 when £20 is still unpaid first clears the £20 debt, leaving £10 to hold or refund.
Issuing a credit note triggers a customer email with a link to download the credit-note PDF. Check the intended recipient before confirming an action that issues one. Delivery should not be assumed merely because the note appears in the dashboard.
Available credit can appear on the customer’s contact or organisation record and on another eligible order. In Credit Notes, Has Remaining Credit shows only the notes with unused credit. If your list has a View button, choose the view With Remaining Credit instead.
Reduce an invoice balance without refunding money
Use Add Credit Note when you need to reduce an unpaid invoice balance, rather than record a payment or return money.
Open Orders, select the order and expand Invoices & Payments.
On the relevant invoice, open More and select Add Credit Note.
Enter the amount to deduct, up to the invoice’s remaining amount due.
Enter a reason suitable for the customer to read on the credit note.
Check the amount and select Issue Credit Note for [amount].
Check the new credit note and the invoice’s reduced amount due.
This action reduces the debt. It does not refund cash or create a cash payment. If the intention is to repay money previously received, use a refund instead. See how to cancel an order or refund a payment.
Apply existing credit to another invoice
The credit and target invoice must belong to the same billed individual or organisation, within your account, and use the same currency. The target must be an issued invoice with an outstanding balance, not a draft, paid or void invoice. You cannot apply a credit note back to the invoice it corrects.
Open Orders, select the target order and expand Invoices & Payments. Open the invoice’s More menu and select Apply Credit.
In Apply Customer Credit, check the selected Invoice.
Check the amount from each credit note. Cademy prefills amounts from the oldest credit first; you can edit them. No note can contribute more than its remaining credit, and the combined amount cannot exceed what the target invoice is owed.
Select Apply [amount].
Check the invoice’s reduced amount due and the remaining credit. The invoice records where the applied credit came from.
If you are already viewing a credit note, Apply to Invoice… lets you choose an eligible target invoice. An order’s available-credit banner is another entry to the same Apply Customer Credit dialog.
If applying several credit notes reports a problem, some credit may already have been applied. Reopen the order and check the current invoice and credit balances before retrying. Do not assume that an error means nothing changed.
For an eligible full-amount order you are creating, the Customer Credit option can apply available credit to its first issued invoice. It cannot be combined with creating a deposit or instalment plan. See Create an Order and Request Payment.
Credit applied after creation reduces the invoice balance. It is not a cash payment and should not be assumed to satisfy the first-payment requirement for a deposit or instalment plan. Check order confirmation, course access and the current payment request separately.
Remove credit applied to an invoice
Open the order and expand Invoices & Payments.
Find the applied-credit row on the invoice, open its menu and select Remove Credit….
Review the amount that will return to customer credit and the increase in the invoice’s balance.
Select Remove Credit to confirm, or Keep Credit Applied to leave it unchanged.
Check both balances afterwards. The original credit application remains in the history; it is not erased.
Refund credit that is still held
A refund is available only where the credit note has an eligible refundable amount and the original invoice has payment available to refund. Credit already used elsewhere is not available to refund again.
Open Orders > Credit Notes and select the credit note.
Select Refund… when it is available.
Check Amount and the destinations under Refund to. If more than one destination is offered, allocate the refund between them; the amounts must add up to the total refund.
Read the consequence shown for each destination. Eligible card and PayPal refunds are sent through the payment provider. A gift-card refund restores value to the gift card. Recorded manually, Xero and other destinations that say you move the money yourself only record the refund.
Check the confirmation carefully and select Refund [amount] only when the amounts and destinations are correct.
Check the updated credit note and payments. If a refund reports an error, check what was actually refunded before retrying; part of the operation may already have succeeded.
When the refund is recorded, Cademy sends a Refund issued email to the Order Contact, the customer the order belongs to. The email states the amount refunded. It is sent for the whole amount, including any part that is Recorded manually.
Recorded manually does not send money to the customer. You are responsible for returning it outside Cademy. If Cademy cannot check a payment’s refundable amount, its automatic refund option may be unavailable; do not select a manual record merely to bypass that check.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use an organisation’s credit for an individual invoice?
No. Credit belongs to the organisation when the order’s Billed To card shows Organisation, and otherwise to the Order Contact. The invoice must be billed to that same organisation or person. Having the same contact on both orders is not enough if one invoice belongs to an organisation and the other to an individual.
Can I apply more credit than the invoice balance?
No. The applied amount is limited by both the invoice’s outstanding balance and each credit note’s remaining credit.
Does a credit note mean the customer has been refunded?
No. Check the credit note’s refunded and remaining amounts. Credit can reduce an invoice or be held and applied elsewhere without a cash refund.
Does settling the balance with credit always confirm course access?
Do not assume it does. Balance settlement, order approval and first-payment conditions are separate. Check the saved order and access state, particularly for a payment plan.