This guide is for course providers who want to let customers pay for a course in monthly payments, also called a payment plan. Cademy’s monthly instalment plan splits the order total after any discounts, promo code or gift card into 2 to 12 payments: a first payment followed by monthly payments. The customer pays each amount separately; Cademy does not automatically charge the original card or PayPal account.
Monthly instalments are available on Teams and Custom plans; see Understand Cademy Plans, Limits and Fees. You need the System Admin role to change the account’s payment settings and to work with orders. The order needs a supported card or PayPal payment method. Cademy’s plan is separate from Klarna or PayPal Pay in 3: you receive the customer’s payments as they are made, not the full order value upfront from a finance provider. See Offer Klarna Payments and Connect PayPal for Customer Payments for those options.
Set Up Monthly Payments at Checkout (Two to Twelve Instalments)
In the Admin Dashboard, open Settings > Payments, then Instalments.
Turn on Offer Instalments at Checkout.
Set Number of Monthly Payments to a number from 2 to 12. This count includes the first payment.
Optionally add a Customer Message to explain the arrangement at checkout. This account-wide message is not overridden by the course’s payment-count setting.
Select Save and check that the settings saved successfully.
For example, to let customers pay in two monthly instalments, set Number of Monthly Payments to 2. The customer pays half at checkout and the rest a month later.
Set the Number of Payments or Turn Instalments Off for One Course
First turn on and save Offer Instalments at Checkout in your account settings. The course’s Instalments section is shown only while that account setting is on.
Open the course, select Edit Course, then open Settings > Payments.
Under Instalments, find Instalments at Checkout. Choose Use Account Default ([number] Monthly Payments), Custom Number of Payments for This Course or Don't Offer Instalments on This Course.
For a custom option, set Number of Monthly Payments, then select Save.
For a basket containing several courses, every course must allow instalments; checkout uses the lowest payment count among them. Those course opt-in and count-selection rules apply to checkout. Both checkout and Admin-created plans require each payment to meet the currency minimum; in the Admin form, reduce the count if the amount is too small.
What Customers See When They Choose Monthly Payments at Checkout
At the Payment step, eligible customers can select [number] Monthly Payments, review the amounts, choose an available card or PayPal method and make the first payment. They do not choose their own count at checkout. A deposit and monthly instalments cannot be combined on one order; for deposits, see Take a Deposit and Collect the Balance Later.
Klarna, Invoice and manual payment methods are not methods for paying a Cademy instalment online. Payment-method availability also depends on the currency and course settings.
Set Up a Payment Plan on an Order You Create in Admin
An Admin monthly plan requires at least one course on the order. An order containing only custom items, such as room hire or catering, does not offer instalments. If an eligible order contains courses and custom items together, the payment schedule uses its full order total, including those charges.
Follow Create an Order to Book a Customer Onto a Course to enter the customer, billing details, courses and prices. Choose To be paid and select Send payment request.
Under Payment Plan, select Instalments.
Choose Number of Monthly Payments, from 2 to 12.
Review the total, first payment and complete schedule. The count can be changed here; the checkout rules for mixed-course baskets do not fix your choice.
Select Create Order & Request First Payment. Check the saved order and invoice afterwards.
You can create an Admin plan without offering instalments at checkout, provided the account has the feature and the order has a supported online payment method. The plan must be chosen at creation; it cannot be added to an existing order.
If Cademy warns that the first-payment request was not created, the saved order’s email may link to the full invoice. Do not recreate the order. Follow the first-payment warning steps in Create an Order to Book a Customer Onto a Course to check the balance and share the correct request.
Customer Credit cannot be applied while creating a deposit or instalment order. Do not assume that applying credit later replaces the first payment or confirms access. See Manage Credit Notes and Customer Credit.
Monthly Payment Dates, Amounts and the Invoice
The first payment is due immediately. For an Admin order it is requested, not collected by creating the order.
Later dates follow monthly anniversaries of the order date in the course provider’s time zone. A shorter month uses its last day when needed.
Amounts are split as evenly as possible. Any rounding difference is included in the first payment.
Course start dates do not move the monthly dates, so a payment date can fall after the course has started.
The order has one invoice for the full amount, not a new invoice each month. Its payment history and remaining balance update as payments are recorded.
For example, a £120 order split into three payments has £40 due first and two later payments of £40. Check the actual schedule shown for the order’s dates.
Paying the first instalment confirms an approved order. While that order is Partially Paid, a payment covering at least the first instalment meets the payment requirement for online lessons. The learner still needs an active or completed course place, an unexpired access period and access to the lesson under its opening and progression rules. The schedule shows amounts as Paid, Due, Overdue or Scheduled.
Track Later Instalments and Share the Current Payment Link
In the Admin Dashboard, open Orders and select the order.
Expand Invoices & Payments to review the invoice, payments, remaining balance and monthly schedule. The schedule is shown while a balance remains. Once settled, use the invoice status and payment history to check the result.
When an Instalment payment request (automatic) row is shown, open its menu and select Copy Link to share the current request. Copying it does not send an email.
Send a Payment Link for the Next Instalment Early
The automatic instalment request asks only for the amount currently due. When nothing is due, its payment page shows the next amount and date instead of a payment button. To let a customer pay the next instalment early, send them a separate payment link:
Open the order and expand Invoices & Payments.
On the invoice, select Request Payment.
Choose Request a custom amount and enter the instalment amount, then select Create & Copy Link.
Send the link to the customer yourself. Cademy does not email it.
Money paid on the invoice counts towards the instalments in date order, so a payment equal to the next instalment marks that instalment as Paid in the schedule. A manual custom-amount request is separate from the automatic monthly request. Check existing requests and the current invoice balance before creating another one. Do not assume all links update immediately after a credit or order change. For more about payment links, see Send a Customer a Payment Link.
Payment Plan Reminder and Confirmation Emails
After the first payment, Cademy’s scheduled checks manage later amounts for eligible unpaid plans. The Payment due soon reminder is scheduled seven days before a payment date. It normally does not contain a link to pay the future instalment; it can include a link for an earlier overdue amount.
The Payment due today message is for the amount due. Its Pay Now button appears when automatic payment links are enabled.
If Include Payment Links on Invoices, Emails and Order Pages is off, the reminders still show the amount and date, but you must arrange payment with the customer. Find the setting under Settings > Payments > Invoices & Receipts. You can still share a link yourself with Request Payment; this does not email it automatically.
Emails about the payment plan go to the Order Contact, the customer the order belongs to. For an order placed at checkout, the Order Contact receives the Payment plan confirmed email after the first payment and the Payment plan complete email when the order is paid in full. For an order you created yourself, Cademy does not send those two emails. The customer gets the payment request email instead: its subject starts “Payment required”, and it shows the number of monthly payments, the first amount as due now and Final payment due by, with a Pay Now button when automatic payment links are enabled and an online payment method is enabled. For both kinds of order, the Order Contact receives a Payment received email after each later payment while the order is Partially Paid, and the reminders described above.
How Customers Pay Each Instalment
The Order Contact can open the order from My Account > My Courses & Bookings > Orders & Billing. Only the Order Contact can open the order in their account. When automatic payment links are enabled, Pay Invoice on that order opens the payment page for the invoice. Share Pay for a Course in Monthly Instalments for payment instructions.
If you use Record Payment on the order, the customer’s order page no longer shows its INVOICES section, so Pay Invoice is not there. Cademy also does not send the Payment plan complete email when the order is later paid in full. The reminders are still sent, and you can still share a payment link yourself, as described above.
If a Customer on a Payment Plan Can't Open the Course Page
Customers can open their existing course page while an order is Partially Paid or Overdue. Those statuses do not by themselves stop the page opening. Opening the course page does not by itself give access to lessons.
If the course page says the customer is not booked onto the course, or shows No Order Found, ask the customer to check the email address shown and log in with the address connected to their booking. The page has a button to log in with a different email. They can check their order under My Account > My Courses & Bookings > Orders & Billing. The Book button on that page and the Order Course button start a new checkout; they do not open an existing booking.
If the correct account still cannot open the booking, contact Cademy Support with the order number and the message shown. If the booking opens but lessons do not, check approval, payment, the learner’s course place, access expiry and lesson availability. An Overdue order does not meet the paid-deposit or first-instalment access rule.
If a Monthly Payment Becomes Overdue
An unpaid scheduled amount becomes overdue after its due date. When further amounts fall due, the automatic request can collect the combined amount currently due, without bringing future instalments forward. An overdue instalment does not by itself cancel the order. Do not promise uninterrupted course access: check the customer’s access separately and apply your agreed payment and cancellation terms.
Once the first payment has been made, the order’s status changes to Overdue the day after a missed payment date, and the Order Contact receives a Payment Overdue email. This describes an order with a single invoice. The email has a Pay Now button when automatic payment links are enabled and an online payment method is enabled. The team members who receive your order emails also get one; its subject starts “Payment Overdue”. These emails are sent for checkout orders and for orders you created yourself. When the customer pays, the order returns to Partially Paid, or to Paid once the whole total is paid; an order with a refund shows Partially Refunded instead.
To follow up, copy the current link from the Instalment payment request (automatic) row, or share a separate link, as described above. While an order you created is still Awaiting Payment, Cademy does not send the monthly reminders, so follow up on the first payment yourself.
After a failed or unavailable link, check the latest request and the invoice’s remaining balance. An older request may no longer be payable. A payment being processed can temporarily delay replacement of an automatic request.
Change, Credit or Refund an Order on a Payment Plan
You cannot change an existing plan’s payment count or monthly dates. Turning off checkout instalments does not cancel existing plans. A credit or order correction can reduce what remains due, but it is not a new monthly schedule.
A refund sends back or records the return of money already received; it does not by itself mean the order is cancelled or nothing more is owed. Check the resulting order, invoice, credit notes and schedule after any financial change. See Refund a Customer in Full or in Part and Manage Credit Notes and Customer Credit.
Frequently asked questions
Will Cademy take the next payment automatically?
No. The customer needs to pay each amount, using the current payment link when one is available.
Does each payment have processing fees?
Each card or PayPal payment is a separate transaction, so the payment provider’s applicable charges apply to each one. Check your current payment-provider agreement for the actual rates.
Can I change the number of payments for just one customer?
Yes, while creating their Admin order. Choose the count before creating it. You cannot change the count afterwards.