This guide is for course providers who want to offer Gift Cards through Cademy. It covers Gift Cards created by an administrator and Gift Cards purchased by customers online.
Gift Card or promo code? A Gift Card holds a monetary balance that reduces as it is used. A promo code reduces the price of a booking and does not hold a balance. Create promo codes from Discounts and follow the Discounts guide.
Before you begin: You need System Admin access to install or manage Gift Cards. Selling Gift Cards online also requires a connected Stripe account. PayPal is not available for Gift Card purchases.
Where customers can enter a Gift Card: The code field is available when a customer starts a new booking from the course provider's public course page. It is not available on an existing order, invoice or payment link. If an order already exists, do not ask the customer to create a duplicate booking. Contact Cademy Support before changing the existing order or invoice.
Install Cademy Gift Cards
Sign in to your Cademy admin dashboard.
Select Apps from the left menu.
Open Cademy Gift Cards.
Select Install.
When installation is complete, Gift Cards will appear in the left menu.
If you cannot see Apps or Gift Cards, ask a System Admin for your Cademy account to complete these steps.
Create a Gift Card manually
Use this option when you want to issue a Gift Card yourself, for example after a cancellation or as a goodwill credit.
Open Gift Cards.
Select Create Gift Card if you have no Gift Cards yet, or New Gift Card from the Gift Cards list.
Enter the value in Amount.
Enter a Redeem Code (optional), or leave it empty and Cademy will create one for you.
Choose an Expires on date. If you leave this empty, the Gift Card will expire one year after it is created.
Add optional Recipient details for your records.
Select Create voucher.
Important: Creating a Gift Card manually does not email the recipient. Open the Gift Card, copy its redeem code, and send the code to the recipient yourself.
Course restrictions: The form currently shows Allowed Courses, but checkout does not reliably enforce this restriction for Gift Cards. Do not rely on this field to limit a Gift Card to particular courses.
Use Gift Cards for credit from another system
If a customer has credit or an electronic refund voucher from a previous system, create a Cademy Gift Card for the remaining value and send the redeem code to the customer.
A Gift Card is normally more suitable than a discount for this purpose. The Gift Card keeps track of the remaining balance after each booking. A fixed-value or percentage discount does not hold a customer balance.
Sell Gift Cards online
After Cademy Gift Cards is installed, customers can buy a Gift Card from the Vouchers page on your Cademy course website. The same purchase journey is available through a Gift Card checkout embedded on your own website.
A customer completes the following steps:
Open Vouchers on your course website.
Select 25, 50, 100 or enter a custom Gift Card amount.
Enter the Recipient Name and an optional Message.
Choose how to share the Gift Card:
Email - Cademy emails the Gift Card to the recipient after payment is complete.
PDF - the buyer can print the Gift Card after completing payment.
If you chose Email, enter the recipient's address in Recipient Email.
Enter the buyer's contact details and continue to payment.
Complete payment using an available Stripe payment method. PayPal is not offered for Gift Card purchases.
After payment, the Gift Card appears in your Gift Cards list. The buyer receives a confirmation email, and you receive an email confirming the purchase.
If you want to add the Gift Card checkout to your own website and cannot find the setup option, contact Cademy Support.
Manage a Gift Card
Open Gift Cards.
Select a Gift Card to view its redeem code, initial amount, current balance and expiry date.
Select Edit voucher to correct its redeem code, expiry date or current balance.
Select Save when you have finished.
You can delete a manually created Gift Card only if none of its balance has been used. Purchased Gift Cards and partially used Gift Cards cannot be deleted.
Redeem a Gift Card at checkout
Open the course provider's public course page. Do not start from an existing invoice or payment link.
Choose the course date or option and continue through checkout.
At the Payment step, open Apply promo code or gift card. The step number can vary if the checkout includes Sign In.
Enter the Gift Card redeem code in Enter code....
Select Apply.
Confirm that Voucher applied successfully! appears and check the updated total before completing the booking.
If the Gift Card balance is lower than the order total, the remaining amount can be paid using another available payment method. If the balance is higher, the unused balance remains on the Gift Card for a future booking.
A Gift Card can only be used for courses from the course provider that issued it, in the same currency as the Gift Card. It must also be active, unexpired and have a remaining balance.
Invoices and payment links: An invoice payment page shows the online payment methods available for that invoice, but it does not include Apply promo code or gift card. A Gift Card cannot be attached to an existing invoice or payment link. Add Discount on an order accepts discounts, not Gift Cards.
Use Gift Card credit when creating an order manually
This is a manual accounting process for System Admins. Use it when you need to create the customer's order yourself instead of asking them to complete the public checkout.
Open Orders from the Cademy admin menu.
Select New Order.
Choose the order contact, course, date and offer.
In the course line, change the price so the final Total is the amount still payable after using the customer's Gift Card credit.
Check the final Total, then select the creation button at the bottom of the form. Depending on the payment setup, this is labelled Create Order, Create Order & Send Invoice, Create Paid Order, Create Free Order, Create Order & Request Deposit or Create Order & Request First Payment.
Open Gift Cards and select the customer's Gift Card.
Select Edit voucher.
Reduce Current amount by the amount of Gift Card credit used on the order.
Select Save.
Return to the order, open Notes, record the Gift Card code, the credit used and the remaining balance, then select Add Note.
Check both records carefully: This manual process does not link the Gift Card to the order and does not add a Gift card row to the order totals. The adjusted order price, Gift Card balance and order note must agree. Do not use this process for an order that has already been paid.
Check where a Gift Card was used
Open Orders from the Cademy admin menu.
Select the relevant order.
In the order totals, find the Gift card row. The redeem code and amount used are shown there.
The Gift card row appears when the Gift Card was redeemed through public checkout. For a manually adjusted order, use the note added during the manual process as the record of the credit used.
Restore Gift Card credit when cancelling an order
If the order was paid with a Gift Card through the public checkout, Cademy can return the refunded amount to the same Gift Card.
Open Orders and select the order.
Open Manage Order and select Cancel Order.
For the paid invoice, keep or select the Gift Card refund option. Its label includes the refund amount, for example Refund £80.00 to gift card.
Check the amount, then select the confirmation button, for example Cancel Order & Refund £80.00.
Open the Gift Card and confirm that its Current amount has increased by the refunded amount.
Manual order adjustments: The automatic restoration only applies when the order contains a real Gift Card payment created through checkout. If you used the manual order process in this guide, update the Gift Card balance and order note yourself when reversing that credit.
Frequently asked questions
Does a recipient receive an email when I create a Gift Card manually?
No. Copy the redeem code and send it to the recipient yourself.
What happens when a customer chooses Email delivery?
After successful payment, Cademy emails the Gift Card to the recipient address entered by the buyer.
What happens when a customer chooses PDF delivery?
The buyer can select Print Voucher after completing the purchase.
What happens if the Gift Card does not cover the full order?
The Gift Card balance is deducted and the customer pays the remaining amount using another available payment method.
What happens if the Gift Card is worth more than the order?
Only the order total is deducted. The remaining balance stays on the Gift Card.
Why is a Gift Card code not accepted?
Check that the customer is using a new public course checkout for the provider that issued the Gift Card. The Gift Card must use the same currency as the course, be active, be within its expiry date and have a remaining balance. Copy the redeem code carefully to avoid typing mistakes. If it still cannot be applied, contact Cademy Support.
Why can the customer not find the Gift Card field?
They may be using an invoice or payment link. The Apply promo code or gift card field appears during a new booking through the public course checkout, not when paying an existing invoice.
Can Add Discount apply a Gift Card to an order?
No. Add Discount accepts discounts created in the Discounts area. It does not accept Gift Cards.
Can a Gift Card be applied to an existing invoice or payment link?
No. If the order already exists, do not ask the customer to create another booking. Contact Cademy Support before changing the existing order or invoice. The manual process in this guide is for a System Admin who is creating a new order.
Is Gift Card credit restored when an order is cancelled?
Yes, if the Gift Card was redeemed through the public checkout and the administrator chooses the option labelled with the amount and to gift card when cancelling the order. A manually adjusted order is not linked to the Gift Card, so its balance and note must be corrected manually.
Should I use a Gift Card or a discount for credit carried over from another system?
Use a Gift Card when you need to track a customer's remaining credit. Discounts reduce a booking price but do not keep a reusable customer balance.
Can a Gift Card be used for a course in another currency?
No. The course currency must match the Gift Card currency.
Can a customer use a Gift Card and a promo code together?
The checkout accepts one manually entered promo code or Gift Card at a time. Any eligible automatic discounts may still apply.
Can a Gift Card be restricted to selected courses?
The admin form currently includes Allowed Courses, but checkout does not reliably enforce this for Gift Cards. Do not promise that the card is restricted to those courses.
How long is a Gift Card valid?
Gift Cards purchased online expire one year after purchase. A manually created Gift Card also defaults to one year, but a System Admin can choose another expiry date.
Where do I create a promo code?
Use Discounts, not Gift Cards. Follow the Discounts guide.