This article is for course-provider administrators. Use it to cancel a whole order, remove part of an order, or return all or part of a payment.
Your cancellation policy
Only a System Admin can change this setting.
Go to Admin dashboard > Settings > Cancellation Policy.
Turn Allow Cancellations on or off.
If it is on, enter the number of Days before the course, then select Save.
For a scheduled course, this setting controls whether checkout shows Free cancellation [number] days prior. It is not shown for on-demand courses.
The current customer order and course pages do not provide a general Cancel Booking or refund action. The customer must contact the course provider. An administrator can then use one of the flows below.
Cancel a whole order
Exact path: Admin dashboard > Orders > open the order > Manage Order > Cancel Order.
In Cancel this order?, review What happens to each invoice.
For each paid invoice, choose what should happen to the money. The exact label includes the amount and destination, such as Refund £240.00 to card, Hold £240.00 as credit, or Keep the money.
Leave Cancel participant registrations too ticked if the registrations should also be cancelled. Untick it only if the commercial order should be cancelled but the registrations and course access should remain.
If useful, enter an Internal Note (optional).
Check the final button. It states the result, for example Cancel Order & Refund £240.00 or Cancel Order & Hold £240.00 as Credit. Select it to confirm.
Invoice results:
Draft invoices are deleted.
Unpaid issued invoices are voided.
A card or PayPal refund is sent automatically. Gift card value is restored to the voucher.
A Xero or manually recorded refund is recorded in Cademy, but you must move the money outside Cademy.
Hold as credit does not move money. It leaves credit on the customer's account for a future invoice.
Keep the money leaves the paid amount with you and writes off any unpaid remainder.
If the order used more than one payment method, the dialog lists each refund destination. Check every destination before confirming.
The primary customer receives an Order Cancelled email. Guest participants receive it only when Cancel participant registrations too was selected and the course is set to email guests. Any refund or credit-note email is sent separately.
Remove part of an order
Open the order, then use the relevant row menu:
Participant row > ⋯ > Remove Participant… removes that participant, cancels their registration and releases their space. You can change the amount to credit, deduct a fee, and choose to refund, hold the credited amount, or keep the invoice unchanged.
Course row > ⋯ > Remove Course… removes that course and cancels its participants. This action appears only when another course will remain on the order; use Cancel Order for the last course. The credit amount is calculated by Cademy and a financial correction is required. You can deduct a fee, then refund or hold the remaining credit.
Unassigned space row > ⋯ > Remove Space… removes one unassigned space. You can change the amount to credit and deduct a fee, but a financial correction is required.
Alternative exact path: Admin dashboard > Registrations > open the registration > ⋯ > Cancel Registration. In Cancel this registration?, leave Release the space from order [order ID] too ticked and select Cancel Registration. Cademy cancels the registration first, then opens the relevant Remove Space, Remove Course or Cancel Order money dialog. Untick it only if the order should keep the space reserved.
The confirmation dialog explains whether an invoice will change, be voided and reissued, or receive a credit note. These flows do not all show the same money choices. Replace Participant… and Move Registration… are separate actions and do not themselves issue a refund.
Refund without cancelling
A standalone refund returns money but does not cancel the order or any registration.
From the Payments page
Exact path: Admin dashboard > Orders > Payments > successful payment row > ⋯ > Refund….
In Amount, replace the prefilled amount with the exact amount to return. It cannot be more than the max shown.
Check Refund to. If the invoice has more than one payment, check the amount allocated to each destination.
Enter a Reason. It is required and is used on the credit note.
Check that the button shows the right amount, such as Refund £25.00, then select it.
You can also open the successful payment first and select Refund… in the Payment sidesheet. These Payments-page routes start with that payment selected, but the dialog shows the valid refund destinations for its invoice.
From an order
Exact path: Admin dashboard > Orders > open the order > Invoices & Payments.
To refund one specific payment, open that successful payment's ⋯ menu and select Refund…. The refund is capped at the amount still refundable on that payment.
To refund credit already held on a credit note, open the credit note's ⋯ menu and select Refund….
To refund against the invoice, open the invoice's More menu, select View Invoice, then select Refund….
From an invoice or credit note
Invoice: Admin dashboard > Orders > Invoices > open an issued, partially paid, paid or overdue invoice that has money paid and room left to credit > Refund…. This issues a new goodwill credit note and refunds the selected amount.
Credit note: Admin dashboard > Orders > Credit Notes > open a credit note with money still available to refund > Refund…. This refunds existing credit and does not issue another credit note.
If Refund… is missing: the Payments-list action is available only for a successful, invoice-linked Stripe, PayPal, gift-card or manually recorded payment. It is not shown for Xero, failed or pending payments, refund rows, or payments without an invoice. The Payment sidesheet also hides it when nothing remains refundable. If a row action opens but Cademy says there is nothing left to refund, no refundable amount remains on that invoice or payment.
What happens after you confirm
Cademy shows Refund recorded and adds the refund to the payment history.
Stripe card and PayPal refunds are sent to the original payment automatically. Gift card value is restored to the voucher.
For manual and Xero destinations, Cademy records the refund only. You must return the money outside Cademy.
The payment, invoice, credit note and order totals update. Another partial refund can be made later, up to the amount still available.
The order and registrations stay active.
A new credit note is emailed to the invoice billing contact with a Download Credit Note link. If an existing credit note is refunded, the customer receives a Refund issued email instead. Refunding one payment can use existing credit first and issue a new credit note for any shortfall, so both emails can be sent.
Refund directly in Stripe or PayPal
Start the refund in Cademy when possible. This lets you enter the reason, check the exact amount and destinations, and see Cademy's confirmation before money is moved.
A direct provider refund is supported for a Stripe or PayPal payment linked to an invoice in Cademy's current Orders system:
Stripe: Stripe Dashboard > Payments > payment row > ⋯ > Refund payment > enter the partial amount and reason > Refund.
PayPal: PayPal > Activity > select the payment > Issue a refund > enter the amount > Continue > Issue Refund.
After Stripe or PayPal sends the completed refund update, Cademy records the new refund amount, updates the payment, invoice and order, creates a credit note, and emails the billing contact. Do not issue the same refund again in Cademy.
If the provider shows the refund as completed but Cademy has not updated, do not create a second refund. Contact Cademy Support with the order and provider payment reference.
Refund times and fees
Stripe: card refunds normally appear about 5 to 10 business days after Stripe submits them, depending on the customer's bank. Stripe does not return the original processing fee.
PayPal: timing depends on the original payment method. PayPal balance refunds can arrive the same day; bank and debit-card refunds usually take up to 5 working days but can take longer; credit-card refunds can take one to two billing cycles. PayPal does not return the original fee paid to receive a commercial payment.
A provider can also leave a refund pending or report a failure. Check the provider's status before promising that the customer has received the money.