This guide is for course providers who want Cademy to pass information to other tools automatically, for example a spreadsheet, a mailing list or an accounting system. It explains what Zapier is, what Cademy offers in Zapier, how to connect the two, and what you build and test yourself.
Zapier is included in Cademy’s Pro and Teams plans. Zapier is a separate service with its own account and pricing. To compare Cademy plans, see Understand Cademy Plans, Limits and Fees.
Zapier connects apps to each other. Cademy’s Zapier page describes it as a way to “Integrate with over 5,000 apps and services”. A Zap is one automation you build in Zapier. A trigger is the event that starts a Zap, such as a new order in Cademy. An action is what the Zap then does, such as adding a row to a spreadsheet.
What Cademy offers in Zapier
Cademy can start a Zap when one of these happens in your Cademy account:
An order is created, paid, updated or cancelled.
A booking is created, paid or cancelled. A booking trigger runs once for each course date booked in an order.
A registration, which is one person’s place on a course, is created or updated. The Zap receives the registration with its contact, course and course date.
A contact is created or updated. The Zap receives the contact with its tags and custom fields.
A course date is created. The Zap receives the date and its course.
Booking triggers and order triggers do not cover the same records. An order trigger runs once for the whole order. A booking trigger runs once for each course date in it. You choose the trigger by name in Zapier when you build a Zap. Zapier shows the fields a trigger provides when you test it. Test it with a real example of the orders you take before you rely on it.
A Zap can also make these changes in Cademy:
Create a contact, or update a contact that already exists.
Save an invoice reference on an order.
Mark an order as paid. This records the whole order as paid in Cademy, even when the Zap supplies the ID of one booking in it. It does not take a payment.
Cademy does not supply ready-made Zaps, and it does not build or test Zaps for you.
A Zap does not run at the moment something happens in Cademy. Zapier collects new records from Cademy by checking at intervals. Zapier’s guide How Zap triggers work gives the interval for each Zapier plan, from 1 to 15 minutes.
If your Cademy plan includes Cademy’s Xero integration, use it for Xero instead of Zapier. It sends invoices, payments, credit notes and refunds to Xero without a Zap.
For a connection that a developer builds, see Webhooks: Send Cademy Events to Other Systems.
Getting started with the Zapier integration
You need a Zapier account, and a Cademy login with the System Admin role. The Apps menu is shown only to System Admins. If you are a System Admin and cannot see Apps, it has been hidden from your menu: look under More. You reach Cademy’s Zapier app through the invitation that Install opens.
Create a Zapier account, or sign in to the one you have.
In the Cademy admin dashboard, select Apps, then Zapier, then Install. Zapier opens with an invitation to use Cademy’s Zapier app.
Accept the invitation in Zapier, then create a Zap and choose Cademy as the app for one of its steps. Zapier’s guide What is a Zap? explains how a Zap is built.
Connect your Cademy account in that step. Zapier’s guide Connect your app accounts to Zapier gives the steps. A new browser tab or window opens.
If you are not signed in to Cademy in that browser, Cademy asks you to sign in first. Cademy then shows Zapier wants to access your account. Select Allow. You are returned to Zapier with the account connected.
Finish building the Zap in Zapier and test it. When you are satisfied with the test, publish the Zap in Zapier to turn it on.
After the connection is made, Cademy’s Apps page shows Zapier as INSTALLED, and the button on Cademy’s Zapier page reads Installed and can no longer be selected.
If Install is greyed out and the badge Cademy Pro Feature appears above it, your account does not have access to the Zapier app. Select the badge to see plan options. If you expected your account to include Zapier, contact Cademy Support. If you select Deny on the access screen, Cademy returns you to its own Zapier page without connecting.
Important: Test each Zap with a record you can recognise before you rely on it. A Zap that marks orders as paid or updates contacts changes real records in your Cademy account. Marking an order as paid can also change the order’s status and send Cademy’s order emails, for example the confirmation to participants on an invoice order that was waiting for payment.
Workflow examples
These are examples of Zaps that course providers build. Each one depends on what the other app offers in Zapier.
Add a row to a Google Sheet when an order is created or paid.
Add a row to a Google Sheet when a contact is created.
Add or update a subscriber in Mailchimp when a contact is created or updated.
Send paid orders to an accounting tool such as QuickBooks, and save the accounting tool’s invoice reference back on the Cademy order.
Disconnecting Zapier
Cademy’s Zapier page has no uninstall button. To stop an automation, turn off or delete the Zap in Zapier. To remove the link between the two accounts, delete the Cademy connection on Zapier’s App Connections page. Zapier’s guide Manage your app connections gives the steps and states that, once a connection is deleted, Zapier no longer has access to that account.
Cademy’s Apps page continues to show Zapier as INSTALLED after you delete the connection in Zapier.
Frequently asked questions
Does Cademy build Zaps for me?
No. Cademy provides the triggers and actions. You build, test and maintain each Zap in your own Zapier account.
Can a Zap take a payment in Cademy?
No. A Zap can mark an order as paid, which records the whole order as paid in Cademy. It does not charge the customer.
Can Zapier update a contact that already exists?
Yes. The contact action matches on the contact ID if the Zap supplies one, otherwise on the email address. With an email address, a matching contact is updated, and a contact is created if none matches. With a contact ID that matches no contact, the action fails. Blank fields leave existing values unchanged, tags are added and never removed, and a stored email address is never changed.
Should I use Zapier to send invoices to Xero?
No, if your Cademy plan includes Cademy’s Xero integration. That integration sends invoices, payments, credit notes and refunds to Xero directly. Use Zapier for accounting tools that Cademy does not connect to.
Who can connect Zapier?
A System Admin. The access screen in Cademy accepts the connection only from a user with the System Admin role.
Why did my Zap not run straight away?
Because Zapier checks Cademy for new records at intervals. The interval depends on your Zapier plan and is between 1 and 15 minutes.