This guide is for course providers who have just created a Cademy business account, for team members who have been invited to one, and for anyone deciding whether Cademy fits how they run courses. It takes you through the first setup steps in order: choosing a plan in the welcome questions, choosing a course format, finishing the Account Setup checklist and connecting Stripe or PayPal so customers can pay.
Cademy is the all-in-one platform for professional training providers, bringing course booking, training management, online learning and learner records together in one system. You create your courses in the Admin Dashboard, customers book them on your Cademy minisite or on your own website, and you manage the bookings and the people who made them in the same place. For an overview of everything Cademy does, see What Is Cademy?.
This guide uses three terms:
Business account: the Cademy account for your organisation. One login can open more than one business account.
Admin Dashboard: where you and your team manage the business account, at admin.cademy.io. To learn the sidebar, Menu and Search, see Find Your Way Around the Admin Dashboard.
Minisite: the public Cademy page for your business account. Its address looks like your-name.cademy.io.
Create or Join a Cademy Business Account
You need a login for a Cademy business account.
To create a business account, follow Sign Up for Cademy as a Course Provider. A new business account starts on the Free plan, and the person who creates it is its first System Admin.
To join a business account that already exists, ask one of its System Admins to invite you. You do not need to create a business account of your own.
To log in, go to admin.cademy.io. Log In to Your Course Provider Account explains each sign-in method.
What you can open in the Admin Dashboard depends on your user role: System Admin, Course Owner or Facilitator. Where a step in this guide needs a particular role, the step says so. What Can a Facilitator, Course Owner or System Admin Do? compares the three roles.
Choose the Free Plan (Pay As You Sell) or a Free Trial When You Sign Up
When a business account is new, admin.cademy.io first shows the welcome questions: six short screens that fill the page. Two of them ask a question. The sidebar used in the rest of this guide appears once they are completed.
The last screen is headed Start Your Free Trial! and shows the plans side by side, with a switch for monthly or yearly billing and a currency switch. The heading refers to the paid plans. You do not have to start a trial or a subscription:
To use the Free plan: select Start for Free on the Free plan card. Cademy does not ask for card details, and there is no subscription charge. Instead, a standard 5% Cademy platform fee is taken from payments customers make through Cademy checkout. You choose whether you absorb it or customers pay it as a booking fee. This is the plan some people call pay as you sell.
To try a paid plan: select Start Free Trial on that plan’s card. A Stripe payment page opens and asks for card details and a billing address before the 14-day trial starts. Paid plans have a monthly or yearly subscription and no Cademy platform fee.
Choosing a plan completes the welcome questions. A System Admin can change the plan later under Settings, on the Billing & Usage page. See Manage Your Cademy Subscription. For what each plan includes, see What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs.
Picked Pay As You Sell (Free Plan) but Sign-Up Asks for a Card?
A card payment page opens only when you select Start Free Trial on a paid plan. Choosing the Free plan does not ask for card details. To go back without entering a card, use the link back to Cademy on the Stripe page, not your browser's Back button. Cademy returns you to the plan screen, where you can select Start for Free on the Free plan card.
Choose a Course Format (Course Type)
Every course in Cademy has a format. You choose the format when you create the course, so one business account can run courses in several formats. Start with the format that matches how you teach. For help choosing, see Choose the Right Course Type.
Format | Use it for | Detailed guide |
On set dates | Workshops, events, classes and webinars. | |
On-request | Private training, 1-to-1 sessions, coaching and tuition. | |
On-demand online course | Pre-recorded content and self-paced e-learning programmes. | |
Blended course | Modules and learning programmes that combine hosted content, such as videos, with taught lessons. |
You can read about each format inside the Admin Dashboard before you create anything. You need the System Admin or Course Owner role for these steps.
In the sidebar on the left, under Menu, select Courses.
Select New Course. If you see only the + (Create New) button, open it and select New Course. A page opens. Under What is the format? it lists the four formats.
Select Learn more beside a format to open a short explanation with a video.
When you are ready to create a course, select the format itself and follow the detailed guide for that format.
Complete the Account Setup Checklist
Account Setup is a checklist of five tasks for a new business account. Only System Admins see it.
To open it, select Account Setup at the top of the sidebar, above Menu. The ring beside the label fills as tasks are completed.
The page lists the tasks in this order:
Task | What to do | Detailed guide |
Complete the welcome questions | Go through six short screens. Two of them ask a question, and the last one asks you to choose a plan. Choosing a plan completes the task. | |
Publish a course | Create a course and publish it. Cademy publishes a course only when the email address of the person publishing it is confirmed. If Cademy says your email address is not confirmed, select Message Us at the bottom of the sidebar and ask Cademy Support. A course with a price also needs at least one payment method to be set up first: see “Connect Stripe or PayPal to Take Payments” below. Your plan limits how many courses can be published at once. | |
Add a logo to your profile | On the Profile page, use Select Logo, then select Save Changes. | |
Import your existing contacts | Import the people you already work with, then tick the checkbox beside this task. | |
Invite your team | On the Users & Facilitators page, select Invite User and choose a role for each person. Your plan limits how many users you can have in each role: see What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs. |
Beside each unfinished task, Let's do it! opens the page where you do the task. Publish a course and Import your existing contacts also have Learn how, which opens a short video. A finished task shows Done.
Cademy marks three tasks as done by itself: Publish a course when the business account has a published course, Add a logo to your profile when the profile has a logo, and Invite your team when the business account has more than one user.
Import your existing contacts works differently. It is marked as done only when you tick its checkbox. Tick it after your import, or straight away if you have no contacts to bring in. If you work alone, tick the checkbox beside Invite your team in the same way.
When all five tasks are done, Account Setup disappears from the sidebar.
Account Setup is also the page a System Admin lands on. Once the welcome questions are completed, going to admin.cademy.io opens the Account Setup page until all five tasks are done, your email address is confirmed and a payout method such as Stripe or PayPal is connected. After that, admin.cademy.io opens Home. Once the welcome questions are completed, other roles land on Home.
The Account Setup page also shows your business name and minisite address under Your Business, ways to reach Cademy under Get Help, and demo videos under Videos.
Account Setup Still Shows a Finished Task as Unfinished
If you finished a task but Account Setup still shows it as unfinished, open the Account Setup page. Cademy rechecks your published courses and your users when a System Admin opens that page, and the ring in the sidebar updates afterwards. Import your existing contacts and, if you work alone, Invite your team are marked as done only when you tick their checkbox.
Connect Stripe or PayPal to Take Payments
Connecting a payment provider is not one of the five Account Setup tasks, but Cademy does not publish a course with a price until at least one payment method is set up. Do this before you publish a paid course. To take online payments, a System Admin connects a payment provider:
In the sidebar, under Menu, select Settings.
Select Payments. Under Fast Payments the page has a part for Stripe and a part for PayPal.
Select Install Stripe or Install PayPal. The app page for that provider opens.
Connect your account by following Connect Stripe to Take Card Payments or Connect PayPal for Customer Payments. When the provider is connected, the Payments page shows INSTALLED in place of the install button.
Can I Connect Clearpay? Payment Options Customers Can Use
No. Clearpay, also called Afterpay, is not a payment option in Cademy, and it cannot be connected. Customers can pay online at Cademy checkout in these ways:
Card: through your connected Stripe account.
Klarna: through your connected Stripe account. Klarna lets customers spread the cost: Klarna decides who qualifies and handles the repayments, and the full price, less fees, is paid into your Stripe account. See Offer Klarna Payments.
PayPal: through your PayPal business account. PayPal can offer eligible customers its own Pay in 3.
On Pro and Teams, you can also let customers pay by invoice, or accept a booking with payment outside Cademy, for example by bank transfer. On Teams, you can also offer deposits and monthly instalments. See Take a Deposit and Collect the Balance Later and Offer Payment Plans (Monthly Instalments).
Cademy Plans and Fees for a New Business Account
A new business account starts on the Free plan. A System Admin can review the plan of the business account under Settings, on the Billing & Usage page. What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs explains what each plan includes, its limits and the fees that can apply.
What the Free Plan Includes
The Free plan has no subscription charge. It includes 1 System Admin, 2 Facilitators and 5 published courses, and a standard 5% Cademy platform fee applies to payments through Cademy checkout. For all its limits, see What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs.
Upgrade to a Paid Cademy Plan
Paid plans have higher limits and more features, and no Cademy platform fee. The Zapier integration is one feature that depends on your plan: see Connect Other Apps with Zapier. To change plan, see Manage Your Cademy Subscription.
Fees on Customer Payments
What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs explains the fees that can apply to customer payments.
Cademy Platform Fee on the Free Plan
What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs explains the Cademy platform fee and its standard rate on each plan.
Payment Processing Fees (Stripe, PayPal and Klarna)
Stripe, PayPal and Klarna charge their own processing fees, which depend on the payment provider and payment method. See How You Get Paid for Bookings (Payouts and Fees).
Cademy Marketplace Sales Fees
Sales made through your own website or Cademy minisite do not incur the Marketplace fee. For the fee on a sale made through the Cademy Marketplace, see Remove Your Profile or Listing From the Cademy Marketplace.
Find Your Way Around the Admin Dashboard
The sidebar, the pages in the Menu, Search and the help links have their own guide: Find Your Way Around the Admin Dashboard.
Pages in the Admin Dashboard Menu
The list of Menu pages and the roles that see each one is in Find Your Way Around the Admin Dashboard.
Customise or Hide Pages in Your Admin Menu
To reorder or hide Menu pages, see Find Your Way Around the Admin Dashboard.
Collapse the Admin Sidebar or Use a Small Screen
To collapse the sidebar or open it on a phone, see Find Your Way Around the Admin Dashboard.
Get Help From Cademy While You Set Up
Message Us, at the bottom of the sidebar, opens a chat with Cademy Support. Help Guides, below it, opens the Cademy Help Centre in a new browser tab. On the Account Setup page, System Admins can also select Book a Call. Contact Your Course Provider or Cademy Support explains chat and email support.
Search the Admin Dashboard for Pages, Records and Help
To use Search, see Find Your Way Around the Admin Dashboard.
User Roles: What a System Admin, Course Owner or Facilitator Can Open
A business account has three user roles: System Admin, Course Owner and Facilitator. For what each role can open and do, see What Can a Facilitator, Course Owner or System Admin Do?. To invite someone, see Invite a Team Member or Facilitator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I receive payments through Cademy?
Yes. Customers pay you online by card, Klarna or PayPal, and the money goes to your own Stripe or PayPal account. To connect a payment provider, see “Connect Stripe or PayPal to Take Payments” in this guide. How You Get Paid for Bookings (Payouts and Fees) explains payouts and payment processing fees.
Does Cademy support monthly instalments?
Yes, on the Teams plan and on custom plans that include them. See Offer Payment Plans (Monthly Instalments) for how they work, and What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs for the plans that include them.
Can customers use Klarna or PayPal Pay in 3?
Yes, when these payment methods are available at checkout. Klarna and PayPal Pay in 3 let the customer split a full checkout payment with the payment provider. The payment schedule and collection are managed by that provider. See Offer Klarna Payments and Connect PayPal for Customer Payments.
Are there cancellation fees?
No, Cademy does not charge cancellation fees. When an order is cancelled you decide whether to refund in full, refund in part, or hold the amount as credit for the customer. See Cancel a Booking or Part of an Order.
Can I import courses?
Yes. See Import a List of Courses from a CSV or Excel File. For help with setting up or importing courses, select Message Us in the Admin Dashboard or email support@cademy.io.
Why can I not see Account Setup?
Account Setup is shown in the sidebar only to System Admins, and only until all five tasks are done. If you have another role, or the tasks are done, it is not in your sidebar. A System Admin still lands on the Account Setup page when going to admin.cademy.io until their email address is confirmed and a payout method such as Stripe or PayPal is connected.