This article describes how to use Discount Codes in Event Manager so you can offer promotional pricing on paid events (Simple and Full Registration events only). It explains how to create and manage event‑specific discount codes and how they are applied during registration.

Offering your users Discount Codes is a great way to run early‑bird promotions, speaker/partner pricing, or targeted incentives.

NOTE: Discount Codes are event‑specific; each code can be applied to only one event at a time.

Overview

Discount Codes let you:

• Create event‑specific promo codes (e.g., EARLYBIRD, SPEAKER26) that registrants enter during event registration.
• Offer both amount‑off (e.g., $10 off) and percent‑off (e.g., 10% off) discounts.
• For Full registration events, optionally offer discounts on a more granular level based on a registrant's chosen sessions and/or registrations options.
• Control when codes are valid via start/end dates aligned to the event’s registration window.
• See discount usage in rosters, reports, and invoices so finance and event staff can track and report totals.

Discount Codes are available for both:

• Simple registration events
• Full registration events

Access Discount Codes

1. In the Admin Toolbar, click Admin.

2. Navigate to Events > Discount Codes.

The Event Discount Codes page has three "tabs," accessible via the dropdown highlighted below:

• Active – Codes that have started and not yet ended.
• Pending – Codes whose start date is in the future.
• Expired – Codes whose end date has passed or that have been manually deactivated.

Create a Discount Code

Use these steps to create a new code for a specific event.

1. On the Active, Pending, or Expired tab, click the (+) icon to open the Create Event Discount Code dialog.
2. Configure the fields (refer to the table below).
3. Click Save to create the code.

NOTES: 

- The code’s start and end dates are evaluated in the event’s time zone.

- If the current date/time is not within that window, registrants will see the code as invalid, even if they typed it correctly.

Edit a Discount Code

You can edit Pending and Active codes.

NOTE: You cannot edit Expired codes for data-integrity and reporting reasons.

Edit a Pending code

A Pending code is one whose start date has not yet arrived.

NOTE: You can update any field for Pending codes (including Code, Calendar Event, the Discount Type, and the event's Dates).

1. Click the dropdown to the right of the page title and select Pending.
2. Click to select the code in the list, followed by the Edit button.
3. Make your desired changes in the dialog.
4. Click Save.

Edit an Active code (limited)

An Active code is one within its start/end date and that can be used by your registrants.

NOTE: Your editing capabilities are limited for Active codes: You can only edit their Name, Description, End Date, and Additional Criteria (for Full registration events). 

This limitation is put in place to protect historical data and to avoid re‑using codes for different offers.

1. Click the dropdown to the right of the page title and select Active.
2. Click to select the code in the list, followed by the Edit button.
3. Make your desired changes in the dialog.
4. Click Save.

Deactivate a Discount Code

You can deactivate Active and Pending codes: Pending to simply expire them and Active to immediately stop them from being used.

1. Access the Pending or Active tab.
2. Click to select the code in the list.
3. Click the Deactivate button.

NOTE: No confirmation step is requested: the Discount Code is immediately expired.  

The code moves to the Expired tab and is no longer accepted during registration.

How registrants apply Discount Codes

Let's walk through how registrants use Discount Codes for Simple and Full registration events.

Simple registration events

When at least one Active Discount Code exists for a simple registration event:

• A Discount Code input appears in the cart/summary area during registration.

Application process

1. The registrant selects the event and opens the registration/cart.
2. In the cart area, they enter a code and click Apply.
3. The system checks:
   • Is the code valid for this event?
   • Is today between the code’s start and end dates?

If valid:

• The cart updates to show the discounted total.
• For percent‑off codes, the discount is applied to the cart total.
• For amount‑off codes, the discount is applied per registrant in the cart.

If invalid or ineligible:

• The total does not change.
• A clear error message indicates the code cannot be used.

NOTE: If the discount brings the total to $0, the interface switches to the free registration flow and no payment provider is invoked.

Full registration events

For full registration events, a Discount Code input is added in the full registration wizard, on the Payment Options step. When the registrant applies the discount code, the system checks:

• Is the code valid for this event?
• Is today between the code’s start and end dates?
• (If criteria exist) Does the registrant’s registration meet the code’s Additional Criteria?

If yes, the event total and the amount sent to the payment provider all reflect the discount.

Otherwise, the flow is the same as described in the Simple registration events section above.

Pricing rules

Percent‑off codes

Percent-off codes apply to the total registration cost per registrant (base registration + options).

Example:

• Code: SAVE10 (10% off)
• Registrant’s total (before discount): $250
• Discounted total: $225 (10% off $250)

If there are multiple registrants in the same transaction, the 10% is applied to the full cost of each valid registrant.

NOTE: If one registrant doesn't meet the criteria requirement, it will not be applied to their portion of the registration cost.

Amount‑off codes

Amount-off codes apply once per registrant.

Example:

• Code: LESS5 ($5 off)
• 1 registrant: total discount = $5
• 3 registrants in one transaction: total discount = $15 ($5 × 3)

If the amount‑off code fully covers the cost for one registrant, their effective price is $0 and the payment flow adjusts accordingly.

NOTE: If there are multiple registrants in a single transaction, however, there can be nuance to how discounts are applied. First, let's keep in mind that Amount-off codes are applied per registrant. 

Now, let's say I have two registrants in different registrant classes that results in each of them having a different total: one has an original cost of $2, the other $8. The subtotal is $10 and my 2x$5 discount is $10, but the total won't be reduced to $0. Why? Because $5 is taken off each registrant's price but the application of the first registrant's discount only removes $2, since a discount code will never lead to a less than 0 number (i.e., a "refund"). So, the subtotal would be $10 and the discount would be $7 ($2 for the first registrant, and the full $5 for the second).

Track discount usage

Discount Codes are surfaced in multiple Event Manager pages so Super Admins can easily view and report on discount usage.

Manage Roster page

On the Manage Events page, either from the Admin Interface or frontend:

• A Discount column shows the code and the discount amount
• The Event Payment Summary area shows Subtotal (pre‑discount), Discount total, and Total due.

Exported rosters

When you export the Registrant Roster from the Manage Roster page, additional columns are included to help you track discount usage:

• Discount Code
• Subtotal
• Discount
• Final Cost

Event Registrations report

On the Events > Reports page, Registrations, tab, discount information is included in the grid and in the export so that you can:

• See which registrants used which codes.
• Analyze the financial impact of promotions.

Invoices, receipts, and itineraries

• The View Itinerary page for registrants shows totals reflecting the discount and final amount due/paid.
• For invoices and registration receipts/confirmations, the final discounted price is shown but not specific discount details