Resources · Make integration

GoCardless Make integrationAutomate GoCardless with Make.

Every GoCardless payment, mandate and refund can start or feed an automation. The GoCardless Make integration gives you 39 modules: 4 instant triggers, 26 actions and 9 searches. This guide is for finance and ops teams who bill by Direct Debit, and it walks you from the connection to a working first scenario.

Try the GoCardless integration on MakeSee the 39 modules

Verified Trustpilot reviews · AI, automation & growth agency

What you can automate

What can the GoCardless Make integration do for you?

The GoCardless Make integration links your GoCardless account to Make so that payment events start a scenario (the automation you build in Make, a chain of modules) and so that Make can create, pause, cancel or look up payments, subscriptions and mandates for you. No code is involved: you pick modules and map data from one to the next.

Billing that starts on its own. Watch Mandates reacts when something happens to a mandate, and Create a Subscription can then set up the recurring collection. The customer signs, the billing plan exists, nobody retypes anything.

Failed payments that get a second chance. Watch Payments hears about payment events the moment GoCardless sends them. Pair it with Get a Payment to read the details, then Retry a Payment when a collection has failed, or pass the case to whoever handles collections in your team.

Refunds and payouts your accounting can follow. Search Payouts and Search Refunds pull lists you can send to a spreadsheet or a CRM, for example the Airtable Make integration, so finance sees what actually landed in the bank.

What the listed modules do not cover, Make an API Call can reach with the same connection. If you are weighing tools, the n8n vs Make comparison sets out the criteria, and the Make pricing page explains how operations are counted.

Connect

How do you connect GoCardless to Make?

  1. 01

    Add a GoCardless module

    Log in to Make, open your scenario and add any GoCardless module. Click Create a connection. The connection is your GoCardless account linked to Make once, then reused by every GoCardless module in your scenarios.

  2. 02

    Name the connection

    The Connection name field is optional, but a clear name pays off once you have more than one account, for instance a Sandbox connection for tests and a live one for real customers.

  3. 03

    Enter your credentials

    Paste the credentials you copied from GoCardless, or follow the prompts on screen. For custom credentials, create an app in the Developers section of your GoCardless dashboard, then copy its Client ID and Client secret.

First scenario

Build your first GoCardless scenario in Make

GoalWhen a mandate event arrives from GoCardless, Make reads the mandate and creates a subscription on it.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    From the Scenarios page, create a new scenario and click the big + to place your first module on the canvas.

  2. 02

    Add Watch Mandates

    Search for GoCardless, pick Watch Mandates, click Create a webhook, then create or pick your connection. GoCardless will now call Make on every mandate event.

  3. 03

    Read the full mandate

    Click the + to the right of the trigger and add Get a Mandate. Map the mandate data from the trigger's bundle (one item passed from a module to the next) so Make fetches the complete record.

  4. 04

    Create the subscription

    Add Create a Subscription after it and fill the fields Make shows, mapping values from the Get a Mandate bundle rather than typing them by hand. Every mandate event reaches this step, so check in Run once which ones should really start billing.

  5. 05

    Test with Run once

    Click Run once, then trigger a mandate event in a Sandbox account. Open each module's bundle to check what arrived before any real customer is billed.

  6. 06

    Switch it on

    Turn the scenario on. Because the trigger is instant, it runs when GoCardless calls, not on the 15 minute default schedule of polling scenarios.

Triggers

GoCardless triggers in Make

4 modules start a scenario when something happens in GoCardless. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by GoCardless as soon as it happens.

GoCardless1Watch Approved Authorizations

Watch Approved Authorizations

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers on events associated with Payer Authorizations.”

Starts your scenario whenever GoCardless reports an event on a Payer Authorization, so the follow-up to a payer's approval runs without anyone checking the dashboard.

How it fires
instant, GoCardless calls Make through a webhook as soon as it happens.
When to use it
you onboard payers through authorizations and want the next step, such as a welcome email or a CRM update, to follow right away.
Watch out
click Create a webhook before the connection, and read the event in the bundle during Run once to see which authorization changes reach you.
GoCardless2Watch Billing Requests

Watch Billing Requests

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers on events associated with Billing Requests.”

Gives you a scenario that wakes up on every event GoCardless reports for your Billing Requests, so their outcome reaches your other tools on its own.

How it fires
instant, GoCardless calls Make through a webhook as soon as it happens.
When to use it
you send payment requests to customers and want your sales or support tool to know the outcome without a manual lookup.
Watch out
the module key is WatchEvents, but in the editor it shows as Watch Billing Requests, so search for that name.
GoCardless3Watch Mandates

Watch Mandates

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers on events associated with Mandates.”

Lets you act the moment a mandate changes in GoCardless, which is where most recurring billing starts and stops.

How it fires
instant, GoCardless calls Make through a webhook as soon as it happens.
When to use it
a new mandate should open a subscription, or a mandate problem should alert your account manager before the next collection is due.
Watch out
the trigger covers events associated with mandates in general, so one scenario receives several kinds of change. Inspect the bundle in Run once before chaining an action that bills anyone.
GoCardless4Watch Payments

Watch Payments

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers on events associated with Payments.”

Keeps your other tools in step with GoCardless payments: each payment event reaches Make and can update a spreadsheet, a CRM or a chat channel.

How it fires
instant, GoCardless calls Make through a webhook as soon as it happens.
When to use it
finance wants to see confirmed and failed collections where it already works, without exporting reports from GoCardless.
Watch out
every event is a bundle and each module that processes it uses an operation, the unit Make counts on your plan. Busy accounts consume operations quickly.
Modules

GoCardless modules in Make

GoCardless gives you 35 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

GoCardless1

Cancel an Instalment Schedule

Action

In Make“Cancels an instalment schedule.”

Stops an instalment schedule, so a customer who paid in parts is not charged for the parts that remain once the deal changes.

When to use it
a customer returns an order or renegotiates, and the ticket in your support tool should close the plan from the same scenario.
Watch out
run it on a single, identified schedule. Pull the ID from Get an Instalment Schedule or a search first, never from a guess.
GoCardless2

Cancel a Payment

Action

In Make“Cancel a payment if it has not already been submitted to the banks.”

Withdraws a one-off payment before the money moves, which saves you a refund later.

When to use it
an order is cancelled in your shop shortly after checkout and the matching GoCardless collection should never leave.
Watch out
it only works while the payment has not yet been submitted to the banks. After that point, Create a Refund is the module that fixes things.
GoCardless3

Cancel a Subscription

Action

In Make“Immediately cancels a subscription; no more payments will be created under it.”

Ends a subscription at once: GoCardless creates no further payments under it, so a churned customer stops being billed.

When to use it
a cancellation form or a CRM status change should close billing with no one logging in to GoCardless.
Watch out
the cancellation is immediate. If the customer only needs a break, Pause a Subscription keeps the plan alive and Resume a Subscription restarts it.
GoCardless4

Create a Bank Debit Payment

Action

In Make“Collects a one-off payment.”

Collects a one-off amount by bank debit from a customer who already has a mandate, which covers extras outside the regular plan.

When to use it
a customer orders an add-on or an overage and you want the charge to go out from the order record, not from a spreadsheet.
Watch out
for recurring amounts Create a Subscription fits better, and for money you need on the spot there is Create an Instant Bank Payment.
GoCardless5

Create an Instalment Schedule (with Dates)

Action

In Make“Creates a new instalment schedule object along with associated payments using specific dates.”

Splits a total into instalments that fall on the exact dates you choose, and creates the matching payments along with the schedule.

When to use it
a training company agrees on specific due dates with each client and wants those dates, taken from the signed quote, to drive the collections.
Watch out
if the pattern is regular rather than date by date, the (with Schedule) version saves you listing every date.
GoCardless6

Create an Instalment Schedule (with Schedule)

Action

In Make“Creates a new instalment schedule object along with associated payments according to a scheduling logic.”

Builds an instalment plan from a scheduling rule instead of a list of dates, and GoCardless creates the payments that follow that rule.

When to use it
every customer who picks the pay-in-parts option at checkout gets the same kind of plan, so one rule serves everyone.
Watch out
when each customer has negotiated due dates, use the (with Dates) version instead so the payments match the agreement.
GoCardless7

Create an Instant Bank Payment

Action

In Make“Collects a payment on the spot.”

Collects a payment on the spot rather than on the bank debit timeline, useful when you need the money before delivering anything.

When to use it
a booking or a deposit should be paid in full before the confirmation email goes out from the next module.
Watch out
it is a different flow from Create a Bank Debit Payment. Test both in Sandbox to see which one your customers are shown.
GoCardless8

Create a Refund

Action

In Make“Creates a refund.”

Sends money back to a customer against a payment already collected, so refunds leave from the same place as the rest of your process.

When to use it
a return is approved in your e-commerce tool or helpdesk and the refund should follow without a finance team member logging in.
Watch out
if the payment has not reached the banks yet, Cancel a Payment is simpler. Money that has moved needs this module.
GoCardless9

Create a Subscription

Action

In Make“Creates a subscription.”

Sets up recurring billing on a customer's mandate, so a new plan starts collecting without anyone typing it into GoCardless.

When to use it
a signed contract, a won deal in your CRM or a new mandate event should turn straight into a running subscription.
Watch out
map the mandate from a previous module rather than typing it, and test in Sandbox, since a live run starts real collections.
GoCardless10

Create Direct Debit/ACH Mandate

Action

In Make“Creates a mandate authorization request.”

Creates a mandate authorization request, the step where a customer is asked to allow Direct Debit or ACH collections from their account.

When to use it
a lead signs up in your form or CRM and should receive the authorization request as part of onboarding, not from a separate manual task.
Watch out
the module only creates the request. Pair it with Watch Mandates to find out when the mandate actually changes.
GoCardless11

Create Instant First Payment and Direct Debit Mandate

Action

In Make“Creates Instant First Payment and Direct Debit Mandate.”

Combines two things in one step: an instant first payment and a Direct Debit mandate for the payments that follow.

When to use it
a membership or a service takes a first fee upfront and then bills by Direct Debit, and you want the customer to go through a single request.
Watch out
if you only need the mandate, Create Direct Debit/ACH Mandate is the lighter choice.
GoCardless12

Get a Customer

Action

In Make“Retrieves a customer.”

Returns one GoCardless customer record, so the next module can work with names and contact details instead of bare IDs.

When to use it
a payment or mandate trigger gives you a reference and you want to write the customer's details into your CRM or a Slack alert.
Watch out
it needs one known customer. When you only have partial information, start with Search Customers.
GoCardless13

Get a Customer's Bank Account

Action

In Make“Retrieves a customer's bank account.”

Fetches the bank account attached to a customer, which helps when a collection issue needs checking against the account on file.

When to use it
a failed payment reaches your scenario and the support ticket should show which account GoCardless tried to debit.
Watch out
bank details are sensitive. Send only what the next person actually needs, and keep it out of public channels.
GoCardless14

Get a Mandate

Action

In Make“Retrieves a mandate.”

Reads a single mandate in full, so later modules can decide what to do based on its current state rather than on the event alone.

When to use it
right after Watch Mandates, to get the complete record before creating a subscription or alerting someone.
Watch out
it retrieves one mandate from a known reference. To go through many mandates, Search Mandates returns them as separate bundles.
GoCardless15

Get an Instalment Schedule

Action

In Make“Retrieves an instalment schedule.”

Pulls one instalment schedule so you can show where a pay-in-parts customer stands before anyone decides on the next step.

When to use it
a customer asks support about their plan and the helpdesk ticket should carry the schedule details automatically.
Watch out
reading a schedule changes nothing. Cancelling it is a separate module, Cancel an Instalment Schedule.
GoCardless16

Get a Payment

Action

In Make“Retrieves a payment.”

Retrieves one payment with its details, which turns a short webhook event into a record you can actually report on.

When to use it
after Watch Payments, to write the full payment into your accounting sheet or decide whether a retry makes sense.
Watch out
each call is one operation per bundle. On a busy account, only fetch the payments that later modules really use.
GoCardless17

Get a Payout

Action

In Make“Retrieves a payout.”

Returns the details of one payout, so your books can match it against what arrived in the bank.

When to use it
your accountant reconciles bank lines and needs the payout details added to the ledger or a spreadsheet row.
Watch out
it covers one payout you already know. For a range of payouts, Search Payouts is the right module.
GoCardless18

Get a Refund

Action

In Make“Retrieves a refund.”

Reads a single refund so the people handling a return can see what GoCardless actually sent back.

When to use it
a customer asks whether their money is on its way and the support reply should quote the refund record, not a guess.
Watch out
reading changes nothing. To add your own references to the refund, use Update a Refund.
GoCardless19

Get a Subscription

Action

In Make“Retrieves a subscription.”

Fetches one subscription so a scenario can check its state before touching it, which avoids pausing something already paused.

When to use it
before Pause, Resume or Update a Subscription, to confirm you hold the right plan for the right customer.
Watch out
it needs a known subscription. When you start from a customer, Search Subscriptions finds the candidates first.
GoCardless20

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

Opens the rest of the GoCardless API to your scenario with the connection you already set up, for anything the other modules leave out.

When to use it
you need something from GoCardless that none of the other modules covers and you are comfortable reading the GoCardless API documentation.
Watch out
you build the request yourself, so test it with Run once in Sandbox before pointing it at live data.
GoCardless21

Pause a Subscription

Action

In Make“Pauses an existing subscription.”

Puts a subscription on hold without ending it, which keeps a customer who wants a break from turning into a cancellation.

When to use it
a member asks for a break through your form or help center and the pause should apply straight away.
Watch out
a paused plan stays paused until something resumes it. Plan the Resume a Subscription step, in this scenario or another.
GoCardless22

Resume a Subscription

Action

In Make“Resumes a subscription. Payments will automatically start to be created again based on the subscription settings.”

Restarts a paused subscription, and GoCardless begins creating payments again based on the subscription's own settings.

When to use it
the customer comes back through your form or your CRM and billing should pick up without a manual step.
Watch out
payments restart from the existing settings. If the amount or plan has changed, run Update a Subscription first.
GoCardless23

Retry a Payment

Action

In Make“Retries a payment that has failed.”

Tries again to collect a payment that failed, which can recover revenue without chasing the customer by hand.

When to use it
Watch Payments reports a failure, Get a Payment confirms it, and your policy is to retry once the customer has been warned.
Watch out
it applies only to failed payments. Retrying straight away on every event can annoy customers, so add a human check where it matters.
GoCardless24

Update a Payment

Action

In Make“Updates a payment metadata.”

Writes your own references into a payment's metadata, so a GoCardless record points back to the order or invoice it belongs to.

When to use it
your invoicing tool issues an invoice number after the payment exists and you want both systems to share it.
Watch out
only the metadata changes. The amount collected stays what the payment already says.
GoCardless25

Update a Refund

Action

In Make“Updates a refund's metadata.”

Adds or changes the metadata on a refund, handy for tying it to a return number or a support ticket.

When to use it
the helpdesk ticket ID should live on the refund so finance can trace why the money went back.
Watch out
only the refund's metadata changes. The refunded amount stays what Create a Refund set.
GoCardless26

Update a Subscription

Action

In Make“Updates a subscription.”

Changes an existing subscription, so an upgrade or a renamed plan reaches GoCardless without cancelling and recreating it.

When to use it
a customer moves to another plan in your app or CRM and the subscription should follow.
Watch out
fetch the subscription with Get a Subscription first and map its reference, since updating the wrong plan hits the wrong customer.
GoCardless27

Search Creditors

Search

In Make“Retrieves all your creditors.”

Lists the creditors on your GoCardless account, each one arriving as its own bundle for the modules that follow.

When to use it
a group runs several brands or entities and a scenario needs to pick the right creditor before creating payments.
Watch out
a search can return zero, one or many bundles, and each following module runs once per bundle.
GoCardless28

Search Customer Bank Accounts

Search

In Make“Retrieves all your customer bank accounts.”

Returns the customer bank accounts GoCardless holds for you, so a scenario can review them without exporting a file.

When to use it
an audit or a data cleanup needs the accounts listed in a secure internal sheet.
Watch out
many results mean many bundles and many operations. Store the output somewhere private, since these are bank details.
GoCardless29

Search Customers

Search

In Make“Retrieves all your customers.”

Finds customers in GoCardless and hands each one to the next module, which is how you sync your payer base to another tool.

When to use it
moving to a new CRM, with every GoCardless customer to recreate there.
Watch out
the module returns customers as separate bundles, so a large base means many operations in the modules that follow.
GoCardless30

Search Instalment Schedules

Search

In Make“Retrieves Instalment Schedules based on the defined filters.”

Retrieves instalment schedules that match the filters you set, which gives you a view of every pay-in-parts plan in progress.

When to use it
finance wants all open plans in a sheet to forecast what still has to come in.
Watch out
without filters you may pull far more schedules than you need. Narrow the search before mapping the results.
GoCardless31

Search Mandates

Search

In Make“Retrieves all your mandates.”

Lists your mandates one bundle at a time, so you can check which customers can be debited before a billing run.

When to use it
you prepare a campaign of one-off charges and want to confirm each customer's mandate in advance.
Watch out
for one mandate you already know, Get a Mandate is lighter and costs a single operation.
GoCardless32

Search Payments

Search

In Make“Retrieves all payments.”

Pulls payments out of GoCardless as a series of bundles, the base of any report that the dashboard alone does not give you.

When to use it
management wants collected and failed payments in a shared sheet or a BI tool, next to sales data.
Watch out
for new events as they happen, Watch Payments is the better fit. A search looks at what already exists.
GoCardless33

Search Payouts

Search

In Make“Retrieves all your payouts.”

Lists your payouts so each transfer to your bank can land in your accounting as its own line.

When to use it
your accountant matches bank statements with GoCardless and wants payouts written to a reconciliation sheet.
Watch out
every payout becomes a bundle. Add only the modules you need after the search to keep operations in check.
GoCardless34

Search Refunds

Search

In Make“Retrieves all refunds.”

Retrieves refunds as separate bundles, so returns and money sent back can be tracked outside GoCardless.

When to use it
customer service wants a view of refunds next to its tickets, or finance tracks the cost of returns.
Watch out
a search returns what exists at run time. For one refund you already know, Get a Refund is enough.
GoCardless35

Search Subscriptions

Search

In Make“Retrieves all subscriptions.”

Lists subscriptions, which lets a scenario review your recurring revenue base or find the plan behind a customer.

When to use it
you want active plans in a dashboard, or you need to locate a subscription before pausing or updating it.
Watch out
each subscription found is a bundle, and any module after the search runs once for each of them.
Need help

Need help automating GoCardless with Make?

A person reads every message.

FAQ

GoCardless Make integration FAQ

01Is the GoCardless Make integration free?
Yes, GoCardless is a standard app in Make, available from the Free plan. That plan allows 2 active scenarios, a minimum interval of 15 minutes between scheduled runs, 5 minutes of execution at most and files up to 5 MB. Paid plans (Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise) lift those limits and count usage in operations per month. You still need your own GoCardless account, and GoCardless has its own pricing, which Make does not cover.
02What do you need to connect GoCardless to Make?
An active GoCardless account and an API access token. In Make, add a GoCardless module and click Create a connection, then enter your credentials or follow the on-screen instructions. For custom credentials, create an app in the Developers section of the GoCardless dashboard, choose Sandbox as the environment, and copy the Client ID and Client secret. For instant modules, click Create a webhook before creating the connection. Keep a Sandbox connection for your tests so no real customer is billed while you build.
03Do GoCardless triggers in Make fire in real time?
Yes. All four GoCardless triggers (Watch Approved Authorizations, Watch Billing Requests, Watch Mandates and Watch Payments) are instant: GoCardless calls Make through a webhook as soon as something happens, so the scenario does not wait for the 15 minute default schedule. Each event arrives as a bundle, and every module that processes it uses one operation of your plan. You have nothing to set on the schedule for these modules. Switch the scenario on once your Run once test looks right, then check the first bundle that arrives.
04What if a GoCardless module you need is missing in Make?
Use Make an API Call. It reaches any endpoint of the GoCardless API with the connection you already created, so you are not limited to the listed modules. You write the request yourself from the GoCardless API documentation, which asks for more care than a ready-made module. Test it with Run once on a Sandbox account before running it against live customers. If you only need to read or change data the listed modules already handle, stick with those modules instead.
05Should you use Make or n8n for GoCardless?
It depends on how you like to build. On Make, GoCardless comes with 39 modules, including 4 instant triggers and Make an API Call, and it works on the Free plan. The same app often has an n8n node as well. The fair way to choose is to list the payment, mandate and subscription steps your scenario needs, then check which tool covers them, since neither is better for every team.
Same platform

Other docs you might need on this stack.

Browse all integrations