Phase 1: Run Your First Class

This guide walks you through every step from a new Hovn account to issuing your first certification card. Follow the steps in order — each one builds on the last.

Before you start, you'll need:

Estimated time: ~30 minutes to complete.

Hovn uses Stripe to process student payments.

What you'll do: Go to Settings → Billing and click the green Connect to Stripe button. This opens a Stripe popup to complete the account setup. Even if you already have a Stripe account, you'll need to create a new one connected to Hovn. Follow all the required documentation in the Stripe flow — if you need to come back, you can restart the process from Hovn.

Once your account is enabled, you can access payout information and financials directly through Stripe.com

Every session needs an assigned instructor. You'll need at least one active instructor before you can create classes or issue certification cards.

⚠️ Important: Your admin account is not the same as an instructor account. Even if you teach classes yourself, you need to invite yourself as an instructor to be assigned to sessions.

What you'll do: Go to Settings → Invitations → Invite Staff. Enter the instructor's name and email address. You'll see a Session Management toggle — turn this on if you want the instructor to create their own sessions; leave it off if you prefer to create sessions and assign them.

The instructor will receive an email to accept the invite. During onboarding, they'll enter their contact info, work info, and agency IDs:

They'll also add their instructor certifications, which Hovn tracks and sends expiration reminders for. Once they complete setup, they'll appear under the Instructors tab on your Team page.

Every session needs a location. You'll need at least one before you can schedule a class.

What you'll do: Go to Locations → Add Location. Type your address, then customize the display label (this is what students see). Add arrival instructions — these are shown in confirmation emails and the student portal so students know exactly where to go.

You can mark a location as discoverable, which displays the city and state on your public Hovn provider page. Non-discoverable locations only show address details when there's an active session scheduled there.

Materials are the items students need for class — manuals, skills testing kits, digital courseware. Hovn comes pre-loaded with materials from major certification agencies, so you'll select from a dropdown rather than building from scratch.

What you'll do: Go to Materials → Add Material and select from the pre-loaded list (it auto-completes as you type). For each material, you'll choose how it's delivered:

You can also add a purchase link if you want students to buy materials from an external site, but keycodes delivered through the student portal are recommended for the best student experience. Hovn has pre-loaded pricing for most materials.

Courses are your catalog — what students see when they browse your offerings. Hovn comes pre-loaded with AHA and ARC course types, so you just need to configure and publish.

What you'll do: Go to Courses → Create Course → Standard Course. Select your agency and course from the pre-loaded list (e.g., 2025 BLS). Customize the display name if needed (keep it simple — this is what shows on your Discovery page). Set your price. Verify the class structure and duration.

When you add materials to a course, you can mark them as optional (student chooses whether to add at checkout) or required (automatically included in the registration). Once you save and publish, the course appears on your Discovery page.

Sessions are individual class dates tied to a course you've created.

What you'll do: Go to Sessions → New Session. Select the course, pick your location, and assign an instructor (recommended — you'll need one assigned to issue cards later). Configure the number of seats and choose whether the session is public (shown on your Discovery page) or private (only accessible via direct link — useful for employer-sponsored classes).

Select your start date and time, verify the duration, and click Schedule. You'll be taken directly to the session's student roster page.

💡 Pro tip: Schedule a real upcoming class. You'll finish this guide faster with real students to register.

Connect your certification agency so Hovn can issue cards directly — no separate portal needed. You only need to connect the agency you issue cards for.

What you'll need:

What you'll do: Go to Settings → Card Banks → Create New Card Bank. Name the bank, enter your TC ID, and select your entity type (Training Center, Training Site, or Instructor). Generate your API requester key via the provided link and paste it in.

If you're setting up a Training Site bank, you'll also enter your TS ID. If you're a Training Center, you only need the TC info. Admins are added as card issuers by default — you can add additional team members.

To verify your bank is connected, select a product with existing inventory and plug in the product codes.

ARC (Red Cross) Course Record Entry

What you'll need:

What you'll do: Go to Settings → Card Banks → Create → ARC CRE API. Name the bank based on your invoicing relationship. Enter your Organization ID and select card issuers (admins are added by default; add instructors individually per bank).

Issuer rights are bank-specific, so configure them for each bank you create. All certification charges are processed through the invoice to the LTP.

Your session is live. Now get students in seats. There are three ways to add students:

Manual registration: From the session detail page, click Add Booking. Enter the student's name and contact information. You can send a confirmation email (takes the student to their portal with booking details) and optionally send a payment request if Stripe is connected. Select any materials and click Add.

Share a direct link: Every session has a shareable registration link. Students can register themselves, select materials, and pay — all through the same page that's visible on your Discovery page. This is the link you'd post to AHA's Find a Class or ARC's class posting service.

Private session / employer registration: If you set the session as private, there's an employer registration page you can share with a point of contact at the company. They can view the full roster and register additional students. For private courses, all payments are added to a single order that can be sent after the class.

To remove a student, click the three-dot menu next to their name and click Cancel. All registered students appear on the roster tab, where you can enter scores and move to the certifications tab when ready.

After class, issue certification cards directly from Hovn. Cards are submitted to AHA, ARC, or HSI in real time — no need to log into a separate portal.

What you'll do: Go to Sessions → Past Sessions and find the class you just taught. Click on the session, then click the Certifications tab. If you have your card bank integration set up, click Assign Cards.

For AHA, you'll see your available card inventory and can switch banks from the dropdown. This screen is only visible to team members with issuing permissions on the card bank.

Select the students whose certifications you want to issue, have the instructor sign the roster, and click Issue Certificates. You'll see a success confirmation.

Once issued, card numbers appear in the Certifications tab. Hovn automatically emails each student to claim their certification. Cards are also visible in each student's individual profile — click on a student's name to see their full certification history.

No integration? If you're teaching a course that doesn't have a card bank integration, you can export the roster from Hovn and import it at the agency to receive your certifications. You can then import the card numbers back into Hovn, or enter them manually.

🎉 You did it! You've run your first class and issued certifications through Hovn.

Your students have their cards, your records are submitted, and your next class is just a session away.

Reply to any email from Hovn, or use the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of your dashboard. We typically respond within a few hours.