JoomCourses - Pricing and VAT

JoomCourses provides flexible pricing with VAT support, multiple currencies, and detailed financial tracking.

Setting Prices

Prices are set at the course date level, not the course level. This allows you to offer different pricing for different dates of the same course (e.g., early-bird pricing, weekend rates, or location-based pricing).

To set a price:

1. Go to Components > JoomCourses > Course Dates.
2. Open a course date for editing.
3. Enter the Price (excl. VAT) — the base price per attendee before tax.
4. Save the course date.

The total price including VAT is calculated automatically based on your configured VAT rate.

VAT Configuration

Setting the VAT Rate

1. Go to Components > JoomCourses > Configuration (gear icon).
2. Under General, set the VAT Rate as a percentage (e.g., 20 for 20%, 0 for no VAT).
3. Save the settings.

The VAT rate applies globally to all course dates. The system calculates:

• Price without VAT — The base price you set on the course date
• VAT Amount — Calculated as: Price without VAT x VAT Rate / 100
• Price with VAT — Price without VAT + VAT Amount

Show/Hide VAT

You can control whether VAT details are displayed to users:

1. In Configuration > General, find the Show VAT option.
2. Set to Yes to display VAT breakdowns on the frontend (price without VAT, VAT amount, total with VAT).
3. Set to No to show only the total price.

Currency

Selecting Your Currency

1. In Configuration > General, select your Currency from the dropdown.
2. The available currencies include major world currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, etc.).
3. The selected currency symbol will appear next to all prices throughout the site.

JoomCourses uses a single currency across the entire component. All prices, transactions, and reports use the configured currency.

How Pricing Works in the Checkout

When a user adds a course date to their cart, the pricing is calculated as follows:

1. Unit Price — The price per attendee set on the course date (excl. VAT)
2. Quantity — Number of seats the user is booking
3. Subtotal — Unit Price x Quantity
4. Coupon Discount — If a coupon is applied, the discount is subtracted
5. VAT — Calculated on the discounted subtotal
6. Total — Final price including VAT

The cart displays all these components so the user can see exactly how the total is calculated.

Transactions and Financial Records

JoomCourses creates detailed transaction records for every paid booking.

Transaction Records

Each completed payment generates a transaction with:

• Internal Transaction ID — A unique ID within JoomCourses
• External Transaction ID — The ID from the payment gateway (e.g., PayPal transaction reference)
• Status — Payment status (completed, refunded)
• Total without VAT — Sum of all items before tax
• Total with VAT — Final amount charged
• Currency — The currency used
• Date — When the transaction occurred

Transaction Items

Each transaction contains line items showing:

• The specific course date booked
• Quantity and unit pricing
• VAT rate and amount
• Any coupon discounts applied

Refunds

When an application status is changed to Refunded, a refund transaction is created with negative amounts, providing a clear financial trail.

Coupon Transactions

When a coupon is used, a separate transaction item records the discount amount, linked to the specific coupon that was applied.

Disabling Payments

If you offer free courses or handle payments outside of your website:

1. Go to Configuration > General.
2. Set Disable Payment to Yes.
3. The checkout flow will skip the payment step entirely. Users will simply register and their application will be created without requiring payment.

VAT Number Support

For B2B scenarios, JoomCourses supports VAT number collection:

1. In Configuration > Registration, enable the VAT Number field.
2. Users can enter their VAT registration number during checkout.
3. The VAT number is stored with the contact record and can be viewed on the application.

This is useful for businesses that need to handle VAT exemptions or reverse-charge mechanisms.