Read more about the article Ten Often-Overlooked Ways Your Accountant Can Help Your Business
Business growth success achievement concept, planning development leadership and customer target group
Accounting / Business

Ten Often-Overlooked Ways Your Accountant Can Help Your Business

“If you talk to a top accountant about his field of expertise, it's mind-boggling.” (Vincent Kompany, professional football manager and former player) Accountants are the tax and compliance champions of any industry, but the best ones do so much more for their clients, as strategic advisors and trouble-shooters who can also assist with automating a variety of tasks and pave the way for the running of a smooth and profitable business. Here is a list of not-so-obvious services an accountant can assist with that will help your business thrive. 1. Setting up a new business Setting up a new business comes with a number of potential pitfalls that may not be discovered until it’s too late. For instance, the type of business you choose to set up, be it a company, sole trader, trading trust or partnership will come with different tax requirements, paperwork and personal liabilities. Changing the kind of business vehicle at a later stage can be a costly process, so having an accountant assist you in ensuring you are starting off with the best entity for your business could make a huge difference. 2. Buying or selling a business If you are thinking of either selling your business or buying a new one, your accountant should be your first stop. Accountants can assist with business valuations, form exit strategies, and get the right financial reports and documents together to ensure you only make good decisions. Your accountant will also help keep costs down and make sure you don’t find yourself on the wrong end of a bad deal. 3. Cash flow adjustments One study performed by Jessie Hagen of U.S. Bank revealed that 82% of businesses fail because of poor cash flow management. There is, therefore, no doubt that not being able to meet financial obligations when you need to is certainly an indicator that things are not going well. The good news is that your accountant can help. By conducting a thorough business analysis, your accountant may be able to rebalance your budget and debts, optimise your cash flow and build cash flow projections.  By simply showing you what needs to be paid when, organising cash reserves, and adjusting the way money is used in the business, you can avoid upsetting suppliers and staff and ensure your business operates as smoothly as possible. 4. Business operations There are many decisions in a business that look like they may be simple, but the fact that they involve an element of finance makes them a critical task to take to your accountant. Accountants can help with analysing whether your equipment should be bought, or leased, whether offices should be rented and where, and whether the terms and conditions offered by one supplier are truly better than those of another. Your accountant is also best suited to assist in pricing your products to make sure you are getting the most profit from each sale and maximising your potential client base. They will also be able to point to areas of under-performance in the…

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June 28, 2023
Read more about the article Directors: Prepare and Submit Your Company’s Beneficial Ownership Register
Company / Corporate / Compliance

Directors: Prepare and Submit Your Company’s Beneficial Ownership Register

“The lack of adequate, accurate and up-to-date beneficial ownership information facilitates money laundering and terrorist financing by allowing criminals to hide their true identities, and the true purpose and/or source or use of funds.” (Financial Intelligence Centre - FIC) South Africa’s grey listing by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) earlier this year and the subsequent passing of the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act 22 of 2022, resulted in amendments to the Companies Act, among others. The changes to the Companies Act mean that company directors are now obliged to implement a detailed beneficial ownership register for their companies and submit the register to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), along with a list of supporting documents. Such a register must also be kept up-to-date and verified annually. Who must file a beneficial ownership register? The vast majority of private companies must file a beneficial ownership register, but there are some complicated issues at play here and you would be well-advised to check with your accountant as to exactly what your company’s obligations are in terms of these new rules. What are the penalties? Failure to comply with the provisions relating to the beneficial ownership register requirements is an offence in terms of the Companies Act. A compliance notice may be issued in cases of non-compliance and an administrative penalty may be imposed. What are the deadlines? Entities incorporated before 24 May 2023 will be required to file the records of their Beneficial Interest Register as part of their Annual Returns filing process from 24 May 2023, the date of publication of the final Amended Companies Regulations. Entities incorporated after 24 May will be required to file the records of their beneficial ownership within 10 days after incorporation. What is required? The beneficial owners of a company must be identified, their information collated and a register containing this information must be filed with CIPC. A “beneficial owner” in respect of a company, means an individual/natural person who directly or indirectly, ultimately owns 5% or more of that company, or exercises effective control of that particular company, including through: The holding of beneficial interests in securities of that company. The exercise of, or control of the exercise of the voting rights associated with the securities of the company The exercise of, or control of the exercise of the right to appoint or remove members of the board of directors of that company. The holding of beneficial interest in the securities, or the ability to exercise control, including through a chain of ownership or control of a holding company of that company. The ability to exercise control, including through a chain of ownership or control of a juristic person other than a holding company of the company, a body of persons corporate or unincorporated, a person acting on behalf of a partnership, a person acting in pursuance of the provisions of a trust agreement; or The ability to otherwise materially influence the management of that company. For…

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June 28, 2023
Read more about the article How to Prepare for a Possible Electricity Blackout
Business

How to Prepare for a Possible Electricity Blackout

"Eskom plays a critical role in the life of South Africa, and life of South Africans. Due to its important role in the economy, its inability to provide electricity on demand and on time is a crisis." (President Cyril Ramaphosa) The South African Reserve Bank’s Financial Sector Contingency Forum (FSCF) has recently encouraged South African businesses to develop plans for operation at stage 8 load-shedding levels and a total countrywide blackout. While it has tempered this warning by saying that total blackout is an improbable scenario (with a chance of 0.1% to 1% of happening), it’s not an impossible one. The FSCF does however, think that businesses would be prudent to prepare nonetheless, particularly given the very real possibility of load-shedding levels that could see power being shut off for 12 hours a day or more. Here is how businesses can make that happen. Analysis The first step is for your business to analyse exactly how a critical power failure or extended loss of power would impact you. Would it be a shutdown of production or a loss of e-commerce sales? Would information loss be important, or do you still need to communicate with clients? Understanding this will inform the rest of the process. Plan financially Talk to your bank, investors and insurance companies to fully understand what can be done at the moment of shutdown to ensure continued operations and put risk financing in place to make sure you can cover costs in the event of grid collapse. If you have insurance, you need to know if they cover blackouts and what you need to do when that occurs to ensure they provide assistance. Make sure you have a hard copy of the policy accessible even when the power goes out. We are no longer at the stage where blackouts can be considered “unforeseen”, which means your insurer will have requirements for your preparation in such an event if you expect them to pay out. Backups Set your computers to autosave and back up all necessary information to the cloud regularly. Alternate Power Sources While it may not be feasible to run the whole business on alternate power indefinitely, you should at least provide UPS units at key positions such as Wi-Fi to ensure that when the power goes out you can still save the necessary work, run billing, or ring up customer sales. Also turn off and unplug all sensitive equipment so that the surge of returning power does not damage equipment. Security In the event of a total collapse, businesses may be wiser to shut down entirely. With both fires and crime expected to dramatically increase at that time it’s important to prepare an evacuation plan for your building or factory and shut off all electricity points at the mains. Ensure your property is safe, even when electric fences and CCTV are off. Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions…

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June 28, 2023
Read more about the article Is Your Information Safe With SARS?
Tax

Is Your Information Safe With SARS?

"Confidentiality of taxpayer information has always been a fundamental cornerstone of tax systems… taxpayers need to have confidence that the often-sensitive financial information is not disclosed inappropriately, whether intentionally or by accident." (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD) The confidentiality of taxpayers’ information has recently come under the spotlight in South Africa. This was first sparked by a public statement from SARS earlier this year on the tax compliance status of President Cyril Ramaphosa and two related entities. “In taking this exceptional step to disclose the tax status of the President, with his written consent, SARS would also encourage other high profile political office bearers and leaders in society to consider taking this proactive step as part of their commitment to transparency,” SARS Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, said at the time. This was followed by a recent Constitutional Court ruling concerning tax confidentiality and the right of access to information, relating to a request under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to access certain tax records of former President Jacob Zuma (Arena Holdings and others v SARS and another). The court found that certain provisions of PAIA, as well as the Tax Administration Act (TAA), are constitutionally invalid, and ordered SARS to reconsider the request to disclose taxpayer information, taking into account certain issues. While this re-evaluates the previous absolute confidentiality of tax records – and affects every taxpayer in South Africa - SARS says that the judgment does not set aside the tax confidentiality provisions for the information it collects. What information can SARS collect? SARS has access to a wide array of sensitive information about both businesses and individuals, and it has long been accepted that the confidentiality of this information is paramount. Taxpayer information is defined in the TAA as any information provided by a taxpayer or obtained by SARS in respect of the taxpayer, including biometric information. SARS draws on available data from statutory declarations by taxpayers, data from third party providers as well as other sources. In addition, not providing sensitive financial - and even extremely personal - information to SARS is not an option. According to the TAA, it is a criminal offence for a person to wilfully and without just cause refuse or neglect to: furnish, produce or make available any information, document or thing, excluding information requested under section 46(8) reply to or answer truthfully and fully any questions put to the person by a SARS official take an oath or make a solemn declaration or attend and give evidence as and when required in terms of the Act. Furthermore, taxpayers are legally obliged to disclose the information required to discharge the burden of proof, and to ensure access for SARS to certain records at all times. By not complying with these provisions, a taxpayer is guilty of an offence and, upon conviction, is subject to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years. What about POPIA and PAIA? The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA)…

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June 28, 2023
Read more about the article Your Tax Deadlines for July 2023
Clock with"Taxes" folder on busy office desk.
Tax

Your Tax Deadlines for July 2023

7 July - Monthly Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) submissions and payments 28 July - Excise Duty payments 31 July - Value-Added Tax (VAT) electronic submissions and payments & CIT Provisional payments where applicable. Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice. © CA(SA)DotNews

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June 28, 2023

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