Written for SA business owners.
Practical thinking on cash flow, tax, compliance, and financial management — from the people who do this work every day.
VAT registration in South Africa: when you must, when you should, when you can now deregister
From 1 April 2026 the compulsory threshold rose to R2.3 million — the first change in 17 years. For SMEs sitting between R1 million and R2.3 million, there is now a deregistration window that did not exist three months ago.
Read the article →
VAT registration in South Africa: when you must, when you should, when you can now deregister
From 1 April 2026 the compulsory threshold rose to R2.3 million — the first change in 17 years. For SMEs sitting between R1 million and R2.3 million, there is now a deregistration window that did not exist three months ago.
What your accountant should be doing — and what it means if they're not.
Most SA business owners accept far less from their accountant than they should. Here's what a proper financial management relationship looks like — and the signals that yours has outgrown its current setup.
Working capital and the growth trap: why fast growth can quietly break a business.
A business can look commercially strong while becoming financially fragile. Working capital is where growth either creates value — or quietly consumes it.
Ten ways your business is quietly destroying its own cash flow.
Most cash flow problems aren't caused by bad trading. They're caused by operational habits that drain cash slowly, invisibly, until there's none left. Here's the list.
You don't need a CFO. You need a finance function.
The debate between hiring a full-time CFO and using a fractional one misses the real question: what does a growing SA business actually need from its financial management?
Your February provisional tax return is a tax planning decision, not a filing task.
Most business owners approach their second provisional return as an admin obligation. The ones who pay less tax treat it as the most important financial decision of the year.
The cash flow habits that separate businesses that survive from those that don't.
Cash flow problems rarely arrive without warning. They build slowly, through habits — or the absence of them. Here's what the businesses that stay cash positive do differently.
How to pay yourself as a South African business owner.
Salary, dividends, or a mix? The answer depends on your entity structure, tax bracket, and what your business can actually afford. Here's how to think it through.
Tax deductions for small businesses in South Africa: what you can actually claim.
Most small business owners leave deductions on the table — not because they're dishonest, but because they don't know what's claimable. Here's a practical guide.
CIPC annual returns: what they are, when they're due, and what happens if you miss them.
An annual return to CIPC is one of the simplest compliance obligations a South African company has — and one of the easiest to miss. Here's what you need to know.
Provisional tax in August: how to stop guessing.
The first provisional submission is where most owners over- or under-pay. Here's how to know which one you're doing.
How to read a management account (and what to do with it).
Most business owners receive management accounts but few know which numbers to interrogate. Here's what to look for — and what to ask when something looks wrong.
The thirteen-week cash flow: why most SA owners are flying blind.
If you only check cash once a month, you're seeing yesterday. Here's the rolling view that gives you tomorrow.
Cash flow vs profit: why your business can be profitable and broke at the same time.
Profit is an accounting concept. Cash is what pays salaries. Understanding the difference between the two is one of the most important things a business owner can learn.
Bookkeeping vs accounting: what's the difference, and do you need both?
The two terms get used interchangeably — but they describe fundamentally different work. Understanding the difference helps you hire the right people and ask the right questions.
Your margin isn't a number. It's a story.
What changed, when, and why — and why a single percentage tells you almost nothing.