Know your numbers. Know your obligations.

What your bookkeeper needs from you each month

Good books start with good information. Your bookkeeper can only record what they can see, so a missing statement or slip can mean a wrong VAT return, incorrect payroll, or a late SARS submission. Here's what to send every month, and how to make it easy.

1. Bank statements

• Statements for every business account for the full month: current account, savings, credit card and business loans.
• Download the PDF statement from your banking app. Screenshots of transactions are not enough.

2. Sales

• Copies of all invoices you issued, including cancelled ones.
• Cash sales records and till slips.
• Card machine reports (for example Yoco, SnapScan or your bank's speedpoint).

3. Purchases and expenses

• Supplier invoices and slips, including fuel slips.
• If you're a VAT vendor: you need a valid tax invoice from the supplier to claim the VAT back. A bank payment alone is not enough.
• Invoices for anything big you bought for the business, such as equipment, vehicles or computers.

4. Payroll changes

• New staff: ID copy, tax number, bank details, start date and contract.
• Staff who left: last working day and reason, so the correct UIF forms can be completed.
• Overtime, leave taken, bonuses, and any staff loans or advances.

5. Anything unusual

• Letters from SARS or CIPC.
• New loans, or money you put in from your personal account.
• Business expenses you paid personally, with the slip.

When to send it

Aim for the 5th working day of the next month. EMP201 is due by the 7th, and VAT201 by the end of the month after your VAT period, so early information means no rush and no penalties.

Three habits that save you money

1. Keep business and personal money separate. Use one business bank account for all business income and expenses.
2. Add a short reference to payments ("Invoice 1042, Makro") so every transaction can be matched quickly.
3. Send everything at once, rather than bit by bit through the month.

General information only, not advice for your specific situation. Contact us before making tax or accounting decisions.

How to read your IRP5

Your IRP5 is the tax certificate your employer issues after each tax year (1 March to the end of February). It shows what you earned and how much tax was deducted, and SARS uses it to pre-fill your ITR12. If you earned income but no tax was deducted, you get an IT3(a) instead.

First, check the basics

• Your name, ID number and tax reference number are correct.
• The employment period matches the dates you actually worked.
• You have an IRP5 from every employer you worked for during the year.

The codes that matter most

Codes starting with 3 are income. Codes starting with 4 are deductions and tax.

What to compare

• Code 3699 should roughly match the total gross pay on your payslips for the year.
• Code 4102 should match the total PAYE on your payslips.
• If something is wrong, ask your employer to correct and resubmit it. Your ITR12 must match what your employer declared to SARS.

IRP5 missing on eFiling?

Employers submit IRP5s to SARS with their annual EMP501 reconciliation. If yours isn't showing on eFiling, ask your employer's payroll or HR team whether it was submitted, and for a copy.

General information only, not advice for your specific situation. Contact us before making tax decisions.

Medical aid and your tax refund

Medical aid can reduce your tax in two ways: the medical scheme fees tax credit, and the additional medical expenses tax credit. Both are credits, which means they reduce your tax rand for rand.

1. Medical scheme fees tax credit

You get a fixed monthly credit for every month you pay medical aid contributions:

Example: a family of four (you, your spouse and two children):

If your medical aid is deducted through payroll, your employer usually gives you this credit every month already (code 4116 on your IRP5). That's why this credit alone often doesn't create a big refund.

2. Additional medical expenses tax credit

This extra credit is for high medical costs. The formula depends on your age and disability status:

Example 1: Thandi, 42. Taxable income R360,000. She and her husband are on medical aid for 12 months, paying R4,000 a month. She paid R8,000 in medical costs the medical aid didn't cover.

For most people under 65, out-of-pocket costs have to be high before this extra credit kicks in.

Example 2: Thandi's mother, 68. Taxable income R200,000. She's the only member, pays R2,500 a month (R30,000 a year), and paid R12,000 out of pocket.

Receipts to keep

• Your medical aid tax certificate (your medical aid issues it after the tax year).
• Receipts for costs you paid yourself that the medical aid didn't cover: doctors, specialists, dentists, hospital, and prescribed medicine.
• If there's a disability in the family: the ITR-DD form, completed by a registered medical practitioner.

Figures based on the 2026/27 SARS tables, which change each year after the February Budget. General information only, not advice for your specific situation.