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How To Get More Done, By Doing Less

by with No Comment Business Tips

More by doing less? Sounds like a scam right? Read till the end while we show you that it’s possible! 

You’ve probably heard the saying “work smart, not hard”, it’s very much possible. While we can’t be oblivious to the fact that you still need to put in some WORK if you want to see results, there’s smart ways to do that so you can get some time to do the things you enjoy outside of work. 

Here are 5 things you can do to make your life easier:

(1) Outsource/delegate

This will depend on the type of business you’re running, and even the level your business is at. For smaller businesses, this could be a bit of a financial scratch (although it doesn’t always have to be). There’s this temptation to want to do everything all yourself, especiall if you started working as a solo entrepreneur for a good period of time and you feel like “no one can do it like I do” actually, that’s the whole point.  

We can’t, and should not romancize overworking, you also need time to yourslef to fill your own cup so you can contunue giving your best. If you cannot afford salaries yet, build partnerships or explore service exchange agreements with other compamies/individuals. 

(2) Automate tasks

Automating manual tasks is a smart business move. You can automate bookkeeping systems, accounting, marketing, social listening, and so forth. You don’t have to do every task manjually, what you cannormalize though is double checking. The world has evolved, technology has evolved, so many things have… So, move with the times too!

(3) Digitize things/processes 

This adds on, and speaks to what we have mentioned above. The world is moving to digitalization, we’ve seen this in many instances. You don;t have to drive long distances to meet clients, you don’t always have to physically meet up with your team, especially if you practice the culture of working from home. You can use platforms like Microfoft teams, and Trello to get things done. 

(4) Batch tasks

Doing this will save you a lot of time. Content creators and Marketers mostly do this. Batching means grouping them in accordance, and complete them altogether. For example, a content creator or influencer might take pictures of different outfits in one day, and post them on different days. This means they don’t have to do their make juo everyday, arrange their setup for taking pictures, or go to those different spots everyday to take pictures. All this can be done in a few hours.

Social media managers do this too when they write and create a week/a month’s worth work in a day, schedule it and automate it to get posted on different days, leaving them with only the task of engaging with people as they do they same. 

(5) Cut off scream time during working hour

There is nothing that will waste your time like social media ever will. It is fun and made to br addictive. All these apps are fighting for your attention, and so they will do anything to keep you in the app.They know what you like to consume and enjoy, and so they will bring it to you. While you watch one interesting video, they are preparing to show another interesting one that will keep you glued to your screen and on the app longer than you have anticipated. So, set time for things like these. 

That’s it from us today, let us know in the comments if you have additional tips you can add.

The Ultimate Guide To Financial Software for Small Businesses in South Africa

by with No Comment Business TipsMoney Talks

You know what they say, Cloud Accounting Software helps business owners keep a finger on the pulse of their finances. 

To do this, one needs agility decision-making skills, and those decisions must be based on the real-time financial truth. Accounting software may assist business owners with a number of typical duties, such as keeping track of transactions, sending invoices, storing receipts, and tracking sales taxes. It can also help with managing cash flow and has a tax management tool that makes tax filing a little bit simpler. 

The advantages of using Accounting Software include, but are not limited to:

  • Efficiency – it saves time and money
  • Clarity – helps you see your financial health
  • Accuracy – the automation feature helps you speed up the calculations
  • Tax compliance – helps you stay ready for tax season.

Do you NEED it?

If anything, using Accounting Software has more advantages than disadvantages, perhaps things like security should be at the top of your priority when choosing one that’s best for your business, followed by cost, support, etc. Also, consider what special needs your business has outside of accounting, do you need simple bookkeeping and accounts service, or do you require other features, like assisting with company claims, tax returns, custom invoices, etc?

2 additional tips to help you choose the right Accounting Software for your business:

Access – it’s easier when you can access it from anywhere: from any device and location, at any time of day.  

Easy functionality –  it is important to choose the option that provides an easy-to-understand dashboard with access to all your important financial information. 

A few trusted Accounting Software companies you can check out:

Zoho – starting from R99 p/m

Quickbooks – starting from R115 p/m

SMEasy – starting from R150 p/m

Xero – starting from around R160 p/m

Sage – starting from R3,220 p/a

tax-deductible

Tax deductible expenses for businesses in South Africa

by with No Comment Business TipsMoney TalksSavingsTax

Do you know the saying that says “money makes the world go round”? Well, so does tax – it makes the country go round. We have a couple of blogs that explain the tax system in South Africa, which we will link down below for you. In this blog, specifically, we will share with you various tax-deductible expenses in your business to help you lower your taxes. 

For context’s sake, TAX DEDUCTIBLE is an item you can subtract from your taxable income to lower the amount of taxes you owe. Let’s suppose you earned R100,000 during the tax year and spent R20,000 on company items. In this example, your taxable business income would be R80,000 instead of R100,000, lowering your tax bill for the year.

Day-to-day business expenses

These are general day-to-day office or business expenses, they are incurred as part of running your business, these include:

  • Employee costs and administration costs
  • Business/office rental costs
  • Office supplies
  • Phone costs
  • Travel and transport, including business vehicle costs
  • Uniforms (if needed)
  • Wholesale purchase costs for goods resold
  • Financial charges (such as bank fees), utilities
  • Legal fees
  • Insurance fees
  • Marketing, advertising, and promotion costs

Wear–and tear (in respect of certain assets)

Also known as depreciation, a wear and tear allowance may be deducted on movable assets used for the purpose of trade. There are no statutory provisions relating to rates of wear and tear, but the SARS has published a table of periods over which the assets may be written off. The rates of wear and tear, based on the cash cost, are calculated either according to the straight-line or diminishing-balance method.

Donations (to approved bodies)

Donations to certain charitable organizations approved as public benefit organizations are tax-deductible, up to a maximum of 10% of taxable income.

Bad debts

Bad debts are tax-deductible if they are owed at the end of the assessment year and they relate to an amount that has been included in the taxpayer’s taxable income in any tax year. Regarding questionable debts, a tax deduction is also offered.

If the loan was made as part of a money-lending business, any bad debts that result from it are deductible.

Education expenses

You can deduct the cost of schooling for yourself or your employees that are directly related to running your firm as a business expense.

Net operating losses

Any losses incurred in the same business in previous years can be carried forward as a tax deduction.

Bonus:

According to SARS, here are some deductions your employees can save from: 

Tax-deductible expenses for Salaries:

Pension fund contributions

Retirement annuity fund contributions

Provident fund contributions (only from 1 March 2016)

Legal costs – under certain qualifying circumstances

Repayable amounts – amount received for services rendered as refunded by that person

If you need any help with TAXES, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us:

Call: 0615238833Email: info@accasesolutions.co.za

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5 best ways to sell your business

by with No Comment Business TipsMarketingMoney TalksSalesSavings

Implement search engine optimization

To put things into perspective, Search Engine Optimization (A.K.A SEO), SEO is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business on Google and other search engines. In essence, Search engines help people find what they’re looking for online, this is a free benefit for businesses.  

To give you a less technical explanation, this is how search engines work:

Search engines provide results for any search query a user enters. To do so, they survey and “understand” the vast network of websites that make up the web. They run a sophisticated algorithm that determines what results to display for each search query.

Source: Mailchimp

This could do a lot for your business, people conduct thousands of searches each day, including products and services. 

Create and verify your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile (Google listing) is what allows your business to show up in Google results including your business name, services (need good SEO), Google Maps, etc. 

If you’re ranking on Google Maps, this means your business is basically promoting itself 24/7. Moreover, you can publish posts directly to your Google listing, this puts you right in front of your target audience (at a time when they have high intent) when you put up attractive promotions.

Create a landing page offer

Yes, a landing page, not a website. Websites generally contain a lot of information, which can get overwhelming. A website convinces people about an offer, instead of focusing primarily on the offer itself. On the other hand, a landing page is more driven. It focuses on a good offer and Call to Action, which can bear more results. 

Advantages of a landing page:

  1. It focuses on ONE goal, usually selling, or call to action.
  2. Minimal distractions on the page
  3. Messaging and design precisely matched the goal

Run social media ADS

By now, you are familiar with social Ads, you have come across one at some stage. While optimizing search is good for a long-term strategy, sometimes you need more immediate results if you are running a SALE for instance. This is where ADS comes in!

Social media ADS are consistent in that they show up on your target audience’s feed every time they scroll on a specific app. When done right, the Advanced targeting feature on social ads ensures your ads are shown to only the most relevant audience. This is a great way to attract more followers/new audiences to your page, helping you build a community and loyalty around your business.

There are many different goals to select from when running social ads, it can be getting new audience/followers, running a SALE/discount offer, driving traffic to a website, and many more. Depending on your goals, this is a good option to consider.  

Online directories

An online directory is a website that tends to have high traffic. They can help enhance your online presence, and promote your business to high-intent customers. In fact, some consumers regularly visit online directories to search for businesses that fit their specific needs. Let’s just say, sometimes YOU do it without noticing. These directories can help people discover you, and sell your business without even visiting your website. 

Those are just a few easy to go about it, let us know in the comments which one you will be trying, or which one has worked for you so far. 

7businesslessonsfrom7entrepreneurs

7 powerful business lessons from 7 entrepreneurs

by with No Comment Business Tips

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, more especially, please read on. If you’re a tired entrepreneur, demotivated, drained, and on the brink of giving up, read on. 

Entrepreneurship is a unique journey for everyone. What’s guaranteed for everyone though, is that you will come across challenges, and you will be tested. It has been said that X% of startups fail in their first 1-2 years, it’s survival of the fittest. 

Some of these challenges may include: 

  • Lack of resources 
  • Lack of knowledge 
  • Lack of money management skills 
  • The barrier of access to market 
  • Some days, it’s really just a lack of motivation. 

The reasons are endless. And as we mentioned, they are different for everyone. We have had conversations with a few entrepreneurs, and we’ve collected 7 lessons from 7 entrepreneurs. That’s 7 motivations and mentorship lessons for 7 days a week! 

7 entrepreneurs said:

Lesson 1: There is no easy business. 

“Many think so, but I haven’t seen one yet. The grass isn’t any greener on the other side of the fence. That said, you can make your business SIMPLER – which will make things feel easier. Businesses naturally increase in complexity as they grow, so it’s important to continually look for ways to simplify it,”

Need we say more?

Lesson 2: Don’t underestimate the power of starting small.

In retrospect; 

“Just start”  is simply motivation. The reality is much more complex. Starting a business requires not only a business plan but also your life plan. How are you going to survive, eat, bathe, clothe and live without depending on the business? Survival instinct will always surpass motivation. That’s how you then start killing/eating the business.

Just to add to that, it’s best to start with a game plan. You don’t have to have it all figured out, but how are you going to get clients/make money? Think about money-making activities, then how to keep the money and grow it. You don’t need big equipment. Use what you have: resources, connection, skills. The goal is to start, small. 

Lesson 3: Consistency will get you noticed, one way or the other. 

It was once said that a customer has to see your business a few times at the very least, so your brand can register in their minds and consider you when making buying decisions. If you are not consistent in your marketing and advertising, you lessen your chances. 

Lesson 4: Slow money is better than no money 

As long as the money is coming in, you’re in business. What you need to think about is SCALING. Be real with yourself, you can’t open and run a business that doesn’t make you money for long. If all else fails, Close it or pivot and venture into something else.

This is if there’s no increase in your interest from the day u started. An increase doesn’t have to be a lot, something as little as a 0.01 increase every month or quarter is still an increase, it means you’re going somewhere. 

Lesson 5: Some goals are achieved through pain. 

And I quote “Often tragedy strikes when you least expect it, and the results can be emotionally and financially devastating”. Growth in business is not linear, success itself is not linear and sometimes as an entrepreneur/leader, you will have to make hard decisions. That could look like retrenching some people whose roles you can automate as tech improves, letting go of clients you built long relationships with, anything. It is just not that smooth, and sometimes it will hurt YOU, to make decisions that are good for your BUSINESS. 

Lesson 6: Cater for your market, not your preference.

The statement is pretty self-explanatory. And just to add to that, here are a few valuable business lessons: 

(1) the business money isn’t your money so treat it accordingly and 

(2) cater to your market, not your preference.

Quick tips:

  • Find a specialization: when you specialize, you can charge a premium because your knowledge is SPECIAL. A bit of knowledge on this and that won’t get you anywhere. 
  • Find a niche (not everyone can be your market).
  • Price according to your level of skill and market (not what is “cheap”).
  • Brand yourself and use that to help your business brand grow: this is completely optional, you can be the man behind the scenes if you prefer.

However, people do like seeing the face, the person behind a brand, and they are interested in your story. This is one of the best ways to build and grow a community, which you can ultimately turn into paying customers. 

Lesson 7: Give back

“Being an entrepreneur puts you in a position of power and many people look up to you for opportunities as well for inspiration. Especially in the context of a well-established business, therefore it is befitting to always stay humble and helpful to the ones that do not have the same privileges you have.”

Look, you don’t even have to adopt mentees, you can do something as simple as sharing valuable content for young entrepreneurs that come after you. This is actually good for PR for both your business and personal brand. People will quote you and write about how you’ve helped them without any personal interaction. 

Did you find any of these valuable? Let us know in the comments!

A – Z of Accounting | Basics of Accounting

by with No Comment Business TipsMoney Talks

First things first, Accounting is the practice of recording and reporting on business transactions. This helps you see how well your business is performing, in comparison with your expectations. 

Accounting methods 

Cash Accounting

Expenses paid and income received is accounted for when cash flows(when cash is paid or received)

Accrual Accounting

Expenses and income are accounted for when incurred

GAAP suggests Accrual Accounting. It portrays more accurate records

We touched a bit on this topic in our Bookkeeping workshop, here’s a skit:


Record Keeping

To enlighten you, this means setting up accounts in which financial information is stored. Accounts fall into the following classifications:

•Assets: business valuables, help the business make more money. E.g. product design 

•Liability: obligated to be paid by the business, they take money out of the business. E.g. loans 

•Equity: ownership of assets that may have debts or other liabilities attached to them. Eg. shares

•Revenue: this is the amount billed to customers in exchange for the delivery of goods or provision of services.

•Expenses: the cost of operations that a company incurs to generate revenue.

Transactions 

If you own a company, you should set up separate accounts for banking, credit cards, etc. Don’t buy business supplies with your personal credit card. Organize your accounts and protect yourself and keep these two separate. Amongst other reasons, this will help you if any tax or legal issues arise (might depend on your business structure). 

These transactions are recorded within the business’s accounts by the accountant. Key transactions include:

✅The purchase of materials and services from suppliers.

✅Selling goods and services to customers. (Send invoice to customer) 

✅Receive payments from customers. 

✅Pay employees. (subtracting tax and other deductions, resulting in net salary).

Reporting

Also known as Bookkeeping, recording all transactions that occur in the business account. Amongst other reasons, this helps you budget, know the financial health of your business, and prepare you for tax season. The most common books are Income statements, Balance sheets, and Cash flow statements. 

Just to expand the above mentioned:

Income Statement – it presents all revenues and subtracts all expenses. It essentially measures the ability of a business to attract customers and operate in an efficient manner.

Balance Sheet – it presents the assets, liabilities, and equity of a business as of the end of the reporting period. This can also determine the ability of an organization to pay its bills.

Statement of Cash Flows – it presents the sources and uses of cash during the reporting period. It is especially useful when the amount of net income appearing on the income statement varies from the net change in cash during the reporting period.

Another thing to look at is Budgeting and Forecasting. This has much more benefits other than getting funds from the bank or investors. Planning your finances helps you keep a healthy relationship with your money/accounts; thus helping you make better financial decisions in your business. Keep it realistic and achievable. 

Should you need assistance or have any questions regarding accounting, do get in touch with us here: 

📧: info@accasesolutions.co.za

☎: 0615238833

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5 ways to make money from your skill/qalification | 2022

by with No Comment Business TipsMoney Talks

It does not matter what you study in varsity, you can monetize the skills you learned in your course without going about getting employed. Well, most courses. The important thing that most, maybe even most students miss is having skills. Your job does not stop at getting your qualification, you constantly need to upgrade your skills, especially in the ever-changing world that we live in. 

In this blog, we will share with you various ways you can explore to monetize your skill. Sometimes, just sometimes, you do not need to be employed or have a big business to get benefits from the skills you’ve learned – simple things like blogging. Read on.

5 ways to make money from your skill/qualification:

In this digital era that we live in, you will have to be online to get the most of these: 

(1) Freelancing

This is one of the well-known forms of making money: some take it as a side hustle, and some are making a living off it and fund their lives with it. Even if you are unemployed, you can still make the most of it. You will have to build a personal brand, it helps when you’re active online. Share relevant content in your industry: whether it’s news, trends, new things that are working in your industry, and all that kind of content. You will find that in some cases, clients will want to see your previous, which is understandable. 

What you can do to build your portfolio is to either do a trade exchange with a business (where you will both benefit), or give them free work so you can have something to use to build your portfolio. 

(2) Become a coach

This is not so popular, but coaching is one way to make money both on and offline. You can offer training to either professionals or businesses. Yes to professionals too. As we have mentioned prior, you need to constantly improve your skills, in any industry. 

Offering coaching will essentially help businesses or business owners in that they will stay on top of their game and have a competitive advantage. You can offer monthly or quarterly contacts to come and train employees. 

(3) Create an online course

By this time, we’ve probably all taken an online course at least once. An online course is basically curated and packaged content; these mostly include video content. Thanks to platforms such as Udemy, you can create a profile and sell your course there. Udemy is one of the biggest global online academies that exist: an advantage is that there are already people looking for a course you have to offer. 

Although this is not an online platform, you can even use social media or LinkedIn. LinkedIn actually has an academy called LinkedIn to learn. However, you decide to sell, selling courses is lucrative. 

(4) Sell digital products

Digital products are intangible products such as electronic books. Just like a course, you can package it nicely and sell it. The nice thing about ebooks is that you can sell them at quite a low price, and you know what they say about low prices, “customers want high quality at a low price and they want it now”. Crazy as it may sound, this can be one of the viable options to do so. 

(5) Start a podcast

A podcast is a distributed audio file using RSS feeds to the subscribed user. Podcasting becomes easier when you are also good at speaking. It allows you to open/start conversations around what’s happening in your industry, what’s working on not, or just sharing advice. You can even feature or invite other professionals to have a session with you. 

Example:

A side hustle/money-making idea on monetizing a Bookkeeping:

Following our successful Bookkeeping Workshop in February 2022, we have packaged the session into a mini-course. This includes recordings of the session, and materials (editable sheets too). 

With this skill, you can make money in the following ways: 

➡️ Freelance this service to businesses 

➡️ Write an ebook and sell it to small business owners 

➡️ Host mini webinars and teach this skill to small business owners at a fee. 

To buy this workshop session + material, send a DM or email to info@accasesolutions.co.za 📧

Have you tried any of these? Did it work for you? Let us know in the comments. 

Business hardships

Business Doesn’t Have To Be Hard. Read These 7 Tips

by with No Comment Business TipsMarketingMoney TalksSalesSavingsTax

 If you have been in business for some time, you know how challenging the entrepreneurial journey can be, it can get lonely too. It’s worse if you are a solo entrepreneur or don’t have a dedicated team you work with. In this blog, we will share some tips that will help make your journey a little less of a pain in the butt. 

Running a business shouldn’t take up all of your time, especially with small tasks. Thanks to technology, there are automation tools, and many other business systems you can put in place, that can make your life easier. Which we will get into. These shouldn’t cost you a leg and an arm either, especially for small businesses. 

According to reports and statistics, some of the common reasons why startups fail are due to, but not limited to lack of knowledge, and poor sales and marketing. Let’s get to it below.

7 tips to make running a business easier:

(1) Build cultures: the culture of an organization affects the running of it largely. If you share the same values, beliefs, attitudes, and practices that you live by in your organization, not only will you work well together, but you will get more done. For instance, let’s take it back to one of our examples of the common startup failure reasons stated above – lack of knowledge. If you have a reading culture in your business you get to learn more and ultimately earn more. 

(2) Hire young people: this is practically free. Organizations such as SEDA can lend you, interns, for free. You don’t have to pay them a salary, but mentor them and give them work experience. This can also help you save coins on taxes, this is called Employment Tax Incentive.  In his 2022 Budget Speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced an increase in the ETI values from 1 March 2022.

(3) Automate: we can’t emphasize how much time you will save by automating things. From bookkeeping systems, accounting, marketing, social listening, and so forth, these things can save you so much time yet do so much for your business to keep it running smoothly. It is even becoming unnecessary to hire an administrator because these things can be automated, even email responses. Depending on the kind of business you’re in, automate things where you can, while you tackle tasks that need your attention more. 

(4) Use customers as advocates: a happy customer will give you free marketing! You can use this as a strategy. You’d be surprised how easy it is to get people to do stuff, all you need to do is ask. If you are selling products, send them a personalized card and ask them to tag you when they use it. If you’re selling services, ask them to leave you a review on your page or website. Endorsements are effective, but you need to fully satisfy customers.

(5) Tell stories: people love hearing success stories and things they can relate to… which can help you with their confidence in your product or solution. Storytelling is the use of evoking emotions to connect your brand to customers. Be authentic when building your brand, show what it takes, or what it took for your business to get where it is. Share highlights of your business, awards, the evolution of your logo, social proof/client testimonials, and show them before and after service of a client’s success. Take your community along with you on your journey. 

(6) Keep your books updated: you can either do this by setting up software or hiring a bookkeeper to keep your books in check. It can be easy to use business money for personal use, especially if you’re a solo entrepreneur. Poor money management can lead to business failure. Not only does keeping your books up-to-date let you know how much you made or lost, but it also makes things easier during tax season. We have a full guide on this, which we discussed in our Bookkeeping Workshop. Get in touch with us if you are interested in getting the session recording + materials: info@accasesolutions.co.za 

(7) Cut down unnecessary costs: don’t wait until your ship sinks till you save, start now. Saving money is critical for the survival of your business. Cut down on traditional marketing and go digital, stop attending unnecessary meetings and do virtual meetings instead, unless it’s necessary to do so. Partner with other entrepreneurs, creators, or freelancers, in that way you save on costs while getting serviced. This can also take us to our first point – hire interns. 

Let us know if any of these have worked for you, or which ones you are going to try, Feel free to add more in the comment section down below. 

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How to boost your business’s Tax Incentives by hiring young people

by with No Comment Business TipsMoney TalksSavingsTax

We had briefly touched on this in our previous blogs, but let’s get a bit deeper into it. President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasized the role of the government in helping businesses thrive in this year’s State of the National Address (SONA). This is mainly for job creation in South Africa. 

With the unemployment rate in South Africa (as discussed in our previous blog), the need to support small businesses so they grow, and also to encourage entrepreneurship, especially amongst the youth has significantly increased. 

Introducing ETI’s

The good news for businesses, they can utilize the tax benefit by hiring young people. This is called the Employment Tax Incentive (ETI), and it’s said to be one of the most powerful tax benefits out there. ETI essentially reduces your overall Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) contribution without affecting the employee’s salary. 

> Employers will be able to claim the incentive for a 24 qualifying month period for all employees who qualify.

> The incentive amount differs based on the salary paid to each qualifying employee and whether the qualifying employee was employed after the inception of the ETI programme. 

How ETI works

Simple example:

If you hire 4 young people with salaries of R5000 per month, the total monthly payroll for all 4 employees would be R7500 from your overall monthly PAYE liability in the first 24 months in which the employee qualifies.

This can be done on your payroll system, and your employee’s salary will totally be unaffected. 

NB: The value of the ETI the employer may claim depends on the value of the monthly remuneration paid to the qualifying employee. If the employee has worked less than 160 hours in the month, the remuneration amount must be ‘grossed up’ to 160 hours per month to calculate the value of the ETI. The amount can then be calculated and be ‘grossed down’ in the same ratio.

Source: SARS

The math is simple, employers are rewarded for hiring young people, in return, they gain skills and experience. The private sector grows, and the economy grows. 

Who qualifies?

In his 2022 Budget Speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced an increase in the ETI values from 1 March 2022.

An employee qualifies for the ETI if he/she:

  • works for you assists in conducting business, and receives remuneration for their work,
  • is documented in your employer records according to the provisions of section 31 of the BCEA,
  • earns at least the minimum wage,]
  • is between 18 and 29 years old, or is employed in a special economic zone, and
  • has a valid South African ID, a valid asylum seeker permit, or an ID in terms of Section 30 of the Refugees Act.

An employee will not qualify for the ETI if he/she:

  • is a domestic worker,
  • is a “connected person” to the employer,
  • spends more time studying than working (unless the employer and employee have entered into a learning programme as defined in Section 1 of the Skills Development Act, or
  • earns a monthly remuneration of R6,500 or more.

We hope this helps you somehow, feel free to contact us if you need any more clarity. You may also refer to our blog about other effective and legal ways to avoid paying tax in South Africa: https://accasesolutions.co.za/2021/06/17/how-to-avoid-paying-tax-as-a-small-business-in-south-africa/

Vector illustration of a student wearing toga climbing stairs made from books

3 sustainable ways in which businesses can assist school leavers prepare for the work environment

by with No Comment Business TipsTax

 

This has probably been a dialogue for many years. With the unemployment statistics in South Africa hiking up so much, we are yet to have this chat again. We hope this blog sheds some light on business owners, even small business owners – just how they can help support school leavers as they prepare for the work environment. 

There’s a gap we need to bridge between students graduating – finding work. We have so many graduates yet no opportunities. Could it be that they are not workplace ready? Is it a skill problem? Are schools not teaching the skills that are needed in the real world? Are some skills useless in this ever-changing world of technology? So many questions. But these questions need answers if we want to grow as a country. Businesses will not hire a person that won’t increase productivity or help grow the business in any way.

South Africa has graduate unemployment of 12.5% – 22.4 percentage points lower than the national official unemployment rate.

Source: BusinessTech

High school is when learners start thinking about life after school as they also apply to tertiary institutions. Choosing a course can also be tricky, technology is advancing every day – making some skills less needed by humans, we live in an automated world. Things like basic admin and customer inquiries can be taken care of by a robot. In as much as businesses might discriminate against school leavers with no required workplace skills, businesses are also responsible for equipping those school leavers with the skills that they might look for.

..moving right along, let’s look at a few practical ways in which businesses can intervene. 

3 sustainable ways in which businesses can assist school leavers prepare for the work environment 

(1) Job shadowing programs for teens – this has been around for quite some time. This is where businesses use the art of apprenticeship to show the students new itineraries for jobs. This is essentially done during spring break, sometimes even on weekends. 

The great thing about Job Shadowing is that learners can start while they are young – this is a time where they are getting prepared for life after school and still trying to figure things out in terms of their interests, capabilities, and so on. At this time, test, break and make. There’s still have time to think about passions and plan out what they want to do for the rest of their lives. 

(2) Introducing programs that will help the teachers and students to understand what the companies need. This needs both the school and the business to work closely in order to find time and resources to make this kind of program succeed. This is what we touched on briefly in our introduction. It’s inevitable that times are changing, and therefore new skills are needed. 10 years ago, people didn’t make money off social media management, in fact, the career didn’t exist. In today’s time, people make 6 figures from it – it’s a career, and brands/businesses employ them every other day. Perhaps the next point can be an action step towards achieving this:

(3) They can speak at school student assemblies and advise employment opportunities and offer them the tools needed for a specific job – partner with local businesses to see what skills are in high demand and short supply. Some schools do have career days where learners dress up as their future selves working in their dream jobs, while other schools bring in professionals/experts to talk to the learners about career choices. This should be an annual thing in schools, especially for Grade 10’s or even Grade 9 when they are still making a choice about which subject stream to choose. They can create training programs to give not only graduates but also high school learners to equip them with the skills in those jobs with a path to a job at those companies.