This Workers’ Day, Look After Your Business’ Greatest Asset

/in /by

“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” (Richard Branson)

Whether you call it May Day, Labour Day or International Workers’ Day, 1 May is an opportune time for businesses to consider and prioritise their workers.

Here’s why happy workers are a business’s greatest asset (and some ways to foster a happier workforce).


Business benefits of happy workers 

  1. Increased productivity. Various studies have shown that happy workers are more committed to company goals and up to 13% more productive.
  2. Improved customer service. People who are happy at work provide better customer service, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  3. Reduced costs. Lower absenteeism and improved worker retention mean substantially reduced labour costs.
  4. Enhanced creativity and innovation. Happy workers buy into the big picture, offer creative solutions, take thoughtful risks, collaborate and are more likely to experiment.
  5. Superior business performance. Gallup research shows that companies with happy workers can outperform competitors by up to 200%, and achieve up to 22% higher profitability.

5 ways to increase happiness in your workplace

  1. Create a supportive work environment

    Essential for employee wellbeing is a safe and supportive work environment in which diversity is valued and everyone is included and treated respectfully. This is also the foundation for a company culture that’s centred around teamwork, collaboration, job satisfaction, and accomplishment.

  2. Balance job demands with resources

    Providing sufficient and appropriate resources to ensure staff can meet their work demands means the work gets done efficiently and on time. It is also important that workers’ roles and responsibilities are clear and aligned with company goals, and that issues like time pressures and overwhelming workloads are addressed quickly.

  3. Offer competitive compensation and benefits

    Be sure to offer fair compensation packages as well as benefits that add value to employees, such as flexible scheduling and work arrangements, extra paid time off or even an onsite canteen, gym, or creche. Maintain this competitiveness through annual compensation reviews.

  4. Recognise and appreciate all workers

    It can be a really good idea to implement a formal recognition programme. After all, over 70% of employees say “feeling unappreciated” is the biggest driver of dissatisfaction. It’s equally important to make health and wellbeing a priority in your workplace and to encourage workers to share their feedback, ideas and concerns. Nobody likes to feel ignored!

  5. Invest in professional development

    Continuously provide the necessary training and tools for employees to perform effectively. Complement this by investing in professional development, and offering workers at all levels opportunities for upskilling and career advancement.

The bottom line 

There is a real return on an investment in happy workers – and many easy ways to increase the level of happiness and engagement among your workers.

The 5 Cognitive Biases That Could Sink Your Business

/in /by

“Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” (John F. Kennedy, former US president)

Humans are creatures of habit. We form opinions and sets of actions that we use as shorthand for all future decisions. We become trapped in loops of our own making and fall prey to common human ways of thinking that may save time, but ultimately hurt us. In business, these sorts of cognitive biases can damage relationships, and lead companies down dangerous paths. The sad thing? Most of us don’t even realise they exist. Here are five cognitive biases that could sink your business if you’re not careful.

1.  Favouring evidence that backs our beliefs

Back in the days of VHS, video rental behemoth Blockbuster was offered the opportunity to buy a start-up that distributed their videos by mail, and were building the infrastructure to stream videos online. Convinced that the video store model was the only way to go, the board rejected the opportunity to purchase Netflix and over the next few years Blockbuster went bankrupt.

While it’s tempting to see this as a sign of foolishness, the reality is that all of us are prone to undervaluing data which contradicts our beliefs and favouring that which reinforces it. These confirmation biases can only be overcome by actively seeking out disconfirming evidence and encouraging a culture of robust debate among your employees.

2.  Doggedly holding the line

In 2008, signs began to leak out across the American economy that a large collapse was coming. Banks were overextended and the money from loans was not being returned fast enough – but many large businesses held the line and did not prepare for failure. The information they’d been given for years suggested the loans model worked and they did not adjust their behaviour as the data first trickled, and then thundered in. The result? An economic collapse for the ages.

A 1974 study by Tversky and Kahneman explains their decision making with the anchoring bias. This study showed that even when presented with later information, people’s numerical estimates were significantly influenced by irrelevant initial figures. The first information is given much more weight than later information, even if the later information comes from stronger sources. Luckily this bias is easy to overcome, by simply distrusting the early data – always compare it carefully with what comes later.

3.  Too much self-belief

Convinced their market dominance would carry them through, and unimpressed with the new digital cameras, photographic film manufacturer Kodak continued business as usual in the early 2000s. Despite their position as market leader and an early pioneer, these decisions lead to their eventual complete collapse. Kodak is a clear example of the overconfidence bias, which Bazerman and Moore detailed in their book Judgement in Managerial Decision Making.

Overconfidence bias is our very human tendency to overestimate one’s own knowledge, skills, or the accuracy of one’s predictions. In business, this can manifest in risky decisions, such as under-pricing products, over-leveraging debt, or ignoring potential competitors. To overcome this, regularly schedule sessions to evaluate your decisions against the data, and seek outside advice from your accountants and other experts.

4.  Don’t follow the Joneses

Anyone who was alive in the 1990s remembers the Dotcom bubble. Tech companies were absolutely flooded with investment, with little care for the fundamentals from those who were convinced that tech’s bright future would lead to their own financial success. When the bubble burst in the early 2000s, many of those investors found themselves without a penny to their names.

The Dotcom bubble is an example of what’s known as the herd mentality. It describes a cognitive bias in which people have a tendency to mimic the actions of the masses, even against their own better judgement or personal logic. The rule here is simply: don’t do something just because everyone else is doing it. Never blindly follow trends.

This comes with a caution though – while copying others for the sake of it is a bad idea, don’t fall into the trap demonstrated by Sears either. The former retail giant exhibited loss aversion bias by clinging to its traditional brick-and-mortar model and resisting e-commerce expansion for years – ultimately resulting in it filing for bankruptcy in 2018.

5.  Place the blame correctly

In 2008 Lehman Brothers was possibly the largest casualty of the economic collapse. Where many other financial institutions managed to keep their heads above water, Lehman Brothers sank below the waves. Unlike their more successful peers, Lehman Brothers had attributed all of their woes to the external factors of the economic collapse and failed to recognise the company’s own risky investments and poor decision-making as contributing factors.

This error is commonly known as attribution bias. In 2014, Mallett and Monteith explored attribution bias in business settings, showing that leaders often misattribute their company’s failures to external forces, preventing them from identifying areas for improvement. You can avoid this by promoting self-awareness and accountability. Don’t be afraid of asking experts for their input and always encourage regular post-mortems on projects to identify both internal and external factors contributing to their success or failure.

Your Tax Deadlines for April 2025

/in /by

  • 01 April – Start of the 2025/26 Financial Year
  • 07 April – PAYE submissions and payments
  • 25 April – VAT manual submissions and payments
  • 29 April – Excise duty payments
  • 30 April – VAT electronic submissions and payments, & CIT Provisional Tax payments where applicable.

Budget 2025: Your Tax Tables and Tax Calculator

/in /by

Budget 2025, if adopted by Parliament,  will effectively bring about an increase in personal income tax by not adjusting the tables for tax rates, rebates and credits, while also implementing substantial increases in ‘sin’ taxes and introducing a 0.5% VAT increase on 1 May 2025 and another 0.5% increase effective 1 April 2026.

This selection of official SARS Tax Tables and other useful resources will help clarify your tax position for the new tax year.

Individual taxpayers: Tax tables unchanged since 2023

Source: SARS

Source: SARS

Source: SARS

Sin taxes raised

Source: Adapted from Budget 2025 People’s Guide

Businesses: Corporate tax rates unchanged

Source: Adapted from SARS Budget Tax Guide 2025

Proposed VAT increases

Source: Adapted from Budget 2025 People’s Guide

Transfer duty: 10% upward adjustment from 1 April

Source: SARS’ Budget Tax Guide 2025

How much will you be paying in income, petrol and sin taxes?

Use Fin 24’s four-step Budget Calculator here to find out the monthly and annual impact on your income tax, as well as what you will be paying in fuel and sin taxes.

Budget 2025: How It Affects You and Your Business

/in /by

“… the economy needs to grow much faster and in an inclusive manner. This is the central objective of the current administration.” (Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana – Budget 2025)

 

The tabling of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s fourth Budget in February was marked by an unprecedented three-week postponement, following a deadlock around the original Budget proposal to increase VAT by 2%.

A revised Budget, finally tabled on 12 March, proposed a 0.5% increase from 1 May 2025, with a second 0.5% VAT increase from 1 April 2026 – but the proposal was still not enough to satisfy most other political parties.

In his Budget Speech, the finance minister called the Budget proposals “a bold and pragmatic approach” to ensure the economy grows “much faster and in an inclusive manner”. He admitted that the economy has stagnated for over a decade, with GDP growth averaging less than 2%, while forecasts for medium-term GDP growth are a dismal 1.8%.

While the powers that be attempt to reach consensus on the Budget 2025 proposals, businesses and individuals in South Africa will find little support from the fiscus to survive these low-growth economic conditions.

This is evident from our overview below of the most pertinent Budget 2025 proposals. In a nutshell, the finance minister is trying to cover another substantial Budget shortfall by directly and indirectly increasing the tax burden on corporate and individual taxpayers.


Budget proposals that will impact you 

  • The 0.5% VAT increases proposed for 2025 and 2026 will impact every South African, while disproportionately affecting lower-income households strained by high electricity costs, inflation and interest rates in a weak economy. To alleviate their impact on poor households, the list of zero-rated food items is extended to include canned vegetables, dairy liquid blends, and organ meats from sheep, poultry and other animals.
  • Personal income tax brackets will not be adjusted for inflation for a second year running. This means that, like last year, individuals who receive a salary increase will again pay more tax, and could be pushed into a higher tax bracket.
  • No inflation adjustments were proposed for tax rebates or medical tax credits – which once again translates into more tax payable by individuals.
  • Above-inflation increases in the excise duties on alcohol (6.75%) and tobacco (4.75 – 6.75%) are no surprise. This means that with immediate effect, the duty on:
    • a 340ml can of beer increases by 16c
    • a 750ml bottle of unfortified wine goes up by 29c
    • a 750ml bottle of fortified wine goes up by 48c
    • a 750ml bottle of spirits will increase by R5.97
    • a 23g cigar goes up by R8.49
    • a pack of 20 cigarettes rises by R1.04
    • vaping products increase by 14c per millilitre.
  • Changes to the rules regarding the tax treatment of cross-border retirement funds are proposed.
  • A one-year extension in the R370 social relief of distress (SRD) grant and above-inflation increases ranging from R30 to R130 per month in other social grants will provide minimal relief to the poorest South African households.
  • SARS has been allocated R3.5 billion this year and an additional R4 billion over the medium term to enhance its tax collection capabilities, so taxpayers can expect increased scrutiny and administration.


Budget proposals that will impact your business 

The 0.5% VAT increases proposed for 1 May 2025 and 1 April 2026 will certainly impact all companies in South Africa’s struggling economy, with a disproportionately negative impact on the small and micro businesses that are crucial to economic growth.

  • VAT hikes directly raise the cost of goods and services, impacting competitiveness and profitability.
  • Higher prices resulting from the VAT increase will reduce consumer purchasing power in an already-constrained economy.
  • The VAT increase could trigger inflationary pressures, further eroding household incomes and potentially forcing an interest rate hike.
  • Two VAT increases over two years will also result in a significant administrative burden on businesses to implement the required changes to their systems.
  • Carbon taxes increased from R190 to R236 per tonne on 1 January, while the temporary incentive for renewable energy introduced in 2023 has not been extended.
  • From 1 April 2025, the formula to calculate the employment tax incentive and the eligible income bands will be adjusted.
  • It is proposed that the sunset date for the urban development zone tax incentive be extended by five years to 31 March 2030.
  • The Budget proposes to cancel the inflationary increase in the health promotion levy, and that the ad valorem excise duties on smartphones are limited to higher value phones.


Some good news

  • The general fuel levy and the Road Accident Fund levy will not be increased again this year, providing tax relief of R4 billion. However, the carbon tax on fuel and diesel will increase. Budget 2025 also proposes an adjustment to the diesel refund for the primary sector for the next tax year.
  • Property buyers will benefit from an upward adjustment of 10% in transfer duty brackets from 1 April 2025.
  • A R1 trillion investment over the next three years in public infrastructure spending, focussed on transport and logistics, energy, and water and sanitation, should positively impact on the economy.
  • Besides the proposals detailed above, Budget 2025  made no mention of a wealth tax or the National Health Insurance (NHI).
  • In a media interview following the Budget Speech, the minister said that if the economy does well, the VAT increase in 2026 may not be necessary.

5 Tips for Using Reviews to Boost Your Business

/in /by

According to a recent survey, 91% of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews, and 84% trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation from a friend. There’s no doubt that reviews are having a moment.

The challenge comes when you learn that it can take as many as 20 good reviews to overcome a single bad one. Little wonder, then, that many companies try to focus on encouraging unhappy customers to remove their bad reviews, while generally neglecting the good ones, save for a short thank you message. This may, however, be short-sighted as using reviews correctly, can change the entire good vs bad formula, strengthen your company, improve sales and improve your bottom line. Here are our tips for maximising those good reviews.

  1. Maximise your visibility onlineGone are the days when search engine optimisation (SEO) was purely about the words on your website. Google is now working tirelessly to ensure that good companies with great customer service are more visible online. Customer reviews can be used in your online content to add credibility and “expertise” and therefore improve the way Google views your content. But reviews can’t simply be shoe-horned into your site – they must be incorporated in a way that’s justifiable and organic.

    Remember, you can no longer simply write your own reviews as Google tracks which reviews are left when and by whom. Real people leaving reviews in a believable way boost rankings – but fake ones hurt them.

  2. Boost your conversion ratesConversion rates are probably the single most important stat for an online business and your reviews can be used to make a significant impact. Research conducted by the Medill Spiegel Research Center has revealed that displaying reviews across your website has the potential to boost conversions by as much as 270%. Because of the weight users give to the views of others, simply seeing a good review boosts credibility and trust and encourages users to take the next step.
  3. Don’t hide bad reviews, use them to boost trustEarlier we spoke about how many companies try to remove their bad reviews. This is not necessary. Everyone’s going to get a bad review from time to time, and your customers know this. Leaving your bad reviews up – along with your clear responses to try and fix the issues – has actually been shown to boost customer confidence. People like to know that if something goes wrong, you’ll do whatever you can to fix it. These bad reviews help them to see that far better than if you simply sweep them under the carpet.
  4. Good reviews can lead to better hiresYour reviews can also be used to attract better staff. A 2024 study by Deloitte showed that 44% of millennials and 49% of Gen Zs consider a company’s values before accepting a job. People want to work for likeable companies. Including a few choice Google reviews on your website can therefore be used to create a more attractive employer brand and therefore lure in more applications, which will help you to find the best-of-the-best.
  5. Leverage reviews in the real world tooDigital reviews almost never make it out of the digital sphere – and yet they can have just as much impact on paper as they do online. Including reviews in sales documents, pitch decks and press releases has been shown to generate credibility and boost trust. There’s also evidence that including reviews in press releases increases the likelihood they will be published at all.

The bottom line

Your reviews are some of the most valuable tools you can use and finding the money in your budget to maximise them is therefore essential. As your accountants, we can help you to refine your budgets and free up cash to improve all of your marketing efforts.

Your Tax Deadlines for March 2025

/in /by

 

  • 07 March – PAYE submissions and payments
  • 25 March – VAT manual submissions and payments
  • 28 March – Excise duty payments
  • 31 March – End of the 2023/24 Financial year, VAT electronic submissions and payments, & CIT Provisional Tax payments where applicable.

How to Save Big on Corporate Travel in 2025

/in /by

“He who buys what he does not need, steals from himself.” (Swedish Proverb)

Many think of corporate travel expenses as being a non-negotiable, and expensive part of doing business. The thing is, it is possible to cut back on travel expenses without cutting out the necessary requirements and little luxuries. Here are our four top tips for saving money on your corporate travel account.

  1. Plan ahead

    Most corporate travel is not an emergency. Whether you need to pitch to new clients in London, attend a conference in Los Angeles or visit a supplier in China, proper planning can save a great deal of money. All travel expenses increase the closer you get to the departure date. Simply looking at the necessary travel for the year ahead, scheduling it in advance and booking comfortably ahead of time will save you a significant amount. Flights are generally at their cheapest between 30 and 60 days before departure.

    Taking this one step further, you can also make sure you aren’t travelling during peak times. If you need to visit your clients every second month, make sure your trips don’t coincide with large conferences or entertainment events as these can drive up hotel costs.

    For domestic travel it makes sense to try and fly on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, as flights are generally cheaper than on other days. Early morning or early afternoon flights (before 3 PM) are not only cheaper, but also tend to have fewer delays and cancellations – which means there’s less chance of additional accommodation or car hire charges.

  2. Set up a travel policy

    In order to effectively plan ahead and book all that’s needed, you need to implement a company-wide travel policy. This policy should cover all aspects of travel including:

    • The booking process for accommodation, flights, transfers, vehicle rentals and everything else.
    • Expenses and meal allowances.
    • The approval and reimbursement process.

    Making sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to travel means there are no unnecessary or unexpected expenses. As your accountants, we can help you to construct a travel policy that aligns with your budget and cash flow.

  3. Be as loyal as possible

    Hotels and airlines offer loyalty programs that reward their most frequent travellers with perks like airport lounges and dining discounts, but they also offer important benefits for the business. Airline loyalty members often get to cancel their bookings or change dates at a reduced fee, and the frequent flyer miles and rewards can add up to other free travel benefits. Hotels are much more forgiving on loyalty members when it comes to late and early check-ins and room upgrades. And they typically offer a guaranteed discount on their room rates.

  4. Use an agent

    Travel agents are basically a free (or at least very cheap) service for the people who use them. Often the prices are the same whether you book yourself or do it through an agency because the agent commissions are already built into the prices of the rooms, flights and car rentals. Booking with an agent can save your HR, receptionist or PA valuable hours that could be put into something more productive.

    Agents are already experts so paying them a small service fee (if required) to keep them on your books will allow them to search further for the best possible prices and benefits using their back-end travel systems. This may not save you money on flights as the airlines are generally pretty transparent, but it can make a big difference on insurance, car rental and accommodation. Agents are also much more likely to be able to wangle last-minute refunds or changes.

    If your company is really big (or if you and your staff travel a lot) it may make sense to allow a corporate travel specialist to manage all of your travel requirements.


Bon voyage!

Corporate travel can be a very good investment – but there’s no reason to pay more than you should. Speak to us if you want any help trimming your business travel costs.

5 Things to Consider When Buying vs Leasing Equipment

/in /by

“I do not gather things, I prefer to rent them rather than to possess them.” (Jerzy Kosinski, Polish-American writer)

Deciding whether to buy or lease equipment can sometimes seem like an impossible choice. There are so many factors at play that it can feel like whatever you do will be wrong. We’ve put together a short list of five things to consider that should make the process a little easier.

  1. When do you need the money?

    Leasing has lower up-front costs than buying, but in the long term could end up costing your company more. Leasing can make it easier to conserve working capital and maintain a stronger cash flow, especially in the early days. However, if you buy, you will eventually pay the equipment off meaning your long-term costs will drop.

  2. Are you going to need to upgrade?

    Will the equipment you are looking for need to be upgraded? Or is it something you can use, as is, for years? Leasing equipment often comes with the option of upgrading it on the spot when newer versions come out. This gives companies more flexibility and the chance to be fully up-to-date at all times. If you’re sure of the long-term efficacy of a machine, however, it may make more sense to buy.

  3. Are there tax benefits?

    Some products will provide more benefits come tax time than others with deductions on offer for both leasing and buying. As your accountants we can help you to understand the exact implications of renting/buying your particular equipment and the amount and timing of tax relief that is available.

  4. Do you want to pay for maintenance?

    Leasing equipment can often mean that you don’t have to worry about maintaining it. While this will undoubtedly be built into the cost of your leasing contract, there’s great comfort in knowing that the maintenance is taken care of – and that if something goes really wrong you can get an immediate replacement. Do just check your lease agreement for any exclusions or restrictions – there is often an exclusion for “damage due to client negligence,” for example.

  5. Do you need to customise your equipment?

    If you lease your equipment, you probably won’t be able to customise it. It makes sense that the rental company needs to be able to lease the equipment to someone else when you’re done with it. If you own a machine you can generally do with it as you like, meaning you can take care of your special requirements.

The bottom line

Choosing between leasing and buying ultimately depends on your business’ unique set of circumstances.

Your Tax Deadlines for February 2025

/in /by

 

  • 07 February – Monthly PAYE submissions and payments
  • 25 February – Value Added Tax (VAT) manual submissions and payments
  • 27 February – Excise duty payments
  • 28 February – VAT electronic submissions and payments, Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Provisional Tax payments where applicable, and Personal Income Tax (PIT) Provisional Tax payments.