When, Why and Whose Jobs You Should Be Outsourcing

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“If you deprive yourself of outsourcing and your competitors do not, you’re putting yourself out of business.” (Lee Kuan Yew, Former Prime Minister of Singapore)

Launching a business requires the small business owner to wear many hats. From marketing, to accounting and HR the small business owner needs to learn any number of skills to get their venture off the ground. Eventually though there comes a point where doing everything yourself as owner is hurting the company more than helping it and knowing when to bring help on board can be the difference between success and failure.

If you aren’t quite ready to hire employees or if you just need a few hours of help a week as opposed to full time, outsourcing work can become the solution you are looking for. With many professionals working freelance it is easier now than it has ever been to find the right people to pick up the slack and give you a few extra hours in your day to focus on the core of your business.


When is it time to outsource?

Knowing when to outsource is critical. Bringing people on board at the right time can free up hours a week and give you the opportunity to win new clients or refine your product offering. So what are the signs you should be considering outsourcing?

  1. You find you don’t have time to do all the workHaving plenty of work is a blessing but having too much can mean repeated late nights or missed deadlines. Making sure you keep on delivering at your best means you can’t afford to be tired, rushing jobs or worse, simply turning work away. If this is a problem that’s happening every month then it’s definitely time to consider bringing someone on board.
  2. You want to turn away new workTurning away work is always a bad idea. Once turned away those clients may never come back whereas getting what they need done could build additional income for life. Whether it’s simply helping them with your core services or taking on new growth areas for your company, always rather outsource some of the work and make sure you can make it work for these new customers.
  3. You get hired for irregular or once off projectsIf you find the work is regularly outstripping your capabilities and capacity it might be time to bring on permanent employees, but when your business is getting once-off projects or work that will only last a short while it can be much safer to outsource work to freelancers or agencies. This way you can meet your needs for those projects and not worry about paying people in the months where you don’t have as much work.
  4. There are tasks you hate doingYou may be surprised to see this on the list, after all surely you have become used to telling yourself to get over it and just plough through? The truth is, work you hate is work you are likely doing badly. Save yourself the time and the pain of doing a bad job by giving it to someone who specialises in that field and is going to get it done well.


The best jobs to outsource

Outsourcing doesn’t just refer to those jobs that are directly related to your business. Sometimes it can actually help you to hire a domestic, an au pair or a personal assistant at home to free up a few more hours you can dedicate to the business. Outsourcing business functions though is much more likely to be the right choice when it comes to getting yourself some valuable time as these jobs can generally be trickier, better done by professionals and may, in fact, lead to long term growth of your business as well as simply giving you some breathing room.

  1. Accounting, bookkeeping and payrollFor those unused to finance, tracking income and expenditure, invoicing clients and filing tax returns can be extremely time consuming. Given that you are running a small business it might be cost-effective to outsource bookkeeping and payroll because you can then pay a set amount that changes as the company grows, rather than paying an employee full time and having the hours vary. This bookkeeper can also be in charge of extra tasks such as document scanning to help keep your receipts and bank statements in order.

    At the end of the year handing your taxes over to an accountant is invaluable. Not only will it take an important task off your plate but can often get you a percentage of that spend back in tax savings. Outsourcing some decision-making to an accountant may help as well, as they will be able to run the numbers and advise on whether a new venture, expansion or client is viable. They can also help you work out whether outsourcing or bringing someone in-house is the right solution for you.

  2. Human ResourcesHuman Resources isn’t quite as simple as hiring and firing. There are so many rules and regulations involved in the running of good HR, not to mention submission of PAYE, UIF, pension contributions and returns etc., that doing it yourself may end in bitter acrimony and high costs.

    Hiring a company that specializes in human resources laws and regulations will not only help you stay compliant and up to date but can also streamline the onboarding process of new employees and the hiring process in general. A good HR company or freelancer will additionally handle details such as retirement plans, group health insurance, and other benefits that you offer, saving a huge amount of effort and time.

  3. Marketing and content creationAlmost everyone believes they can write well enough for a website, blog or LinkedIn update, but there is a lot more that goes into these things than simply filling a page. With SEO, and content tailored for the outlet it’s being used on, creating content can be a time-consuming job for those who aren’t experts. Developing strategy and deploying it correctly takes a professional and handing this task over to an outsourced freelancer will often pay for itself in the success of your digital marketing.

    This is all also true for PR and other marketing. It may seem simple to send off an email detailing your recent projects and successes, but professional PR people will ensure it’s read by the right people. With a PR professional you aren’t hiring a writer, you are hiring a network of important contacts.

    Finally, no business can succeed without advertising and bringing marketing people on board will be essential if you don’t want your extremely useful product or service to vanish unnoticed by the public. The good news is that provided you hire the right people, what you spend on advertising will almost certainly come walking back through your door at a later stage in the form of customers.

  4. Graphic design and presentation construction Your last job required you to put together a few PowerPoints so now you sit and laboriously put together your pitches and presentations yourself. The truth is, unless you’re a skilled designer yourself, your digital presentations could definitely use a boost, so instead of wasting your time on PowerPoint animations and choosing fonts rather spend a little money to make your pitch look extra good and use the time you’ve just saved to rehearse your presentation.


Is outsourcing “the future of work”?

Outsourcing is increasingly being touted as “the future of work”, and certainly the truth is that it is here to stay. Those who refuse to put the work they can’t do perfectly out to the new wave of freelancers and outsourcing agencies are ultimately only hurting their business.

Of course, the ultimate question is whether outsourcing makes commercial sense for your business, given your particular financial situation and business structure. Chat to your accountant to see where it may be right for you.

Your Tax Deadlines for March 2022

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  • 7 March Monthly Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) submissions and payments
  • 25 March Value-Added Tax (VAT) manual submissions and payments
  • 30 March Excise Duty payments
  • 31 March End of the 2021/22 Financial year
  • 31 March Value-Added Tax (VAT) electronic submissions and payments & CIT Provisional payments where applicable

Budget 2022: Your Share of Billions in Tax Relief and Business Support

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“Now is not the time to increase taxes and put the recovery at risk! Accordingly, we have decided to keep money in the pockets of South Africans.” (Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana)

 

The 2022 Budget Speech brought some good news and welcome tax relief to personal and business taxpayers,

This is possible thanks to tax revenue collection estimates that exceed the 2021 Budget estimate by R182 billion. Given the improvement in revenue collections, government proposes R5.2 billion tax relief to help support the economic recovery, provide some respite from fuel tax increases and boost incentives for youth employment.

 

Tax changes for individuals

  • Personal income tax brackets and rebates will be adjusted downwards by 4.5% to prevent taxpayers moving into higher brackets due to inflation, resulting in tax relief of an estimated R13.5 billion.
  • The income tax threshold (under 65) has increased to R91,259 per year.
  • Medical tax credits will increase from R332 to R347 per month for the first two members, and from R224 to R234 per month for additional members.

Tax changes for companies

Reduction in company income tax rate from 28% to 27% from 1 April 2022 (i.e. for tax years ending on or after 31 March 2023).

Support for small businesses

To support businesses in distress owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, a new business bounce-back scheme was announced; a new version of the R200 billion loan guarantee scheme that was part of the R500 billion stimulus package announced at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

It will be implemented using two mechanisms which will be introduced in sequence:

  • Small business loan guarantees of R15 billion will be launched next month provided through participating banks and development finance institutions, with Government underwriting the first 20% of loan losses.
  • Treasury wants to introduce a business equity-linked loan guarantee support mechanism by April this year.

Some other issues to be aware of

  • The Minister cautioned that while VAT and other taxes have not been increased, this may change in the future, saying that if there are permanent expenditure increases in coming years, there would be no choice but to revisit this.
  • Amendments are proposed to provisions relating to the taxation of variable remuneration to ensure wider application of these rules – particularly to the informal sector (‘Variable remuneration’ includes overtime pay, bonuses or commission; an allowance or advance paid for transport expenses; an amount the employee becomes entitled to as a result of unused leave; any night shift or standby allowance; or any amount paid or granted for a reimbursement as contemplated in the Act).  In effect this income will only be taxed on receipt.
  • Provisional tax: Government has proposed a review of the provisional tax system on the basis of international developments.
  • Corporate tax reduction will be funded by limiting the interest deduction and assessed losses. Assessed losses brought forward will be limited to 80% of taxable income. Smaller companies with a taxable income below R1 million will be exempt.
  • To address abuse of such incentives such as the Employment Tax Incentive, government proposes to impose understatement penalties on reimbursements that are improperly claimed in terms of this incentive.
  • The Minister urged all companies that have not already done so to develop plans to progressively reduce their carbon emissions, to avoid facing steep taxes. Exporters will also face overseas border taxes for carbon-intensive goods such as iron and steel, which will reduce their competitiveness.
  • SARS will be reviewing the processes surrounding the issue of tax clearances as well the declaration of the returns in order to curb tax compliance status abuse in which taxpayers may file an inaccurate return in order to obtain a tax clearance.
  • To assist with the detection of non-compliance or fraud through the existence of unexplained wealth, all provisional taxpayers with assets above R50 million will be required to declare specified assets and liabilities at market values in their 2023 tax returns.
  • Other future tax proposals include plans for a new personal income tax regime for remote work, a review of the exemption of foreign retirement benefits in domestic tax legislation, a review of depreciation and investment allowances.
  • SARS says it focused on deliberate work audits of large business, which has generated an additional revenue in excess of R4 billion. It will focus on a number of revenue-generating priorities, which amongst others include the expansion of the use of data and intelligence; increasing capability to maximise debt collections; implementing the Davis Tax Committee recommendations for the corporate and High Wealth Individual compliance landscape; accelerate criminal investigations and counter illicit practices; and shaping the policy on the informal economy.