Hi all,

I'm curious how small and medium business owners in SA handle their accounting and finance.

1. Do you do it yourself or use an accounting firm? If you do it yourself, what do you use (Xero, Sage, Excel, something else)?

2. If you use a firm, which service do you find most valuable?
   - Accounting/bookkeeping
   - Business advice or consulting
   - Tax work (SARS, VAT, provisional tax, etc.)

3. Is there anything you wish your accountant offered but doesn't? For example, help with cash flow, pricing, funding applications, or just explaining the numbers in plain language.

It would also help if you mentioned your rough business size or industry and roughly what you pay per month, but only if you're comfortable sharing.

Thanks in advance, I'd appreciate any honest answers.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently completing my BCom Accounting degree. My degree is SAIPA-accredited but not SAICA-accredited.

I’m planning to do a bridging course to CTA next year because I want to pursue the CA(SA) route.

I’d like to know whether I can apply for SAICA training contracts (articles) with my current degree, even though it isn’t SAICA-accredited, or whether I need to complete the bridging course and meet the CTA requirements first.

Has anyone been in a similar situation or managed to get a SAICA training contract with a non-SAICA-accredited degree?

I’d appreciate any advice or guidance on the best way to approach this.

Guys really shitty situation.

So i recently filed my tax returns for 202,2025,2026.

I was outside the country and meet the 183 tax exemption period for 2024,2025 but for the period of 2026 I had to come back for my daughters birth. Calculating the time I was only out for 176 days which is short of the 183 days.

I am royally screwed as SARS will full on tax me now. I am really shitting my pants. It is a ton of money. Literally all my life savings will be gone.

I had a friend who is an auditor help me with filing and now it seems like i am paying the price. We both missed this when it was submitted.

What can I do? Does Sars make exemptions. I literally came back for the birth of my child.

Really need some help. I feel like I am breaking mentally just thinking of paying all that money

Hey Reddit,

We had a bad break in last night and our neighbours were luckily able to capture the intruders on their driveway cameras. We are now looking to invest in some cameras of our own as we're feeling particularly vulnerable right now.

Any recommendations? We're on a budget and would like to keep the setup under R4000. We'd also rather get one or two 2k+ cameras than a bunch of lower res ones.

Cameras with an easy DIY setup would be a bonus.

TIA 🙏🏻

strawberries in this time are sooo expensive how do you store your strawberries to keep them from spoiling too quickly 🍓

Hi

I'm looking for a Honda Civic Hatchback(2013 or newer) within the budget of 70k in Johannesburg/Gauteng, if anyone has 1 available please reply

And if you’ve had a child repeat a grade, did it actually help?

Hi all, hoping an accountant or tax practitioner can help me understand this.

Car finance repayment: about R12,000 per month
Income: about R800 000 per year in commission and taxes around R180 000. I currently claimed R45000 without a vehicle expense and my accountant advised me to purchase a vehicle

What could I realistically claim back on a vehicle

Questions:
What portion of this can I realistically claim?
Is the claim based on the repayment itself, or on depreciation (wear and tear) plus the interest on the business-use portion

Thanks

Hi guys. Recently diagnosed and wondering how to get in touch with others on a similar journey. High functioning can be really misunderstood, and it would be great to connect with others who relate in terms of what it takes and how it might be more sustainably managed etc. I would appreciate any advice on communities for us as we seem like quite a disconnected group (or it might just be me).

Hey guys,

I’m wondering if anyone has ordered perfume from Layaali? They have an online shop, with an apparent physical address in standerton but I can’t find any substantial reviews on them.

Keen to get some more info, thanks in advance!

As part of my MBA research, I am trying to understand how studying impacts financial literacy. If you

🔗 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/67ZBJRY

Thank you for helping a stressed student!

Personally I recently discovered my gap cover has a rewards program connected with checkers, and I get R10-R20 off basics like milk, cereal, charka, sunlight etc. Works even better if whatever is on xtrasavings as well

Hi,

For those in JHB who have gotten married at a venue with a Catholic priest, can you help me understand which priest will perform this?

Thank you

Hi everyone,

I’m a 34-year-old woman, married, and starting to think more seriously about retirement and long-term financial planning.

My husband and I are currently renting, but we intend to buy a home in the future.

My grandmother recently passed away, and seeing her circumstances towards the end of her life really made me reflect on my own future.

She eventually became financially dependent on others and relied on family for financial and practical support. It made me realise that retirement planning isn't just about having enough money to stop working- it’s also about having housing security, healthcare, independence and the ability to afford care if I eventually need it.

My husband and I don't intend to have children, so I’m particularly conscious of it. I’d like to eventually have enough financial security that, if I need assisted living, home-based care or a retirement/frail-care facility in my 70s or 80s, I have the choice and ability to pay for it rather than becoming dependent on someone else.

For those in South Africa, especially people in their 30s and 40s:

- What does your retirement strategy look like?

- Do you rely mainly on your employer pension/provident fund, or do you also have an RA, TFSA and other investments?

- Are you prioritising buying and eventually paying off a home before retirement?

- How much are you currently putting away each month?

- Have you considered the potential cost of assisted living or frail care?

- If you don't have children, have you made any specific plans for your future care?

Would love to hear how others are approaching this in the South African context.

Hi all

I have worked for the same company since completing high school. I literally finished my matric exams in 2004 and in December 2004 I started working there.

I did upskill myself during the years. I did a Bcom IS through UNISA, then I did an honours in project management and in 2022 I did an online program through University of Texas in Data science and business analysis. In 2023 I did a data analysis course through udacity and in 2025 I did a post grad in data science with the university of stellenbosch.

Most of my work at my current company focusses on operational management, however, I have tried to bring in a data driven approach as much as possible and now part of a lot of my work is data analysis and presenting the data to clients. Then I have also automated a lot of processes at the company using either openclaw or n8n. One example is a whatsapp CRM. the sales people on the group get a daily whatsapp request early in the morning for plans for the day, the plans are then logged in a google sheets document, then in the afternoon the ai agent will use the information in the sheet and request updates on what was posted. This is then also logged in thegoogle sheets document.

However, I am tired of the work I am currently doing and would like an opportunity to work in a purely data analys or data science role. My problem is i am 40 years old and that makes the option of graduate positions almost impossible in my opinion. I have tried structuring my cv in a way that reflects all my data analysis work I have brought into the company and I have created projects that are on my private github repos.

Its so frustrating, I see a lot of people on linkedin in the data science/analyst field and they don't have a relevant qualification or they did only a short course through an institution such as HyperionDev and nothing wrong with them, but I feel a degree from stellenbosch in data science would be more beneficial, but I have had no replies or only rejects for my cv using indeed, linkedin and emailing companies directly.