ACCOUNTING SERVICES
Keeping accurate accounting records, although a legal requirement, also assists a company in ensuring adequate cash flow, maintenance of expenses and realization of taxable income.
Austral Accounting’s services include the management and collation of all required accounting principles to ensure that you, the business owner, can focus on the operational management of the businesses.
Austral Accounting can assist in:
- Collating of all invoices, slips and bank statements to compile an accurate state of accounts each month
- Providing of a set of monthly management accounts (detailed depending on your requirements)
- Provision of year to date Income Statements and Balance Sheets
- One-on-one meetings per month to review the management accounts
- Providing reports in regards to payments that will need to be paid by the business, including SARS VAT payments, PAYE, UIF and the like to ensure no penalties or fines are levied
- Evaluating any company or personal tax that will be required to be paid
Have your finances handled by the best Accountants in Durban
Handling your finances, whether you are a business owner or simply someone who needs a little extra help, can be daunting. There is so much red tape, so much to consider, and sometimes many hoops to jump through, just to get your finances on track.
While you can tackle all of this stress on your own, you don’t have to when you work with the best accountants in Durban.
Accountants, along with Bookkeepers, offer a wide range of finance and tax related services which you can use to improve your approach to your books. As professionals with many years of experience, Austral Accounting can assist clients of all kinds to get their financial records as well as their other day to day financial tasks, back on track.
From the initial financial services we provide for private persons, to the intricate and time consuming accounting services that are required by companies, we offer it all so that our clients never have to worry about falling behind.
Our accounting services in Durban are both affordable and accessible.
Our services are aimed particularly at business owners and involve a range of operational services that will allow you to focus completely on the running of your company, while we take care of the rest.
Why should your hire an accountant?
You have a few options when it comes to your business accounting.
You could try to do it all on your own, but you’d have to teach yourself everything, and then find the time to do it all.
You could hire a full time, in-house accountant or bookkeeper to handle your financial affairs, but that would be exceptionally costly, especially if your business is still in its early stages. Hiring someone full time might also just be unnecessary, because when your company is just starting out, there is unlikely to be enough work to keep them busy.
And then there is the option of hiring an accountant or bookkeeper on a contractual basis.
Hiring an accountant in Durban is a fantastic way to make sure that you have a competent person to handle your finances, without breaking your budget.
Hiring an accountant also means you will have someone just a call away who can answer your questions before they become major worries.
The knowledge that an accountant or bookkeeper possesses, especially someone with years of experience, is invaluable and it is not something you can always get when you hire someone in-house. An accounting firm which hires numerous accountants and bookkeepers can lean on the collective knowledge of their staff to help you out.
The Benefits of Hiring an Accountant
As a business person, you are already taking on an immense amount of stress and you are showing that you have the skill and the drive to make something from nothing. But just because you are a thriving business owner, doesn’t mean that you need to know everything there is to know about finance and accounting.
There are many reasons why hiring an accountant is a great idea, and here are just a few:
· Stay on the right path
With an accountant to keep you on track, by keeping an eye on the financial side of your business, you can be sure that you stay on the right path as your company grows. This means you won’t be surprised by sudden and unexpected irregularities in your business finances and you will also be in a position to grow your company.
· Financial mentorship
When you hire an accountant, you are not just hiring a professional who will take care of your finances. You will also have the opportunity to work with someone who will be able to guide you and give you professional advice about your finances.
Through your association with your hired accountant, you will be in the perfect position to learn more about money management and as such you will make better financial decisions both for your business and in your personal life.
· Focus fully on your company
Financial management can be very stressful. Knowing that you have left this aspect of your company in the hands of your hired accountant, means you can focus more of your time and your energy on actually running and growing your business.
· Tax
Taxes can be confusing. In fact, confusing is an understatement! Taxes can cause you sleepless nights and more stress than is necessary. Hiring a tax practitioner is the best solution. Navigating the tax world and trying to figure out which brackets your company falls into and what you can claim back is also immensely time consuming because there is just so much information out there, and most of it is difficult to understand. Hiring an accountant in Durban will help you gain a better understanding of your taxes.
Do you need an accountant or a bookkeeper?
While sometimes the roles of the accountant and the bookkeeper can overlap, they are two very different roles. An accountant often handles consultations, analyses, and tax issues, giving their clients helpful advice and sorting out the bigger financial complications, while the bookkeeper does the books, payroll, records transactions and ensures that you are financially organised.
Depending on your needs, you could need either of these or you could need both. Smaller companies often only need a bookkeeper while bigger firms could greatly benefit from the services of both an accountant and a bookkeeper.
Regardless of what your needs are, at Austral Accounting we can meet them. Our accountants and bookkeepers provide expert accounting services in Durban and we are more than able to both handle your financial affairs and provide you with the most helpful advice so that you can get the most out of your business. We have over 30 years of experience in the world of accounting and our services are designed with our clients’ needs in mind.
You can contact us today for more detailed and personalised information about what it is that we can offer you by way of our accounting services in Durban.
Accounting FAQs
A Bookkeeper is someone that compiles the transaction and financial records of the business into accounting records such as a trial balance, statement of financial position and statement of comprehensive Income, however only a qualified accountant is able to sign off on financial statements in accordance to the Companies Act. So NO, a bookkeeper can’t call themselves accountants unless they have the relevant qualifications and professional designations.
Sage One is a cloud-based accounting and invoice management solution for small businesses. The software is limited so we would recommend the use of Sage Business Cloud software providing more features to move your accounting records to the cloud.
With technology driving changes in the accounting sphere accountants now use a large number of programs to assist clients these include:
- Xero – cloud-based software
- QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online (QBoL)
- Sage Accounting – cloud and desktop software
- ReceiptBank
- Xavier
- Payroll software such as Pastel / VIP
- CaseWare and various other software.
- Once your ReceiptBank profile has been created, our team will SMS or email you a link.
- Download the app via the Andriod or Apple app store – RECEIPTBANK
- Once the download is completed click on the link on the SMS or email to create a username and password.
And you will be ready to start using the app in seconds.
The firms we work with want assurance their clients’ data is safe. Powered by bank-level encryption technology, Receipt Bank keeps all extracted data secure, and accessible from anywhere.
Supercharged network security
Transferring important data between devices or platforms is integral to the way you and your clients work. Our secure networks operate to the highest global security standards meaning you can upload, move, or sync your documents with confidence.
Keeping you in control
Receipt Bank always provides your account administrator with
a clear view of activity across all you and your clients’ accounts, giving you complete control over access and user permissions to ensure maximum safety and visibility.
An always-evolving application
The Receipt Bank app is designed with the latest security protocols built in, at heart. Supported by a dedicated online security team, our award-winning app is best in class when it comes to security management meaning you and your clients can sleep a little easier, too.
There is no straight forward answer and will completely depend on the individual business needs. Software is not a one size fits all. What works wonderfully for one business might not be right for the next.
Thing to consider when looking at software would be:
- Cost of the subscription
- Added modules / plug in’s either now or in the future
- Cloud based or desktop
- Updates availability
- Training and user friendliness
Choosing and accountant is a very personal decision as the relationship will require full disclosure on your financial positions. Just like choosing a doctor the accountants’ approach to business should be in line with your business culture/ or the way you do business.
Here are things to consider:
- What is the accountants professional qualification?
- How long has the accountant been practicing?
- Is the accountant a single practitioner or has does he/she have a qualified team?
- How does the accountant assist clients to make the clients compliance requirements easier?
An accountant cannot provide financial advice unless they are registered. Financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory body in order to provide advice. However, the accountant gives feedback and advise on the tax implications of investments and can be a very important link to a well-planned financial structure. I believe the accountant, client and financial advisor makes for a better team.
- Copies of Directors FICA documents, these include ID document, and proof of address
- Copies of Company registration documents
- Previous year’s annual financial statements / tax submission records
- Latest management accounts (if available).
- Details of business such as number of staff, current software etc
- List of services that they might require, this could include VAT calculation / submission, payroll, or preparation of annual financial statements.
- List of questions to discuss with the accountant like is VAT registration required? Or why do I have to register with Department of Labour and SARS?
Yes sometimes the accountant is given access to bank accounts, with the world moving faster every day sometimes it just makes sense. Today accountants mostly use second user or look up profiles so that the client does not have to give the information to the accountant. We are also seeing a move to software that integrates with bank accounts and assisting the business with real time information and for that the account also needs access to bank accounts.
Accountants would normally base the charge for payroll preparation taking into consideration a number of the following factors:
- Monthly / weekly or fortnightly processes
- Number of staff
- Compliance – will the accountant be submitting EMP201’s and the reconciliations attached to the statutory submissions
- Compliance with SARS / Department of Labour and Compensation Commissioner compliance submissions.
Unfortunately, NO, the bookkeeping processes are being replaced by software and automation, however the knowledge around sound bookkeeping and bookkeeping principals are required to drive the software. So, there will be a shift in what a bookkeeper does over the next few years.
YES, QuickBooks and other software is only a tool to collect, store and classify financial transactions, you require and accountant to verify the accounting records, prepare annual financial statements and to the tax submissions.
YES, Xero and other software is only a tool to collect, store and classify financial transactions, you require and accountant to verify the accounting records, prepare annual financial statements and to the tax submissions.
Salary expenses are a debit in the accounting records of the business.
At the moment conversion of the last two (2) years accounting records are converted to the cloud for FREE. If the company needs to convert more than two years a small fee will be charged by the software providers.
Not all businesses have the same legal structure – there are different types that are determined by several factors. Some might be called private limited companies, limited liability or corporations, others could be sole traders or proprietors. These vary from one country to another.
You should carefully consider each type before deciding which one best suits you. For example, you may do business as a sole trader or sole proprietor, working on a self-employed basis and invoicing under your own name.
However, this also means you could be held personally liable for any business-related obligations. If your business fails to pay a supplier, defaults on a debt or loses a lawsuit, the creditor could legally come after your house or other possessions.
An accountant can explain the legal business structures available and help you choose the one that best suits you.
The difference between cash basis and accrual basis accounting comes down to timing. When do you record revenue or expenses? If you do it when you pay or receive money, it’s cash basis accounting. If you do it when you get a bill or raise an invoice, it’s accrual basis accounting.
Accrual accounting is a far more powerful tool for managing a business, but cash accounting has its uses.
Yes, ReceiptBank integrates with all the major software providers including XERO, Sage and QuickBooks.