Bookkeeping
What is a trial balance?
What a trial balance is, how to read one, what it catches and what it misses — with a worked example in rands.
Tax and bookkeeping, in plain words
The questions every South Africa business googles, answered with worked examples in rands — and honest about where a registered practitioner takes over. Written by the team behind Ledgr.
All guides
- VAT
VAT registration in South Africa: when you must, when you may
The compulsory VAT threshold (R1m to 31 March 2026, R2.3m from 1 April 2026), the any-consecutive-12-months test, and voluntary registration explained.
- Income tax
Provisional tax and the IRP6, explained
Who is a provisional taxpayer, how the basic amount and 8% escalation work, and the 90%/80% safe harbours on the second IRP6.
- Payroll
PAYE on bonuses: why your bonus month's tax looks wrong
The annualisation (difference) method SARS-compliant payrolls use on bonuses, with a worked rand example — and why the deduction is usually right.
- Income tax
Turnover tax for micro businesses: the R1 million test
How South Africa's turnover tax works, the R1m qualifying turnover test, the disqualification questions, and when it beats normal income tax.
- VAT
What makes a tax invoice valid?
Section 20 requirements for full and abridged tax invoices in South Africa, the R5,000 line, Botswana's equivalents — and which numbers never belong on an invoice.
- Structure
Sole proprietor vs (Pty) Ltd: what actually changes
Liability, tax rates, PAYE on your own salary, dividends tax, CIPC admin and the director's loan trap — what incorporation really changes, in rands.
- Company tax
What is a director's loan account — and why a debit balance matters
How a director's loan account works, credit vs debit balances, and why an overdrawn account raises deemed-dividend questions (s 64E(4)) for a practitioner.
These guides explain how the rules work; none of them is advice on your position, and Ledgr never files anything for you. Every statutory number on an article is dated and sourced on the page itself.