These five bookkeeping mistakes lead to missed deductions, penalties and extra tax when returns are due. Each one can be avoided.
1. Mixing business and personal money
One bank account for everything makes the books slow to sort out and leads to missed deductions. For companies, it also creates legal risk by blurring the separation between you and the company. Open a dedicated business account and put every business payment through it.
2. Reconstructing the year in February
A year of slips and statements pieced together just before a deadline leads to errors and missed claims. Books kept up to date every month cost less to keep, and the figures are ready when SARS asks for them.
3. Losing the tax invoices
For VAT vendors especially, an input VAT claim without a valid tax invoice is a claim SARS can disallow. Cloud bookkeeping with receipt capture stores each invoice as you receive it.
4. Ignoring the VAT registration line
Cross R2.3 million in taxable supplies over a rolling 12 months and you have 21 business days to register. If you register late, SARS can backdate your registration, and you owe VAT on sales you never charged it on.
5. Treating provisional tax as optional
Provisional taxpayers who skip or badly underestimate their payments walk into penalties and interest. The two payments a year spread the tax across the year. With an accurate estimate, little tax is left to pay on assessment.
Our bookkeeping service
Up-to-date books and a dedicated business account prevent all five. Our monthly bookkeeping service keeps your books current. See how our bookkeeping service works.