Start with your monthly transaction count
The simplest way to choose a plan is to count what goes through the business each month. Look at sales receipts, supplier invoices, bank deposits, card transactions, fuel slips, petty cash and any owner drawings. If you are a one-person operation with a low number of entries, you will not need the same level of support as a business moving stock daily or paying several staff members.
A good rule is to group your activity into low, medium or higher volume. Low volume usually means a few bank transactions each week and limited supplier bills. Medium volume often means regular invoicing, multiple payments and some cash handling. Higher volume means frequent entries, more reconciliation work and stronger month-end checking. The right plan should match the real workload, not the hoped-for workload.
- Count all bank transactions for the last 3 months.
- Include cash, card and EFT payments.
- Separate owner-related spending from business spending.
- Note how many supplier invoices arrive each month.
- Check whether you need catch-up bookkeeping as well as current month support.
Match the plan to your payroll and staff setup
If you pay staff, the bookkeeping plan must take payroll into account. A micro business with one casual helper has very different needs from a business paying weekly wages, handling leave, deductions and holiday cover. Payroll also needs care when staff join or leave, because one mistake can throw out the whole month.
Affo supports monthly payroll, weekly wage payroll, payslip processing, leave tracking, timesheet capture, new employee setup, termination pay, deduction support, payroll reporting, holiday payroll cover, small team payroll and payroll cleanup. If your team works across shifts, or wages change often, choose a plan that includes stronger payroll support from the start. That saves time and keeps records tidy when SARS or a lender asks for paperwork.
- Count all employees, including casual and part-time staff.
- Check whether wages are weekly or monthly.
- List any deductions, overtime or bonuses.
- Confirm who captures timesheets and leave.
- Ask whether you need holiday cover when the office closes.
Choose support based on how much admin you want to carry
Some owners want to approve a few items each month and leave the rest to the bookkeeping team. Others want help sorting every receipt, reconciling the bank and clearing up old records. There is no wrong choice, but the plan should fit your working style. If your time is better spent selling, quoting or running the shop floor, pay for more support and keep your head clear.
Micro businesses in Bryanston, Sandton, Randburg and Midrand often need a plan that keeps things simple and predictable. If you are working from home, sharing premises, or running on tight margins, a smaller plan can still work well as long as the records are kept up to date. What matters is consistency. If you fall behind every month, the cheapest option usually becomes the most expensive one.
Think about the tasks you never want to do yourself. That usually tells you the plan you actually need.
Use this checklist before you ask for a quote
Before you send an enquiry, have a clear picture of the work you need done. That makes it easier to compare options and avoid paying for extras you wont use. It also helps the team see whether you need basic bookkeeping, payroll support or a cleanup of older records.
- How many bank accounts does the business use?
- Do you trade in cash, card, EFT or all three?
- How many supplier accounts are active?
- Do you need monthly reports for decision-making?
- Is payroll weekly, monthly or mixed?
- Do you need leave tracking and payslip processing?
- Are there old entries that need cleaning up?
- Do you work across branches or from one site only?
If you can answer those points, you are already halfway there. It is also worth checking whether your business needs support with compliance admin, because missed submissions and poor records can cause stress later on. Small businesses in Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha often have seasonal swings too, so the right plan should handle busy months without falling apart in quieter ones.
What to expect from Affo's bookkeeping and payroll support
Affo was founded in 2012 and is based in Bryanston, Johannesburg, with support for micro businesses across South Africa. The focus is practical bookkeeping and payroll for small operations that need reliable records without carrying a full in-house finance team. Services are shaped around day-to-day business needs, not big-company complexity.
The team includes Thabiso Mokoena as Managing Director, Naledi Khumalo as Bookkeeping Lead, Johan van der Merwe as Payroll Manager, Anele Dlamini as Client Success Coordinator, Priya Naidoo as Compliance Administrator and Lerato Maseko as Cloud Systems Specialist. That mix matters because bookkeeping, payroll, compliance and systems work all affect one another. When those parts are handled properly, you spend less time fixing errors and more time running the business.
Clients from Pretoria, Sandton, Randburg, Midrand, Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha can reach out through the enquiry form on the contact page. From there, the process can be matched to the size of the business and the volume of records that need attention.
A simple way to decide before month end
To keep the decision practical, use this final test. If your business has a small number of transactions, one or two staff members and straightforward expenses, start with a lighter plan. If you have weekly wages, multiple suppliers or frequent bank movements, choose a plan with more hands-on support. If your records are already behind, ask for cleanup before settling into ongoing monthly work.
Good bookkeeping should make the month easier, not create extra admin. The right plan is the one that keeps your figures current, your payroll orderly and your decisions based on numbers you can trust. That is especially helpful during load-shedding days, month-end rushes and the times when a micro business has to do a lot with very little.
If you are unsure, choose the plan that covers the work you have now, not the work you hope to have later. You can always review it as the business grows.
