What the VAT Ready Plan Covers
This package is built for small operators who want tidy books before they register for VAT. It focuses on the day to day work that often gets pushed aside when you are running a business on your own or with a very small team. We keep supplier records, customer income, wages and basic reconciliations in one place, with clear monthly reporting that makes it easier to see what is going on.
Affo works from Bryanston, Johannesburg and supports clients in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha. That matters because a lot of micro businesses trade across provinces, use different banks and have staff in more than one area. A clean bookkeeping process helps when SARS asks questions, when you apply for funding, or when you need to show a landlord or supplier that your numbers are in order.
- Monthly bookkeeping for micro businesses
- Preparation for VAT registration
- Bank, cash and sales record organisation
- Payroll support where staff are on wages or salaries
- Monthly reports that are easy to read
Plan Sizes and What Suits Each Business
The VAT Ready Plan is available in three practical sizes. The right fit depends on how many transactions you process, how many employees you pay, and whether you issue invoices daily or only a few times a month. If you are still small but busy, it is better to choose a size that gives a little breathing room, because catch-up work always costs more later.
Starter suits one-person businesses or firms with low monthly transaction volume. Growth suits businesses with regular sales, monthly supplier payments and a small team. Busy Month suits businesses with more moving parts, weekly wages, or seasonal spikes that need extra attention. This is useful for contractors, service businesses, small retail, local manufacturers, and owner-managed firms that need bookkeeping kept current without hiring in-house staff.
- Starter: up to 50 bank and cash entries per month
- Growth: up to 150 entries per month with light payroll support
- Busy Month: up to 300 entries per month with fuller payroll and cleanup support
- Optional add-on for payroll cover during leave or public holidays
Where It Fits Best
This plan suits businesses that are close to the VAT threshold, or already tracking their figures because registration is likely soon. It also works well for businesses that have grown faster than their admin systems. If your receipts are in a shoebox, your bank statements are not reconciled, and your payroll is handled manually, the VAT Ready Plan gives you a better base to work from.
It is especially useful in places where small businesses trade hard and cash flow needs close attention, such as Randburg, Midrand, Sandton, Pretoria North, Cape Town CBD, Durban central and Gqeberha industrial areas. Coastal humidity can affect paper records, so a cloud-based filing process is a practical choice. Load-shedding also makes digital record keeping a safer option than relying on one laptop or an office full of loose files.
- Micro retail and service businesses
- Consultants, trades and home-based operators
- Small teams with weekly or monthly payroll
- Businesses preparing for VAT registration within the next few months
Setup, Access and What You Need to Provide
There is no physical installation, but there is a setup process that gets the records moving in the right direction. We need access to your bank statements, past invoices, supplier bills, payroll details and any current bookkeeping files. If your records are behind, we can do a cleanup first so the monthly work starts from a proper base. That is often the best route, even if it takes a little extra time at the beginning.
You do not need special equipment. A stable internet connection, scanned copies of documents and a working email address for document sharing are enough for most small businesses. If you are on a site with poor signal, we can work with batch uploads and monthly file handovers. The main thing is consistency, not fancy systems.
- Bank statements for all business accounts
- Proof of sales, invoices and supplier bills
- Payroll details, ID numbers and employee leave records where relevant
- Previous bookkeeping files or spreadsheets if available
Care, Servicing and Ongoing Support
Good bookkeeping needs regular attention, the same way you would service a vehicle before it starts giving trouble. We check entries monthly, keep payroll aligned with actual staff changes, and flag missing documents before they turn into bigger problems. If there are unusual payments, owner drawings, or a month where sales dipped, we note it clearly so you are not surprised later.
For payroll clients, we also support leave tracking, timesheet capture, new employee setup, termination pay, deduction support, payroll reporting, holiday payroll cover, small team payroll and payroll cleanup. That gives micro businesses a proper admin backstop without having to employ a full finance team. One or two small issues can be caught early, which saves time and a fair bit of money.
- Monthly reconciliations and record checks
- Payroll changes updated as staff join or leave
- Holiday cover when your usual contact is away
- Cleanup help if your books have fallen behind
What to Check Before You Order
Before you choose the VAT Ready Plan, check how many transactions you have each month, whether your payroll is weekly or monthly, and whether your records are current or overdue. If you are not sure, count the bank entries and add the cash sales. That gives a better idea of the workload than guessing. It also helps to know if you will need extra support for past periods before the new month starts.
You should also check who will be sending documents, how often payroll changes happen, and whether you need reporting for lenders, suppliers or your own planning. If your business has both staff and contractors, tell us that upfront. It avoids delays and gives us a cleaner picture of the admin load. A little clarity at the start saves hassle later, plain and simple.
- Monthly transaction volume
- Payroll frequency and number of employees
- Whether records are current or need cleanup
- Any upcoming VAT registration deadline
How Affo Supports Your Finance Admin
Affo is based in Bryanston, Johannesburg and was founded in 2012. The team includes Thabiso Mokoena, Naledi Khumalo, Johan van der Merwe, Anele Dlamini, Priya Naidoo and Lerato Maseko, each handling a different part of the bookkeeping and payroll process. That structure means micro businesses get practical support from people who understand local conditions, from small office setups in Sandton to home-run operations in Cape Town and Durban.
Clients reach us through the enquiry form on our contact page, then we match the support to the size and pace of the business. The goal is to keep things accurate, understandable and up to date, so when VAT registration does come around, your records are ready instead of being a rush job at month end.
Key facts
| Plan type | Monthly bookkeeping package for businesses approaching VAT registration |
|---|---|
| Business size | Micro businesses with low to moderate monthly transaction volumes |
| Coverage | Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha |
| Service format | Cloud-based bookkeeping with monthly reporting and document capture |
| Payroll support | Optional support for weekly wages, monthly payroll and cleanup |
| Setup need | Bank statements, invoices, supplier bills, payroll details and prior records |
