Why Profitable Businesses Still Run Short at Month-End
Many wholesalers, retailers, and manufacturers experience a shortage of working capital, even when revenue remains steady. The issue is often not sales or turnover, but timing: how long cash stays tied up inside the operating cycle. When customers pay later than expected, and suppliers require payment before stock has been sold, the resulting timing gaps […]
Futures Contracts: Balancing Risk and Opportunity
What Are Futures? Futures are financial contracts that allow two parties to agree on the price of an asset today, with the transaction taking place at a specified date in the future. Although the concept may initially seem complicated, it is built on a simple idea: locking in a price now to reduce uncertainty later, […]
Death Is Unavoidable, But Estate Taxes Can Be Planned For
Estate duty is one of those taxes that many people know about in theory, but very few actively plan for. It only becomes real when a loved one passes away and the estate is wound up, often revealing how much value quietly leaks away to taxes, fees, and avoidable inefficiencies. The reality, however, is that […]
Tokenisation of Traditional Securities
The convergence of blockchain technology with traditional financial markets is no longer speculative – it is a structural shift redefining how investors access, trade, and interact with listed securities. In South Africa, this transformation is already underway, with cryptocurrency exchanges offering tokenised versions of foreign-listed shares. This signals a broader global movement toward more inclusive […]
The ‘Big Three’ Tax Worries (Part 3): Property
Rounding up our series on the three main worries for taxpayers, we discuss property. So, you now know how to claim your car expenses on your tax return, and are reasonably confident that you can now manage your share investments without incurring the wrath of SARS. But the one thing that really keeps you awake […]
Smart Approaches to Trading Stock Valuation
GAAP / IFRS determines the accounting treatment, with tax largely following suit. Valuing your trading stock, also known as inventory, is a critical aspect of financial accounting and business management—not to mention tax compliance. Accurate valuation of inventory ensures that a company’s financial statements present a true and fair view of its financial position, directly […]
How to Make Sure Your Cash Works Harder Than Your Cost of Capital
In South Africa’s current economic climate, treasury management is no longer just about keeping the lights on and ensuring liquidity. It’s about making sure every rand of cash, especially idle or excess cash, earns a return that meets or exceeds the company’s cost of capital. If it doesn’t, the business is quietly losing value. This […]
The ‘Big Three’ Tax Worries (Part 2): Shares
In the second part of this series, we focus on shares. If claiming against our car allowances is the number one thing that keeps us awake at night as taxpayers, then the fear of SARS lying in wait to lay their grubby paws on the slightest gain that we make on our share investments must […]
Understanding Residency in Terms of Tax
When earning an income in South Africa, you are probably paying tax. The Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (“the Act”) describes gross income as: “(i) in the case of any resident, the total amount, in cash or otherwise, received by or accrued to or in favour of such resident; or (ii) in the case […]
The ‘Big Three’ Tax Worries (part 1): Cars
What keeps taxpayers awake at night? Judging by the many questions that I’ve been asked as a tax practitioner over the years, there is a definite ‘Big Three’ when it comes to problems that cause taxpayers sleepless nights: cars, shares, and property. The tax treatment of these three items probably causes more anxiety, and has […]