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A sound indicator of the time of year is the number of cups of my morning brew I need to wake up. Lately I find it’s only after chugging down my second cup, that my body starts to accept that we’re officially up.

Besides yearning for a break (and for winter to be over, yes I am a Capetonian), I also find more of my clients requesting financial summaries and updates on their financial performance thus far. Many of them are already hard at work on their 2025/26 operating budgets.

When reviewing a client's financial performance, it’s always easy to spot those that budget well, as they do considerably better than those that don’t. I believe businesses that budget, hold their managers accountable for their decisions relating to expenses and revenue.

BUT WHY DO WE BUDGET?

One of the best explanations I recall, goes back to a joke about a passenger traveling on holiday on a budget airline.
“Would you like dinner?” the cabin crew asked.
“What are my choices?” the passenger asks.
“Yes or no.”

We budget because it gives us a clear indication of how we need to conduct our business. It provides much needed guidance to employees as to how the shareholders would like the business to be managed and operated.

A budget is defined as an official plan, expressed in monetary terms, of what the business will make happen in the future.

TYPES OF BUDGETS

I simply list these as an academic exercise, especially if you might be responsible for a department budget and you have never done one before.

There are basically four approaches or types of budgets:

1. Incremental budgeting - A traditional budgeting method where the previous period's budget is used as a base, and incremental adjustments (either up or down) are made for the new period based on expected changes, without reassessing all expenses.

2. Zero-based budgeting - A method where each new budget starts from zero, and all expenses must be justified for each period. Rather than adjusting from the previous budget, each activity is evaluated, and funding is allocated based on necessity and efficiency.

3. Mixed budgeting - A hybrid approach that combines elements of both incremental and zero-based budgeting. It allows for incremental changes in stable areas of the budget while using a zero-based approach for specific, high-priority areas or new initiatives.

4. Flexed or Layered budgeting - A budgeting approach that adjusts based on actual performance or activity levels. Flexed budgets are recalculated based on changes in revenue, production, or other variables, allowing for more responsive financial planning throughout the year.

A FEW PRACTICAL GUIDELINES

The process of managing and controlling budgets is not exactly riveting stuff as they say. It involves other departments, personnel and a host of mundane activities. But, like scuba diving and year-end parties; managing a budget is best tackled with the help and support of others.

Here are a few suggestions that will help you shoulder the responsibility of managing and controlling budgets:

* Have a monthly budget review meeting and give feedback to all the respective department heads on their performance to date.

* Establish a Finance Committee that reviews all procurement requests (this committee can also perform the budget review mentioned above).

* Get into the habit of maintaining accurate statistics of day-to-day business expenses (telephones, fuel, stationary, printing etc). These figures come in handy during the budget cycle.

* Do regular Performance Reviews on personnel and departments. Having clearly defined KPI’s on budget goals and responsibilities go a long way in keeping all eyes on the ball.

* Reward departments that successfully stay within their budgets and who still manage to achieve their performance goals.

* Excellence awards - acknowledge ideas that translate into savings and make sure you handsomely reward those individuals. It’s a fun, yet often overlooked way of doing things better.

CONCLUSION

I fear the days of holding a wet thumb in the wind as a form of magically conjuring up numbers for a budget are long gone. Companies simply don’t have excess funds to waste in these perilous economic times.

Your best bet is to work with the most accurate figures you can obtain. But to obtain these numbers takes time and effort and needs to be done many weeks in advance and prior to the budget cycle.

Getting into budget mode at this time of the year might not be such a bad idea after all and trust me, in the end, you’ll be happy you did!

Every now and then I experience an event, or read an article or a book, that reminds me of an earlier time, roughly around the mid 1990’s, when we birthed our new democracy and became a nation filled with hopes and dreams; living in the euphoria of just having won the Rugby World Cup (1995). As Francois Pienaar stood on the podium, next to a proud Madiba, he raised the prized Webb Ellis Cup to the elation of the whole nation. We felt untouchable.

This was also a time when we had leaders with an unquestionable moral integrity, top educational credentials, and high personal standards at the helm of government, industry, and academia. The event that triggered these thoughts, and to which I am referring to, was an online Think Tank webinar, hosted by the North-West University’s Business School, and the speaker was none other than Trevor Manual, previous Minister of Finance and Minister in the Presidency. Besides having great respect for his sound abilities as finance minister of the country, Mr Manual singlehandedly turned SARS into one of the most competent and efficient government departments at the time. The topic title was South Africa’s Economy: Where do we come from – where do we go?

Listening to Mr Manual and hearing his voice of reason and intellect just took me right back to those earlier days I referred to at the beginning of this piece. Looking at us now, I feel as if we have lost our sense of identity and forgotten who we are as a nation, but that’s a conversation for another day.

Of greater importance to me were the 8 main items, Mr Manual referred to in his webinar, that we should keep a close eye on and that will have a profound impact on the economic growth of our country going forward:

SOUTH AFRICA’S GREY LISTING

The FATF grey list refers to the FATF’s practice of publicly identifying countries with strategic Anti- Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) deficiencies. The greylisting of a country means that its government has adopted an action plan to address to deficiencies identified during its mutual evaluation after an observation period, and to implement such action plan within a defined time period, and with FATF monitoring such implementation.

CREDIT RATING OUTLOOK BY THE AGENCIES

Even though we may not like the agencies, and they render their services at a great cost to us. Poor ratings have a major impact on our ability as a country to attract investments, funding, and other forms of venture capital to stimulate economic growth. It is thus important that there is a constant effort towards improving our financial controls and systems and that we are seen to hold all levels of business accountable at internationally accepted accounting and financial practices and standards.

GENERAL PERFORMANCE OF THE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES

The success or failure of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) is a direct reflection and testimony of government’s inability to effectively manage commercial enterprises. It is essential that government cleans up its act in the way it manages these commercial enterprises and to ensure they are functional and profitable. SOE’s are critical creators of employment and the seedbeds for further social and economic development of the country and its citizens.

CORRUPTION AND PROSECUTION OF PERPETRATORS

We simply have to show that we take serious steps towards eradicating corruption, and that we take the necessary actions to prosecute criminal activities. These steps also include implementing control measures to ensure accountability at all levels of government. Included in these actions should also be the protection of whistleblowers.

PROTESTS AND CIVIL UNREST

Many times, valid protests turn into civil unrest that get out of hand and lead to massive damage to infrastructure, fuelling widespread fears and concerns, as was the case during the KZN uprisings during 2022. These events have a negative impact on potential investments and cause tremendous harm to our international image and brand as a stable country, not to mention the exorbitant capital layout to replace stolen goods and repair damaged property and infrastructure. These are damages we simply can’t afford.

THE RULING PARTY’S ELECTORAL SUPPORT

It is the first time since 1994 that the ruling party’s electoral support seems to be on shaky ground. This will require strong leadership from the ruling party to address and re-align the party to its electoral constituencies. It will also influence the development and roll-out of economic and social policies.

THE IMPACT OF COALITION POLITICS

Since the ruling party’s voter support base appears to be under severe threat, it opens up the door to coalitions and coalition party politics which is a fairly new form of political structure and involve new collaborative efforts. This will pose new challenges to all involved in our democracy.

INTELLIGENT ANALYIS OF POLICY REFORMS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

The current economic state of affairs is basically the sum total of the decisions, policies and approaches taken thus far by the SA government. The future of economic progress and development for the country, lie squarely on our ability to assess and evaluate the very policies that got us here. Without serious analysis in conjunction with asking tough questions from our government leadership, securing the country’s financial future will remain a pipedream at best.

CONCLUSION

I am no politician, and I am certainly not trying my hand at political analysis, but the state of the economy and how we deal with the challenges we face, as business leaders, business owners and, entrepreneurs in general, will play a vital role in the sustainability and future growth of our economy and the country’s citizenry.

Without sufficient economic growth, we simply cannot finance the projects necessary to address the development and expansion of previously disadvantaged communities. Employment remains, at the very least, the very first step to ensure that people can provide in their basic human needs such as food and shelter. These are vital for the maintenance of any form of personal dignity and without it, we will be creating a spark at the proverbial barrel of dynamite, and we will be one step closer to a major societal catastrophe.

This entire matter, in my opinion, makes it an important enough issue to call every business leader, owner, shareholder, entrepreneur, government official and citizen to take action, to step up to the plate and to get involved. Get involved in local council meetings, review new policies affecting you in your everyday life. Support community projects and identify causes that resonate with the core values of your business, your department, or your world view.

The time for complaining and listing the failures of the ruling party is over – anyone can do that. We need to accept that no one is coming to our rescue. The protection of our constitutional rights, our future, our businesses, our towns, and our economy, will simply have to come from us.

The previous two blog posts I wrote, focused on kindness as an essential characteristic in the coming year, and the second on, how to deal with the predicted economic volatility during 2023. One article focused on external challenges and the other on challenges from within the organisation.

With the year now truly on the march (pardon the pun), and as we are about to start with the new financial year, I wanted to reflect on a matter which has been at the forefront of my thinking following numerous interactions with my clients, namely the issue of paying taxes.

For the past couple of months (from about the onset of the Covid pandemic) I have seen and experienced a noticeable unhappiness, and in some cases resistance, from many individuals and businesses about paying their due taxes. These indifferences can certainly be traced back to public outcries of corruption, failing SOE’s, and of late, the entire ESKOM debacle. The mood of the people and business landscape is negatively impacted by the constant wave of unprosecuted crimes, non-consequential dishonesty, theft and corruption.

But does the dishonest behavior of a number of high-profile politicians automatically give us permission to pay taxes on our own terms? I believe that this quickly turns into a slippery slope once we start to dictate the terms of our tax liabilities against the broad brushstroke of criminality of a few politicians, and here are three reasons I say so:

Paying Taxes is How We Build Societies

We are the sum total of our education, upbringing, and culture, none of which function in isolation. Each generation builds on the efforts of the previous one and so we create a country and its people. Without our taxes our government is not able to provide the fertile soil in which to cultivate these essential building blocks. These services include building roads and schools, offering refuse removal and sanitation, providing clean drinking water, ensuring electrical supply and infrastructure, and many other essential services which cannot be economically provided on an individual basis.

We are fortunate that in the Western Cape we possess many well-run municipalities, and emergency services and repairs are usually quick to respond. While there is undoubtably an immense service delivery problem across the country, our government still need our taxes to effectively run the country.

A close friend reminded me the other day that there are also honorable and hardworking individuals in government and municipal offices. We are quick to think that there is a justifiable trade-off between our long list of problems and personal frustrations, and not having to pay taxes. But the two sides do not belong to the same coin, and while we can indeed demand better service levels, we still need to maintain the moral high ground and continue to pay our taxes as law abiding citizens, lest we want to aid in our own regression into anarchy.

All Criminal Acts are Punishable by Law

It doesn’t matter how you look at your tax liabilities – the house, so to speak, always wins! I am simply saying that, despite the many SOE’s and government departments that are not well run, SARS, for some reason remains a competent organisation when it pertains to their ability to audit tax irregularities and to institute hefty penalties for non-paying entities. The short-term gain of not paying your taxes is simply not worth the long-term pain you inflict on yourself. With the adoption of the “pay-now-argue-later” principal SARS has the upper hand. Pay your taxes when they are due, you will thank yourself later. This leads me to my next point;

Tax Avoidance Vs Tax Evasion

The South African tax legislation landscape is a complex one, but it also makes a number of concessions which you should use to your benefit. To make full use of these concessions you require a detailed understanding of the law, accounting principles and how to structure your portfolio of business, assets, and wealth in such a way to ensure optimal tax benefits within the law. While tax avoidance is completely acceptable, tax evasion is not, and will guarantee hefty penalties or even jail time.

Further to the above, it is also vital that you make use of registered tax professionals who can guide and advise you on the best practices and options for you to follow within your business and personal tax liabilities. I cannot stress this point enough. We often have to take over clients and resolve the mess that was left behind by some so-called tax consultant (usually a personal friend or varsity buddy). Do yourself a favor and make sure your tax specialist is qualified and registered with the appropriate authorities.

Not paying our taxes is just not a viable option, especially in a country such as ours where we have such huge divide between the rich and poor. And no, I am not getting any special benefits by advocating that you pay your taxes, I am simply a citizen of South Africa and I believe in this country’s future.

2023 Budget Speech

On 09 February 2023 the President delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) followed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivering his 2023 Budget Speech on 22 February 2023. I have highlighted a selection of some of the main issues discussed under his Revenue and Tax Proposals discussion namely:

• Tax revenue collections for 2022/2023 are expected to total R1.69 trillion. This exceeds the 2022 budget estimate by R93.7 billion.
• As a result, there are no major tax proposals in the budget.
• The fuel levy and Road Accident Fund levy will not be increased this year. This will take effect from 1 April 2023 for two years.
• Personal income tax brackets will be adjusted for inflation, which will increase the tax-free threshold from R91 250 to R95 750.
• Medical tax credits will also be adjusted by inflation to R364 per month for the first two members and R246 per month for additional members.
• The retirement and withdrawal lump sum tax table will be adjusted upwards by 10%. This means that at retirement or retrenchment, the once-off tax-free amount will increase to R550 000.
• Transfer duty will be increased by 10%, allowing properties valued under R1.1 million to avoid any transfer duty payments.
• The government intends to publish a revised draft legislation on the two-pot retirement system.
• The two-pot system will be implemented from 1 March 2024 and any withdrawals from the accessible “savings pot” will be taxed as income in the year of withdrawal.
• There will be an increase in the excise duties on alcohol and tobacco of 4.90% which is in line with inflation. This means that the duty on:

o 340ml can of beer increases by 10 cents.
o 750ml bottle of wine increases by 18 cents.
o 750ml bottle of spirits increases by R3.90.
o 23g cigar increases by R5.47.
o A pack of 20 cigarettes increases by 98 cents.

Conclusion

I never enjoy making calls to clients to inform them of a large tax payment they need to make; especially when a client’s portfolio is still in the midst of being re-aligned, corrected or in the process of being optimized. Conversely there is also no greater joy than to call a client and to notify them of an upcoming tax payout.

From an annualized perspective it makes sense to study the tax legislation and to put in the hard miles required to create an optimal tax structure. This requires cost effective budgeting, financial discipline, and administrative controls, but once those systems are in place, there are definitely tangible benefits, but it requires ongoing review and professional tax consultation.

Next time you have to settle a tax related payment, keep in mind that we all are working towards the success of our country and to the benefit of our own and the of our children’s future. While the benefits are not always so evident, every tax rand is precious and important. Let’s be the change we want to see in our country and the world.

For the first time since my years as a part-time studying parent, while also completing my accounting articles, I find myself at the mercy of circumstances beyond my control. I think it is safe to say, and I speak on behalf of many of my fellow South Africans, when I say, I feel emotionally exhausted!

I had barely worked my last day in 2022 when, a few days later, I was yet again seated behind my desk. The news feeds and negative headlines from social media and news networks clearly did not do the same, and we seem to continue right where we left off in December.

Poor economic predictions, Andre De Ruyter’s resignation and the government’s announcement of permanent loadshedding was not how I wanted to restart my year to say the least! Emotional exhaustion seems visible on everyone’s faces.

In spite of this, I will try to bring a measure of clarity, hope and inspiration through the publication of my blog. I took it upon myself to read up a bit on matters such as chronic stress, mental wellbeing, emotional intelligence, and the like, in an attempt to try and offer some guidance and suggestions on how we can all try to be a bit better to each other this year.

I will not live my life in fear. I decided this in defiance, many years ago, and it’s evolved into the ethos by which I have pursued my dreams and built my practice. All I see at the moment are overwhelming predictions on impending doom and gloom and the worst kind of scenarios imaginable for 2023; as if the previous two years weren’t bad enough!

In a mesmerizing Nobel Laureate discussion in 2017, Kazuo Ishiguro (Literature) said that the media and journalism business model is currently broken, and that rewards based on accuracy is no longer the case. Media networks and newspapers, like all other social media channels, are now forced to fight for the attention of eyeballs, to put it bluntly. This makes it difficult to discern fact from fiction as everyone grapples and claws their way to be first instead of right. It’s not about reporting the truth anymore, it’s about topics that create fear and sensation –two of the most basic drivers of our attention.

A review of some of the mainstream opinions, seem to predict that the global economy will be caught up in a recession, either in part or in full for 2023, depending on which camp your find yourself in. While there is no shortage of panicked analysts confirming the data, I am more concerned about what all of this means for the business owners who, in spite of all the tax burdens on their revenue, continues to pay their staff, pay their taxes, and wake up each morning to face another gut wrenching (powerless) day.

How can we survive this predicted recession? Let me first say if I read one more article where the list of suggestions includes tips such as “create an emergency fund”, or “reduce monthly spend”, or my personal favourite, “settle credit card debt”, I think my head might just explode. Where have the writers of these articles been for the past 24 months? People are struggling to pay for basic monthly necessities and their spending is already cut to the bone; savings have long gone been depleted and many retrenched people remain to be unemployed. Does anyone recall the Covid pandemic? I mean really.

So, in support of the many South Africans who are barely making ends meet I decided that in this month’s blog, I will propose a number of real suggestions to help business owners and ordinary people to try and buffer the implications and challenges of the year ahead. Feel free to share this article and to add any suggestions of your own. Let’s do everything in our power to support one another, as we may in fact really need it.

It’s an undisputed fact that the local and global economy was already on shaky legs (some believe a recession) prior to the pandemic which came down on us all like Thor’s proverbial hammer in 2020.

In its wake the pandemic created a huge economic turmoil and, while some businesses boomed with record-breaking profits, most found themselves battling to keep the doors open. Many folded and closed up shop, retrenching hundreds of employees.

As I write this, vaccination programs are being rolled out across the globe and in certain countries the pandemic seems to be slowly easing back (I say this with abated breath).

In the aftermath of the economic tsunami, businesses of all sizes are clawing their back and trying to create commercial momentum.

During December 2021 I wrote about trends and predictions to watch out for in 2022. You can read it here.

But progress and rebuilding of businesses (and the economy) is a slow burn as it tries to revive eradicated revenue streams, deal with changed consumer behavior, rethink out of sync processes, and coping with new technologies.

What I aim to achieve with this article, is to address the question of how a small to medium sized business can create additional or new sources of revenue.

The traditional costs-down-income-up model remain a good approach but creating more income (revenue) is more than simply doubling up on sales.

Like many business owners, I am aiming to close out a few last things before taking a couple of short leave days during the Festive Season. As I try to wrap my brain around this year, one part of me wants to scream and shout in frustration, but at the same time, I feel truly grateful for having survived yet another year living with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our medical billing department actively engages with our healthcare practitioners including wound specialists, professional nurses in practice, specialists, and general practitioners. These healthcare practitioners work long hours and, like any other business, have to keep a close eye on their revenue, expenses and cashflow as they have to pay accounts, order stock, and pay salaries.

Of late we have noticed a substantial increase in unpaid patient accounts, and we have been busier than ever to recover unpaid debt through interventions and patient payment plans, to improve our healthcare practitioners’ cashflow and levels of revenue.

But what can you do, from a practice management’s point of view, to improve the overall payment of outstanding accounts? We believe a better understanding of the overall picture will go a long way in reducing outstanding debt. Here are 5 reasons we found why patients don’t pay their bills and what you can do about it:

PRICING AND THE POWER OF PERCEIVED VALUE

Few voices can write with such authority on pricing as Hermann Simon, Chairman of Simon-Kucher & Partners Strategy and Marketing Consultants, nicknamed The Pricing Man, and a giant within the discipline of pricing research and practice, it hardly comes as a surprise that his take on pricing is pure commercial wisdom.

In his famous book, Confession of the Pricing Man, Simon explains one of the most fundamental principles on pricing: “People have asked me thousands of times to name the most important aspect of pricing. I answer with one word: “value”. When asked to elaborate I will use the term “value to customer”. The price a customer is willing to pay, and therefore the price a company can achieve, is always a reflection of the perceived value of the product or service in the customer’s eyes. If the customer perceives a higher value his or her willingness to pay rises. The converse is equally true, if the customer perceives a lower value relative to the competitive products, willingness to pay drops”.