Common questions,
straight answers.

We're based in Cape Town, but we're fully remote-first. We work with clients across South Africa — from Johannesburg and Durban to smaller towns — entirely online. Geography has never been a barrier for us.

We start with a brief call to understand your business. After that, we send an engagement letter, set up your Xero file (or take over your existing one), connect your bank feeds, and get your first month underway. Most clients are fully onboarded within a week.

We work on fixed monthly fees — no hourly billing, no surprise invoices. The fee depends on the services you need and the size of your business. We'll give you a clear quote after the initial call, before you commit to anything.

Yes, and most clients do. Bookkeeping, payroll, and tax work best together because they feed from the same data. Bundling also means less duplication of effort on your end — one team handles everything.

We work exclusively on Xero. If you're not on it yet, we handle the full setup. If you're already using Xero with another provider, we take over the existing file after a review. We don't work on Sage or QuickBooks.

Most clients share access to their bank account and relevant supplier portals. For anything manual, we use a shared digital folder — no printing or couriering. We try to source as much as possible directly so the burden on you is minimal.

For routine queries, we aim to respond within one business day. Urgent tax or compliance matters — SARS deadlines, penalty notices — we treat as priority and typically come back the same day.

Yes. DigMe Solutions is registered with SAIPA (South African Institute of Professional Accountants). Our principal, Grant Jolliffe, holds the Professional Accountant (SA) designation.

No. We handle the full Xero setup, bank feed connections, and chart-of-accounts configuration as part of onboarding. If you're already on Xero, we take over the existing file after a brief review.

Most clients share access to their email, bank accounts, and supplier portals. For anything manual, we use a shared digital folder — no printing, no couriering documents.

An income statement, balance sheet, and a short commentary from us on what changed, what to watch, and any action items — delivered by the 15th of the following month.

Yes — catch-up bookkeeping is a common starting point. We assess the backlog, quote accordingly, and bring everything current before moving to the monthly cycle.

It can be — but most clients bundle services. When bookkeeping, payroll, and tax are managed together, there's no duplication of work and everything feeds into the same Xero file.

We work with freelancers, sole proprietors, small businesses, and growing SMEs. There's no minimum — the right package depends on your transaction volume, not your revenue.

Technically no — but straightforward affairs become complicated faster than expected. Investment accounts, rental income, a side business, or a company interest all add complexity that auto-assessments routinely mishandle. Having a practitioner review every return before acceptance costs far less than fixing an error after the fact.

Provisional tax applies if you earn income that isn't subject to PAYE — rental, freelance, business income, or significant investment returns. You pay twice a year based on estimated annual taxable income. We calculate the correct estimate to avoid both over-payment and the 20% penalty SARS charges for under-estimation.

Yes. Outstanding returns are one of the most common issues we deal with. We compile the relevant records, file the returns, and often apply for penalty remission at the same time. SARS is generally more cooperative when returns are filed voluntarily, even late.

A registered tax practitioner holds a recognised professional designation (ours is through SAIPA), is registered with SARS as a tax practitioner, and complies with SARS' annual CPD requirements. It means we can formally represent you in SARS correspondence and are bound by a professional code of conduct.

More than most people realise. Banks, employers, medical schemes, and retirement fund administrators all submit data directly to SARS. Your auto-assessment is built from this third-party data. If any of it is incorrect, inaccurate, or incomplete, your return will be too — unless someone reviews it.

We handle it. An audit is a request for supporting documents for a specific return. We compile the pack, respond within the SARS deadline, and track the outcome. If SARS issues an additional assessment we disagree with, we object formally on your behalf.

The compliance obligations are identical regardless of headcount. A three-person payroll still requires monthly EMP201 submissions to SARS, monthly UIF declarations to DOL, and annual IRP5 certificates. The admin doesn't scale down proportionally — our managed service does.

They're separate submissions to separate government departments. SARS gets the contribution (money) via the EMP201. The Department of Labour gets a declaration (employee records) via uFiling. Both are monthly. Both have the same deadline. Missing the DOL submission is one of the most common payroll compliance gaps we see.

A payroll input sheet — hours worked, overtime, leave taken, any new starters or leavers, and any changes to benefits or deductions. We agree a cut-off date (typically 3 working days before pay date) and send you a template to fill in.

Yes — and this is often where small business payrolls go wrong. Director remuneration has specific tax treatment depending on whether the director is an executive director, how remuneration is structured, and whether there are loan accounts in play. We handle this correctly from day one.

Yes. Outstanding EMP201s and EMP501s are a common catch-up scenario. We reconstruct the payroll records, file the outstanding returns, and apply for penalty remission where possible. Getting current is the priority before resuming a monthly cycle.

When both are managed by us, yes. Payroll journals post directly into Xero — wages, PAYE, UIF, SDL, and net pay all coded correctly. No double-entry, no manual journals, no month-end reconciliation between two systems.

Yes — Xero is a subscription you pay directly (from around R250/month for the Starter plan). As a Xero Partner, we can advise on the right subscription tier for your needs. Our fee covers the setup, management, and advisory — not the Xero licence itself.

Risk is real but manageable. The main risks are lost transaction history and incorrect opening balances. We address both with a structured migration approach: data audit first, parallel run, and reconciliation sign-off before you cut over.

Yes — all major South African banks support Xero bank feeds: FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank, Absa, and Capitec. Connection is via your online banking login and takes a few minutes once the Xero file is ready.

A Xero clean-up is one of our most common starting points. We review the chart of accounts, reconcile outstanding items, clear up misposted transactions, and bring the file current. It's far less work than starting over and it preserves your history.

Yes — Xero has role-based access. We set up your team with appropriate permissions: invoice entry, expense capture, or approval access. Staff can't see things they shouldn't, and we retain accountant-level access to manage and review the file.

It's particularly well suited to small businesses — the Starter and Standard plans cover most SME needs. The interface is designed for business owners, not accountants, which means your team can actually use it without constant hand-holding.

Most small Pty Ltds and CCs only require a compilation report (prepared by a qualified accountant). However, the Companies Act sets out three tiers based on your Public Interest Score (PIS): a PIS below 100 requires only a compilation; a PIS of 100-349 triggers a mandatory independent review under Companies Act Regulation 28; and a PIS of 350 or above requires a full audit. An audit is also required if you're a state-owned company, or if your MOI specifically requires one. We'll calculate your PIS and tell you exactly which applies to your business.

Companies Act: AFS must be approved within 6 months of the financial year-end. SARS ITR14: due within 12 months of year-end. We track both deadlines on your behalf and flag you well in advance.

Yes, but we'll need to do a bookkeeping clean-up first, which adds time and cost. The cleaner your records, the faster and cheaper the AFS preparation. If you're on Xero with monthly processing, this is usually not an issue.

Yes. Our compilation reports are issued on SAIPA letterhead in the standard ISRS 4410 format that South African banks accept. We can also provide a letter of good standing or confirmation of tax compliance if required.

Typically 5-7 business days from the time we have all your documents. Name reservations occasionally take longer if CIPC has a backlog, but we flag this immediately and can suggest alternatives if needed.

Yes. Foreign nationals can be directors of a South African company. You'll need a certified copy of your passport and proof of address. Some additional SARS requirements apply for non-residents, which we'll walk you through.

Yes — CIPC requires a registered physical address (not a PO Box). If you don't have one, we can discuss options. Many of our clients use their home address initially and update it later when they take on commercial premises.

In most cases, yes — but the reinstatement process is more complex and costly than staying current. We've successfully reinstated companies that were deregistered for years. Contact us with your company number and we'll assess the situation.

Yes — management reports are built from your bookkeeping data, so they're most accurate when we're handling your books as well. If you have clean Xero data from another bookkeeper, we can discuss options, but our standard management accounts service is part of a broader accounting engagement.

Annual financial statements (AFS) are prepared once a year, in a formal format for statutory and tax purposes. Management accounts are produced monthly, in an internal management format, specifically to help you run the business. They're more frequent, more actionable, and written for decision-making — not compliance.

Yes. If your Xero chart of accounts is set up with tracking categories, we can break the management accounts down by department, product line, location, or project. This is something we set up during onboarding and refine over time to match how you think about the business.

We deliver reports as a PDF pack — ready to share with your management team or board — and optionally as Excel if you prefer to work with the numbers directly. The format is consistent month to month so you can compare easily.

A bookkeeper typically processes transactions but doesn't produce management accounts, handle tax submissions, or provide advisory input. Our outsourced accounting package covers all of that — for a predictable fixed fee, without leave, sick days, or recruitment costs.

Yes — this is the most common scenario. We review the existing file, clean up any issues, reconnect bank feeds if needed, and take over processing from the agreed start date. We'll tell you upfront if there's a cleanup fee.

We work on fixed monthly fees — no hourly billing, no surprise invoices. The fee is scoped to the services you need and the size of your business. We'll give you a clear quote after a short discovery call, before you commit to anything.

Mostly, no. Bank feeds pull through automatically via Xero. For supplier invoices and expenses, we set up a simple shared folder or Hubdoc workflow — you upload once, we handle the rest. It becomes a 10-minute-a-month job for you.

Always. You have a named accountant on your account — not a call centre. We respond to emails within one business day and are available for calls when you need them.

We migrate you. Whether you're on a spreadsheet, Sage, QuickBooks, or nothing at all — we handle the Xero setup, data import, and training so you're comfortable with the system.