Guides and analysis
Clear explanations for the people comparing, approving and living with business software.
Featured guideAccounting
A practical way to compare daily bookkeeping, adviser access, reporting, bank connections and the cost that appears after the first month.
Payroll
Move beyond the feature list and examine migration, statutory updates, employee records, support and the first live payroll run.
Lewis Lauren7 minute read
CRM
Seats are only the beginning. We unpack contact limits, onboarding, automation, support and the cost of keeping clean data.
Lewis Lauren6 minute read
Operations
A useful framework for deciding when better accounting is enough and when operations need a connected system.
Lewis Lauren9 minute read
Privacy
The questions worth asking about personal information, access, providers, retention and what happens when a contract ends.
Lewis Lauren7 minute read
Accounting
The R1 million threshold, the voluntary route at R50 000, and the software settings that decide whether your VAT201 comes out right.
Lewis Lauren9 minute read
Accounting
Three cloud ledgers at R240, R450 and R322 a month. Where each one genuinely wins, and which local gaps you have to fill yourself.
Lewis Lauren11 minute read
Accounting
A feed that does not cover your account removes most of the reason to pay for cloud accounting. How to test yours before committing.
Lewis Lauren8 minute read
Accounting
What to migrate, what to leave behind, and why your accountant would rather you moved at year end than in the middle of a VAT period.
Lewis Lauren9 minute read
Accounting
Adviser access, a clean trial balance and a working audit trail matter more than any feature on the sales page. Ask before you choose.
Lewis Lauren7 minute read
Payroll
The three deductions every South African employer deals with, what your payroll must calculate, and where small businesses get caught.
Lewis Lauren10 minute read
Payroll
Monthly declarations and twice yearly reconciliations are where payroll software earns its money. What to check before a filing season.
Lewis Lauren9 minute read
Payroll
ETI can reduce the PAYE you pay over for younger employees. Claiming it correctly depends almost entirely on your payroll software.
Lewis Lauren8 minute read
Payroll
Registering with SARS and the UIF, issuing a payslip that complies, and deciding between software and a bureau for one person.
Lewis Lauren8 minute read
Payroll
If your industry has a council, its contributions and reporting formats are not optional. Very few payroll products handle them natively.
Lewis Lauren8 minute read
Commerce
The rate on the sales page is rarely the rate you pay. How to work out your blended cost across the machines sold to small merchants here.
Lewis Lauren9 minute read
Commerce
Three South African ways to take payment, priced against each other at the turnover levels a small business actually trades at.
Lewis Lauren10 minute read
Commerce
Card, instant EFT and QR, what each costs, and why your checkout conversion depends on offering the method your customer already trusts.
Lewis Lauren9 minute read
Privacy
Section 72 does not stop you using an overseas provider. It does mean you have to know where your data goes and be able to say so.
Lewis Lauren9 minute read
Operations
Half the products a South African business buys are priced in dollars. What that does to a budget, and how to plan for it sensibly.
Lewis Lauren8 minute read
Operations
Seats, add ons, implementation, migration, training and the internal time nobody budgets for. A method for costing it before you sign.
Lewis Lauren10 minute read
Operations
Who owns it, what data moves, what runs in parallel and when you stop paying for the old system. The plan most small projects skip.
Lewis Lauren9 minute read
Operations
Most trials are wasted clicking around an empty demo company. Use your own awkward records and you will learn more in a day than a month.
Lewis Lauren7 minute read
CRM
Every failed CRM has the same cause. Adoption is a design question and a management question long before it is a software question.
Lewis Lauren8 minute read
Operations
The signs that your stock has outgrown a spreadsheet, and the honest gap between accounting software with stock and a real inventory system.
Lewis Lauren9 minute read
