Software Register

The glossary · 37 terms

The words, in plain words.

The South African tax, payroll, labour and privacy terms a software buyer meets, and the software terms the register uses. They explain the rules and are not tax, legal or financial advice: check SARS or ask your accountant.

B

Bank feedSoftware
A connection between your bank and your accounting software that brings your transactions in every day, so you reconcile instead of typing. Coverage of South African banks varies by product and by account type.Bank feeds, bank by bank
Bank reconciliationSoftware
Checking that the transactions in your books match your bank statement, so the balance in the software equals the balance at the bank. It is the monthly job that bank feeds exist to shorten.
BCEABasic Conditions of Employment ActPayroll and labour
The law that sets the minimum conditions of employment, including leave: 21 consecutive days of annual leave a cycle, sick leave over a three year cycle, family responsibility leave, and maternity and parental leave. Contracts can give more, never less.Applies to: Most employers and employees.BCEA leave: what HR software must accrue

C

CCMACommission for Conciliation, Mediation and ArbitrationPayroll and labour
The body that resolves many labour disputes, such as dismissals and unpaid leave. The records an HR system keeps, such as a leave balance or a warning, are what an employer produces there.Applies to: Employers and employees in a dispute.
CIPCCompanies and Intellectual Property CommissionPrivacy and company law
The body that registers companies and keeps their records. A registered company files an annual return with it after each anniversary of its registration.Applies to: Registered companies.
Cloud and on premiseSoftware
Cloud software runs on the vendor's servers and is used in a browser or an app, and needs a connection. On premise software runs on a computer or server in your own building and needs power and a backup routine.Load shedding and business software
COIDACompensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases ActPayroll and labour
The law under which employers register with the Compensation Fund and pay a levy that covers employees injured or made ill at work. Employers file an annual Return of Earnings, usually between April and the end of May.Applies to: Employers.
CRMCustomer relationship managementSoftware
Software that keeps the record of every customer and every sale in progress: contacts, conversations, follow ups and the pipeline of deals.Choosing a CRM for a South African sales team

E

e@syFilePayroll and labour
A SARS desktop application that payroll output is commonly loaded into for EMP501 reconciliations and certificate submissions. A payroll product that works with it saves you retyping.Applies to: Employers.Payroll software with e@syFile
EMP201Payroll and labour
The employer's monthly declaration of PAYE, UIF and SDL, with the payment, due by the 7th of the following month.Applies to: Every employer.Payroll software that prepares the EMP201
EMP501Payroll and labour
The reconciliation of what an employer declared and paid in the EMP201 returns against the certificates it issued to employees. It is done twice a year: an interim reconciliation and an annual one.Applies to: Every employer.Payroll software for the EMP501 reconciliation
ERPEnterprise resource planningSoftware
One system that holds a business's accounts, stock, buying, selling and sometimes production, so one entry updates all of them. It is usually priced by quote and set up by an implementation partner.Choosing an ERP in South Africa
ETIEmployment Tax IncentivePayroll and labour
An incentive that reduces the PAYE an employer pays on qualifying young employees, within limits the law sets. It is claimed through the EMP201.Applies to: Employers with qualifying employees.

F

Free plan and free trialSoftware
A free plan gives part of a product for as long as the vendor keeps it, with limits. A free trial gives the whole product for a short time and then asks for payment.The free tiers on the register

I

Implementation partnerSoftware
A company that sets up a larger product for you, brings your data across and trains your staff, and that you phone when something breaks. It sets its own fee, so two partners can quote very differently for the same product.
Information officerPrivacy and company law
The person responsible for a business's compliance with POPIA, registered with the Information Regulator. In a small business it is usually the owner or the head of the business.Applies to: Every business.
Information RegulatorPrivacy and company law
The body that enforces POPIA. A business notifies it, and the people affected, when personal information is compromised, and registers its information officer with it.Applies to: Every business that holds personal information.
Invoice basis and payments basisTax and VAT
Two ways of timing VAT. On the invoice basis VAT is accounted for when an invoice is issued or received. On the payments basis it is accounted for when money is paid or received. The payments basis is open to smaller vendors whose taxable supplies stay under R2.5 million a year, with SARS's approval.Applies to: VAT registered vendors.
IRP5Payroll and labour
The tax certificate an employer issues to an employee, showing income and the PAYE withheld, after the tax year ends. Employees need it for their own tax returns.Applies to: Employers, for each employee from whom PAYE was withheld.Payroll software that issues IRP5 certificates
IT3(a)Payroll and labour
The certificate an employer issues, in place of an IRP5, for an employee from whom no PAYE was withheld.Applies to: Employers, for employees below the tax threshold.Payroll software that issues IT3(a) certificates

O

Output tax and input taxTax and VAT
Output tax is the VAT you charge your customers. Input tax is the VAT your suppliers charge you. The VAT201 works out the difference: you pay SARS the excess of output over input, or SARS owes you a refund. Input tax can only be claimed on a valid tax invoice.Applies to: VAT registered vendors.

P

PAYEPay as you earnPayroll and labour
Income tax that an employer withholds from an employee's pay and pays over to SARS. It is declared on the monthly EMP201 and reconciled on the EMP501.Applies to: Every employer that pays salaries above the tax threshold.Payroll returns: EMP201, EMP501 and IRP5
POPIAProtection of Personal Information ActPrivacy and company law
The law that governs how personal information is collected, kept and used. It has been fully enforceable since 1 July 2021 and applies to any business that holds customer, supplier or employee details, including in its software.Applies to: Every business.POPIA and your software vendor
Price basisSoftware
What a software price is charged on and whether VAT is in it: per month, per user, per employee, in bands, including or excluding VAT. The register prints the basis beside every price, since two prices are only comparable on the same one.What business software costs in rand
Price on requestSoftware
The vendor gives its price only after you contact it. The register says so and does not estimate a figure. It is different from Free, which means the starting price is zero.How to ask for a quote
Provisional taxIRP6Tax and VAT
Income tax paid in advance during the year by provisional taxpayers, through two payments, usually at the end of August and the end of February for individuals, with an optional third after the year end. The return that goes with each payment is the IRP6. Companies follow their own year end.Applies to: Provisional taxpayers.The compliance calendar

R

Responsible party and operatorPrivacy and company law
The responsible party is the business that decides why and how personal information is used. An operator, such as a software vendor, handles it on the business's behalf under a written contract. The responsible party stays accountable for what its operators do.Applies to: Every business and its software vendors.POPIA and your software vendor

S

SARSSouth African Revenue ServiceTax and VAT
The national tax authority. It collects income tax, VAT, PAYE and the other taxes, and receives the returns that payroll and accounting software prepare.The compliance calendar
SARS eFilingTax and VAT
SARS's online service, where returns are submitted and payments are made. Software can prepare the figures for a return, and some products can also transfer them into eFiling so no one retypes them.VAT and the VAT201 return
SDLSkills Development LevyPayroll and labour
A levy of 1 percent of payroll, paid by employers whose annual payroll is above R500 000. It is declared and paid on the monthly EMP201.Applies to: Employers above the payroll threshold.
Sold in South AfricaSoftware
The register's mark for a product whose vendor's own pages show a South African site, rand pricing, a local phone line or South African origin. Other products are available to South African businesses online, with the price shown in rand.How the register works

T

Tax invoiceTax and VAT
The document the VAT Act requires for a taxable supply. A full tax invoice shows, among other things, the supplier's name, address and VAT number, the customer's details, a serial number and date, a description and the VAT. Where the total is R5 000 or less, a shorter abridged invoice is allowed.Applies to: VAT registered suppliers, and their customers who claim input tax.What a valid tax invoice needs

U

uFilingPayroll and labour
The Unemployment Insurance Fund's online service, where an employer declares its UIF contributions and employees.Applies to: Employers who contribute to UIF.
UIFUnemployment Insurance FundPayroll and labour
A fund that pays benefits to workers who lose their income, and during maternity, adoption and parental leave and illness. The employee contributes 1 percent of pay and the employer 1 percent, up to a ceiling the law sets. Employers also declare each month to the Fund.Applies to: Most employers and employees.Payroll software that calculates UIF

V

VATValue added taxTax and VAT
A tax on most goods and services, charged at the standard rate of 15 percent. A business must register once its taxable turnover passes R1 million in any twelve month period, and may register voluntarily once its taxable supplies have passed R50 000 in twelve months.Applies to: Every business that is registered for VAT, and every business that buys from one.Including and excluding VAT in a software priceVAT and the VAT201 return
VAT201Tax and VAT
The return a VAT registered business submits to SARS for each tax period. Most small vendors file every two months and larger ones monthly. Accounting software can prepare its figures from the ledger.Applies to: VAT registered vendors.Accounting software that prepares the VAT201

Z

Zero rated and exempt suppliesTax and VAT
A zero rated supply, such as an export or some basic foodstuffs, is charged VAT at 0 percent and still goes on the return. An exempt supply, such as residential rent, is outside VAT, does not go on the return and carries no input tax claim for its costs.Applies to: VAT registered vendors.

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