Guides
Practical help, in plain language.
Short, no-jargon guides to payroll, tax, contracts and e-signatures for South African small businesses.
- Templates
How to Turn a Word Document Into a Template With Fields
Your best quote is already a template. It just has the client's name typed in. Here is how to turn a Word document into a template that fills itself in, without breaking the layout.
Read guide - E-signatures
Signing With a Selfie: What It Proves and When to Use It
A selfie can stand in for a drawn signature on most business documents. Here is what a selfie signature actually shows, where South African law puts it, and the documents it's wrong for.
Read guide - Templates
Moving From DocFusion: How to Bring Your Templates Across
Switching document systems is mostly a templates job. Here is how to move your DocFusion templates without losing the fields, the logic or a month of quotes.
Read guide - Documents
How to Mail Merge Letters, Quotes and Contracts From a Spreadsheet
One template, one spreadsheet, one document per row. Here is how to set up a mail merge that comes out right the first time, and the spreadsheet mistakes that make it go wrong.
Read guide - Documents
Company Letterhead and Stationery That Stays Up to Date
Your letterhead carries legal details, and they change. Here is what South African company stationery must show, and how to set it up once so every new document gets the current version.
Read guide - E-signatures
How to Send a Document for Signature (and Get It Back Signed)
Getting a signature back is a chasing problem, not a technology problem. Here is how to send a quote or contract by email so it comes back signed the same day.
Read guide - Contracts
What Makes a Contract Legally Binding in South Africa?
A signature is not what makes a contract binding, and a contract does not have to be in writing. Here is what South African law actually requires, and why you should still put it in writing anyway.
Read guide - E-signatures
How to Sign a Document Online
Four ways to sign a document without a printer, from worst to best, and how to make sure the signed copy is the one you keep. Written for South African small businesses.
Read guide - E-signatures
E-signature vs Digital Signature: What's the Difference?
The two terms get used interchangeably and they mean different things. One is a legal concept, the other is a piece of cryptography. Here is the difference and which one you need.
Read guide - E-signatures
Are Electronic Signatures Legal in South Africa?
Yes, for most documents. Here is what the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act allows, the short list of documents that still need ink, and what makes an electronic signature stand up if it's ever questioned.
Read guide - Documents
How to Turn a Quote or Contract into a PDF
Why PDF is still the right format to send a client, how to produce one from whatever you're working in, and the settings that stop your document arriving with the fonts rearranged.
Read guide - E-signatures
Advanced vs Ordinary Electronic Signatures in South Africa
South African law recognises two tiers of electronic signature. Most business documents only need the ordinary kind. Here is how to tell which one your document needs, and why the difference matters.
Read guide - Payroll
UIF Explained for South African Employers
UIF explained in plain language: the contribution rates, the monthly earnings ceiling, who qualifies, and how South African employers pay and declare it.
Read guide - Payroll
SDL Explained: The Skills Development Levy in South Africa
The Skills Development Levy explained in plain language: the one percent rate, the R500,000 exemption threshold, and how SETA grants pay some of it back.
Read guide - Payroll
How to Register as an Employer with SARS in South Africa
When you must register as an employer with SARS, how to get your PAYE reference number on eFiling, and why UIF and SDL usually come along with it.
Read guide - Payroll
What a Compliant Payslip Must Show in South Africa
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act sets out exactly what goes on a payslip. Here is every field you need and when you must hand it over.
Read guide - Payroll
Overtime and Public Holiday Pay in South Africa
Overtime, Sunday work and public holiday pay under South Africa's BCEA: the legal multiples, the limits, and who the rules stop applying to.
Read guide - Payroll
The National Minimum Wage in South Africa
How South Africa's National Minimum Wage works: the hourly floor, the annual review, who's covered, and why deductions can't take pay below it.
Read guide - Payroll
IRP5 and IT3(a) Certificates Explained
IRP5 and IT3(a) certificates summarise a year of pay and tax for each employee. Here's the difference, when you issue each, and how e@syFile generates them.
Read guide - Payroll
What to Do When an Employee Leaves: A South African Employer's Guide
Final pay, leave payouts, notice periods, the certificate of service and the UI-19: what South African employers must do when employment ends.
Read guide - Payroll
The EMP501 Reconciliation Explained for South African Employers
How the EMP501 reconciliation works, when the interim and annual runs are due, and why IRP5 certificates come out of the same process on SARS e@syFile.
Read guide - Payroll
EMP201 Explained: The Monthly Declaration Every Employer Files
What the EMP201 is, what it covers (PAYE, UIF, SDL), how to file it on SARS eFiling, and why the 7th of the month matters for South African employers.
Read guide - Payroll
Leave Entitlements Under the BCEA in South Africa
Annual, sick, family responsibility, maternity and parental leave: the minimum days South Africa's BCEA guarantees every employee, explained plainly.
Read guide - Payroll
How PAYE Works for a Small Employer in South Africa
PAYE, UIF, SDL and the EMP201 in plain language: what you deduct from your team's pay, when it's due, and how to keep SARS happy as a small employer in South Africa.
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