25/08/2026
🇿🇦 Could live accounting become non-negotiable for VAT-registered SMEs?
⚠️ Not yet. SARS's Digital VAT Model is still a proposal — not the VAT rules today.
But if VAT moves closer to real time, there could be a much bigger change coming for SMEs than simply how we submit a VAT201.
It could change how we do our accounting every day.
Think about the way many businesses still work:
📄 Documents pile up.
💻 The books get updated later.
🧾 VAT time arrives.
🔍 We find the missing invoices and fix the coding.
✅ Then we submit the VAT201.
If SARS eventually receives VAT information much closer to when transactions happen, that routine may simply stop working.
Instead, businesses will increasingly need to:
📥 Capture it — get invoices and evidence into the accounting process as the business happens.
🎯 Get it right — deal with VAT treatment and coding earlier, rather than fixing it at VAT time.
🔄 Keep it current — keep the accounting records sufficiently up to date to be ready when the information is needed.
And here's the part I think really matters:
👉 Live accounting isn't just having accounting software.
It's making sure your financial information keeps pace with your business.
Because if you're doing that properly, you're not only preparing for where VAT may be heading.
You're giving yourself better information to manage your business today.
💰 Cash.
📈 Profit.
🎯 Control.
💎 Business Value.
That's exactly what we're building with TheControlPoint™.
SARS may eventually give SMEs another reason to operate closer to real time.
But your business already has one. 🧭
📅 These changes are still being proposed. SARS is consulting now, with consultation closing 16 October 2026.