My path

Your steps, in order, based on your answers.

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Answer 3 short questions. Then you see the steps that apply to you.

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Your answers

Sole proprietor
Pty Ltd
Not decided
Vehicle dealer
Food business
Beauty and personal care
Retail and online shop
Services and trades
Professional and creative work
General: I sell or do many things
Not started yet
Already trading
One-person Pty Ltd, wants to grow

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Your path

Step 1
- Core: start here
Why this step: the order to do things
Step 2
- Pick your business type
Why this step: find your business type
Step 3
- Vehicle dealer
- Food business
- Beauty and personal care
- Retail and online shop
- Services and trades
- Professional and creative work
Step 4
- What you need to sell things
Why this step: check whether you need a licence
Step 5
- Branding prompts
- Brand applications and polish
Why this step: build your name and look, then test it
Step 6
- Free tools
Why this step: set up your free tools
Step 7
- Documents and templates
Why this step: build your quote and invoice
Step 8
- Tax and SARS
Why this step: sort out SARS
Step 9
- Register: what you actually need
Why this step: decide about a company
Step 10
- Running a Pty Ltd
- Paying yourself from a Pty Ltd
Why this step: If you decide yes
Step 11
- Master checklist
Why this step: tick what you already have
Step 12
- Tax and SARS
Why this step: the highest-risk gap for most people
Step 13
- Vehicle dealer
- Food business
- Beauty and personal care
- Retail and online shop
- Services and trades
- Professional and creative work
Step 14
- Register: what you actually need
Why this step: specifically the POPIA section
Step 15
- Core: start here
Step 16
- Running a Pty Ltd
Why this step: what your company already owes each year
Step 17
- Paying yourself from a Pty Ltd
Why this step: before you move a rand out of the company account
Step 18
- Vehicle dealer
- Food business
- Beauty and personal care
- Retail and online shop
- Services and trades
- Professional and creative work
Why this step: the three registration layers, the CPA position, and why VAT and turnover tax work differently for you
Step 19
- Vehicles and your business
Why this step: the BRNC and proxy process in full
Step 20
- Tax and SARS
Why this step: read the SBC section; skip the turnover tax section, it is wrong for a dealer
Step 21
- Documents and templates
Why this step: build the VAT-registered invoice and the sale agreement with a defect schedule
Step 22
- Branding prompts
Why this step: name the trading brand, not the company
Step 23
- Working from home and meeting safely
Why this step: if you have no yard: zoning for stock at home, and every viewing and test drive
Step 24
- Adding new lines of business
Why this step: before you add tyres, servicing, or anything else

Your checklist

This checklist helps you remember what to do. Ticking every item does not prove that you follow the law.

Part A: everyone, in order

Before you trade

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Sold something once and got paid, to prove people want it Opened a separate bank account for business money only, and asked the bank my instant payment limits If working from home: checked zoning, title deed and complex rules; told my household insurer Location switched off in my phone camera before photographing stock at home Checked whether my business type needs a licence (What you need to sell things and Your kind of business) Applied for that licence, if needed, and waited for it to be issued Checked zoning, if I work from home or from fixed premises

0 of 7 done

Brand and documents

Chosen a name, and checked it on CIPC, as a .co.za domain, and on social media Bought the domain, even if there is no website yet Built a brand one-pager (Branding prompts) Built a quote template Built an invoice template, with correct VAT wording for my situation Written terms and conditions Written a privacy notice Set up a cash book spreadsheet Set up folders in Drive with a consistent naming system (Free tools)

0 of 9 done

Compliance

Registered my Information Officer at inforegulator.org.za Official (free) Confirmed I have a SARS income tax number Registered as a provisional taxpayer Decided sole proprietor or company, and registered if needed If a company: confirmed the SARS registered representative If a company: filed beneficial ownership information (free) Got a B-BBEE affidavit signed, if a customer has asked (free)

0 of 7 done

Marketing

Claimed and completed my Google Business Profile Set up WhatsApp Business with a catalogue and quick replies Asked my first three customers for reviews

0 of 3 done

Every sale where I never meet the customer, or meet them once

Money reflected in my balance, not "pending", before anything is handed over No goods released on a screenshot, SMS, or PDF proof of payment Meeting in a public, busy, daylight place with cameras; someone told; someone with me For a vehicle: licence and ID copy received first, keys kept in my hand, no solo test drive

0 of 4 done

Money hygiene

Photographing every slip on the day I get it Reconciling the cash book against the bank statement monthly Invoice numbers running in order with no gaps Recording enquiries and sales each month, not likes and followers

0 of 4 done

Part A2: extra, only if you registered a Pty Ltd

See Running a Pty Ltd and Paying yourself from a Pty Ltd.

Once, after registration

SARS registered representative (public officer) confirmed on eFiling Beneficial ownership filed with CIPC (free) Company records folder created: MOI, share certificate, director record, securities register Bank account opened in the company name, used only for company money Decided how I will pay myself, and why Registered name and registration number on every document, with "trading as" if I use a brand name If planning to add lines later: registered a neutral company name, brand in the trading name

0 of 7 done

Every year

Beneficial ownership declaration current CIPC annual return filed within 30 business days of the registration anniversary Annual financial statements prepared Public Interest Score calculated at year end Financial Accountability Supplement or statements filed with the annual return ITR14 filed within 12 months of financial year end Two IRP6 provisional returns filed Loan account checked and cleared BEFORE financial year end

0 of 8 done

Every month, if the company pays anyone a salary including me

EMP201 submitted and paid by the 7th

0 of 1 done

Never

Pay a personal expense from the company account Move money out without recording it as salary, dividend, or loan Declare a dividend without a written resolution

0 of 3 done

Part B: additions by business type

Vehicle dealer

BRNC or Traffic Register Number SAPS second-hand goods dealer registration (SAPS 601, free) Acquisition and disposal register set up with VIN, engine, odometer, colour fields Motor trade numbers, if I move unregistered stock Motor trade insurance including stock and test drives Sale agreement with a numbered defect schedule the buyer initials VAT decision made, with notional input tax modelled VAT264 process in place, if registered

0 of 8 done

Food

Accredited R638 training for me and every food handler Premises prepared to R638 standards COA applied for through the municipal Environmental Health Department COA displayed on the wall Municipal business licence Fire compliance and gas CoC, if relevant Labels checked against R146 before printing

0 of 7 done

Beauty and personal care

Municipal health establishment licence Premises ready for health inspection Treatment liability insurance matching what I actually do Consultation and patch test record template Booking, deposit and cancellation terms in writing Written photo permission from clients before posting

0 of 6 done

Retail and online

SAPS registration, if I deal in second-hand goods SARS importer's code and NRCS check, if I import ECTA s43 information published on my site Order review step before checkout Returns policy respecting the seven-day cooling-off right Stock tracking alongside the cash book

0 of 6 done

Services and trades

Professional or statutory registration for my trade, if required Public liability insurance Vehicle insurer told I use the vehicle for business Quote template with a real exclusions list Deposit and progress payment terms Vehicle logbook running

0 of 6 done

Professional and creative

Checked whether I am excluded from turnover tax before electing it Service agreement covering scope, revision rounds, IP and payment Ownership-transfers-on-payment clause in every contract Home office calculation done, if I qualify Checked I do not look like an employee of one client

0 of 5 done

Part C: recurring calendar

Put every one of these in your phone with a two-week warning.

Table: Part C: recurring calendar. Scroll sideways to see all of it.
When	What
Daily	Photograph slips, fill in the logbook
Weekly	Send invoices, follow up unpaid ones
Monthly	Reconcile cash book to bank statement, record enquiries and sales
Every 2 months	VAT return, if registered
31 August	First provisional tax return (IRP6)
End September	Optional third provisional payment for the previous year
28/29 February	Tax year ends, second provisional tax return (IRP6). If it is a weekend, the business day before.
July to October	Annual income tax return filing season
Monthly, if you run payroll	EMP201 by the 7th, or the business day before if the 7th is a weekend
Before financial year end	Check and clear the director's loan account
Twice a year, if an employer	EMP501 reconciliation
Anniversary of registration	CIPC annual return, within 30 business days, if you have a company
Before the annual return	Beneficial ownership declaration, or the return is blocked
Within 12 months of year end	ITR14 company tax return
12 months after signing	Renew B-BBEE affidavit
Per your certificate	Renew SAPS second-hand goods registration
Annually	Vehicle licence discs, roadworthy where required

From the pages for your kind of business

Food business

Confirm zoning for food preparation at your premises Book accredited R638 training for yourself and anyone who will handle food Prepare the premises to R638 standards Apply for the COA through your municipal Environmental Health Department Apply for the municipal business licence Get fire compliance and a gas CoC if relevant Check R146 for your labels before printing Display the COA on the wall Only then, open

0 of 9 done

Beauty and personal care

Confirm zoning for your premises, including home premises Apply for the municipal health establishment licence Prepare the premises for the health inspection Get treatment liability insurance appropriate to your services Build a consultation and patch test record template Write your booking, deposit and cancellation terms Get written photo permission from clients before posting Register your POPIA information officer, since you hold client health information

0 of 8 done

Retail and online shop

Check whether your municipality requires a trader's licence If you sell used goods, register with SAPS under the Second-Hand Goods Act If you import, get a SARS importer's code and check NRCS requirements Put ECTA section 43 information on your site Add an order review step before checkout Write a returns policy that respects the seven-day cooling-off right Publish your privacy notice Set up stock tracking alongside your cash book

0 of 8 done

Services and trades

Confirm whether your trade requires professional or statutory registration Get public liability insurance Tell your vehicle insurer you use the vehicle for work Build your quote template with a proper exclusions list Set your deposit and progress payment terms in writing Set up a vehicle logbook Claim and complete your Google Business Profile Set up WhatsApp Business with quick replies

0 of 8 done

Professional and creative work

Confirm whether your profession requires statutory registration Check whether you are excluded from turnover tax before electing it Build a service agreement covering scope, revisions, IP and payment Decide your deposit and revision policy, and stick to it Set up the home office calculation if you qualify Register as a provisional taxpayer and diarise the IRP6 dates Assess whether you look like an employee of one client, and fix it if so

0 of 7 done

You have not answered the questions yet

Your answers

Your path

Your checklist

Part A: everyone, in order

Before you trade

Brand and documents

Compliance

Marketing

Every sale where I never meet the customer, or meet them once

Money hygiene

Part A2: extra, only if you registered a Pty Ltd

Once, after registration

Every year

Every month, if the company pays anyone a salary including me

Never

Part B: additions by business type

Vehicle dealer

Food

Beauty and personal care

Retail and online

Services and trades

Professional and creative

Part C: recurring calendar

From the pages for your kind of business

Vehicle dealer

Food business

Beauty and personal care

Retail and online shop

Services and trades

Professional and creative work

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