Did you know that MRBM’s own expert team offers comprehensive support in HR management, employee relations, training, and professional development?

With extensive experience working with businesses of all sizes across various industries, both locally and internationally, we provide tailored services to meet your unique needs.

Our offerings include:  

End-to-end Employee Life Cycle

• Job/competency profiling

• Employee onboarding

• HR policies and procedures

• Employee training and development

• Employee discipline

• Change management

Specialist Services

• Specialist training services (needs analysis, material development)

• Labour relations consulting

• CCMA representation

• HRIS

Retainer Services

• HR Administration outsourcing

HR Audit

Comprehensive audit of Human Resources function, including:

• Policies and Procedures

• Talent Sourcing and Management

• Learning and Development

• Employment Relations

• Employee Wellness

• Risk Management

• Employee Performance

Third Party Services

• Psychometric assessments

• Executive headhunting

• Coaching and mentoring

• B-BBEE scorecard optimisation

Training Programmes

• Investigating a Disciplinary Incident, Preparing and

• Leading Evidence at a Disciplinary Enquiry (2 days)

• Chairing Disciplinary Enquiries (2 days)

• Misconduct and Discipline (1 day)

• Managing Poor Performance and Incapacity (1 day)
  
  We also offer a number of accredited training programmes in collaboration with a third party, including:

• Competency Based Interview Skills

• Supervisory Skills for Team Leaders

• Project Management Fundamentals

• Negotiating for Results

• Problem Solving and Decision Making

 

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Reach out to our HR specialists today to learn how we can assist you in enhancing your HR operations:

info@mrbm.co.za or 031 818 9030.

CRM software plays a pivotal role in managing customer relationships, from lead generation to post-sales support.

In today’s competitive landscape, maintaining strong connections with leads, prospects, and existing customers is paramount.

By integrating Sage CRM into your existing Sage 300cloud software, you can centralise your customer data and streamline interactions across sales, marketing, and customer service departments. You can manage your entire business ecosystem in one place.

Benefits of integrating Sage CRM include:

Streamline workflows:

Sage CRM centralises customer data, enabling teams to access information quickly and optimise their processes for greater efficiency.

Foster customer loyalty:

By nurturing personalised interactions and leveraging insights from CRM, businesses can build stronger relationships with customers, leading to increased loyalty and retention.

Drive targeted growth:

Integration with 300cloud allows for cross-selling opportunities and the creation of targeted marketing campaigns, ensuring that efforts are focused on reaching the right audience.

If you would like to learn more about how Sage CRM and Sage 300 can benefit your business, reach out to us:

Get in touch for more info: info@mrbm.co.za or 031 818 9030.

From maintaining wellbeing to using the right HR tech, we round up the top trends to help HR leaders get ahead in 2024.

The buzzword for 2024 is AI (artificial intelligence) and specifically generative AI. It’s not new, but it has accelerated at such a rate that machine learning apps such as ChatGPT are all the rage.

That means HR teams all over the world are trying to figure out how best to understand and use them responsibly in the workplace amid a backdrop of economic uncertainty, a tight talent market, and hybrid working.

The following summary shines a light on seven HR challenges and priorities one can expect in 2024:

 

1. Staying relevant in HR

HR teams need to get on board with new technology to make smarter decisions. It’s all about understanding data and communicating effectively to drive positive changes within the organisation.

 

2. Re-evaluating the employee relationship

With a breakdown in the employer/employee relationship highlighted by strikes across the globe in 2023, HR needs to really listen to employees and build genuine relationships. It’s about creating a workplace where employees feel heard and valued, beyond just offering technological solutions.

 

3. Rethinking Manager Roles in a Hybrid World

Managers face challenges in navigating hybrid and remote environments. This requires them to relook their roles with a focus on empowering their teams and improve on their people skills to keep everyone connected and motivated.

 

4. Reconsidering Talent Acquisition

As the talent market evolves, it’s all about nurturing the skills you’ve got. HR’s shifting gears from just hiring to managing talent, with an emphasis on keeping the team happy and up-skilling and re-skilling internally.

 

5. Maintaining Wellbeing in a Digital World

The rapid pace of digital transformation raises concerns about worker stress. HR needs to integrate wellbeing into organisational transformations, ensuring nobody gets left behind. This becomes essential for sustainable change where everybody can thrive.

6. Redefining Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

It’s time for organisations to recommit to DEI efforts, but this time with the help of technology to accelerate progress. We need to change the way we select people and appraise their performance, and talk about values where differences are normalised.

7. Adopting the Right HR Technology

HR’s under pressure to invest in new tech, but it’s not just about the gadgets. It’s about finding tools that add real value whilst keeping things legal and ethical. Let’s try out new tech where it really counts.

 

Embracing AI responsibly

As we look ahead in 2024, the HR industry’s embrace of AI offers exciting new opportunities, but responsible use and training remain crucial. We must ensure that any new tech we take on board still align with our long-term goals, balancing the risks and opportunities cautiously.

Read the full article originally published by Jessica Leyshon for Sage.com

 

Get in touch for more info: info@mrbm.co.za or 031 818 9030.

Preparing for and complying with Tax Year-End can be stressful for small business owners.

Rather than only focusing on cutting your tax bill, we consider a different strategy: focus on growing wealth and use the Tax Year-End time to review your financial situation and make changes, if necessary. In this article, we highlight nine things to think about to reduce your tax bill and grow your wealth. Originally published by Jasper Basson for Sage.com.

1. Grow wealth by reinvesting your RA tax refund

You can claim up to 27.50% of your taxable income as a deduction (up to a maximum of R350,000 per year). In most cases, this will be your total contributions for the year. Rather than spending the refund, clients are advised to grow their wealth by reinvesting it into their RA.

Let’s say your effective tax rate for the year is 25%. A portion of that will be for tax refunds for your RA contributions. By reinvesting that portion back into your RA, you effectively make an additional 25% growth on your RA per annum.

2. Getting too creative with tax deductions could end up costing you more

Clients often ask if it’s a good idea to purchase a new vehicle to bring down their tax liability. The short answer is no: Buying a vehicle to pay less tax only makes sense if it works for you, for example, as a delivery van. In that case, yes, you will pay less tax, but remember that you can’t achieve capital growth without an income tax effect.

Based on an effective tax rate of 25%, you would need to spend R100 to save R25, leaving 75% less in the bank. But by not spending the R100, you’ll still end up with R70 in the bank after tax. This is why you shouldn’t use saving tax as your only motivation to purchase a vehicle.

3. SARS is wary of travel claims

There are various types of travel claims: A travel allowance as part of a salary structure; a fringe benefit on a company car; and the use of vehicles to conduct business and generate income.

Whatever your situation, you need to keep a logbook. Recently, SARS audits have been particularly focused on travel claims, which is understandable with the world shifting to remote work and international travel grinding to a halt. If you’re audited, these are the documents you’ll need to provide SARS:

• Detailed travel logbook (investing in an electronic logbook might be your best return on investment for travel claim purposes.)
• Purchase finance agreement for your vehicle (if you paid cash, you’d need to provide the invoice, proof of payment, and registration document.)
• If you used a vehicle registered in someone else’s name, attach an affidavit by that person confirming that you may use the vehicle.

4. ETI: The most powerful small business tax hack

The Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) is probably the most effective tax hack for small business owners. Your business qualifies for the ETI if you employ people under certain requirements, such as:

• Monthly salary between R2,000 and R6,500
• Ages between 18 and 29
• Valid South African ID.

Speak to your accountant for guidance on how to claim the ETI.

 

5. Use Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) benefits

Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) offer tax benefits to investors because you don’t pay tax on dividends, interest or capital gains. This investment scheme requires after-tax money to be invested, with no deduction on your deposits. Currently, you can invest R36,000 per year, tax-free, with a total lifetime limit of R500,000.

 

6. Capital gains tax consideration: Stretch the sale

Individuals receive an annual capital gains tax exemption of R40,000. If you are considering selling your business, try to structure the transaction over two income tax periods. In doing so, you can use the capital gains tax exemption over two years for one transaction.

When selling shares or property during this period, consider making the sale date from 1 March and not before 29 February. Doing this will postpone capital gains exposure and the impact on your cash flow. This tactic also allows you to generate additional income with the capital on hand before you need to declare provisional tax.

 

7. Pro bono work for charities

If you do pro bono work for a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) approved charity, you might be able to obtain an annual Section 18A certificate for your services. Compile a spreadsheet of all pro bono services delivered between 1 March 2023 and 29 February 2024, including your market-related fee. The PBO may issue a Section 18A certificate to you for this amount. You will be able to deduct 10% of your taxable income on all donations to PBOs. A few things to note:

• Not all PBOs may issue Section 18A certificates. They must be separately approved by the SARS Tax Exemption Unit. Confirm this status with the charity you are working with.
• The Section 18A certificate must include the PBO’s reference number, date of receipt of the donation, name and address of the donor, and the amount or nature of the donation.

8. Net losses from part-time businesses

Many part-time entrepreneurs tend not to declare their secondary income for tax purposes, either because they think it’s irrelevant or are scared about the potential consequences on their income tax return. To be clear: it is compulsory to declare any additional income from any business source.

However, many of these businesses have a net loss in the first one to three years, mainly because the company is constantly evolving and growing, which requires input capital. These first few years of running at a loss will actually benefit you because the loss is deducted from your salary (as an employee), so your income tax liability will be smaller. This means you will receive income tax back from the overpayment of PAYE from your employer.

Note: In certain circumstances, SARS might ringfence the losses. This needs to be discussed with your tax consultant.

 

9. Conduct a financial health assessment

We suggest companies do a regular financial health assessment with SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC). These are some of the things to look out for:

• Have the CIPC annual returns been submitted, and are they up to date?
• Are there any outstanding tax returns for the company or its directors?
• Is there any debt owed by the company or its directors?
• Does the company qualify for small business corporation status? This alone results in a massive saving in corporate tax.
• Can one use the Employment Tax Incentive on the payroll?

 

Speaking to your accounting and tax consultants, and automating your processes where possible, will help at Tax Year-End time. Get in touch for more info: info@mrbm.co.za or 031 818 9030.