Every ad hoc supplier payment disrupts your focus, fragments your bank statements, and adds to your banking fees. For South African business owners, paying suppliers as invoices land is usually a sign that the financial infrastructure isn't there yet. SOP Tip #10 from our advisory playbook: run a strict payment run, often called Payment Friday, instead of paying suppliers whenever it suits. It's a financial control that saves time, cuts bank fees, and gives you real visibility over what leaves your account.
Paying in a hurry often means skipping proper invoice verification, and businesses end up paying against quotes, statements, or pro-forma invoices rather than valid tax invoices. The VAT Act requires a legitimate tax invoice before you can claim back VAT input on your bi-monthly VAT201 return. If SARS audits your records and finds payments linked to missing or non-compliant invoices, it will disallow those VAT claims. For guidance on SARS invoice requirements, visit www.sars.gov.za.
The payment run consolidates scattered daily payments into one controlled weekly event. Using cloud accounting tools like Xero or Sage, your team captures supplier bills throughout the week, and by Thursday a batch payment file is generated and imported directly into your business banking profile. This also builds in separation of duties: a bookkeeper acts as the 'maker' loading the batch, and the business owner acts as the 'checker' releasing funds via OTP. That guards against fraud and turns hours of scattered payments into a 20-minute Friday task.
Paying randomly means giving up control over your cash outflows. You might pay a 30-day account on day three simply because the invoice arrived, draining working capital you didn't need to spend yet. Making 20 individual payments can cost R100 to R150 in transaction fees. Batching the same 20 payments into one bulk run typically costs far less in total, saving thousands of rands over a financial year, and every rand saved drops straight to your bottom line.
1. Set your payment rhythm: choose weekly (every Friday) or bi-monthly (15th and 30th) and stick to it. 2. Tell suppliers about the policy: invoices received after Wednesday go into the following week's batch. 3. Enforce the documentation rule: no payment is loaded without a SARS-compliant tax invoice, not a quote or a pro-forma. 4. Use batch payments: set up batch payment functionality in your cloud accounting software. 5. Add maker/checker controls: only authorised signatories release funds. See our services page for financial controls support, and our blog for more SOPs.
A payment run is a small change with an outsized payoff. It protects your VAT compliance, cuts bank fees, guards against fraud, and gives you real visibility over your cash outflows. Pick your payment day this week, tell your suppliers, and start batching from next Friday.
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