CASE STUDY | PROFESSIONAL SERVICES | EMPLOYEE TAX INCETINVE AUTOMATION APP
Employment Tax Incentive Made Effortless as Bidvest Prestige and Decision Inc. Turns Compliance Challenges into Opportunities.
Solution overview
Industry
Professional Services
Solution
Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) Automation App with Qlik Sense
Location
South Africa
Client
Bidvest Prestige
Problem
Bidvest Prestige faced lengthy, error-prone ETI calculations that led to tax penalties and discrepancies in submissions to SARS.
Top Benefit
The solution not only streamlined ETI calculations provided accurate results, but eradicated tax penalties for Prestige, creating significant cost savings.
How an Employee Tax Incentive (ETI) Application
Saved Time, Money, and Headaches.
AT A GLANCE
Bidvest Prestige partnered with Decision Inc. to modernise its ETI calculation process, moving from a manual, error-prone system to a fully automated and compliant solution.
The implementation addressed the complexities of frequent legislative changes and overcame significant challenges, including those introduced during the COVID-19 period. By delivering precise and reliable calculations, the solution eliminated penalties, saved valuable time, and uncovered financial benefits by identifying ETI amounts owed to the business. Completed in March 2024, this innovative system has positioned Bidvest Prestige for sustained success, empowering their payroll team with the tools needed to operate with efficiency and confidence.
The Client
Bidvest Prestige is South Africa’s leading provider of professional cleaning and integrated facilities management services, specialising in contract cleaning, specialised solutions, landscaping, and training serving businesses of all sizes.
With a diverse portfolio of services, their payroll and tax compliance processes are critical to maintaining smooth operations and meeting regulatory standards.
The Challenge
Bidvest Prestige faced difficulties in calculating the Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) required for submission to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
The process was labor-intensive and prone to errors, largely due to complex tax legislation and multiple rule changes, particularly during the COVID period. Their payroll vendor struggled with development challenges related to the legislative rules, leading to inaccurate ETI submissions. This resulted in tax penalties and fines, which were further compounded by discrepancies found during a SARS audit in 2015. The client needed a robust, accurate, and automated solution to resolve these issues and ensure future compliance.
The Solution
Bidvest Prestige chose Decision Inc. after an employee referral, recognising their deep expertise in solving complex data challenges and their ability to adapt quickly to changing legislation.
With a proven track record of delivering reliable, data-driven solutions, Decision Inc. was the ideal partner to address Bidvest Prestige’s ETI calculation challenges. After discussing the requirements with Nicolette Nicholson, Finance Manager at Bidvest Prestige’, the team at Decision Inc. developed an automated solution to accurately calculate the ETI claimable amount for each employee based on payroll data, ensuring full compliance with the latest government legislation.
Key Features of the Solution:
ADVANCED SCRIPTING:
Qlik Sense was selected for its powerful flexibility and seamless integration capabilities. The solution leveraged advanced scripting techniques to address the complexities of legislative rule changes, particularly those that applied to different periods, including the intricate adjustments required during the COVID-19 era.
INDIVIDUALISED MONTHLY ETI FILES:
The system automatically generates a monthly file for each employee, capturing their cumulative ETI count. This critical data is then used to assess whether the employee qualifies for the tax incentive, streamlining the entire process.
FLEXIBLE AND SCALABLE:
Designed with scalability in mind, the solution is fully adaptable to different levels within Bidvest Prestige’s employee hierarchy. This ensures it can support the organisation’s dynamic and diverse operational structure, offering maximum flexibility in handling ETI calculations across the business.
Timeline and Milestones:
– Initial Implementation: The initial phase began in August 2019, followed by a six-month re-write to refine the solution to meet Bidvest Prestige’s specific requirements.
– Completion: The final implementation was completed in March 2024, with a major milestone being the successful ETI calculations for submission to SARS, covering the period from March 2018 to February 2023.
Challenges and Overcoming Them:
One of the unique challenges of implementing the solution was managing the frequent and complex legislative changes across different periods, particularly those introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite this, Decision Inc. worked in close collaboration with Bidvest Prestige to navigate these complexities, incorporating the necessary rule changes with precision.
By focusing on technical precision and adapting to the evolving requirements, we were able to overcome the challenges and keep the solution both accurate and compliant.
Shashin Modi
Technical Manager: Data and Analytics
Decision Inc.
EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS
The solution’s impact was far-reaching, providing tangible benefits across various aspects of Bidvest Prestige’s operations.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Bidvest Prestige no longer faced tax penalties and fines. In fact, the solution revealed that SARS owed them, transforming what was previously a financial burden into a financial asset.
ACCURACY:
The automated solution provided ETI claimable amounts that were significantly more accurate than previous manual estimates.
TIME EFFICIENCY:
The time required to calculate ETI claimable amounts was drastically reduced, going from days to seconds with the click of a button.
OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS:
With manual calculations eliminated, the risk of errors was reduced, and the payroll team now has a reliable, consolidated ETI summary for each employee, which enhances decision-making and strategic planning.
Working with BI Consultants that had no insight into tax and legislation but were willing to learn and put in the extra work to bring an accurate working solution, brought so much value to the business. Shashin went the extra mile to assist Nicolette and put in the effort to understand the ETI legislation.
– Nicolette Nicholson
Finance Manager at Bidvest Prestige
UNLOCKING LONG-TERM VALUE
AND FUTURE OUTLOOK
The successful implementation of the ETI solution has not only addressed immediate challenges but also set Bidvest Prestige on a path toward sustained growth and operational efficiency.
By eliminating manual errors and reducing time spent on calculations, the company now has a streamlined, reliable system that empowers better decision-making.
Looking ahead, the solution’s flexibility positions Bidvest Prestige for future scalability, ensuring they can continue to adapt to changes in tax legislation and maximise tax incentives with ease. The business now stands better equipped to navigate the complexities of ETI management, unlocking ongoing value and ensuring continued compliance.
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About Decision Inc.
Decision Inc. is a global leader in information-driven transformation with a core focus on data, digital and performance intelligence.
Our expertise in technology and industry specialisations have enabled us to help companies around the world make better decisions faster. Our emphasis on local excellence and global scale enables us to bring clients best of breed technology solutions that enable significant improvement whilst leveraging our Global Research and Innovation teams to accelerate the time to insight.
Our local consulting teams are experts in the implementation, support, and execution of these solutions and work with our clients to deliver real results and improvement.