Drake FS – Cashflow Accountants provides outsourced accounting, bookkeeping, tax, payroll, VAT support, financial reporting, and cashflow advisory for South African businesses. The firm focuses on helping growing companies stay compliant while also improving profitability, business value, and day-to-day cash availability.

Yes. Drake FS works with small and medium-sized businesses across South Africa, with a strong focus on fast-growing companies that need more than basic bookkeeping. The goal is to give business owners reliable compliance support and practical financial guidance that helps them grow with confidence.

Many accountants focus mainly on historical reporting and compliance. Drake FS also focuses on the timing and operational drivers that affect whether cash is actually available in your business. This includes attention to pricing, margins, debtors, creditors, overheads, stock, and forecasting so that you can improve both profit and cashflow, not just year-end results.

Yes. Drake FS supports businesses in Boksburg, Johannesburg, the East Rand, and other parts of South Africa. If your business needs accounting, tax, payroll, or cashflow support, you can work with Drake FS whether you are local to Gauteng or based elsewhere in the country.

Outsourced accounting means using an external accounting firm to manage some or all of your finance function. This can include bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, tax submissions, management accounts, annual financial statements, and advisory support. For many SMEs, outsourced accounting is more cost-effective than building an in-house finance team.

Bookkeeping is the recording and organising of financial transactions such as invoices, receipts, payments, and bank activity. Accounting uses that information to prepare reports, interpret performance, manage tax compliance, and support business decisions. Most growing businesses need both good bookkeeping and good accounting to stay in control.

Many SMEs need both. A bookkeeper helps keep records current and accurate, while an accountant uses those records for reporting, compliance, tax planning, and performance analysis. If you want to improve decision-making and reduce financial stress, having access to both functions is usually the best solution, especially if you have access to a CA(SA).

Yes. Drake FS can help manage payroll accurately and on time, while also supporting compliance with PAYE, UIF, and SDL requirements. A well-run payroll process helps protect your business from errors, late submissions, staff dissatisfaction, and unnecessary compliance risk.

Yes. Drake FS can assist with VAT registration, VAT return preparation, and VAT compliance support. From 1 April 2026, the compulsory VAT registration threshold in South Africa increased to R2.3 million in taxable supplies over a consecutive 12-month period, and the voluntary registration threshold increased to R120,000, so it is important to review your business’s position using current SARS rules.

A business generally must register for VAT when its taxable turnover exceeds, or is expected to exceed, R2.3 million in any consecutive 12-month period. Voluntary registration may be possible from R120,000. Because VAT affects pricing, cashflow, and administration, it is wise to get advice before registering or deregistering.

Yes. Drake FS helps businesses stay compliant with SARS by keeping records current, preparing submissions accurately, and reducing the risk of late or incorrect filings. Good compliance supports smoother operations, lowers stress, and helps business owners avoid avoidable penalties and disruptions.

Drake FS offers a money-back protection guarantee that states the firm will reimburse SARS penalties up to R50,000 if the penalties were caused by errors made by Drake FS. This gives clients added peace of mind and reflects the firm’s commitment to accuracy and accountability.

Yes. Drake FS provides a 3-month free trial for qualifying new clients. This means there is no fee charged for work done during the first three months of engagement, with future fees agreed upfront from the beginning.

This is a common problem in growing businesses. Profit does not always equal cash in the bank because cash can be tied up in debtors, stock, tax, loan repayments, capital purchases, or timing differences. A cashflow-focused accountant helps you understand where the gap is and what changes will improve liquidity.

The seven levers used by Drake FS are pricing, sales volume, cost of goods sold, overhead costs, debtor days, creditor days, and stock days. These levers affect both profitability and cashflow. Improving even one of them can materially change how much cash your business generates and how resilient it is under pressure.

Pricing directly affects gross margin and the amount of cash generated from each sale. Small price improvements can often have a bigger impact on profit than business owners expect. The key is to review pricing carefully so that increases support cashflow and margin without damaging customer demand.

Higher sales volume can improve profit and cashflow, but only if the extra sales are priced correctly and supported by enough working capital. Growth can sometimes create cash pressure if debtors rise, stock increases, or expenses grow faster than collections. That is why volume should always be assessed together with the other cashflow levers.

Cost of goods sold is the direct cost of producing or delivering what you sell. If these costs rise too fast, they squeeze gross margin and reduce the cash benefit of every sale. Better purchasing, waste control, supplier negotiation, and product mix decisions can all help improve this lever.

Overheads are the ongoing business costs that are not directly tied to a specific sale, such as rent, admin salaries, software, and utilities. If overheads grow faster than revenue, profit and available cash can deteriorate quickly. Managing overheads carefully is essential for sustainable growth.

Debtor days measure how long customers take to pay you. The longer you wait to collect money, the more cash gets trapped in receivables. Reducing debtor days can free up cash without increasing sales, which is why debtor management is one of the most powerful ways to improve liquidity.

Creditor days measure how long your business takes to pay suppliers. Extending supplier terms responsibly can support cashflow, but it must be managed carefully so that supplier relationships remain healthy. The objective is not simply to pay late, but to structure payment timing wisely and sustainably.

Stock days show how long inventory sits before it is sold. Slow-moving stock ties up cash and can hide deeper issues in purchasing, pricing, forecasting, or demand. Reducing unnecessary stock holdings can improve cashflow significantly without having to increase revenue.

The Drake FS Profit and Cashflow Growth Calculator is a business assessment tool that helps owners understand the seven levers that drive profit and cashflow. It uses company figures from two comparable reporting periods to show how operational and financial changes affect results, and it helps identify where improvement will have the greatest impact.

The calculator is ideal for business owners who want more clarity on why cash feels tight, even when sales are growing or profits look reasonable. It is especially useful for SMEs that want to improve working capital, forecast future performance, or see how changes in pricing, volume, costs, and timing could affect results.

You will generally need figures from two comparable reporting periods, including revenue, gross margin, net profit, operating costs, and working capital information such as debtors, creditors, and inventory. The more accurate your input data is, the more useful the calculator’s insights will be.

Yes. A profitable business can still struggle with cashflow because cash management depends on timing, collections, inventory levels, supplier terms, tax planning, and operational discipline. A cashflow-focused accountant helps identify bottlenecks and create practical steps to improve available cash.

At a minimum, most business owners should review a profit and loss statement, balance sheet, cashflow view, aged debtors report, aged creditors report, and key margin or overhead trends every month. Reviewing these reports regularly helps you spot issues early and make better business decisions before cash pressure becomes a crisis.

There is no single amount that applies to every business because tax provisions depend on your entity type, profitability, payroll profile, VAT position, and other obligations. However, setting money aside monthly for tax is one of the best ways to avoid cashflow shocks. An accountant can help estimate a realistic monthly provision based on your numbers.

Start by improving visibility. Keep your bookkeeping current, monitor monthly financial reports, forecast cashflow, and pay close attention to the seven levers of profit and cashflow: pricing, volume, cost of goods sold, overheads, debtor days, creditor days, and stock days. Small, disciplined improvements across these areas can greatly reduce financial strain.

If you want more than basic compliance support, Drake FS offers a cashflow-focused approach designed for growing South African businesses. The firm combines accounting, tax, payroll, and reporting support with practical tools such as the Profit and Cashflow Growth Calculator, a focus on the seven profit and cashflow levers, a 3-month free trial for qualifying clients, and a SARS penalty guarantee that reflects a commitment to accuracy and service. The accounting firm is also owner managed by a CA(SA).