Selling a vehicle: FICA, approval and signed offer
How the Automotive pack takes a South African vehicle sale from the buyer's FICA documents to approval, a signed offer to purchase and an invoice.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Automotive businesses in South Africa
Launching soon. The Industry CRM add-on described in this article is launching soon. This article describes it as it will work at launch.
The deal is done on a Saturday. The buyer has chosen the car, the trade-in is agreed and everyone shakes hands. Then the paperwork starts to drift. The copy of the ID arrives by WhatsApp, the proof of address on Tuesday, the offer to purchase is signed on paper and photographed, the deal is never formally approved, and the car is delivered before anyone has issued an invoice. When the file is checked months later, half of it is missing.
South African dealerships sell vehicles under real scrutiny, and a sale file that cannot show what was collected, approved and signed is a risk to the business. The Automotive pack in Achekam's Industry CRM puts a South African vehicle sale through the same five steps every time. This article walks through them.
Five steps from documents to handover
The pack's sale-to-delivery workflow runs in this order:
- Request the buyer's FICA documents.
- Send a quotation.
- Have the sales manager approve the deal.
- Have the offer to purchase signed electronically.
- Invoice the vehicle before handover.
The order matters. Documents come before the deal is approved, the approval comes before the customer signs, and the invoice comes before the keys. Each step is a task in the vehicle sale's workflow, so anyone opening the sale can see which steps are done and which are still waiting.
Step one: requesting the FICA documents
The workflow sends the buyer a request for their FICA documents. The buyer answers the request, and that answer moves the task on. Nobody has to chase a WhatsApp photo into a shared folder; the buyer responds to a request that belongs to their sale.
What the request asks for is set by your dealership's own FICA process and compliance officer, not by this article. The pack requests and collects the documents. Checking that they are adequate, and deciding what to do if they are not, remains the job of the person your compliance procedures name. Make sure that person reviews the documents before step three, not after delivery.
Steps two and three: the quotation and the sales manager's approval
With the documents in, the salesperson sends the quotation: the vehicle, the price, any trade-in allowance and the extras. The deal then goes to the sales manager to approve.
The approval is where the dealership checks the deal as a whole: the margin, the trade-in figure, any discount and whether the FICA file is complete. Putting approval before signature is the point of the order: a customer should never sign a deal the dealership has not approved.
Step four: the offer to purchase, signed electronically
The offer to purchase is then sent for electronic signature. Achekam's signing places signature and initials fields on the document, lets signers sign in order or all at once, carries an expiry and reminders, and when everyone has signed, files the signed PDF and a completion certificate back into Documents. An envelope going to someone outside the business must be linked to a client or a CRM lead before it is sent.
Two points to understand about the signature itself:
- It is a simple electronic signature. Achekam's completion certificate cites section 13 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act and says the signatures are not advanced electronic signatures. Section 13 itself sets out when an electronic signature is valid and when the law requires an advanced electronic signature. Ask your attorney whether that is sufficient for your offer to purchase and any related documents.
- Ink remains available. If your dealership decides a document must be signed in ink, the pack never offers it for electronic signing. Its step simply tracks the paper copy, so the file still shows whether it came back.
Step five: invoicing the vehicle before handover
The last step invoices the vehicle before handover. In Achekam, an invoice is created as a draft, and issuing it takes the next number in your sequence and posts it to the ledger as debtors, sales and output VAT. South Africa's standard VAT rate is 15% at the time of writing, in force since 1 April 2018; confirm the treatment of each line, including any trade-in and extras, with your accountant.
Invoicing before handover protects the dealership in a simple way: no vehicle leaves without the sale being in the books. When and how the money must be received before the keys go is your policy to set, whether the buyer pays directly or a bank settles the finance.
Starter wording to review
Every contract or agreement in the industry packs, including the offer to purchase, is marked as starter wording that the business must review before use. Have your attorney adapt it to your dealership and the way you trade. Points that commonly need attention include:
- the vehicle description and identifying numbers;
- the price, extras and any trade-in allowance;
- the deposit and what happens to it if finance is declined;
- conditions such as finance approval;
- the delivery date and when risk passes to the buyer.
A checklist for the first sale
- Your compliance officer has defined the FICA documents the request asks for.
- The sales manager knows deals now come to them for approval before signature.
- The offer to purchase has been reviewed by your attorney.
- You have decided which documents, if any, must be signed in ink.
- Accounts know that every vehicle is invoiced before handover.
The workshop side of the same customer relationship, from the first service onwards, is covered in workshop job cards signed electronically. Counter payments are covered in recording card payments from the bank terminal.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
