Client tax work when nothing is filed with SARS

What Achekam prepares for a South African firm's client tax and payroll work, why the firm still files on eFiling itself, and how to track each filing.

By Achekam · 11 October 2026 · 5 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in South Africa

"Does it file with SARS?" is one of the first questions a South African practice asks about any software. For Achekam the answer is no. It prepares, reconciles and produces what the firm needs, and a person at the firm files on SARS eFiling and records what SARS gave back.

That design, export and track, has real advantages: the firm keeps control of every submission, and nobody's eFiling credentials sit inside another system. It also means the tracking side must be done well, because the system will only know a return was filed if someone tells it. This article explains what Achekam prepares, what it does not do, and how to keep a reliable filing record for each client.

Export and track, not submit

Achekam does not submit tax returns or payroll declarations to SARS. The firm files them itself and records the filing in Achekam. Its capability catalogue describes filing as export-and-track, and an older SARS e-filing bridge add-on is listed as retired.

In South Africa, SARS collects tax, CIPC administers the Companies Act and IRBA regulates auditors, and each has its own channels. Achekam's role for the SARS side is preparation and record, not submission.

Anyone completing returns for others must also meet SARS's own requirements. SARS explains on its page about how to register as a tax practitioner who must register, which includes anyone giving tax advice or completing returns for others, and the requirements, including membership of a recognised controlling body.

Payroll declarations prepared, filed by a person

Payroll is where Achekam prepares the most. For South African payroll clients:

• EMP201. Achekam prepares the monthly EMP201 figures and PDF from approved runs. A person files on eFiling and records the reference in Achekam.
• IRP5 and IT3(a). It prepares the tax certificates from approved runs. A certificate with missing data, such as no income tax reference, can be produced for checking but cannot be issued. An IRP5 is issued where tax was deducted and an IT3(a) where it was not.
• EMP501. Achekam reconciles PAYE month by month and produces the file SARS's e@syFile Employer imports, refusing while anything SARS would reject remains. The firm completes and submits the EMP501 in SARS's own software.
• UIF and COIDA. Achekam prepares the monthly UIF declaration, UI-19 forms and the COIDA Return of Earnings from payroll, and a person files each one and records it.

In every case the pattern is the same: Achekam prepares, a person files, the reference is recorded. IRP5, IT3(a) and the EMP501 covers the year-end reconciliation in detail.

Recording the reference SARS gave

The reference is the evidence. When a return or declaration is filed, SARS issues a reference or acknowledgement. Record it in Achekam against the client, the obligation and the period, on the day of filing.

A filing without a recorded reference is a filing the firm cannot prove quickly. Make recording part of the filing step, not a task for later.

Separate the two roles where the firm can. The person who files on eFiling records the reference; a colleague checks, at month end, that each recorded reference matches the acknowledgement in the client's eFiling profile. The check takes minutes per client and catches the common errors: a reference typed against the wrong period, a declaration filed for one employer recorded against another, or a filing that was started on eFiling but never submitted.

When SARS comes back

Recording also helps with what happens after filing. When SARS issues an assessment, a request for supporting documents or a penalty notice, the firm needs to know quickly what was filed, when and by whom. A client's filing record in Achekam, with each reference and the issued statements behind the income tax return, answers those questions without a search through inboxes. Keep SARS's later correspondence with the same client record, so the whole history of each period sits together.

The tax pack from the statements

For income tax, the starting point is the annual financial statements. Staff can download the statements as an A4 PDF made on Achekam's server, and issuing stores the final PDF with a fingerprint and locks that version.

Be precise about what the "tax pack" is. The board and tax packs are the statutory set of statements under another name, and their cards list what is not yet included. They are the statements, not a completed return. The return itself is completed and submitted by a person on eFiling, and the filing is then recorded in Achekam.

Locking the issued version is useful for tax. If SARS later queries the return, the firm can show exactly which statements the return was based on.

A filing log per client

Because Achekam records filings rather than making them, the log is only as complete as the habit behind it. A simple discipline:

1. For each client, list every SARS obligation the firm handles, with its frequency.
2. Assign a named person to file each one, and a second to check the reference is recorded.
3. At each month end, compare the list with the references recorded, and chase gaps.
4. Keep the eFiling acknowledgement or reference with the client's records for the period.

Clients who also keep their own books on Achekam may prepare their VAT201 there; the VAT201 from your books explains that side.

This month-end

Pick five payroll clients and check that every EMP201 filed this year has its SARS reference recorded in Achekam. Where one is missing, find the eFiling acknowledgement, record it, and add the check to your month-end routine.

General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.