Frequently asked questions about Atlan Management Services: services, programmes, and how to get involved.
Straight answers to the questions we hear most often.
The party that administers the payment accounts for it, and that should be the programme administrator — not the hosts. The clean structure is: sponsor disburses to a separated programme account; the administrator pays stipends directly to participants' verified bank accounts against the attendance record; hosts never touch stipend money. Each party then has exactly one financial relationship to account for. Routing stipends through hosts inserts an unauditable hop into the most scrutinised flow in the programme, and it is the arrangement we most consistently advise against. Tax treatment of stipends depends on the programme structure, so confirm specifics with your adviser.
They can, where the respective requirements are each met — the incentives operate in different parts of the tax system and do not exclude one another. The ETI reduces monthly PAYE for qualifying young employees within the age and remuneration criteria; Section 12H provides annual and completion allowances against taxable income for learners on registered learnership agreements. The same learner can satisfy both sets of conditions. The practical requirements differ: ETI depends on payroll data and monthly claims; 12H depends on SETA-registered agreements and completion evidence. Model both when costing a project, and confirm current values and eligibility with your tax adviser — this is general information, not tax advice.
The full financial chain: funding agreements and disbursement records; the programme budget and coded expenditure; monthly bank statements and reconciliations for the separated programme account; stipend payment files linked to attendance, with bank-level proof per run; provider invoices matched to delivery evidence; and exception logs. Retention follows the strictest applicable rule — SARS generally requires records for at least five years from submission of the relevant return, and funding agreements or B-BBEE evidence requirements may effectively extend that. The practical standard: keep programme files complete, organised, and retrievable for the life of the funding relationship plus the statutory tail.
They can and should be. A dedicated bank account per programme or per sponsor, with its own ledger and monthly reporting against the funding agreement, is the arrangement that keeps every rand answerable — and it is increasingly a funder requirement rather than a refinement. Separation protects all parties: the sponsor sees its funds intact and traceable, the administrator avoids the opacity that commingling creates, and audits shrink from investigations into confirmations. Atlan provides exactly this separated administration for programmes across the network, and setting it up before funds flow is a short exercise.
A full payroll service typically covers employee setup and maintenance, monthly payroll processing and payslips, PAYE, UIF, and SDL calculations, EMP201 submissions to SARS, UIF declarations, EMP501 reconciliations with IRP5 certificates, and record-keeping for audit. Scope varies by provider and agreement, so the inclusions should be confirmed in writing before appointment — a clear scope protects both sides.
Financial and employee information is handled on a need-to-know basis under confidentiality undertakings, processed in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), and stored in controlled systems rather than shared inboxes. Clients are welcome to ask how their specific data is stored, who can access it, and how long it is retained — a provider should be able to answer those questions directly.
Yes. A mid-year takeover starts with a handover review: confirming registrations, reconciling year-to-date payroll and submissions, identifying any arrears or gaps, and regularising them before the normal monthly cycle resumes. The earlier in the reconciliation period the handover happens, the simpler it is — but a takeover is workable at any point in the year provided the prior records can be obtained.
As a general rule, SARS requires tax records to be kept for at least five years from the date of submission of the relevant return, and other legislation sets its own periods — for example, certain employee and payroll records under labour law, and company records under the Companies Act, carry their own retention requirements, some longer than five years. Keep records organised and retrievable rather than merely stored; retention periods differ by record type, so confirm the requirements that apply to your situation.