Vare Consulting

The paperwork side of running a company, handled properly

Vare Consulting is a small independent practice working with owner-managed businesses in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. We map processes, review supplier contracts, keep POPIA records and health and safety files in order, and rebuild the monthly reporting packs that banks and auditors keep asking for. Most clients run light manufacturing, logistics or professional services with 15 to 80 staff.

We do not sign off audits or statutory filings. We do the groundwork so your accountant can, and we train one of your own people to keep it running after we step back.

Book a 30-minute scoping call See how an engagement runs

Not ready to talk yet? Start with reconciling paper and digital records or POPIA handling for a 40-person firm.

Vare Consulting intro focus

How an engagement runs, from first call to handover

Most owner-managed firms come to us with the same problem in different clothing: the paperwork exists, but nobody can find it when a bank or an auditor asks. The path below is roughly how the work unfolds, though the order shifts depending on what we find in the first week.

  1. Step 01

    Scoping call

    Thirty minutes on the phone. We ask where records live, who touches them, and what triggered the call. No proposal yet, just a sense of whether we are the right fit.

  2. Step 02

    Two-week diagnostic

    We sit in your office or workshop, walk the process from order to invoice, and map where supplier contracts, POPIA records, and safety files actually sit. You get a written picture of the gaps.

  3. Step 03

    Retainer and rebuild

    On a monthly retainer we join ops meetings, tidy the spreadsheet sprawl, and rebuild the reporting pack banks keep asking for. Contract and supplier reviews happen alongside.

  4. Step 04

    Training and handover

    Before we step back, a junior staffer is trained on the written procedures so the routine survives a busy month. Your accountant handles sign-off; we hand over the groundwork.

Not sure which step you are on? Start with a scoping call, or read how we handled a records reconciliation for a similar firm.

Questions we get before the first scoping call

A short set of answers to the things owner-managers ask us most often. If yours is not here, the scoping call is the right place for it.

Do you replace our accountant or auditor?

No. We do not sign off on anything statutory and we do not run audits. What we do is get the underlying records, contracts, and reporting packs into a state where your accountant can work without chasing missing paperwork. Think of it as groundwork, not sign-off.

What does the two-week diagnostic actually produce?

A written picture of how work currently moves through your business: where documents are stored, who touches them, where versions diverge, and which reporting figures are being rebuilt by hand each month. You get the findings whether or not you continue with us.

How does POPIA fit into this?

Mostly through records handling: who may open personnel files, how long delivery notes and supplier banking details are kept, and what happens when someone leaves. We map those obligations onto the way your team already works rather than handing you a policy document nobody reads.

We are based outside the major centres. Can you still help?

Our clients sit mainly in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, but the work is largely document and process based. On-site days matter for the diagnostic; the retained work runs well remotely with periodic visits.

What happens after the retainer ends?

The point of the retainer is that you do not need us indefinitely. We train a junior staffer on the procedures we build, leave written steps behind, and step back. Some clients keep a light monthly check-in; many do not.

Still deciding whether this applies to you? Read our scoping call notes or review how we handle your information in our privacy policy.

What changes once we are in the room

Most owner-managed firms do not need another report. They need the existing mess sorted, written down, and handed to someone who stays. These are the outcomes clients tend to notice first.

One version of the truth

We reconcile the filing cabinet against the shared drive, agree on naming and retention, and set who may move a document. When an auditor asks for a signed supplier contract, it turns up once, not twice with different dates.

Processes on paper, not in someone's head

Order intake, dispatch, returns, supplier onboarding. We map what actually happens on the floor, note where it diverges from the written version, and leave a one-page procedure per step that a new hire can follow in week one.

POPIA handled at the desk level

Personnel files, supplier banking details, delivery records. We set access rules, retention periods, and a simple exit routine for staff departures, so the obligations live in daily work rather than in a policy nobody opens.

Health and safety files that pass inspection

Appointments, incident registers, equipment checks, contractor inductions. We rebuild the file in the order an inspector works through it, then set a monthly tick-over so it does not go stale between visits.

A reporting pack that takes a day

We strip the pack back to the figures banks and auditors return to, rebuild the links, and write the monthly routine down. The point is that a junior staffer can produce it without chasing you for three days.

Someone internal who can keep it going

Every retainer includes training for one person on your side. We sit in on ops meetings, hand over the templates, and stay reachable for the first few cycles. The work should outlast the engagement.

Curious how a diagnostic runs in practice? Read how firms end up with two versions of their records, or get in touch to talk through your setup.

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