Payroll software
Sage Pastel Payroll and other small business payroll programs cover PAYE, UIF and SDL for many employers; larger organisations need payroll with HR, leave and approvals.
Accounting software implementation and support: QuickBooks, Sage Pastel and Xero
Accounting software records transactions, invoices, payroll and tax so a finance team can report and comply. Arke Technologies (Pty) Ltd, in Johannesburg, selects, implements, migrates, integrates and supports accounting software (QuickBooks, Sage Pastel, Sage Business Cloud and Xero) for organisations, public bodies and schools across South Africa.
What accounting software does for a finance team
Accounting software, sometimes called accounting and bookkeeping software, keeps the general ledger and everything that feeds it: invoices and supplier bills, bank reconciliation, VAT, fixed assets, payroll and stock. For a South African organisation it must also produce VAT, PAYE, UIF and SDL figures, and records that satisfy SARS and your auditors. It is one part of our business software service.
The market has three tiers. Packages for smaller entities (Sage Business Cloud Accounting, Xero, QuickBooks and Zoho Books online, or Sage 50 Pastel on the desktop) handle one company and a modest number of users. Mid-market software such as Sage 200 Evolution adds users, branches and modules. Above that sit ERP systems, which run finance, stock and operations across groups of companies.
Sage Pastel, explained
Are Sage and Pastel the same? Today, yes. Pastel began as a South African accounting package and is now part of Sage, so the products carry both names. Sage 50 Pastel Partner (still called Sage 50c Pastel Partner, or simply Pastel Partner) is the desktop package people usually mean by "Pastel accounts"; Pastel Xpress is its entry-level sibling, and Sage 200 Evolution the larger multi-user product.
Sage Pastel Payroll handles PAYE, UIF and SDL for South African employers, with its own update cycle for tax tables. Online, Sage Business Cloud Accounting (the former Sage One, and before that Sage Pastel My Business Online) is Sage's cloud accounting software.
We run desktop Sage company files on a managed server, on site or in the cloud, where staff need remote access, and deliver Sage Pastel training on your own chart of accounts and processes. That is workflow training, not a vendor certification course.
QuickBooks, Xero or Sage: how to choose accounting software
The right accounting application fits how your organisation is structured and controlled; the longest feature list rarely decides it. We test each option against these questions:
- Entities. One company, or several that must consolidate? More than a handful usually points to Sage 200 Evolution or an ERP.
- Users and locations. Who posts, approves and reports (clerks, a bookkeeper, the finance manager, auditors), and from where? Cloud suits dispersed teams; desktop needs a server and remote access.
- Stock. Xero inventory management and QuickBooks inventory tracking cover simple items; serious stock control needs inventory accounting software with warehouses and batches, or an ERP.
- Payroll. In the accounting package, in dedicated payroll software, or at a bureau?
- Integrations. Bank feeds, point of sale, e-commerce, CRM and payment gateway integration; see ERP and accounting integration.
- Connectivity. A cloud package stops when the internet does, so plan for load-shedding with backup power and a second connection from Fibre Boyz, our connectivity division.
- Controls and cost. Role-based access and an audit trail that cannot be switched off; subscriptions over five years plus migration, training and support.
Our comparison of Sage vs Xero goes deeper on that choice.
Free, small-business and cloud accounting software
Small businesses often start by looking for free accounting software, and free tools have a place: Wave offers a free online accounting tool, TurboCASH is open source accounting software, Odoo Community includes open source invoicing, and several cloud packages offer low-cost small-business tiers. For a sole trader, free accounting and bookkeeping software can be enough.
For an organisation with auditors, a board or public accountability, "free" usually costs more later: free tools rarely offer the access controls, audit trail, local payroll and support an audit expects, and moving years of history out is a project in itself. Small entities inside larger organisations (a subsidiary, a school's fundraising trust, an NPO programme) are usually better on the group's package. Smaller firms should read IT for small and medium businesses, which covers accounting software programs for small businesses in South Africa.
Cloud-based accounting software keeps the ledger with the vendor, reached online; desktop software keeps it on your own server. Cloud computing suits dispersed teams and removes server upkeep; desktop suits large company files, weak connectivity or policies that keep data on site.
Changing packages, or leaving a legacy one
Organisations change packages for many reasons: an unsupported early Pastel version, growth beyond Omni or Smart-IT accounting software or TurboCASH, Microsoft Dynamics GP (originally Great Plains accounting software), or a spreadsheet that has grown into a ledger. Moving to a supported package is a data migration project, and that is where most of the risk sits.
We map the chart of accounts, bring across opening balances and the agreed history, reconcile the new ledger to the old one, and run both in parallel before switching off. Dynamics GP users usually move to Business Central; organisations outgrowing a package may move to SAP accounting software such as SAP Business One.
Payroll, inventory and management accounting
Inventory
Sage 50 Pastel Partner and Sage 200 Evolution give stronger stock control than the cloud packages; warehouses, batches and serial numbers belong in an ERP.
Invoicing
Invoicing in Xero, Sage or QuickBooks with your branding, payment links and statements.
Management accounting
Budgets against actuals, cost centres and departmental reports. The management accounting software inside most packages is limited, so we build reporting on top with Power BI.
Bank feeds
Automated feeds where your bank and package support them, with rules that keep reconciliation current.
What accounting software costs, and what drives it
- Subscriptions or licences. Cloud packages charge a monthly subscription, tiered by users or features; desktop packages add server, backup and upgrade costs.
- Users and modules. Payroll, inventory, multi-currency and extra users each add cost.
- Migration and integration. Several entities, years of history, untidy data and each bank, point-of-sale or e-commerce link add time.
- Training and support. Budget for both at go-live and at every year end.
Published hourly rates for IT project work in South Africa run from about R550 to R750 ex VAT (matnet.co.za, September 2026). We quote implementation per project after scoping, and ongoing support within a managed IT contract or as agreed in the SLA.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
Governance, controls, procurement and continuity
- Governance and reporting. A named service lead, an agreed escalation path, change control over the chart of accounts, user roles and integrations, and a monthly service review with a written report.
- Segregation of duties. The person who loads a supplier's bank details should not release the payment. We set roles and approval limits to match your delegation of authority, and protect finance mailboxes against invoice fraud with email security.
- Audit trail and POPIA. Audit logs stay on, periods lock after close, and records are kept for the periods the law sets (generally five years under the Tax Administration Act and seven under the Companies Act). Payroll and debtor records hold personal information, so access is role-based and logged, and backups are encrypted.
- King IV, PFMA and MFMA. Boards need assurance under King IV Principle 12 that financial systems are governed, and PFMA entities need audit-ready records and documented controls, which we configure and write up. Municipalities need systems that comply with mSCOA, which general packages are not built for; there we help with integration, reconciliation and reporting. See IT for municipalities.
- Procurement. Arke Technologies is a Level 1 B-BBEE contributor (135% procurement recognition; sworn affidavit available on request); company documents, our CSD supplier number and SARS tax compliance status are available on request. Buy by proposal and SLA, purchase order or tender response; see procuring from Arke.
- Continuity. A certified team works remote-first under one SLA, so one service covers a head office and its branches. Company files, administrator logins and backups stay yours. If you change provider, we hand over credentials, integration documentation and the chart-of-accounts mapping.