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Behind the numbers: Reza Amra on strengthening South Africa’s nonprofit sector

This interview series with our #Nonprofit Service Provider Classifieds advertisers aims to unveil the stories and motivations behind those who specialise in uplifting and guiding the nonprofit community.

In this interview, we get to know Reza Amra, Director of Turning Point Chartered Accountants


Q: Tell me about yourself and your company/consulting services.

rezaA: My name is Reza Amra, a Chartered Accountant and Director at Turning Point Chartered Accountants (TPC) – a firm specialising in the non-profit sector. I’m also one of the co-founders of 10 Bucks Only, a revolutionary online fundraising and fully automated 18A receipting platform.

Turning Point Chartered Accountants started when three independent practices, including my own merged, after initially collaborating on specialised projects for NPOs. We saw a need for services tailored to meet the unique needs of the non-profit sector, supported by highly qualified professionals that also understood the sector.

Over a period, we've evolved into a firm, with four highly skilled CA(SA)’s offering a range of comprehensive services to NPOs across South Africa.

What distinguishes us is that we have specialised skills within the different divisions supporting the NPO sector. Thus, we’re able to offer a complete solution to NPOs including statutory registrations, accounting, payroll, compliance, statutory and fund audits, specialised tax reviews, NPO risk assessments and capacity building/training programmes.

Q: What inspired you to focus your career on the non-profit sector?

A: Having had the opportunity to work with number of leading business owners whilst qualifying as a CA with PwC, I realised a passion for serving small to medium-sized entities. This lead to me establishing my own practice as I saw a need for real-time financial reporting in these businesses as many viewed financial reporting as a burden rather than seeing the true value.

When we bring in a tax saving to an organisation, it flows through to the various individuals, projects and communities they serve.

In fact, this can also be extended to NPOs, especially since most organisations are started by individuals passionate about a certain cause, wanting to make a positive contribution in some way. More often this is done without adequate financial expertise.

An opportunity eventually came along to collaborate on specialised VAT projects for NPOs as most organisations were, and still are, unaware of the benefits VAT registration affords.  We also started noticing a significant skills shortage and a lack of specialised financial services available to the sector, thus developing a range of specialised services for NPOs.

The impact we make is not limited to a handful of private shareholders but extends across South Africa to communities and causes that have a meaningful impact on society and the world we live in.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about working with nonprofits?

A: The most rewarding aspect is being able to see the impact of what we do at a grassroots level. We always maintain that we work closely with organisations, and don’t just sit behind a desk in an office. We prefer going out and seeing what actually goes on behind the scenes.

When we bring in a tax saving to an organisation, it flows through to the various individuals, projects and communities they serve. We've assisted organisations who were about to close doors due to lack of funding - by identifying unclaimed tax benefits, we've been able to recover monies for these organisations. Through the injection of these funds, it allowed them to continue and even expand operations.

It's incredibly rewarding to earn a living while at the same time assisting NPOs and communities throughout South Africa, knowing that we are in our own way making a difference and strengthening the sector. You can't put a value on that.

Q: What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced in this sector? How have you overcome them?

A: One challenge is that, whereas business owners have a direct vested interest in saving money, in the nonprofit sector organisations don't always fully appreciate the financial leakage and impact from not maximizing the available tax benefits. Could it be either because the funds are not coming directly to an individual like it would for a business owner or it is perhaps a case of ignorance is bliss and these benefits are too good to be true? This is the question every stakeholder in an organisation must ask themselves, including funder and donors as we need their rands to go the full mile and it is not happening currently.

There's also often a resistance to change; whether it's changing systems, embracing cloud technology, or maximising tax benefits. Many organisations are still stuck with desktop accounting solutions, which impact their most valuable resources - their people and time.

We try to overcome these challenges by designing processes that minimise the impact and time that an organisation needs to invest in a project. We're very appreciative of the multiple roles nonprofit staff often juggle, so we try to avoid having them invest significant resources to get projects off the ground.

A key part for us is education and we’ve been fortunate to have key role-players in the sector like Iqraa Trust, Albaraka Bank, Inyathelo and NASCEE etc partner with us to undertake capacity-building programmes for NPOs.

tpc

Q: How do you help nonprofit clients accomplish their missions more effectively?

A: As mentioned earlier the maximisation of tax benefits for an organisation is a key area due to the financial impact it has across the sector. With the rapid change in technology, we also assist with the transition to more efficient technologies like cloud accounting solutions, which can free up valuable time for staff, minimise errors in data processing, enabling efficient document management etc especially for those fund audits.

Another key area are statutory and fund audits. Being a USAID-accredited firm we have audit specialists who understand and focus exclusively on the sector, providing unparalleled value-for-money audit solutions.  This gives donors confidence which in turn leads to continued support for the organisation.

We also offer specialised services like our NPO risk assessment tool, which helps organisations assess their governance, financial management, and internal controls, allowing them to prioritise risk areas and develop strategic plans to mitigate these risks.

Additionally, we focus heavily on capacity building and upskilling organisations through workshops and training. We believe sharing knowledge is crucial to changing mindsets and improving the sector as a whole.

Q: How do you see the nonprofit sector evolving in the next 5-10 years? How are you preparing for those changes?

A: I think we're at a critical juncture with the advent of AI impacting various industries, including accounting and finance. Organisations that haven't embraced cloud accounting yet are already way behind and will eventually find that becoming old technology as AI gets integrated into accounting processes.

We're likely to see major disruptions driven by technology, and organisations need to embrace that.

Looking ahead, we're focusing on how we can use these new technologies to benefit the nonprofit sector, while still maintaining the critical human element that drives organisations.

As a firm we are geared for these changes internally as we constantly re-assess and evaluate all our processes to ensure we are at the forefront of these changes and can bring this to the sector. Integrations that allow for VAT returns to be filed directly with SARS without having to log in via eFiling from cloud accounting solutions like Xero or ufiling declarations via Simplepay payroll is evidence of the digital ecosystem we operate within.

We recently launched 10 Bucks Only, which is an innovative online fundraising and fully automated receipting platform. 

We have key partnerships with the likes of Xero to ensure we can keep innovating and have recently launched 10 Bucks Only which is an innovative online fundraising and fully automated IT3(d) compliant 18A receipting platform.  This is just the start, and we’re excited by what’s to come.

I’ve recently returned from Xerocon in London which is collaborative cloud technology conference for us beancounters and met accountants that were meeting their clients in the metaverse. Rest assured we’re happy to still come to you wherever your organisation may be in South Africa.

Q: Can you share an example of a nonprofit client you're especially proud to have worked with and why?

A: One example that stands out is an animal rights organisation we worked with back in 2012. Initially, they were reluctant to engage with us, but we persisted in reaching out to them. In fact, they eventually were accustomed to the weekly call from us. When we finally got a meeting to showcase our services and completed a project for them, the impact was profound, resulting in a significant financial boost.

At our final meeting, one of the directors actually hugged me and shed a tear, thanking me for "hounding" them. The financial benefits we were able to bring to their organisation made a significant difference as they were also then able to purchase their own land, with better facilities and they’re still going strong today. Moments like these, where we can see the direct impact of our work on an organisation's mission, are incredibly rewarding and memorable.

Q: What do you wish more people understood about working with nonprofits?

A: I wish more people understood that the nonprofit sector is a specialised industry in itself. It shouldn't be looked at as just the "third sector." The impact that nonprofit organisations make across South Africa, and globally, is huge. Without the nonprofit sector, most governments would struggle to fill the gaps in areas like education, healthcare, disaster relief, poverty alleviation, housing, skills development etc.

The sheer size of the sector is also often underestimated. In South Africa alone, there are close to 300,000 nonprofit organisations registered with the DSD, and that number is likely to be significantly understated in terms of the true size of the sector.

Thus, it is a key player in any economy, not just in terms of the services they provide, but also in terms of employment and expenditure. It's critical that we start looking at the sector through a different lens - requiring specializsd skill sets across various professions - legal, social media, tax, accounting and auditing etc.

Q: The nonprofit space is a challenging one to work in, whether you are nonprofit staff or a service provider. What do you do to take care of yourself?

A: Being family-oriented really helps, although running a practice you’re never too far away from that next call. Having a fair work-life balance and spending time with kids takes my mind off things. Although I do tend to sneak in a bit of work over the weekend, it is generally family time, and we try hard to keep it that way.

I also decided to deactivate emails from my phone several years ago and likewise avoid WhatsApp for business communication.

As a huge sports fan, supporting my kids on the side of the field be it practice or a game also gives me great joy, like I do watching professional sports. You won’t find me screaming and letting out energy from the outside though, it’s more about just enjoying those moments.

Living in a place like KZN, being able to take a drive out and spending time outdoors even in winter is really great – we are really blessed and fortunate in that sense.  It’s the simple things like having family over, soaking in the sun with a good book.

However, through it all spiritual grounding and faith play the most crucial role for me. I firmly believe that whatever is meant to happen will happen, and one can only control so much.

Accepting that no individual will be tested with a challenge beyond what that individual can handle also makes it easier to deal with challenges and build resilience in the face of adversity.

Ultimately it comes down to finding what is that common greater purpose we each have, achieving contentment in that, knowing that in any aspect of this temporary life we’ve given it our best, sincerely, honestly, with the right intention and then knowing undoubtedly that it will all one day come to an end when we will be accountable for every action and deed.

Q: What do you think sets your company or your services apart in the nonprofit services sector? In other words, why should nonprofits work with you?

A: As a firm, we like to think of ourselves as forward-thinking and innovative. We're very solutions-driven and like to break with the norm of a typical accounting firm. We offer a full range of services tailored specifically for the nonprofit sector, from reporting to specialized tax reviews and risk assessments.

Our pricing is transparent, allowing organisations to budget effectively. We're US-AID accredited, which is important for those requiring fund audits. Some of our offerings are internally developed by our experts for e.g. the NPO Risk Assessment tool is unique and provides organisations with a comprehensive view of their governance, financial management, and internal controls.

We place a strong emphasis on capacity building and knowledge sharing, with regular subsidised workshops and training held online and across the country...

Having us undertake a no risk comprehensive review of your organisation’s tax benefits and whether this is being maximised – these are all tailored to the sector’s unique needs.

We've also launched 10BucksOnly, a digital online fundraising platform that automates the S18A receipting functionality and allows for the IT3(d) data file download for submission to SARS.

We place a strong emphasis on capacity building and knowledge sharing, with regular subsidised workshops and training held online and across the country, covering topics like (Accounting, Compliance & Governance for NPOs, Reporting, Tax Exemption & Impact of Trading Income, Understanding VAT Rules for NPOs, S18A & Other Tax Benefits, Decoding IT3(d), Cloud Accounting & Tech for NPOs etc).  https://tpcsa.co.za/

Ultimately, what sets us apart is our specialised knowledge of the nonprofit sector and our commitment to not just providing services, but also empowering organisations with the knowledge they need to thrive.


Ruen Govinder

Founder and Executive Director, Hashtag Nonprofit

Ruen Govinder is the founder and director of Hashtag Nonprofit. She has over 20 years of experience in consulting and managing online communications and technology for the development sector. She produced a series of e-books on communications strategies for nonprofits, and has worked with clients across Africa and in the United States.

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