With the prevalence of fraud in South Africa it was just a matter of time before there was some form of audit on TERS payments. The first step of this process was legislative authority for such audits to take place. On the 8th December 2022, the UIF commissioner signed a notice containing a list of auditing firms that have been approved by the Fund and mandated to audit employers for compliance with the TERS benefit requirements. The following are the approved firms that will be contacting selected employers to arrange for information gathering:
(Updated List as of Feb 2025)
- 24SIX CA
- AL TITUDE BUSINESS ADVISORY
- CHAPU CA
- DITHETO ACCOUNTANTS
- DUE BILLS CONSULTING
- EZEE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS
- IZALA VERIFICATORS
- KST HOLDING
- KULUNGWANA ACCOUNTANTS
- LEBONE LA AFRICA CONSULTANTS
- LEOLO AND PARTNERS CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS
- MAINE MANAGEMENT AND CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT
- MKWANAZI INVESTMENTS
- MNB CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS
- NAMBE FINANCIAL CONSULTANTS
- NDEMEX CONSULTING
- NKS CASA
- OMC CONSULTING
- RSND CONSULTING PROFESSIONALS
- SAMBA SOLUTIONS
- SIMDAR CONSULTING
- SONDLO CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS
- SVZ CONSULTING
- THABI CONSULTING
- THE ACCOUNTING VILLAGE
- UBUNTU BUSINESS ADVISORY AND CONSULTING
If an employer receives a request from one of these firms, it is legitimate and must legally be complied with. These firms will require access to various documentation to complete this exercise. Employers are required to provide the following information within three working days of receiving this letter:
Bank statements, showing all COVID19 TERS funds received to date from the UIF, and money paid to employees by the employer
Payroll reports (January 2020 to the last month of application)
Signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the UIF
Reconciliation of COVID19 TERS funds (total COVID19 TERS funds received from the UIF against or a comparison to funds paid to employees)
A bank confirmation letter submitted to the UIF initially with the claims applications
Communication letter / email sent to employees relating to the temporary closure of the business indicating the periods that the UIF claims were applied for
Proof of payment of COVID19 TERS funds to employees
Proof of any refunds made by your company to UIF
A schedule of forced leave days for employees listed in your COVID19 TERS benefit application/s
The nominated audit firms will in due course provide targeted employers with a sample list of employees for which they will require the following further information:
Contracts of employment or appointment letters
Payslips from January 2020 to the last month of their benefit application/s
Clocking reports or attendance registers pertaining to the lockdown period applied for
IRP5’s for 2021 and 2022
Salary increase letters, where applicable
Termination letters, where applicable
Any other documentation or records deemed appropriate to fulfilling the post-verification exercise
The above requested information is in no manner exhaustive and should further documentation and/or records be required to fulfil the post-verification exercise, the employer will be required to provide them.
We expect these audits to be extensive and reasonably long-winded. No timeframe on the process has been published yet. We suggest that you comply fully with these auditors to avoid dragging the audit out and potentially receiving some form of negative finding.
Contact us [email protected] should you need any assistance in this regard.