XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online
Country Restriction: South Africa only
Risk Type: Tax Risk
Business Function: Contacts
Overview
This XBert finds a contact in your accounting software that has no VAT or registration number recorded, yet XBert has confidently matched it to a known South African business. Completing the missing details keeps your contact records accurate and your VAT reporting reliable.
What it does
XBert looks at the suppliers, customers and bank-transaction counterparties you trade with and compares them against its register of South African businesses. When a contact has no registration number of its own but clearly matches a registered business, XBert surfaces that match so you can confirm it and fill in the gap.
For each matched business, XBert also shows the most recent supporting document already attached to that contact, so you have something concrete to check the match against.
How it works
XBert raises this alert when all of the following are true for a South African organisation:
The contact has no VAT or registration number recorded in your accounting software.
XBert has found an exact match between that contact and a known South African business, giving you the matched company or enterprise number.
The contact has real activity since 1 January 2022 on bills, invoices or bank transactions that are authorised or paid.
A supporting document is already attached to the contact, so the match can be verified.
XBert deliberately ignores activity that should not be acted on. Draft, voided and deleted documents are skipped, and only authorised or paid transactions count. Contacts that already have a registration number, contacts that are no longer active, and contacts with no supporting document on file are not flagged. If a contact has not yet fully synced from your accounting software, XBert holds it back and re-checks it on a later sync rather than raising an alert it cannot yet be actioned on.
Example/Use Case
Thandi looks after supplier records in Xero for a Cape Town firm. One supplier, ZS Engineering (Pty) Ltd, has been set up with a name and trading history but no VAT number. ZS Engineering's invoices, totalling about R48,500 in VAT over the past year, are all attached in Xero with the company's registration details printed on them.
XBert matches ZS Engineering to its registered South African business record and raises this alert. Thandi opens the attached invoice, confirms the match is correct, and adds the supplier's VAT number to the contact in Xero. Her supplier list is now complete, her VAT Return is easier to prepare, and the records will stand up if SARS ever asks.
Accounting software
Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online.
Which countries it supports
South Africa only.
Processes
This XBert is part of the Cleanup process group and helps you keep contact records accurate and compliant. To resolve it:
Open the contact and review the supporting document XBert has surfaced, alongside the matched business name and registration number.
Confirm the match is correct. If anything looks off, check the document and the contact details before changing anything.
If the match is right, add the missing VAT or registration number to the contact in your accounting software.
Once the contact is updated, mark the XBert as resolved.
Recording registration numbers where they are available improves the accuracy of your bookkeeping, supports correct VAT Return preparation, and reduces audit risk.