Professional Accounting & Advisory Solutions You Can Trust

Accounting & Management Services

Staying on top of accounting is a challenge for business caught up in the daily priorities of running a business. Apart from keeping you abreast of the precise financial state of your business, our accounting service will keep you compliant with ever-more complex tax, statutory audit and company responsibilities. We provide both ad-hoc and permanent ongoing support to companies, owner-managed businesses, trusts, partnerships, individuals and businesses in Botswana with assistance in:

• Regular maintenance of financial records: processing financial transactions, bank reconciliations, management accounts, dealing with your statutory returns (PAYE, VAT etc.) and the setting up of systems by your designated accounts clerk.
• Annual requirements: financial statement, management of supporting documentation and income tax returns.
• Preparation of budgets and monthly management accounts and the monitoring of actual results against budgets.
• Keeping accurate and reliable accounts, providing more cost-effective ways by helping you avoid penalties.

We also have staff constantly on hand to assist you with queries and problems whenever they arise and can even train your bookkeeper, if required.

you can access your own cost-effective outsourced accounts division from us, either by short term agreement or a field monthly billing, agreed in advance.

All our financial statements are prepared using accounts preparation software called "case ware" this allows us to ensure that the financials are compliant with latest accounting standards and complient with IFRS either for SME's or full IFRS.

Our Professional Services

Forensic Services

Our Forensic Services department helps manage risk by accurately and expediently unravelling financial mysteries. We use cutting edge methodologies to identify and prevent your business or organisation from becoming a victim of fraud, corruption or any form of white collar crime

We offer a range of proactive and reactive forensic services which includes the following:

• Forensic Accounting
• Business Intelligence
• Individual (e.g. prescreening of employees)
• Business (e.g. profiling and pre-vendor due diligence)
• Forensic investigations into alleged fraud, corruption and theft, for the purposes of
• Disciplinary proceedings
• Criminal and or civil litigation
• Fraud awareness training
• Dispute resolution
• General fraud and anti-corruption awareness
• Fraud prevention programmes
• Development of anti-fraud policies and codes of conduct
• Litigation support (including)
• Preparation of claims (insurance, breach of contract and business interruption claims)
• Asset tracing
• Presentation of expert testimony
• Data analysis
• Assessment, monitoring and review of fraud and anti-corruption policies and programmes

Forensic Services

We are Certified Forensic Investigation professionals with many years of experience in the field of forensic accounting, auditing and investigations.

Corporate fraud is on the rise. Fraud is deception, deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain. Companies today do not just face risks from internal fraud but also from external criminals who are technologically savvy. The important role of forensic accounting plays in minimizing financials losses through fraud is fast gaining ground. Forensic accounting is the use of accounting, auditing, and investigative skills to assist in legal matters. It encompasses litigation support, investigation and dispute resolution.

We are professionals who use a unique blend of education and experience to apply accounting, auditing and investigative skills to uncover truth, form legal opinions, and assist in investigations.

Our skills set are:

• Private investigations
• Criminal investigations
• Fraud audit
• Forensic accounting
• Tracing hidden assets
• Money laundering investigations
• Expert witnessing
• Preventive controls
• Anti-fraud/corruption training

Tax Advisory & Compliance

Are you having problems with your tax issues?

We are here to help you resolve your tax difficulties and put an end to tax-induced misery. We pride ourselves on being very efficient, affordable and, of course, utterly confidential. Tax problems will not go away by themselves; they just keep getting worse, with penalties and interest being added each day.

If you owe the taxman, you have a very serious problem. It may take the tax authorities several years to catch up to you, but they are relentless and have no mercy in collecting all the money that is owed. When the collection process starts, they can make your life miserable. Taxation presents arguably the most dynamic and complex challenge in the context of financial planning. Ever-changing legislation and rules are matched only by the new methods devised to make the discharge of tax liabilities as efficient as possible.

When it comes to tax planning and strategy, every case is unique. Our approach remains versatile, with an awareness that individual issues must be dealt with on their own merits, but with the overall, long-term considerations always in mind.

Whether you are the tax director of a multinational group, an owner-manager, an individual setting up a trust or in receipt of trust income, an employee or a Public Benefit Organisation, we make sure you don't pay more tax than is necessary and that your activities remain tax-efficient. We also value the importance of relationships, especially over the long term. Getting to know your needs over time means we will become more knowledgeable about your affairs and can react proactively to changing tax requirements in line with your own special circumstances.

Double Pillars tax services cover a number of broad areas. Tax investigations are increasing in number all the time. Obtaining the best advice when you need it can save a lot of time and money, not to mention stress. Administering employment tax requirements (PAYE) can be complicated and time-consuming.

Generally, PBOs are tax-exempt but, in some cases, corporate tax can still apply. As part of a truly international firm, Double Pillars provides an extensive service for tax affairs, drawing on broad global connections and diverse expertise.

Corporate tax

If you're a large corporate client or an entrepreneur, you're focused on what you do best—building your business. Allow us to help you manage your company's tax affairs so your business benefits from high operational performance and legal protection while ensuring you pay no more tax than you ought to.

International tax

If you are a company with international connections or plans to expand into Africa, talk to us for assistance with your tax planning. Through our international network, you are assured of efficient and smart advice from the best professionals around the world.

Public Benefit Organisations (PBOs)

If you are a public benefit organisation, you are focused on delivering your much-needed services to communities. We will assist your PBO to enjoy the appropriate income tax status and ensure that you remain fully compliant.

Private individuals

For many people, personal tax matters are confusing and the annual tax season is a minefield. We will ensure a tailored tax service that recognises you as an individual.

Tax investigations

Tax investigations are increasing in number all the time. Obtaining the best advice when you need it can save a lot of time and money, not to mention stress. The Double Pillars Tax Investigations team has years of collective experience working within BURS. Our expertise covers anything from individual tax disputes to large, complex and high-profile cases relating to income tax, Employees Tax and VAT.

Tax planning

Consistent, proactive tax planning is the key to successfully and legally reducing your tax liability. We go beyond tax compliance and recommend tax-saving strategies to maximise your after-tax income. We are a planning-oriented firm and are dedicated to positively impacting the tax characteristics of our clients. We make it a priority to enhance our mastery of the current tax law, complex tax code and new tax regulations by attending frequent tax seminars and courses. We are required to enrol in an average of 40 hours per year of continuing professional education and meet this requirement with high-quality coursework.

We recommend tax-saving strategies that help you…

• Grow and preserve assets by keeping Uncle Sam out of your pockets.
• Reduce taxes on your income so you keep more of what you make.
• Reduce taxes on your estate so your family keeps more of what you've made.
• Reduce taxes on your gifts so you can give more.
• Reduce taxes on your investments so you can grow your wealth faster.
• Reduce taxes on your retirement distributions so you can retire in style.

Remember, we work for you, not for the taxman. Many of our clients save many times the fee in reduced tax liability through careful planning and legitimate tax strategies.

Corporate Secretarial Services

You can save a lot of time and money, not to mention trouble, by engaging the services of a good company secretarial service.

We can help you with the maze of regulation and the myriad tasks required to conform with the rules of company ownership and administration. Our experienced professionals take care of any aspects of your company secretarial work so that you can remain safe in the knowledge that you remain compliant and your affairs remain in order.

Services we provide include;

• Registration of companies and Close Corporations
• Forming companies and Close Corporations
• Off the shelf companies and Close Corporations
• Changing directors of companies and members of Close Corporations
• Company and Close Corporation conversions
• Changing company and Close Corporation names
• Submission of company annual duty
• Registration of external companies
• Increasing, converting, subdividing or consolidating share capital and the redemption and repurchase of shares
• Making changes to memorandum and Articles of Associations
• Providing compliance service to company secretaries
• Helping clients with their AGM
• Writing minutes for clients or review their drafts
• Preparing documents to effect share transfers and allotment of shares
• Taking care of the routine maintenance of statutory registers and dealing with returns of the Registrar of Companies
• Change of financial year ends
• Company secretarial audits
• Registration of defensive names
• Registration of changes of trustees of trusts.

Corporate Advisory Services & Training

Advisory Services

Growing your business in the face of ever fiercer competition, while continuing to deliver profitability and shareholder value, can be tough. In today's business world you need to react to opportunities and threats faster than ever before, while implementing long term strategies to plan for future success.

Double Pillars Advisory Services

• Assist with growth through transaction support such as mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and international operations.
• Support and protect your business through ethical practices, solid infrastructure and compliance assistance.
• Improve performance from business advice and consulting with advisory, technical and industry specific skills.
• Help you ensure that you have the right processes in place.
• Mitigate against the risk of unforeseen events.

Whether you are pursuing new opportunities, dealing with a serious issue or managing the daily pressure of organizational maintenance, our diverse teams of experienced professionals are here to help, with expert local knowledge both at home and internationally. The role of corporate finance is often played during critical times of history of business. whether you are expanding, restructuring, seeking new market opportunities disposing of business, you need a team of advisors with the broad experience required to achieve the best possible result for you. Just how actively are you managing your fraud risk? Many people that we speak to think fraud is something that only happens to other people-until it happens to them... You can save a lot of time and money, not to mention trouble, by engaging the services of a good company secretarial service.

Training

The division focuses in providing training services in finance and soft skills. Our courses have been designed by experts in the field. We offer top-notch training to help you get the best in your workforce. We fully understand that each business has different requirements and we are always willing to tailor make our courses based on the needs of our customers and provide training based on their convenience. All our courses and trainers are approved by BQA (Botswana Qualifications Authority)

1 Identification of Need

2 Planning and Design

3 Delivery / Facilitation

4 Assessment

5 Evaluation

Payroll Services

Our purpose and passion is to assist companies in successfully managing their employee payroll by providing a superior remuneration services solution. Market trends show that outsourcing the payroll management service not only significantly reduces your administrative burden, but that getting the professionals on board to manage the process far outweighs the cost of hiring a junior payroll employee. Not only do you save money, but Double Pillars Remuneration Services team provides a quality outstanding service, geared to meet the needs of your business today. As a competitive market leader, the Double Pillars team is highly experienced and our in-depth knowledge of the basic conditions of Employment Act, Labour law and income tax legislation is invaluable. We are also backed by the most up-to-date systems and software, which are regularly updated to take into account changes to legislation and the changing needs and expectations of our clients.

• Initial setup the Company and all Employees in VIP Payroll software or periodic processing of payroll.
• Preparing monthly payroll and issuing of pay slips for all employees.
• Issuing the monthly payroll reports and year to date figures for your updating of the general ledger.
• Filing of monthly and Annual Returns for Withholding Taxes of employees with the BURS.
• Attending, with your assistance to BURS queries relating to Withholding Tax Returns.
• Computation and processing of Severance packages and other terminal benefits.

Corporate Finance

The role of corporate finance is often played during critical times in the history of a business. Whether you are expanding, restructuring, seeking new market opportunities or disposing a business, you need a team of advisors with the broad experience required to achieve the best possible result for you. Double Pillars corporate finance team has the expertise that comes only from repeatedly completing successful transactions. this we've achieved for clients across a variety of sectors and for every size of enterprise- from owner managed businesses to multi-nationals. whatever your objective, we can mobilize a team that will bring the most effective level of expertise to the table with a commitment to achieving a successful outcome that matches, or even exceeds your expectations.

Our corporate finance offerings fall into four distinct areas of expertise:

• Acquisitions
• Capital raising
• Valuations
• Corporate structuring and re-organization

Acquisitions, disposals and mergers

• Help with expanding in your current market.
• Identifying target acquisitions.
• Managing the acquisition process-whether buying a company, part of a company, its shares, trade or assets.
• Intermediary support in buying and selling businesses.
• Complete corporate acquisitions, Management Buy Out (MBO), Management Buy In (MBI) and Buy In together with a Management Buy Out (BIMBO).
• Comprehensive due diligence investigations.
• Disposals, including corporate divestment programmers, non-core business disposal and retirement sales.

Capital Raising

• Advice on the right funding strategy for your business from owner managed businesses to large private companies and listed companies.
• Selecting the right type of funding-whether debt, equity or a mix-and developing a tight proposition that is attractive to potential founders.
• Structuring transactions, from debt and equity through to IPO's.

Valuations

We provide an objective and independent service that covers;

• Business Valuations
• Share Valuation
• Indicative value exercises as part of lead advisory and transaction support services
• Viability studies and capital investment appraisal

Corporate structuring and re-organization

We often encounter groups or companies that, due to the ad-hoc nature of their evolution, suffer an irrelevant or even cumbersome corporate structure. The proliferation of companies within a group often leads to inefficiencies and needless expense. For example, copious statutory returns, undue demands upon management and treasury and the inability to set losses off against profits can draw heavily on any groups human and financial resources. We deliver an expert service in the restructuring of corporate groups in order to maximize efficiency. We are particularly skilled in utilizing the complex ‘corporate rules’ to affect restructuring without creating CGT and income tax exposures.

We can also help you with:

• Business support in the form of plans, budgets and cash flows
• Fair and reasonable evaluation and reports
• Specialist management information reviews
• Supply chain management and project management
• Transaction support