Vehicle finance readiness
Self-Employed? Get Your Books Ready for Vehicle Finance
Your business earns. Your paperwork has to prove it. We organise your bookkeeping, SARS and CIPC records so you can apply for car or bakkie finance with a clear, complete pack.
Take the finance readiness checkRevenue Bridge is a firm of accountants. We prepare your records; we do not arrange finance or recommend lenders.
Revenue Bridge is not a Financial Services Provider (FSP) or credit broker. We simply provide financial readiness packages.
Why self-employed applications get declined
Most declines are not about income. They happen because a credit assessor cannot verify your income from the documents in front of them. The most common reasons are:
- Business and personal spending run through one bank account, so income is hard to separate.
- Tax returns are outstanding, or your SARS profile is not compliant.
- There are no up-to-date management accounts or financial statements.
- Your company shows as deregistered or in deregistration at CIPC because annual returns were missed.
- What you pay yourself is irregular, with no clear record of salary or director's drawings.
Each of these can be fixed. That is our work.
What lenders typically ask for
Requirements differ from lender to lender, but self-employed applicants are usually asked for:
- 3 to 6 months of personal and business bank statements
- Recent financial statements or management accounts
- Your latest SARS assessment (IT34) and proof of tax compliance
- Company registration documents, if you trade through a Pty Ltd
- ID and proof of address
We make sure each document exists, is current and tells the same story as the others.
How we get you finance-ready
Step 1
Assess
We review your bank statements, SARS profile and CIPC status.
Step 2
Map
We set out what is missing and what each item will take to fix.
Step 3
Reconcile
We bring your books up to date and separate business from personal spending.
Step 4
Prepare
We compile management accounts and a clear record of your income.
Step 5
Submit
We file outstanding returns with SARS and CIPC and hand you a complete document pack.
Step 6
Respond
If a lender asks questions about your financials, we help you answer them.
The three areas we fix
Company compliance
CIPC annual returns, reinstating your company, and advice on whether trading as a Pty Ltd suits you.
Tax compliance
Outstanding ITR12 and ITR14 returns, SARS debt and audits, your Tax Compliance Status PIN and IT34 records.
Accounting and bookkeeping
Moving you onto Xero, Sage or QuickBooks, setting up structured director's drawings and producing management accounts.
Which route fits you?
| Route | Your situation | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| A: Submission Pack | Books and tax are up to date | Compile your financials and assemble the document pack |
| B: Accounting Cleanup | Records are behind or mixed with personal spending | Reconcile, move you to cloud accounting, then build the pack |
| C: Compliance Overhaul | CIPC or SARS backlogs | Restore company and tax compliance first, then routes B and A |
Find your route
Check your numbers first
Many lenders look closely at how much of your monthly income already goes to debt repayments. See where you stand, using common lender guidelines.
What would your monthly instalment be?
- Monthly instalment
- R7 657
- Total repayable
- R551 307
- Balloon due at the end
- R0
Excludes initiation and service fees, and insurance.
How much of your income already goes to debt?
Includes the new instalment above: R7 657.
- Debt-to-income
- 26.1%
Comfortable range for most lenders.
Estimates only, based on common lender guidelines. Lenders apply their own affordability assessment under the National Credit Act, their own rates and fees. This is not a credit assessment or an offer of finance.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get car finance if I'm self-employed in South Africa?
Yes. Many self-employed people do. Lenders simply need more proof of income than they ask of salaried employees. Clean, current records make that proof straightforward.
Why was my vehicle finance application declined?
Lenders do not always give a detailed reason. For self-employed applicants, common causes are unverifiable income, outstanding tax returns or out-of-date financials. Our readiness check helps identify which applies to you.
Do I need financial statements for a car loan?
Most lenders ask self-employed applicants for financial statements or recent management accounts. We prepare these from your records.
What is an IT34, and why does a lender want it?
An IT34 is your SARS notice of assessment. It shows the income you declared and SARS assessed, so lenders use it to check what your bank statements show.
Will you apply for finance on my behalf?
No. We are accountants, not credit providers, brokers or financial advisers. We prepare your records. You choose where to apply.
How long does it take to become finance-ready?
It depends on your route. A business with clean books (Route A) needs far less work than one with SARS or CIPC backlogs (Route C). We give you a timeline after the readiness check.
Revenue Bridge is not a Financial Services Provider (FSP) or credit broker. We simply provide financial readiness packages.
Revenue Bridge provides accounting, tax and company compliance services. We are not a registered financial services provider or credit broker, and we do not recommend lenders or finance products. Any credit decision is made by the lender under its own criteria and the National Credit Act. Being finance-ready improves the quality of your application but does not guarantee approval.
Your business has done the work. Let your paperwork show it.
The readiness check covers your books, tax and company status, and tells you exactly what to fix first.
Start the readiness check