BBBEE Verification

The BBBEE Verification process can be hassle free!

BEE has in many cases left some business owners anxious as the terminology isn’t fully understood.

Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment compliance is in no way an obligation set out by law. Making the decision to get verified and being B-BBEE compliant is however something you can only benefit from.

To do business with government or any institution associated with state, you are required to have a valid BEE Certificate. You should also ensure that the BEE Verification Agency is accredited with either IRBA or SANAS.

In the end it becomes simple – Implement B-BBEE, get a good score and your business will grow.
  • The government tender act follows B-BBEE principals when awarding tenders,
  • Corporates insist on using BEE compliant suppliers to the extent that they have automated systems that remove vendors if they are non-compliant and
  • Seeing that private companies are losing business they are electing to use BEE compliant suppliers as well.

(B-BEE Verification is the process of becoming BEE compliant. Once you have chosen the best Business consulting Agency to assist with your verification, your BEE Compliance level can be determined by doing a BBBEE Cost Analysis / partial or a full audit on your company. (Depending on the size of your business).

This comprises three easy steps.

  1. Completion of Documentation
  2. Gathering of Evidence according to the relevant elements.
  3. Consulting  of Evidence and calculating BEE Compliancy

Once this is done, a Cost Analysis Report / Budget and Consulting Report of that specific entity’s BEE Compliancy and Procurement Recognition is discussed, before handing file over for Verification. The BEE scoring levels are explained below. Once the entity is happy with the level of Certificate that can be issued by Accredited Verification Agency will the file be handed over for Verification whereby a  BEE certificate is then issued and is valid for one year from the date of issue.

Categories of BEE Companies

When deciding whether your entity needs to be verified or not it is important to know and understand the three categories which a business may fall under, This determines the BEE planning process the entity needs to do, as well as the pricing of Accredited BEE Verification.

According to the Last Financial Statements i.e. the annual turnover, the following is categorised:
EME

Exempted Micro enterprise, this is when the natural turnover is not more than 10 Mil (may be the case of a start-up company) Please note that in the Tourism Industry the annual turnover needs to be less than 2.5 Mil. A full audit is not necessary, only relevant supporting documentation eg. Cipro Registration and Certified Copies of ID’s of owners.

QSE

Qualifying Small Enterprise, this is when the annual turnover is between 10-50 Mil but more than 10 Mil. A partial on site audit is done, this is where 4 of the 5 chosen elements are verified and an on-site verification is also conducted.

GENERIC

In case of a Generic, this is when the annual turnover is 50 Mil and above, a full on site audit is necessary, this means that all five elements are verified as per the Generic Scorecard, a site verification as well as interviews are conducted.

The 5 Elements of BEE Verification

During the BEE verification the verified entity has to submit physical proof of activity, spending and contributions in the Five elements of empowerment. The elements are:

OWNERSHIP

Proof of shares in HDI hands. A share certificate for example will need to be submitted for this purpose.

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

Submission of an EE report and the involvement of PDI’s in the organisation on different levels and categories.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Proof of training spend on HDI’s such as in-house programs and accredited programs such as ABET (reading and writing) and mentorship programs.

PREFERENTIAL PROCUREMENT

Proof of purchases from suppliers that are BEE compliant as a percentage of total procurement spending.

ENTERPRIZE DEVELOPMENT

Aiding SMME’s and emerging entities owned by HDI’s to trade in the mainstream economy. An example is setting up a CC and contracting such an entity to provide products.

SOCIO- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Social contributions towards own employees, employees families and communities such as paying employees children’s school fees and contributions towards black sports teams.

MANAGEMENT

Proof of HDI’s in top/senior management. Interviews will be held to confirm seniority, job description, salary etc. When sufficient planning is implemented, BEE does not need to be perceived as a threat to one’s business but rather that of an opportunity.

Client Testimonial

“I would like to thank all the staff at Cenfed/Chamberlink for their professional and friendly service.

We have dealt with numerous BEE verification agencies and have found that Cenfed has a proper procedure that they stick to. We have never experienced the BEE verification process in this manner before and have come to the realisation that Cenfed are doing it correctly.

Thank you for your patience and advice and the wonderful manner in which Yolandi Storm conducted herself with the on site audit.

We would recommend Cenfed to anyone in need of assistance with their BEE verification.”

Monique Beets – Accounting Clerk
TMF Construction & Electrical CC