Accounting, Payroll and ERP solutions
For South African Businesses
The right solution, implemented correctly, means systems and information you can trust.
- Why Businesses in the Eastern Cape Trust Treadstone
We've never had a sales team
Treadstone Consulting has never had a sales team. Ninety-five per cent of new clients come to us because someone they trust, like another business owner, accountant, or financial manager, told them to call Grant or Shelley. We believe this says more about our work than any credential could.
In Practice Since
1999
- About Us
Most business owners are reluctant accountants.
Treadstone Consulting is a specialist software implementation and support practice based in East London. We have been operating since 1999 — long enough to have seen most of what can go wrong with a system, and to know how to make sure it doesn’t.
We are a small practice by design. The people you speak to during the sales process are the same people who implement your system, train your team, and answer the phone when something needs sorting afterwards. You deal directly with the people who know the work.
Our focus is narrow and deliberate. We implement and support accounting, payroll, and ERP systems across a range of certified platforms — Sage, Xero, Palladium, Acumatica, IQ Retail, and PaySpace among them. We do not do everything. What we do, we know well.
95% of our clients come through referrals. That is not an accident; it is the result of twenty-five years of giving clients honest advice, staying available after implementation, and not recommending systems that do not fit.
We are registered Professional Accountants with SAIPA and accredited for each platform we implement. Our certifications are not a decoration but rather represent platforms we have implemented in real businesses across real industries over a long period of time.
If you are looking for the cheapest option or the fastest implementation, we are probably not the right fit. If you want it done correctly by people who will still be available when you need them, that is what we do.
The goal is always the same: give the business owner the right information at the right time, in a form they can actually use to run their business.
Grant Sinclair — Managing Member
- How We Work
Advise, Implement, Educate.
We have a simple, proven approach to every engagement. We first get to know your business; armed with this information, we advise on your options, and together we implement the solution. Finishing off by equipping your staff with the skills to manage the system themselves. We are on standby if you need us.
- Advise
Understand your business first.
Before we recommend any system, we take time to understand how your business actually works. We look at your processes, your frustrations, the information you need for good decisions, and the workarounds your team has built to cope without it. The right software is the one that fits your operation, and we make sure of that before anything changes. We’d rather you take more time here than rush into an implementation that doesn’t fit.
- Implement
Planned, careful, tested.
Implementations aren’t rushed. We plan each phase, migrate your data carefully, and then test the system using your own data. We only go live once we’re both confident it works for your business. Experience helps us catch problems early, because fixing them after going live always costs more. After that, we’re on standby.
- Educate
Self-sufficient teams.
A system your team doesn’t understand is a liability, not an asset. Every implementation includes training on your real data, not a generic walkthrough. We train one-on-one, by role, so each person learns the parts of the system they’ll use. The goal is a team that calls us when something unusual happens, not for everyday tasks they already know how to handle.
- A Quiver of Solutions
We do not just sell software;
we provide solutions.
There is a reason we don’t sell one product. After over 25 years of advising businesses, we have come to understand that not all solutions are right for your business. Treadstone is not a retailer of just one product. We are independent advisers who first learn what your business needs, then recommend the system that fits from our range of certified platforms for accounting, payroll, and ERP.
That independence is important. Sometimes, we might recommend a product we do not sell, and we will let you know before you spend money on something that is not right for you.
Many of the packages we work with can be selected and implemented by a capable business owner and their team, depending on the complexity and the team’s experience. What we have experienced, though, is that having a trusted advisor assist with this process gives you the confidence that you have selected the correct solution and that the implementation will be successful.
Many more businesses have no idea what is available in the market or what the shortcomings of a specific package are until they have already spent time, money, and effort setting it up. This is where we come in. We will get to know your business as you do and advise accordingly.
Accounting Software
We work with cloud-first startups and established multi-entity businesses. We implement and support Sage Business Cloud Accounting, Xero, Sage 50Cloud Pastel, Palladium, and more. Each system is set up to match how your business really works, not just the default settings.
Payroll Software
Sage Business Cloud Payroll, Sage Pastel Payroll, PaySpace are implemented with full SARS compliance built in from the first run. And if you’d rather hand payroll over entirely, our bureau service handles it for you.
ERP Systems
For businesses that need more than basic accounting, we offer Palladium, Paradigm, Sage 200 Evolution and Acumatica. These are comprehensive business management systems that cover financials, inventory, manufacturing, distribution, and more. Our consultants understand what the numbers mean and set the systems up accordingly.
- Managed Services
Or — hand it over entirely.
Some businesses reach a point where the stress and time lost managing payroll or accounting in-house start to outweigh the benefits. The constant pressure of keeping track of deadlines, double-checking figures, and worrying about mistakes can take focus away from running the business. They do not want to hire another administrator or have to train a replacement every time someone leaves. They just want it done, correctly, on time, by someone who knows what they are doing.
Because we implement these systems, we already understand them inside out. Taking over the management of your payroll is a natural extension of what we do — not a separate service bolted on, but the logical next step for clients who decide that running the system is not the best use of their time.
Payroll Bureau Outsourcing
Full-service managed payroll for South African businesses. We process your payroll, handle all SARS submissions, manage employee queries, and send you a confirmation after every run. One fixed monthly fee. No payroll administrator to manage. No SARS deadline to track.
The service is led by Beverly Pote, a payroll administrator and senior bookkeeper with over 35 years in the financial field. Bev manages your payroll file directly. You have her number. When you call, she knows your account.
Accounting Outsourcing
Your full accounting function managed by our qualified team on Xero, covering bookkeeping, VAT returns, management accounts, and financial statements. Monthly reporting, cash flow tracking, accounts receivable and supplier management, and payroll integration for seamless data updates.
- The People Behind the Work
People, not a helpdesk.
Treadstone is a small, specialist practice. When you work with us, you deal directly with the people who know the systems. You will not be passed to a helpdesk, a ticketing system, or a new person each time.
Grant Sinclair
- Founder & Managing Member
Grant founded Treadstone in 1999 and has spent twenty-five years helping Eastern Cape businesses get real value from their accounting, payroll, and ERP systems. He’s a SAIPA-registered practitioner (No. 8088) and a Registered Tax Practitioner, with a background ranging from 7 years at KPMG, various financial management roles, 2 years at MetLife in London, to running his own practice. Clients deal directly with Grant for more complex implementations and advisory work.
Shelley Fourie
- Senior Consultant
Shelley leads the day-to-day implementation and support work across Treadstone’s accounting, payroll, and ERP client base. She’s the person most clients speak to once a system is live, for training, troubleshooting, and the inevitable questions that arise as a team starts using a new system properly.
Beverly Pote
- Payroll Administrator
Beverly runs Treadstone’s payroll bureau service, with over 35 years in payroll and bookkeeping. Clients who hand their payroll over to Treadstone deal with Beverly directly — she manages the file, knows the account, and is the person on the other end of the phone when something needs sorting.
The right system, properly implemented, properly supported.
Talk to Treadstone about your software, or let us handle the entire process for you.