When payday comes before the money does.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act says wages must be paid no later than seven days after the end of the pay period (section 32). An employee agreeing to be paid late doesn’t change that, because the Act overrides individual agreements (section 5). Apart from deductions the law requires, such as PAYE and UIF, anything deducted from pay needs the employee’s written agreement to a specific debt (section 34). Treat payday as fixed.

PAYE, UIF and SDL come next: the EMP201 and its payment are due within seven days after month-end, or the last business day before if the 7th falls on a weekend or public holiday. Paying PAYE or UIF late adds a 10% penalty, and interest runs on all three, so a salary gap that is covered by skipping SARS gets more expensive, not less.

Funding fixes a timing gap: the money is earned and on its way, it just lands after payday. Unpaid invoices, a contract payment due next month, a seasonal peak that is weeks away. Borrowing against that is ordinary working capital.

It does not fix a trading gap, where the business is not earning enough to carry its payroll. A loan there adds a repayment to the same shortfall next month. If that is where the business is, a conversation with your accountant comes before a lender.

A revolving facility is the natural shape for a recurring gap: you draw what payroll needs, repay when clients pay, and draw again next month. For a one-off gap, a short loan with a fixed repayment works. If the money you are waiting on is invoices to other businesses, invoice finance turns those into cash directly, and if customers pay you by card, revenue-based finance is repaid from those sales.

Apply before the crunch, not on the 24th. Decisions can come in a day or two, but a first application needs bank statements and company documents, and a facility that is already in place is the fastest money there is.