Deryl Seethal

My career objective is to assist businesses in perpetually improving existing processes, reducing waste and increasing productivity.

Bookkeeper at Houston and Associates CC (2025-08 – Present)

Temporary contract role handling bookkeeping and accounting duties.

• Preparing annual and monthly client cashbooks on Pastel Partner / Express, Sage One Cloud Accounting and Microsoft Excel
• Manual and system preparation of VAT reconciliation schedules for reporting purposes
• Preparation and submission of supporting documents for VAT reviews per SARS requests
• Liaising with SARS on various queries (Follow ups in relation to existing cases such as Turnover Tax, Refunds and Deregistration's)
• Monthly payroll processing and preparation/submission of payslips
• Preparation and submission of EMP 201
• Submission of Beneficial Ownership and Annual Returns
• Requesting company disclosures on CIPC
• Creation of 'smart' debtor/sales tracker to effectively manage inflows from multiple revenue streams for a client
• Completely eliminated manual capturing of cashbooks through 'ready reconciled' prepared and cleaned bank statement csv/ofx imports
• Large reduction of SARS query backlogs (2016 to current) by creating a 'Query Roadmap' tracker that logged every stage of the query till resolution

Bookkeeper / SAIPA Trainee Accountant at First Trust SA (Pty) Ltd (2022-05 – 2025-07)

Permanent role handling bookkeeping, VAT compliance, and accounting functions.

• Preparing annual and monthly client cashbooks on Xero, Pastel and Quickbooks
• Preparation of VAT schedules (VAT Input/ Output schedules) and submission of statutory VAT201 returns via SARS Efiling
• Manual and system preparation of VAT reconciliation schedules for reporting purposes
• Preparation and submission of supporting documents for VAT reviews per SARS requests
• Preparation and submission of objections to VAT217s
• Preparation and submission of VAT appeal
• Monthly payroll processing and submission of payslips
• Preparation and submission of EMP 201 forms
• Preparation and Submission of MIBFA
• Onsite client visits for annual client stock take analysis
• Preparation and submission of supporting documents in relation to TERS Audits
• Creation of brand new VAT schedule to streamline source document capturing and minimise errors in VAT 201 submissions
• Identified methods of capturing bank statements that also allows reconciliation of line items before being imported into the system
• Creation of exhaustive client trackers that allows overview of client portfolio at a single glance
• Key role in research and implementation of client data migration

Operational Auditor at CCI South Africa (2021-05 – 2022-05)

Permanent role focused on operational auditing and process improvement.

• Process re-engineering
• Business Architecture
• Stakeholder engagement
• Provide input to requirements understanding and gathering
• Alignment to business strategy
• Process modelling
• Facilitation
• User experience
• BPMN and EPC
• Data analytics
• Business writing
• Compliance with regulatory requirements
• Peer reviews
• Relationship building
• Measuring business areas objectives/targets
• Work with senior management to align SLA
• Extensive work with Visio and reviewing Standard Operating Procedures for business
• Lean application within business
• Time and motion studies
• Kanban

Fire Marshal at CCI South Africa (2020-04 – 2021-04)

Permanent role managing fire safety and emergency protocols.

• Understanding of emergency protocol
• Differentiating between fire origins and subsequent optimal extinguisher
• Understanding causes of fire and extinguishing methods
• Securing entry / exit points
• Screening of visitors and employees onto the premises
• Identification and removal of fire hazards
• Ensuring social distancing protocols are kept
• Provided recommendations to make existing Covid-19 protocols more robust

Business Process Analyst at CCI South Africa (2017-12 – 2020-04)

Permanent role focused on process improvement and business analysis.

• Process re-engineering
• Business Architecture
• Stakeholder engagement
• Provide input to requirements understanding and gathering
• Alignment to business strategy
• Process modelling
• Facilitation
• User experience
• BPMN and EPC
• Data analytics
• Business writing
• Compliance with regulatory requirements
• Peer reviews
• Relationship building
• Measuring business areas objectives/targets
• Work with senior management to align SLA
• Extensive work with Visio and reviewing Standard Operating Procedures for business
• Lean application within business
• Time and motion studies
• Kanban
• Successfully completed multiple process improvement projects based on Lean methodology
• Lean Six Sigma yellow belt trained
• Developed process architecture for multiple businesses
• Lead analyst that supported all Claims transformation initiatives
• Presenting in sessions on behalf of my senior manager
• Challenging mindset
• Provided a 30% reduction in operating cost for motor claims
• Assisted in drafting work-from-home process maps at the beginning of Covid-19

Claims Specialist at CCI South Africa (2014-03 – 2018-12)

Permanent role handling motor claims and related functions.

• Motor claims lodgments
• Raising payments
• Objection handling
• Liaising with Clients, suppliers and third parties
• Determining liability
• Identifying fraud
• Claims SME
• Data analysis
• MIS reporting
• Error and trend analysis
• Root cause analysis
• Top claims performer
• Self-starter of claims initiatives to help the business improve
• MIS reporting to help the business understand error trending and root cause

Matric Pass Obtained - Diploma – Glenwood High School

National Diploma in Accounting – Durban University of Technology