FASSET Skills Levy: How South African Employers Claim Training Grants

FASSET is the Sector Education and Training Authority for finance, accounting, management consulting and the related professions in South Africa. On paper that makes it the closest sector fit of any national training fund in the world for a finance training provider. In practice the fit is at the employer level rather than the qualification level, and the distinction decides what is actually worth pursuing. Our CPD course library sets out what is available and how it is certified.

Where the money comes from

South African employers with an annual payroll above R500,000 register to pay the Skills Development Levy. FASSET collects the finance-sector share and returns part of it to employers who document their training properly.

The mandatory grant: 20% back, on a hard deadline

A levy-paying employer can claim back 20% of its total Skills Development Levy contributions, with approved grants paid quarterly against levies paid in the applicable period.

Claiming requires an approved Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report on FASSET's prescribed templates, submitted through its portal or to its mandatory grant mailbox. The WSP sets out the coming year's planned training; the ATR records what was actually delivered in the year just ended.

The deadline is absolute. For the 2026/2027 cycle, submissions closed at 23:59 on 30 April 2026, and late applications were not accepted. Compliant submissions are assessed within 90 days of the deadline, and incomplete or non-compliant ones can be rejected with no grant paid at all. Grants that go unclaimed are moved into the discretionary grant reserve, which is to say that an employer who misses the date funds somebody else's training.

That cycle has now closed. The pattern is an annual end-of-April deadline, so an employer planning for the next window should confirm the 2027/2028 date with FASSET rather than assuming it.

Discretionary grants

Discretionary grants are open to both levy-paying and non-levy-paying employers, and an approved WSP and ATR is a prerequisite for accessing them. Amounts and application windows are published separately and vary by funding round, so they need checking against FASSET's current call rather than a general guide.

Provider accreditation, and why the sector match is narrower than it looks

This is the part that surprises people. FASSET's accreditation scope is not professional finance CPD. Per its training provider application guidelines, the scope covers four full qualifications and five skills programmes — payroll, accounts processing, accounts payable and receivable, debtors, and creditors. Applications for single unit standards are no longer accepted.

That is accounting administration, not advanced practice. An employer in the FASSET sector may well want IFRS, audit, risk or ESG training for its qualified staff, but that training sits outside the accreditation scope, so FASSET accreditation is not the mechanism that delivers it.

What accreditation requires, if you pursue it anyway

The requirements are substantial and are built around a South African operating presence:

• Proof of South African legal registration — a certificate of incorporation for a company, CK1 or CK2 for a close corporation, a letter of authority for a trust.
• A valid SARS tax clearance certificate.
• Training premises compliant with occupational health and safety legislation: evacuation plan, floor plan showing emergency exits, fire extinguishers, and a first aid kit with trained personnel. Safety audit reports and proof of indemnity insurance are submitted with the application.
• Assessors and moderators registered with FASSET specifically. Registration with another quality assurance partner does not transfer, and only registered moderators may moderate.
• A documented quality management system: policies for programme delivery, staff, learners and assessment, plus HR and financial policies, each carrying an expiry date and a revision mechanism.
• A programme map for each qualification, with course content, assessment guides and assessment instruments.

A provider may also be accredited by only one quality assurance partner, so an organisation already accredited elsewhere applies for an extension of scope rather than a fresh accreditation.

Where this leaves an overseas provider

FASSET's guidelines do not address providers based outside South Africa at all. The documents required are South African instruments, and the premises and assessor requirements assume a local operation. That is not an explicit prohibition so much as a framework that does not contemplate the case.

The realistic routes are therefore two. Either an accredited South African provider sub-contracts delivery while remaining responsible for quality and reporting, or the training is bought by the employer outside the accredited-qualification route and recorded in the WSP and ATR on its own merits. The second is simpler and is how most professional CPD reaches finance teams in practice.

The structure is familiar from other markets: Malta's Investing in Skills lets the employer apply with an overseas provider simply invoicing, while Skillnet Ireland commissions through industry networks. South Africa sits closer to the first of those than to the second.

Frequently asked questions

Does an employer need a FASSET-accredited provider to claim the mandatory grant?

The mandatory grant is paid against an approved WSP and ATR documenting the employer's training. Whether a particular programme needs an accredited provider depends on the qualification route involved, so confirm with FASSET before assuming either way.

What happens if the WSP deadline is missed?

No grant is paid for that cycle, and the unclaimed amount moves to the discretionary grant reserve.

Can an Irish or UK provider apply to FASSET directly?

The guidelines require South African registration documents and a SARS tax clearance certificate, and do not contemplate an overseas applicant. A partnership with an accredited South African provider is the practical route.