How South African Construction & Engineering Businesses Connect Yoco with Loom
South African Tool
Yoco
The leading card machine and point-of-sale solution for South African small businesses.
R500 for every business that transacts over R1,000
Global Tool
Loom
Async video messaging tool for recording and sharing screen recordings, walkthroughs, and team updates.
Why this matters in South Africa
South African construction firms manage multi-site projects with subcontractors, materials orders, progress billing, and retention schedules across spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups. Progress billing disputes and retention holdbacks cost the average SME contractor R200,000+ in annual cash flow strain.
Compliance note: Contractors must be registered with the CIDB at the appropriate grading designation. Electrical and plumbing subcontractors require ECSA or Master Plumbers certification. Construction projects require approved building plans under the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act.
Construction firms operating across multiple South African sites often face severe cash flow friction when progress billing disputes arise from opaque site reporting. While Yoco manages the financial intake—processing site-based card payments and tracking ZAR transaction history—it lacks the visual context required to verify work completion for retention release. By pairing Yoco’s transaction logs with Loom’s asynchronous video messaging, site managers can bridge this gap. This workflow strategy allows project managers to record a visual walkthrough of completed milestones, overlaying the specific Yoco transaction reference or invoice ID to provide irrefutable proof of work. This process eliminates the ambiguity of WhatsApp-based reporting, ensuring that progress billing aligns perfectly with site reality. By digitizing the verification process, firms reduce the administrative burden of manual reconciliation, protect their CIDB grading through transparent record-keeping, and ensure compliance with POPIA by keeping sensitive financial data within controlled, verifiable video logs.
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How to add Yoco to Loom
- 1
1. Establish a standardized naming convention for your Yoco transaction descriptions that includes the specific project site code and the CIDB-compliant milestone phase. This ensures that when you pull a transaction report, every entry is immediately identifiable by project and stage.
- 2
Open your Yoco Business Portal and navigate to the 'Sales' tab to filter for the specific transaction related to the current progress claim. Keep this tab open in your browser to serve as the financial anchor for your video verification.
- 3
Launch the Loom desktop recorder and select the 'Screen + Camera' mode to capture both the site progress and your professional commentary. Ensure your camera is enabled to provide a clear, identifiable visual of the site supervisor, which adds a layer of accountability for safety and quality standards.
- 4
Begin the recording by stating the project name, the date, and the specific National Building Regulations compliance check being performed. Walk through the site to visually document the completed work, ensuring you capture high-detail footage of the specific elements tied to the current billing invoice.
- 5
Transition the screen share to your Yoco Business Portal to display the transaction record corresponding to the milestone payment. Point out the transaction ID and the ZAR amount on screen to visually link the physical work completed with the financial record.
- 6
Conclude the video by summarizing the progress against the retention schedule, explicitly stating that the work meets the required ECSA or Master Plumbers certification standards. This creates a permanent, timestamped audit trail that can be shared with clients or quantity surveyors to justify the release of retention funds.
- 7
Upload the finalized Loom video to a secure, password-protected folder, ensuring that any PII (Personally Identifiable Information) visible in the Yoco dashboard is handled in accordance with POPIA regulations. Generate a shareable link that can be attached directly to your formal progress billing email.
- 8
Archive the Loom link alongside the corresponding invoice in your accounting software to create a comprehensive digital file for SARS audits. This systematic pairing of visual evidence and financial data provides a robust defense against billing disputes and accelerates the approval of progress payments.
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Are you still doing admin manually?
Calculate what it's costing your business in rands
Frequently asked questions
Is Yoco compatible with Loom?
Yes. Yoco and Loom can be connected via their APIs or through automation tools like Zapier. This guide covers the exact process for South African construction & engineering businesses.
How long does the setup take?
Most businesses complete the initial setup in 1–3 hours. If you already have active accounts on both platforms, you can have a basic automation running in under an hour.
Do I need a developer?
Not for basic Zapier-based integrations. Custom API integrations will need development support. Melamu Tech Ventures builds these — get in touch if you need a tailored solution.