Is Zuvo only for quotes?+
No. Quotes and invoices are where most people start, because it takes about two minutes. Zuvo also shows clients how to pay, tracks part-payments and credit notes, reminds late payers if you switch that on, scans receipts and tracks expenses, gives you a VAT summary and an accountant export, and drafts client follow-ups and replies (email or WhatsApp). It also summarises long documents in plain English and runs a scored Growth Diagnostic of your business, which is included in your 7-day trial and on every paid plan.
Does Zuvo take payments from my customers?+
No. Your customers pay you directly: by EFT to the banking details on your invoice, or through your own payment page (Yoco, PayFast, Paystack, SnapScan or similar) if you add the link. Zuvo never holds your money. Each invoice has a "How to pay" section and an "I have paid" button, so you get told when a client says they have paid, then check your bank and mark it paid.
Can Zuvo chase late payers for me?+
Yes, if you switch it on. Zuvo sends polite reminder emails to your clients about unpaid invoices: gentle (on the due date, then 7 and 14 days overdue) or standard (3 days before, on the due date, then 7, 14 and 30 days overdue). They go out between 08:00 and 17:00 on weekdays, replies come to you, and they stop when the invoice is paid or the client says they have paid. You can pause them on any invoice.
Does Zuvo handle VAT?+
It adds 15% VAT to your quotes and invoices when you are VAT-registered, keeps credit notes and part-payments right, and gives you a VAT summary for any period: the VAT you charged, the VAT on the expenses you recorded, and what is left to pay. It does not file your VAT201 with SARS, and it is not tax advice, so use it alongside your own records and your accountant.
Can I scan receipts and track expenses?+
Yes. Photograph a receipt and Zuvo reads the supplier, date, total and VAT for you to check before anything is saved. It can make mistakes, so you always confirm the figures. There is a monthly allowance of receipt scans on every plan, and you can type expenses in by hand. To claim VAT you still need a valid tax invoice from the supplier.
Can I move over from a spreadsheet or another tool?+
Yes. Import your clients and past invoices from a CSV file (Excel, Google Sheets and most accounting tools can export one). You preview and fix any problems before anything is saved. When it is time for your accountant, export your invoices, VAT report, expenses or clients as a CSV that opens in Excel on a South African computer.
Is Zuvo accounting software?+
Not a full one. Zuvo covers the part of your admin that earns money: quotes, invoices, getting paid, expenses and a VAT summary. It does not do bank feeds, payroll, inventory or multi-user accounts yet. If you need a full ledger, keep your accountant's package and use Zuvo to quote, invoice and chase faster. Many small businesses find that is all they need day to day.
Why is Zuvo called the True North business AI tool?+
A compass needle always points to true north, so you always know which way is forward. Zuvo does the same for your admin: it keeps your quotes, follow-ups and payments moving in one direction, from the first enquiry to getting paid. It is a name for the idea, not a promise that the AI is always right, so you review every quote and message before it goes out.
What does Zuvo do for a small business?+
Zuvo drafts client emails and follow-ups, writes up quotes and proposals, tracks quotes and invoices as real records with PDF export and email sending, summarises long documents in plain English, and answers routine client questions — all in the tone you ask for, using the prices and details you give it.
Can Zuvo generate a PDF invoice and email it to my client?+
Yes. Describe the job in plain English and Zuvo drafts the quote or invoice, lets you review and correct the line items, then generates a professional PDF you can download or send straight to the client by email from inside Zuvo — with everything tracked by month and year, and running totals for what's outstanding.
What is the Business Growth Diagnostic?+
It's a scored assessment of five pillars of business health — client and customer response speed, admin and systems efficiency, marketing and visibility, growth readiness, and compliance and risk awareness — generated from a short questionnaire you answer yourself. You get an overall score, a plain-English summary, and three priority actions specific to your answers, in minutes.
Does the Growth Diagnostic involve a phone call with a consultant?+
No. You answer the questionnaire yourself and Claude generates the full scored report immediately from your answers — no call, no waiting on a consultant's calendar. You can run a new one once every 24 hours, and it's included on every plan.
What kind of businesses is Zuvo built for?+
Any small South African business that spends real time on client correspondence, quotes, or admin — retail and e-commerce, trades and contracting, hospitality, health and wellness, creative and professional services, and more. It's set up around your own business, not a template built for one industry.
Can AI help my small business in South Africa?+
Yes — for most small businesses, the highest-value use of AI right now is exactly what eats the most unpaid time: drafting client correspondence, tracking quotes and invoices, summarising documents, and handling routine admin. Zuvo does specifically that, set up around your own business rather than a generic template, and billed in Rand.
How much does AI cost for a small business in South Africa?+
It depends on the tool. General AI chat subscriptions like ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro run about R380 a month, billed in US dollars with a forex fee on top. Zuvo starts at R149 a month, billed once in Rand with no forex fee, and includes a 7-day free trial with no credit card required.
What is the best business AI for South African small businesses?+
There's no single best tool for every job. Call-answering and WhatsApp-automation tools handle phones and messaging; Zuvo is built for the layer behind that — drafting client correspondence, tracking quotes and invoices with PDF export, summarising documents, and running a scored Business Growth Diagnostic, all set up around your own business and billed in Rand rather than US dollars.
Does Zuvo work during load shedding?+
Yes — Zuvo is entirely cloud-based, so there's nothing on your side that needs power to keep running. As long as you have a phone or laptop with internet access, including mobile data, you can keep working with Zuvo through load shedding.
Does Zuvo give legal, financial or other professional advice?+
No. Zuvo only drafts and summarises correspondence and documents for you to review before sending — client emails, quotes, invoices, proposals, meeting notes. It never provides legal, financial, medical or other regulated professional advice, and you remain responsible for reviewing every output.
Why is everything priced in Rand?+
Most AI tools bill in US dollars, which means your Rand price moves with the exchange rate and your bank adds a forex fee on top. Zuvo bills once, in ZAR, wherever you are in the world — the price you see is the price you pay.
Is Zuvo made by Anthropic or OpenAI?+
No. Zuvo is an independent product that uses Claude, Anthropic's AI model, through their official API. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Anthropic, OpenAI, or any other AI lab.
What happens to my client data?+
Documents and conversations are encrypted in transit and at rest, handled in line with POPIA principles, and are never used to train third-party AI models. Full details are in our Privacy Policy.
Can I cancel anytime?+
Yes — cancel from your dashboard in two clicks, no phone call and no retention queue. You'll keep access until the end of your current billing period.
Do you offer a free trial?+
Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, no credit card required. You'll only be asked for payment details if you choose to continue.
