The person behind Total Accounting Solutions
Software knowledge shaped by what businesses actually need.
David Hartley founded Pastel Software Cape in 1990 as the Western Cape distributor of Pastel Software. That began a long working life at the meeting point of accounting technology, business processes and real financial information.
Across more than 35 years, David has helped businesses select, install, understand and repair accounting systems. He continues to support established products such as Sage Pastel Partner and legacy Pastel Xpress, while also working with cloud platforms, payroll tools and modern data-conversion methods.
Over the past several years his work has broadened further into accounting, tax and advisory. That combination is the point: the software should not be treated as a separate technical box. It should produce reliable numbers, save the team time and help the owner make better decisions.
What David brings to the table
David sees the full journey from source document to accounting system, tax position, management report and business decision. He can work with an established system instead of recommending change for its own sake, identify where time is being lost, and connect technical corrections to the commercial result the owner actually needs.
- 35+ years of software context
- Sage Pastel knowledge and support
- Systems and accounts considered together
- Data conversion and import planning
- Accounting and tax coordination
- Direct, practical founder involvement
Products built from practical experience
David co-created SmartBank with software developer Sylvain Ntumba to reduce repetitive bank transaction processing. The current product now converts supported original bank PDFs to CSV automatically during import, with export options for transactions alone or a prepared, reconciled cashbook.
Why “Results matter”
A system is only useful when people can operate it and the output supports the business. David’s work starts with the result required—a corrected file, a cleaner process, structured data, an accurate report or a clearer decision—and then works backwards to the right solution.
