For years, a job at Sorted lived in five places. The quote sat in one program, the job card in another, the hours in a spreadsheet, the invoice somewhere else, and whether the client had actually paid was a question for the bank statement and whoever remembered to check it. None of those places spoke to each other, so we did the talking for them, usually at eleven at night at the end of the month.
So we built our own. It is called Sorted+ Creative Accounting, and yes, we know what "creative accounting" usually means. Ours is the legal kind: every quote, job and invoice at Sorted Design now runs through it, and the numbers add up. Today we are opening it to other creative studios in South Africa.
What It Does
Sorted+ follows a job the way a studio actually works: quote, job card, invoice, paid, VAT. Each step picks up where the last one stopped, so nothing gets typed twice.
- Quotes and invoices, credit notes and client statements. If your studio is VAT registered, the tax invoice wording follows.
- A job board for the work in progress, with timers and tasks, so everyone can see what is on the go and what is stuck.
- A client list that shows what each client has been quoted, what they owe and what the work actually made you.
- Bank reconciliation, so a payment on your statement gets matched to the invoice it belongs to.
- A private link you can send a client to see their own statement, and read-only links that show them where their job stands.
- Staff roles, so a designer sees the jobs and the director sees the money.
- Stock and components, for studios that make physical things and need to know what is on the shelf and what it cost.
Every plan also lets you do your books by talking to an AI assistant such as Claude. It works inside a scoped connection to your studio only, keeps a log of every change it makes, and each change can be undone.
Built From the Studio Side of the Desk
Most accounting software is written for accountants, and it shows. It knows what a ledger is. It has no idea what a revision round is, or why a job that was quoted in March only gets invoiced in June.
Sorted+ starts where a studio starts. The money matters, but it arrives at the end of a job, and a job starts with a quote and a brief. Designers, architects, interior and fashion studios, agencies and photographers all run on that same shape of work, so that is who it is built for.
Your Data Stays Yours
Each studio's information is separated at the database level, which means a request for another studio's records comes back empty. What a staff member can see is set by their role inside the database, so hiding a button is never the only lock. Payments go through PayFast, so your card details never touch our servers. And if you ever decide to leave, you can take a full backup of everything before you close your account.
What It Costs
Pricing is flat per team size, VAT included, and every plan gets the same features:
- Single Rock Band, 1 to 3 people: R610 a month
- Studio Dog, 4 to 8 people: R1,490 a month
- Creative Collective, 9 to 15 people: R2,380 a month
- We have a bar, 16 to 30 people: R3,370 a month
Pay for a year up front and you save 20%. Yes, we named the plans ourselves. We are a design studio.
For now, Sorted+ is available to South African creative businesses only, because it is built around South African VAT and South African banks.
Questions
What is Sorted+ Creative Accounting?
Sorted+ Creative Accounting is a studio management and bookkeeping app for creative studios. Quotes, job cards, invoices, bank reconciliation and VAT sit in one place. It was built by Sorted Design International in Cape Town to run its own studio.
How much does Sorted+ cost?
Pricing is flat per team size and includes VAT: R610 a month for 1 to 3 people, R1,490 for 4 to 8, R2,380 for 9 to 15 and R3,370 for 16 to 30. Every plan gets the same features, and paying for a year up front saves 20%.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. You can use Sorted+ free for 14 days, and you do not need a card to start.
Who is Sorted+ for?
Creative businesses: designers, architects, interior and fashion studios, agencies and photographers.
Can I use Sorted+ outside South Africa?
Not yet. For now it is available to South African creative businesses only, because it is built around South African VAT and South African banks.
Can I do my books with AI in Sorted+?
Yes. Every plan lets you do your books by talking to an AI assistant such as Claude, through a connection scoped to your studio only. Every change is logged and can be undone.
Try It for 14 Days
You can use Sorted+ Creative Accounting free for 14 days, with no card needed to start. Load a real job, send a real quote, and see whether your month end feels any different.
Start at sortedplus.com. If you would like us to walk your studio through it first, get in touch.
Creative accounting. The legal kind.
