Social enterprise “Balans +” was founded by the Association of women with disabilities SHYRAK Public Association ( hereafter the “Association”) in 2008. “Balans +” provides services in centralized accounting for small and medium-sized businesses in Almaty and Almaty oblast. The staff of the enterprise includes members of the Association, namely six young women with disabilities who are qualified accountants and economists.
The idea to create such an enterprise had long been in the air. Firstly, employment of women with disabilities is one of the key strategies of the Association. Secondly, the Association needs income-generating activities to give it financial sustainability, which is also one of the strategies of the Association.
In 2008 Lyazzat Kaltaeva, Chair of the Association, completed a 1.5-month training course on Labour Rehabilitation of People with Disabilities organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Thanks to the training and experience received in Japan in relation to employment of people with disabilities she was able to design a project called Bridge which was aimed at creating a model of employment with an emphasis on delivery to the public of professional, qualified services by women with disabilities.
A plan was developed under the said project to pool start-up funds and resources for the new enterprise to begin operating. First computers were donated by BankTsentrKredit JSC and BTA JSC. The purchase of new computers, accounting software 1C-Accounting and advertising was financed by an interest-free loan provided by Counterpart Consortium Inc. under its PRIDE Program.
At present social enterprise “Balans +” employs six qualified specialists who are women with disabilities. “Balans +” provides the following services to public associations, limited liability partnerships and individual entrepreneurs:
-
Maintaining financial records and preparing accounts;
-
Preparing and submitting reports to tax and statistics agencies;
-
Proving consultations on tax legislation;
-
Designing accounting and tax policies for organizations.
