United Arab Emirates

Books that work in the UAE

Bookkeeping for mainland and free zone companies in the UAE — IFRS-based records, VAT workings and Corporate Tax schedules, prepared from India in the same working day as your office.

Full working-hours overlap IFRS and IFRS for SMEs VAT and Corporate Tax records
what we do

What we run for UAE businesses

Books kept to IFRS

Ledgers maintained under IFRS or IFRS for SMEs, which is what UAE law expects and what your auditor will be testing against.

VAT return workings

Output and input tax schedules reconciled to the ledger each period, with the reverse-charge, zero-rated and exempt treatments separated out ready for the return.

Corporate Tax schedules

Taxable income workings, adjustments and the supporting schedules your tax agent needs, kept as you go rather than reconstructed nine months later.

Bank and payment reconciliation

Every AED and foreign-currency account, card and payment gateway reconciled monthly, with the statement attached to the pack.

Mainland and free zone

Both structures are routine for us, including the qualifying-income split a free zone entity has to be able to evidence.

Records kept the way they must be

UAE law requires accounting records to be retained for years after the period they relate to. We keep the file in an order that survives that wait.

the local rules

The filings your books have to support

We prepare the records, reconciliations and workings behind these. Your local licensed adviser signs and files them.

VAT

VAT is charged at 5%. Registration is mandatory once taxable supplies and imports pass AED 375,000 in twelve months, and voluntary from AED 187,500. Returns are filed through EmaraTax on the period the FTA assigns you.

Corporate Tax

Corporate Tax applies at 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it, for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023. Returns are due within nine months of the end of the tax period.

Free zone persons

A Qualifying Free Zone Person can be taxed at 0% on qualifying income, but only if the substance and income conditions are met and the split is evidenced in the accounts. That evidence is bookkeeping work.

ESR and UBO

Economic Substance and Ultimate Beneficial Owner obligations sit alongside the tax filings. We keep the underlying records so the declarations are straightforward.

Audit requirements

Many free zones, and companies above certain thresholds, require audited financial statements. We prepare the audit file and answer the auditor directly.

Deadlines that come round fast

VAT periods are monthly or quarterly. Books closed monthly means a return period is never a scramble.

Rates, thresholds and deadlines above are stated as a general guide and change from time to time. We confirm what applies to your entity on the scoping call, and we work alongside your local licensed adviser on anything that requires formal advice or a filing signature.

the systems

Software we work in for UAE clients

Zoho Books

Our home ground. As a Zoho Advanced Partner we can implement it, migrate you onto it and then run the books on it — the same team does both.

QuickBooks Online, Xero and Tally

All three are common in the UAE and all three are fine by us. We work inside your existing file rather than moving you unless you ask.

Same working day as you

India is GMT+5:30 against the UAE at GMT+4 — a ninety-minute gap. You get a full working overlap, every day, including Saturday.

Every set of books is a different amount of work.

Tell us your entity type, rough monthly transaction volume and the software you are on. We will come back with a fixed monthly fee.

Get a fixed monthly quote
how it works

How we work with you

step one

Scope and access

A call to understand the entity, the volumes and your filing deadlines. Scope and fee in writing before anything starts.

step two

Catch-up, then current

Any backlog is cleared period by period and reconciled, with a written note of every adjustment, before we take on the live month.

step three

Monthly close and handover

Books closed on an agreed date, reconciliations attached, reporting pack delivered, and the workings your local adviser needs sent on the same cycle.

questions

Common questions

Do you file our VAT return for us?

We prepare the return workings, reconciled to the ledger, and hand them to you or to your registered tax agent to review and submit through EmaraTax. Formal filing on your behalf is a role for a UAE-registered tax agent, and we work alongside yours.

Can you handle a free zone company?

Yes, and it is common work. The point to get right is evidencing the split between qualifying and non-qualifying income, because that determines whether the 0% rate holds. That has to be built into how the books are coded from day one, not sorted out at year end.

Our books are behind and Corporate Tax is due. Can you catch us up?

Yes. We agree how far back to go, work forward period by period with full reconciliations, and give you a written summary of every adjustment. Catch-up work before a first Corporate Tax return is one of the most common ways UAE clients start with us.

Which accounting standard do you work to?

IFRS, or IFRS for SMEs where that is appropriate to the entity. That is what the UAE expects and what your auditor will be testing against.

Do you work with our auditor?

Yes. We prepare the audit file, provide the schedules in the format the auditor asks for, and deal with their queries directly, copying you.

How do the working hours line up?

India is an hour and a half ahead of the UAE, and our week is Monday to Saturday. In practice you get a full working overlap every day, so a query sent in the morning is answered the same morning.

Can you do the bookkeeping in Zoho Books?

Yes — and if you are not on it yet, we can implement it first. We are a Zoho Advanced Partner and Zoho Books has a UAE edition with the local VAT treatment built in.

How long do we have to keep the records?

UAE law requires accounting records and supporting documents to be retained for a number of years after the relevant period, and the FTA can ask for them. We keep the file organised so producing them later is not an archaeology project.

What does it cost?

It depends on transaction volume, the number of accounts, whether you are VAT registered and what reporting you need. Send us the contact form and we will come back with a fixed monthly fee.

elsewhere

We also work with businesses in

United States · United Kingdom · Singapore · Australia

let us take a look

Tell us what your books look like today.

Send us your scope and we will come back with a fixed monthly fee and a start date.