Your books are now your tax position.
Since UAE corporate tax arrived, bookkeeping stopped being admin. Your records are the evidence behind every filing, every VAT return, every bank review. Keep them clean from January, rather than reconstructing them at year-end when there is no time to fix what does not reconcile.
Book a 30-minute call, no pitch
Four habits, held every month. Hold them and the filing is a sign-off, not a reconstruction.
Capture
Every invoice, receipt, and bank entry recorded as it happens, never chased a year later.
Classify
The correct VAT and corporate tax treatment on every line, by someone who knows the consequence.
Reconcile
Matched to the bank statement, nothing unexplained, each month closed before the next begins.
Filing-ready
Records that hold up at the FTA, the bank, and an audit, kept to IFRS on Zoho Books.
An FTA audit checks the source records, line by line.
It is not a review of your year-end summary. The records that must exist are more granular than most UAE businesses keep alone, and they must be held for five years.
Monthly maintenance is the only practical way to hold this standard for five years without a reconstruction. If you are not yet registered, our UAE VAT registration guide explains when the obligation begins.
E-invoicing is coming, and the system has to be ready before it does.
The UAE e-invoicing mandate is phasing in on a Peppol-based model, with a pilot through 2026 and wider go-live around 2027. Invoices will have to be captured and exchanged in a structured format, so the accounting setup must be built for it ahead of the deadline. Getting it right early is part of staying clean. We cover the timeline in our UAE e-invoicing update.
Monthly control. Quarterly review. Annual close.
Maintained books make your year-end a single sign-off, not a reconstruction. The work runs on a rhythm so nothing accumulates.
The assumption that turns bookkeeping into a crisis.
What UAE founders commonly believe
Sorting out the books at year-end is easier than paying for monthly bookkeeping all year.
The advisor's note: A business that waits until year-end to organise twelve months of transactions does not have books. It has a reconstruction project, and a reconstruction is not bookkeeping. It is an investigation: every transaction traced back against bank statements and whatever documentation exists, contradictions resolved, records produced that hold under FTA scrutiny, all under the same deadline as your corporate tax return and any audit-required renewals. The fee is higher than twelve months of monthly work, the records are less reliable, and it lands exactly when your year-end numbers need to mean something for a bank, a return, or an investor. Monthly maintenance is not overhead. It is risk management at the price of a few hours of data-entry, handed over.
Two or three years behind? A catch-up engagement is a defined project, not open-ended recovery: we reconstruct the missing periods from bank statements, invoices, and contracts, bring the books current, and move to monthly maintenance.
A senior accountant on your books, not a queue.
Bookkeeping is where the cheap version costs the most. A junior keying transactions without understanding the tax treatment produces a ledger that looks complete and fails at the filing. We run it differently.
You deal with the principal
One senior advisor owns your account, from first scope to year-end sign-off. The person who knows your business classifies the entries, so judgement calls are made by someone who understands the consequence, not passed down a queue.
Classified for the filing, not just recorded
Every line is treated for VAT and corporate tax as it is entered, so the return is a sign-off, not a rebuild. When the FTA or a bank asks a question, the answer is already in the ledger.
We tell you what we see
If your records show a problem coming, a threshold you are about to cross, a treatment that will not hold, an audit your licence will require, you hear it early. We do not file quietly past a risk and leave you to find it later.
Three levels of engagement, scaled to your volume.
The right level is set by how much moves through your accounts and how much of the tax and audit work you want handled. We confirm which fits after we see a sample month.
Essentials
For service and consulting companies with a steady, low transaction count that need clean, compliant records without the overhead.
- Monthly transaction recording and classification
- Bank reconciliation on Zoho Books
- VAT input and output tracking
- Quarterly management accounts, client read access
- Five-year FTA-ready record retention
For a steady, low monthly transaction count.
Standard
For trading and operating businesses with suppliers, payroll, and the VAT filings that come with real movement through the accounts.
- Everything in Essentials, at higher volume
- AP and AR ledger maintenance
- Quarterly VAT return preparation and filing via EmaraTax
- Monthly P&L and balance sheet, reviewed
- Payroll reconciliation where applicable
For growing volume, suppliers, and payroll.
Full
For companies that want the books, the returns, and the year-end carried under one roof, audit-ready and bank-ready year-round.
- Everything in Standard
- Year-end accounts prepared to IFRS
- Audit coordination with FTA-registered auditors
- Corporate tax computation support
- Bank-ready financial statements on request
For full scope under one roof.
Scoped, never published. The fee follows your actual transaction volume and complexity, not a per-company rate. We review a sample month, agree the scope in writing, and the number holds. See how we price, or tell us your volume and we will place you on the right level.
A full year of Wafeq, on us.
Begin your bookkeeping with DM Consultancy and Wafeq's premium accounting plan is yours, free for twelve months. The same FTA-ready software your numbers live in, in your hands from day one, so you see your position in real time rather than waiting for a report.
- VAT and Corporate Tax ready, with e-invoicing built in
- Unlimited users and real-time financial reporting
- Payroll, inventory, and multi-currency, all included
When monthly bookkeeping earns its place, and when it does not.
We would rather scope you correctly than over-sell. Some companies need managed monthly books. A few do not yet.
You need it if
- You are VAT-registered, or trading near the AED 375,000 registration threshold
- Your licence is in a zone that requires audited accounts, such as DMCC, DIFC, or ADGM
- You intend to claim the QFZP 0% rate and must hold audited financials to qualify
- A bank reviews your account health, or you expect to apply for finance
- You are two or three years behind and the year-end is no longer a sign-off
You may not need full monthly yet if
- You are a dormant holding entity with almost no transactions in the period
- Your only obligation is record retention, with no VAT and minimal activity
- You have an in-house finance function and want oversight, not the doing
Bookkeeping sits at the centre of your UAE tax position.
VAT returns, corporate tax filings, and QFZP qualifying conditions all depend on what the books show, which is why most bookkeeping clients run them with us too.
Corporate Tax & VAT
For UAE entities with tax obligations: CT registration, VAT filing, QFZP qualifying conditions, FTA representation.
- Corporate Tax registration and annual return filing
- VAT registration, quarterly returns through EmaraTax
- QFZP qualifying conditions assessed and maintained
- FTA correspondence and audit representation
- Coordination with bookkeeping records so filings hold
Scoped to your entity type and filing obligations.
See Corporate Tax & VATWhy founders hand over the books and stay.
Everything was perfect, very fast, easy and super professional. You helped me and my family get our Golden Visas without any stress.
From the initial assessment to final implementation, the team demonstrated strong expertise, structured methodology, and clear communication.
They delivered what they promised without any hidden agenda and informed me of better and less costly ways to achieve what I need.
Thanks to Manish Kumar, we were finally able to speed up the process of getting our visa after months of struggling with other agents.
He was super quick to reply, very efficient and honestly the best I have worked with. He made the whole process so much easier.
Manish demonstrated deep expertise, professionalism, and a thorough understanding of the incorporation process. Proactive, responsive, and efficient.
They've assisted me and my family obtain golden residency in the UAE. All timelines were clearly defined and all processes transparent.
Communication was clear from the start, everything managed end to end with full transparency on costs.
Manish was instrumental in setting up our company in Dubai. Always responsive, readily available to answer our questions.
A trusted advisor, a skilled navigator of complex regulatory landscapes, with unshakeable integrity.
Great and professional support from Manish. I recommend working with him on any project.
Bookkeeping in the UAE, answered plainly.
Is bookkeeping legally required for a UAE company?
I have been running my UAE company for two years without keeping proper books. What do I do?
What accounting standard does the UAE use?
Do I need audited accounts to file UAE corporate tax?
What is Zoho Books and why do you use it?
How is bookkeeping priced for a UAE company?
Can you prepare my UAE company's accounts if I am based outside the UAE?
What records does the FTA require UAE businesses to keep?
My UAE company only has a few transactions per month. Do I still need bookkeeping?
Can you take over bookkeeping from my current accountant?
How quickly can you bring my books up to date?
A note on specialist services. Accounting, bookkeeping, VAT and corporate tax, and legal or liquidation work are delivered with our trusted, independently licensed partners. This page is general information, not tax or legal advice; confirm your position with an independent tax advisor before acting.
Not sure what your company has to file?
Answer a few questions and a senior advisor maps the accounting and compliance your structure actually requires. No obligation.
Books behind, or starting fresh? Tell us where yours stand.
Tell us your transaction volume and year-end date. We will tell you what monthly maintenance involves, what a catch-up would cost, and whether you need an audit for your licence or QFZP status. If we are the right fit, we proceed. If not, you leave with a clear view of where your records stand.