Accounting and Audit for UAE Companies — LaWEra Group

A UAE company now files corporate tax returns, and the books decide three things at once: how much tax is due, whether a free zone company keeps its 0 % rate, and what the bank sees at its next review. We run the books as a retained service: FTA registration, monthly bookkeeping, corporate tax and VAT returns, audit where it is mandatory — and accounts your group or home-country adviser can actually use.

Who comes to us

• A founder whose company is a year old, has never kept books and has missed corporate tax registration — the penalty is AED 10,000.
• A free zone company sold on "0 %" that invoices customers inside the UAE and has never checked whether that income fits the de-minimis.
• A subsidiary whose parent's auditors want UAE accounts that reconcile with the group consolidation.
• Turnover approaching AED 375,000 over twelve months, VAT registration flagged by nobody.
• A Qualifying Free Zone Person told it must file audited accounts, with no auditor appointed.
• A director who must show a tax authority at home that the company is run from the UAE, with the books as part of the evidence.

What must be kept: accounting, reporting and audit in the UAE.

What we do, step by step

1. Diagnosis. Licence, zone, type of income, who the customers are and where. From that, the company's tax status: ordinary taxpayer, Qualifying Free Zone Person or a candidate for Small Business Relief.
2. FTA registration. Through the EmaraTax portal we register the company for corporate tax and, once taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 in 12 months, for VAT; voluntary registration is possible from AED 187,500. Details: corporate tax and VAT in the UAE.
3. Bookkeeping. Monthly: source documents, bank statements, invoices, contracts. For a QFZP, separate tracking of qualifying and non-qualifying income: non-qualifying revenue must not exceed the lower of AED 5 million or 5 % of total revenue, and non-qualifying income is taxed at 9 % from the first dirham. What breaks the status: QFZP status.
4. Returns. Corporate tax once per tax period, VAT on its own cycle. A late corporate tax return costs AED 500 per month for the first 12 months, then AED 1,000 per month. We keep the calendar and remind you early, not the day before.
5. Audit. We arrange it where it is mandatory: for a QFZP audited accounts are a condition of the status, and some free zones require an audit for licence renewal.
6. Reliefs. We check whether Small Business Relief is available: revenue of AED 3 million or less in the current and all previous periods, for periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. It is not available to a QFZP or to members of multinational groups, and losses of a relief period cannot be carried forward. See Small Business Relief.
7. Substance and reporting to home. Economic Substance reporting no longer applies to financial years ending after 31 December 2022; obligations for 2019–2022 remain. What still matters is that the books match where the business is actually run. We prepare accounts and a note on the company's UAE tax status for your home-country adviser; CFC rules and residence tests there are theirs to apply.
8. Closing down. If the company winds up, we file the final returns and deregister for tax; without that the licence cannot be cancelled. See closing a company.

What you get

• FTA registration for corporate tax and, where required, VAT.
• Books you can show the FTA, the bank and an auditor without rework.
• Filed returns and a calendar for the next period: return, audit, licence renewal.
• An audit report where one is required.
• A written statement of the company's tax status and what it takes to keep it.

What we do and what stays with you

We keep the books, prepare and file returns, and deal with the FTA and the auditor. You deliver documents on time: statements, invoices, contracts, and explanations of transactions the documents do not explain. If money moves outside the company account or without paperwork, we will see it and say so, but we can fix it only with you. The amount of tax is set by the law and the FTA, not by us; our responsibility is that the return reflects reality and is filed on time.

When we say no

• When the books are meant to exist on paper while the real transactions stay outside them. Such books pass neither an audit nor a bank.
• When a business is to be split into several companies to stay under the Small Business Relief threshold. The law names that an abuse.
• When QFZP status is to be "drawn" without genuine qualifying income. Losing the status applies from the start of the current period and for the four following ones.
• When there are no source documents and nothing to rebuild them from. Reconstruction comes first, as separate work with an uncertain outcome.

How to start

The first consultation is free. Message us on WhatsApp or Telegram at +971 58 600 98 87. Send the licence, the incorporation date, recent bank statements, and tell us whether books were ever kept. We will tell you what to file first, whether anything is overdue and what monthly bookkeeping will cost. To work through your situation first, use the guided check on the home page.

⚠️ This describes a service, not tax advice. UAE tax law changes, and requirements differ between free zones. We review each situation individually.