Annual Accounting Package UAE: AED 5,488 Per Year for Bookkeeping, VAT and Corporate Tax Filing

How much does the annual accounting package UAE cost and what do you save?

The annual accounting package UAE costs AED 5,488 + VAT for twelve months of full back-office accounting, paid in a single annual instalment. The identical service billed month-to-month costs AED 499 per month, or AED 5,988 a year, so the annual subscription saves AED 500 — roughly one month free. It is the subscription form of Fastlane's accounting and bookkeeping service with the quarterly VAT and annual corporate tax filings folded in at no extra charge.

For a UAE company without an in-house accountant, outsourced accounting has become a compliance necessity rather than a convenience. Since corporate tax took effect for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023, every company must file a CT return that reconciles to financial statements; every VAT-registered company must file four VAT 201 returns from properly recorded transaction data; and free zones such as IFZA, DMCC, Meydan and DSO now ask for financial statements at licence renewal. Three separate obligations, all drawing on the same ledger — which is the case for keeping that ledger current every month rather than reconstructing it once a year.

The scope, the team and the software are the same on both billing cycles. The only difference is when you pay. If cash flow allows a single payment, the annual option is simply better value; if it does not, monthly billing at AED 499 remains available and can be converted to the annual plan at any renewal date.

What is included in the annual accounting package?

The package includes eleven service elements: monthly IFRS-compliant bookkeeping, sales and purchase entry, bank reconciliation, expense recording with supporting documents, a monthly trial balance and summary report, four quarterly VAT 201 returns, the annual corporate tax return, all EmaraTax submissions, FTA acknowledgement handling, deadline tracking across both taxes, and email support throughout the year.

Books are maintained on Zoho Books, QuickBooks or Xero, under a licence in your company's name so that you own the data and can log in at any time. If you already use one of these, we take over the existing file; if not, we set it up, connect the bank feed and configure the VAT codes as part of onboarding. Companies that prefer a Tally environment are supported on the same terms.

What does the monthly bookkeeping cycle look like?

Each month follows the same five-step cycle: you supply documents by the 5th, we record every transaction, reconcile the bank, close the month, and send a trial balance and one-page summary by the 15th. The cycle is deliberately fixed so that VAT quarters and the corporate tax year end are never a reconstruction exercise.

1. Transaction collection — By the 5th of the month you share bank statements, issued invoices, supplier bills and expense receipts through a shared folder, or we pull them straight from the bank feed and your invoicing tool.
2. Recording — Every transaction is posted: sales to customer ledgers, purchases to supplier ledgers, expenses categorised by nature (rent, utilities, salaries, marketing) with the correct VAT treatment — standard-rated, zero-rated, exempt, reverse-charge or blocked — applied line by line.
3. Bank reconciliation — The statement closing balance is matched to the ledger. Unexplained items (unknown receipts, personal spending, duplicate payments) are listed and sent to you for clarification before the month is closed.
4. Trial balance — Debits equal credits, control accounts agree, VAT control matches what the quarter's VAT 201 will show. This is the internal check that the books are in order.
5. Reporting — You receive a summary showing revenue, expenses, profit or loss, cash, receivables and payables. Most clients use it as their monthly management report; it is also what a bank asks for when you apply for a facility.

Two practical rules keep the cycle honest. First, business and personal spending must be separated at source: a company card used for groceries creates disallowed expenses for corporate tax and blocked input VAT for the VAT return, and costs more in reviewer time than it saves in convenience. Second, every supplier bill above AED 500 should carry a valid tax invoice with the supplier's TRN, because input VAT cannot be recovered without one.

How are the VAT and corporate tax filings handled inside the package?

Because the books are current, each quarterly VAT 201 return is generated from data already recorded and filed on EmaraTax before the 28-day deadline, and the annual corporate tax return is prepared from the twelve monthly closes and filed within the nine-month window, with Small Business Relief elected where revenue is AED 3 million or less. The filings are included in the AED 5,488 fee; there is no separate per-return charge.

On VAT, the package covers four returns per year for the FTA-assigned quarters (typically Jan–Mar, Apr–Jun, Jul–Sep, Oct–Dec), full input/output reconciliation, reverse-charge entries for imported services, and payment confirmation so that the 14% per annum late-payment charge under Cabinet Decision 129/2025 never starts. Companies on monthly VAT periods are quoted on a higher tier. The standalone VAT filing service page describes the return process in full.

On corporate tax, the monthly closes roll into simplified financial statements at year end. Where the company qualifies, Small Business Relief is elected (revenue AED 3 million or less, not a Qualifying Free Zone Person, available for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 [VERIFY]); otherwise a full return is prepared with taxable income at 0% on the first AED 375,000 and 9% above. The tier decision is explained in the annual corporate tax package guide, and the VAT-to-revenue reconciliation that protects against FTA queries is described in the VAT + CT bundle guide. Both are built into this package by default.

Who is the annual accounting package for?

The package is for small and medium UAE companies without an in-house accountant that are registered for VAT and corporate tax and want bookkeeping, both tax filings and renewal-ready financial statements handled by one team for one fixed annual fee. It fits mainland LLCs and free zone FZCOs alike, from a two-person consultancy to a trading company with a few hundred transactions a month.

What deadlines and penalties does the package keep you clear of?

The package tracks five statutory deadlines a year — four VAT 201 returns due 28 days after each quarter and one corporate tax return due nine months after year end — plus the record-keeping duty under the Tax Procedures Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022) to hold books for at least seven years. The penalties below are what a company without maintained books typically incurs.

Note that VAT and corporate tax penalties come from two different Cabinet Decisions with two different logics: VAT late filing is a fixed sum per return, corporate tax late filing is a monthly meter. Both late-payment rates are now 14% per annum, the old VAT schedule of 2% immediately, 4% after seven days and 1% per day having been replaced on 14 April 2026. The record-keeping penalties are the ones companies forget: an FTA request for the ledger behind a return, met with a shrug, is a fine in itself.

Worked example: what does a Dubai consultancy pay and save?

A Meydan consultancy with AED 1.8 million revenue and about 90 transactions a month pays AED 5,488 + VAT for the year, files four VAT returns and an SBR corporate tax return at no extra cost, has renewal-ready financials in hand, and pays no corporate tax. The same company reconstructing its books once a year typically spends more and still misses a deadline.

Where the company is above AED 3 million and files a full return, the arithmetic changes only on the tax line: taxable income above AED 375,000 is taxed at 9%, and the package fee stays AED 5,488. Run your own figures through the UAE corporate tax calculator.

Is annual billing better than monthly billing for accounting services?

Annual billing is better value whenever the company can fund a single AED 5,488 payment: the scope is identical, the saving is a fixed AED 500 and the fee is locked for twelve months regardless of any price change. Monthly billing at AED 499 is the right choice only where cash flow is tight or the company expects to close, sell or restructure within the year.

There is a second, less obvious advantage to the annual plan. Accounting engagements fail when they are treated as optional month to month — a founder skips sending documents for two months, the backlog grows, the VAT return is filed on estimates, and by year end the corporate tax return is a reconstruction again. A prepaid year removes the temptation to pause; the monthly cycle simply continues, and the books at year end are the books that were kept, not the books that were rebuilt.

Renewal is automatic at the same scope unless either side gives notice, and the tier is reviewed at renewal. A company whose transaction volume has doubled, or that has added a second bank account, inventory or a payroll, is moved to the appropriate tier with a written quote before the new year starts.

What is not included in the annual accounting package?

Seven services sit outside the AED 5,488 fee and are quoted separately when needed: statutory or voluntary audit (from AED 1,499), payroll processing and WPS, one-time VAT registration (AED 199), one-time corporate tax registration (AED 199), liquidation audit reports (from AED 1,499), VAT refund applications (AED 499 for the first quarter, AED 249 per additional quarter) and penalty waiver or reconsideration applications (AED 250).

Which Fastlane package should you choose: CT only, VAT + CT, or full accounting?

Choose the AED 249–499 annual CT package if you only file corporate tax and need no bookkeeping; the AED 1,045–1,295 VAT + CT bundle if you keep your own books but want all five filings handled; and the AED 5,488 annual accounting package if you have no accountant and need the books, the filings and renewal-ready financial statements from one team.

The three are designed as a ladder, and moving between rungs is a one-line email. A dormant company on the CT-only package that starts trading and crosses the AED 375,000 VAT threshold steps up to the bundle; a bundle client whose freelance bookkeeper leaves steps up to the full package at the next renewal. Read the annual CT package guide and the VAT + CT bundle guide for the detail on the lower two tiers.

Why does year-round accounting matter for free zone licence renewal?

Free zones including IFZA, DMCC, Meydan and DSO now ask for financial statements — simplified or audited depending on the zone and revenue — before renewing a licence, and a company whose books are maintained monthly can produce them on demand rather than commissioning a year-end reconstruction under time pressure. The annual accounting package produces simplified financial statements from the twelve monthly closes as part of the standard scope.

Zone requirements differ and change. IFZA accepts simplified financial statements from smaller licence holders and requires audited statements above certain thresholds; DMCC and JAFZA require audited financial statements from most companies annually; Meydan and DSO have introduced financial-statement submissions at renewal in recent cycles [VERIFY each zone's current threshold before relying on it]. Where an audit is required, the package delivers the audit-ready ledger and the IFZA audit or other zone audit is engaged separately from AED 1,499. Per-zone bookkeeping pages such as IFZA monthly accounting describe the renewal documentation each authority expects.

Beyond renewal, current books serve four further purposes. Quarterly VAT data is always live, so returns are never estimated. The corporate tax return draws on twelve closed months rather than a twelve-month reconstruction. Monthly trial balances show whether the business can afford a hire, a second office or a new service line before the decision is made. And if the FTA queries a return, the underlying ledger, invoices and reconciliations can be produced the same day — which is what the seven-year record-keeping duty actually requires in practice.

Key terms used in this guide