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This guide prices the bookkeeping cost in Dubai for one small company, four ways, using only published, dated prices. Every penalty below comes from the current schedules, including the VAT changes of 14 April 2026, and Small Business Relief now runs to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029.
Take a Dubai trading company filing VAT quarterly, with revenue under AED 3 million (so it can elect Small Business Relief) and about 60 transactions a month. Totals are our arithmetic from the listed prices, checked 21 September 2026.
| Path | What you pay | Year-one total |
|---|---|---|
| Keep the books and file yourself | Course AED 4,999 once; TallyPrime AED 78 a month | AED 5,935, then AED 936 a year, plus your hours |
| Keep the books, pay per filing | TallyPrime; 4 VAT returns at AED 1,000; SBR Corporate Tax return at AED 1,500 | AED 6,436 a year, plus your hours |
| Hand the books to Sarmat | Bookkeeping from AED 2,000 a month; the same five filings | From AED 29,500, before any bundle discount |
| Hire an employee | Lowest salary band in the ads below: AED 2,000–3,999 a month | AED 24,000–47,988 in salary alone |
The first row is cheapest in cash and heaviest on your attention: you record every sale and purchase, reconcile the bank monthly, and file VAT on EmaraTax yourself.
Software is a small line: TallyPrime's single-user plan is AED 78 a month on Tally's MENA page. Our guide to the accounting software UAE companies use compares the alternatives, and our UAE VAT 201 return walkthrough covers every box.
The second row is the hybrid most cost guides skip: you keep the books, someone else prepares and submits the returns. Sarmat's standard fee is AED 1,000 per VAT return and AED 1,500 for a Corporate Tax return under Small Business Relief. It only works if your records are clean.
The third row buys your hours back. Sarmat's bookkeeping is from AED 2,000 a month within 50–100 transactions and covers the ledger, bank reconciliation and document filing; VAT and Corporate Tax returns are priced per filing on top.
Providers that publish their prices list packages from about AED 1,000 a month at around 100 transactions, and one advertises unlimited transactions from AED 500 a month; some include VAT filing, some don't. That puts us above the cheapest bundles.
What the difference buys: one desk for UAE compliance across your books, licence, visas and PRO paperwork, backed by 12+ years in UAE government services, with FTA-registered tax-agent and licensed audit partners when you need them. Sarmat itself is not an FTA-registered tax agent or licensed audit firm. Every fee is on our accounting and bookkeeping services page.
Four Dubai accounting ads we opened on 21 September 2026, posted 9–18 September by undisclosed employers, listed these monthly salary bands:
The employer also carries the MOHRE or free zone work permit, residence visa, health insurance and end-of-service gratuity. We haven't priced those, so the table shows salary only.
A freelance bookkeeper sits in between. Before handing one your bank statements, check what a freelance bookkeeper can legally sign in Dubai; keeping books is not auditing or acting as your FTA tax agent.
Transaction count drives every quote, so let it drive your decision. The time column assumes about three minutes per transaction once you're trained: our planning assumption, not a measured figure.
| Transactions a month | Your time | Banded packages published at this volume | Our reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| About 10 | Under an hour | From about AED 500 a month | Keep them yourself |
| About 50 | About 2.5 hours | About AED 600–1,400 | Yourself if trained; pay per filing if VAT worries you |
| About 100 | About 5 hours | About AED 1,000–4,000 | The crossover: weigh your hours against the quote |
| 200–300 | 10–15 hours | AED 1,500 at 200 and AED 2,499 at 300 (two packages found) | Hand them over or hire |
One provider sits outside these bands: it advertises unlimited transactions from AED 500 a month (AED 400 on a current 20% offer), plus 5% VAT, which matches the cheapest band shown and undercuts the rest. The last column is our judgement. Read quotes closely: one provider counts transactions per bank statement, and only one price page we checked says whether VAT is added to the fee.
Outsourcing moves the work, not the obligation. Your company holds the tax registration, so returns, tax and penalties are addressed to it, not to your bookkeeper.
How long you keep records
When returns are due
VAT returns and payment are due by the 28th day after each tax period ends; the standard period is three calendar months. A Corporate Tax return is due within nine months of the end of the tax period.
What late or missing work costs
| Violation | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Not keeping required records (VAT or Corporate Tax) | AED 10,000; AED 20,000 for a repeat within 24 months |
| Late VAT return | AED 1,000; AED 2,000 for a repeat within 24 months |
| Late VAT payment | 14% a year, charged monthly |
| Late Corporate Tax return | AED 500 a month for the first 12 months, then AED 1,000 a month |
Both penalty schedules, VAT and Corporate Tax, also have a late-filing row where the penalty is due from the legal representative's own funds rather than the company's. Under the VAT penalty rules, a company's manager counts as a legal representative.
Small Business Relief isn't automatic
You must register and elect it. Revenue must stay at or below AED 3,000,000 in the current and every previous tax period, so one year above the line ends it for later years. It's for resident persons only, excludes Multinational Enterprise group members and Qualifying Free Zone Persons, and runs to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029.
For the ways owners most often slip on these rules, see the accounting mistakes that cost UAE startups.
You can learn UAE bookkeeping on the job over your first few VAT quarters, paying for each mistake. Or you can learn it in 15 hours before your first return.
The UAE Practical Accountant Program suits owners who'd rather keep their own books. Its 10 modules cover bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, VAT filing, Corporate Tax registration, month-end close, and hands-on Zoho Books, Xero, Tally Prime and QuickBooks.
It's taught in English at our Deira office or live online, and the course is KHDA-certified. The fee is AED 4,999, payable in instalments through Tabby or Tamara.
By our arithmetic it fits best under about 50 transactions a month; above that, hand the books over.
It depends on your monthly transaction count and what the fee includes. At Sarmat, bookkeeping is from AED 2,000 a month within 50–100 transactions; VAT returns (AED 1,000 each) and Corporate Tax filing (from AED 1,500) are priced separately.
Yes. UAE tax record-keeping rules set what your company keeps, in what form and for how long, but they don't require an accountant to keep it, so you can run your own ledger and file VAT on EmaraTax yourself.
Compare full cost, not salary. Four Dubai accounting ads posted in September 2026 listed monthly bands from AED 2,000–3,999 to AED 8,000–11,999, before the employer's visa, work permit, health insurance and gratuity costs. Sarmat's bookkeeping starts at AED 2,000 a month.
Keep VAT records for 5 years after the tax period they relate to, VAT records on real estate for 15 years, and Corporate Tax records for at least 7 years. On top of the 5-year VAT period, the Tax Procedures rules add 4 years during a tax audit or a dispute (or until the dispute is settled, if later), and 2 years for a tax period with a refund claim the FTA hasn't yet decided.
Sarmat's standard fee is AED 1,000 per VAT return, with FTA and government fees quoted separately. Whoever files, the return and payment are due by the 28th day after the tax period ends; a late return costs AED 1,000, or AED 2,000 for a repeat within 24 months.
Send us your rough monthly transaction count and whether you're VAT-registered, and we'll tell you straight whether the course or the service suits you.
Or use our contact page if you'd rather call or email.
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