Starting a business and bookkeeping in Dubai, or say, anywhere in UAE is comparatively much easier and better.  What makes UAE an attractive business destination is its flexible and investment-friendly tax laws and policies. Of the 7 Emirates that together make the Federation of UAE, Dubai is, of course, the commercial capital of the UAE in addition to being the most famous of the Emirates. It is internationally well connected, with a lower cost of living, highly developed infrastructure and has a very receptive market. With the reformative policies introduces lately, the Dubai market is shooting up. Thus, if you are willing to start or expand your business, Dubai is undoubtedly an attractive option.

So, here in this article, we have briefed the accounting and bookkeeping environment in Dubai for you to have a basic understanding of it. Note that this is not all of it, but the basics. There would still be many by-laws and sub-laws that you might be required to follow while you are doing business in Dubai, depending on your industry, background and much more. Hiring a Dubai-based financial and/or legal advisor is thus a great idea, especially for firms operating at medium or large scale.

Despite how easy doing business in the UAE is, if you are new to the laws of Dubai, you are advised to hire one of the renowned professional bookkeeping and accounting firms in Dubai like Finacctech.

Legal notes for businesses- companies

The accounting and business laws in UAE is a blend and derived from Islamic Shariah law as well as the conventional laws.

Appointment of managers: During the incorporation, companies are supposed to appoint managers through the MOA or Memorandum of association, who shall be responsible as well as authoritative for all the administrative matters.

The actual owners: Shareholders are the actual owners of any company. It shall be by their opinion that the company directors are appointed or replaced. A public register shall hold the details of the directors as well as the shareholders.

The permits and licenses: Trade license(for trade), industrial license (for manufacturing and production) and professional license (for service and profession) are some of the basic licenses needed for businesses to operate in Dubai. Different other permits and licenses will be required by the company based on the industry they are operating in. In some cases, even the registration of the product might be mandatory. Any such licenses and permits need to be renewed from time to time with the Dubai local authorities. Also, the company needs to operate in the Emirate where it is registered and incorporated.

Conventions and treaties: Given that USE is a signed member of  WIPO, Paris convention, World Trade organization and intellectual property related treaties, the provisions are pretty lot applicable in all the Emirates, including Dubai.

Accounting and bookkeeping:

You saw above the basic rules to be kept in mind while starting up a business in the UAE. In this section, we are discussing the basic law or rule aspects in relation to accounting to be noted while operating your company in UAE.

• Annual preparation of financial statements: The audits need to be done by a certified Chartered Accountant or such professional bookkeeping and accounting firms in Dubai. The financial statements must be thereby prepared annually.
• Accounting standards to be followed: To say, there are no National standards that are mandatory to be followed for bookkeeping in Dubai. However, it is recommended by the authority to follow the international high-quality accounting standards in the process, especially in certain industries and organizations. UAE commercial Company Law underlines the same. The annual financial statements and audits shall be prepared and conducted based on IFRS standards. IFRS standards lay down the most commonly used accounting practices. Especially for listed companies, IFRS standards are to be followed. Such a rule has been brought up by Dubai Financial Services. Also, the Abu Dhabi security exchange listing rules ask for the companies to follow IFRS.

Otherwise, there isn’t any Generally Accepted Accounting principle that is locally practiced in Dubai. The statements of businesses outside free trade zones need to be filed with the Ministry of Commerce. The statements are to be also listed on the stock exchanges in the state.

• The tax year in UAE: The tax year in UAE is the same as the calendar year, that is, January 1 to December 31.
• Filing the statements: Those companies which have been listed with the stock exchange are supposed to file their statements with Emirates Securities and Commodities Market Authority. This is necessary for the quarterly as well as the annual publication of the income statements.
• National Professional body for Accounting: UAE National Accountants and Auditors Association or UAE-AAA is the professional and recognized authority or accountancy body. Though it is not responsible and authoritative for setting accounting standards in the state, its recommendations are valuable for legislative authorities.
• For foreign companies establishing in Dubai, it is recommended to get a reliable bookkeeping service in Dubai so that all the legal formalities are essentially met.

Role of Bookkeeping services in Dubai

These bookkeeping services will be responsible for taking care of your day to day accounts. There are several reliable and professional bookkeeping services in Dubai who can smoothly manage the burdensome accounting tasks. This way, your business can direct more resources and time towards more important and product tasks or aspects of the business. In addition to getting rid of the burden of that routine job, you can stay assured that you are complying all the accounting laws and standards necessary to be followed in Dubai.