Published prices put outsourced bookkeeping for a small business with straightforward transactions at AED 500–2,500 a month¤, and a tech-enabled firm doing a monthly close at AED 1,000–2,500 a month¤. One online provider that prices by volume lists AED 829–3,238 a month¤ with the corporate tax return included. Cloud software you operate yourself costs AED 60 a month billed annually, AED 69 billed monthly¤, and a full-time bookkeeper's salary runs AED 4,000–12,000 a month¤.
Chart data
| How the work is done | A month |
|---|---|
| Cloud software you run yourself | AED 60–69 |
| Outsourced, straightforward books | AED 500–2,500 |
| Tech-enabled firm, monthly close | AED 1,000–2,500 |
| Package with the tax return, by volume | AED 829–3,238 |
| In-house bookkeeper, salary only | AED 4,000–12,000 |
| Premium service, complex books | from AED 5,000+ |
How much does bookkeeping cost at my transaction volume?
Few firms publish prices by volume, which is exactly what makes one provider's list useful. Its package covering accounting services and the corporate tax return steps up with the number of transactions, and a version with VAT registration and quarterly returns sits alongside it. Both are charged annually. Its entry package for businesses with up to 25 transactions a year is AED 411 a month¤.
| Transactions (up to) | Accounting and tax return | Also VAT |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | AED 829 | AED 999 |
| 20 | AED 1,162 | AED 1,332 |
| 50 | AED 1,704 | AED 1,874 |
| 100 | AED 3,238 | AED 3,413 |
The list does not say whether the counts are per month or per year for the larger packages, so ask before you compare it with a quote. Read the pattern rather than the precise figure: going from 10 to 100 transactions multiplies the price by about 4, while revenue does not appear on the list at all.
Why do two businesses with the same revenue pay different prices?
Because firms quote on the work. Picture two Sharjah businesses, both billing AED 1.8 million a year. The consultancy raises a dozen invoices a month, runs one bank account and pays a few regular suppliers. The retailer settles card payments daily, holds stock, and keeps petty cash in two branches. The consultancy belongs at the low end of the published ranges. The retailer will be quoted several times as much, and the quote is fair.
So when you ask for a price, lead with the numbers that matter: bank lines a month, sales invoices a month, supplier bills a month, number of accounts, and whether you hold stock. A firm that quotes without asking is either guessing or planning to reprice later.
What am I actually buying?
The output is not tidy files. It is the record set the FTA expects behind a return, described officially as transactions, assets, liabilities and ownership interests§, kept for 7 years§ after the end of the period. A bookkeeper who reconciles monthly produces that as a by-product. One who first touches the year in March produces a reconstruction, and reconstructions are what audits and reviews pick apart.
The legal stake is real: failing to keep the required records carries a penalty of AED 10,000, or AED 20,000 for a repeat§. Good bookkeeping is the cheapest way to never meet that number.
Is software alone enough?
For some businesses. One widely used cloud product lists its Standard plan in the UAE at AED 60 a month billed annually, AED 69 billed monthly¤, and its free plan stays available while revenue for the financial year is under AED 200,000¤. Software will produce a clean ledger if someone codes every transaction correctly every month. It will not decide whether a payment is an expense or a drawing, whether input tax is recoverable, or what belongs in an asset register.
If you have the discipline and some accounting judgement, it is the cheapest route by a wide margin. If you do not, it produces a confident-looking set of numbers that are wrong, which is worse than a box of receipts because nobody questions it.
When does an in-house bookkeeper make sense?
Rarely on price alone. A full-time bookkeeper costs AED 4,000–12,000 a month¤ in salary, before visa, end-of-service and a desk. Against outsourced pricing, the arithmetic only turns at real volume, or when you need someone in the building chasing collections and paying suppliers. Hiring for compliance alone, in a business under AED 3,000,000 of revenue, usually means paying for availability you will not use.
How does bookkeeping affect the tax bill?
Corporate tax runs on taxable income, which starts from accounting profit, so the quality of the bookkeeping is the quality of the tax position. It also decides whether you can show revenue stayed within AED 3,000,000§ for Small Business Relief, a claim the FTA expects records to support.
Where an audit is needed, published fees run to AED 15,000–40,000 a year¤, and auditors price disorganised books upward. Monthly reconciliation is the cheapest audit preparation there is.
A sensible default
For most owner-managed UAE businesses under AED 3,000,000 of revenue: outsource the monthly bookkeeping, insist on a monthly close rather than a quarterly scramble, and keep the corporate tax return with the same firm so nobody has to re-learn your accounts in September. Count your transactions before you ask for prices, and compare quotes on the same count. Price the whole year in the compliance cost calculator, or read the decision guide if you are still choosing a route.
Questions to ask before you sign
- How many transactions a month does this price assume, and what happens above that number?
- Are VAT returns inside the fee, or billed per period?
- Is the corporate tax return included, and is a Small Business Relief election treated differently?
- What does catching up a late quarter cost?
- Who owns the ledger and the software login if you leave?
Run an accounting firm yourself? These are the questions prospective clients bring, and a firm's website should answer them. Our website plan for accounting firms sets out what we build, what it costs and the terms.