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There is no published tariff for bookkeeping in Dubai and there never has been. It is a private market, so any page that opens with a confident monthly figure is quoting one firm’s brochure and calling it a market rate. What can be pinned down is the other half of the question, and it is the more useful half: the obligations that determine how much work your books actually generate. Those are written in law, they are the same for every firm quoting you, and once you can see them you can tell a cheap quote from an incomplete one. Every legal reference below was checked on 8 August 2026.
The obligations you are really paying someone to carry
| Obligation | What the rule says | Effect on the fee |
|---|---|---|
| VAT return cycle | Three calendar months by default, but the Authority can set a different cycle, which puts some businesses on a monthly return | Monthly filing roughly triples the closing work in a year |
| VAT return deadline | Received by the Authority no later than the 28th day following the end of the tax period | Fixes when the books must be closed, not merely accurate |
| Corporate tax return | Filed within 9 months of the end of the tax period, through EmaraTax, on a self-assessment basis | An annual block of work separate from the VAT cycle |
| Audited financial statements | Required where revenue exceeds AED 50 million in the tax period, and for all Qualifying Free Zone Persons whatever the revenue | Turns bookkeeping into audit-ready bookkeeping, a different standard |
| Record retention | Five years following the tax period, extended by four more where there is a dispute or an audit, and by one year after a late voluntary disclosure | Archive and retrieval are a recurring cost, not a one-off |
The Qualifying Free Zone Person line catches people. A small free zone company claiming the zero per cent rate needs audited financial statements regardless of how modest its revenue is, so the cheapest bookkeeping package on the market may be structurally unable to serve it.
Where quotes stop matching each other
Two firms can name the same monthly number and be selling different things. These are the items that move between inside and outside the fee, and the ones worth writing into your request verbatim so the replies are comparable.
| Item | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| VAT return preparation and submission | Inside the monthly fee, or billed per return? |
| Corporate tax return | Inside the annual fee, quoted separately, or referred to a third firm? |
| Year-end financial statements | Prepared by the same team, and to which framework? |
| Audit | Not the same licence. Who signs, and is the fee yours or theirs to pay? |
| Payroll and salary processing | Per employee, per run, or excluded entirely? |
| Software licence | Whose subscription, and who owns the ledger file if you leave? |
| Transaction volume cap | How many entries a month before the price changes? |
| Catch-up of prior periods | Priced separately from the ongoing fee, almost always |
The last two cause most disputes. A fee agreed on 40 transactions a month behaves very differently at 400, and a company arriving with nine months of unrecorded activity is buying a clean-up project first and a monthly service second.
The penalty side of the arithmetic
Cheap bookkeeping that files late stops being cheap quickly, and the numbers are public. A VAT return that misses its date costs AED 1,000, doubling to AED 2,000 if it happens again inside two years, on the schedule that Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 brought into force on 14 April 2026. Tax left unpaid runs at 14 per cent a year, charged monthly. Corporate tax is harsher on delay: AED 500 a month, or part month, through the first year and AED 1,000 a month after that. Holding no records at all is AED 10,000, again doubling on a second occasion inside two years. Set against those figures, the gap between two bookkeeping quotes is usually noise.
Who does this work
Our directory records 43 companies doing bookkeeping and covering Dubai, out of 48 accounting firms and 69 live entries overall. Of those, 23 prepare annual financial statements, 4 run payroll and 12 are recorded as audit firms, which is a separate licence and a separate register. We publish no price list for any of them, because we hold no comparable one and inventing a range would be worse than saying nothing. The way to get a real number is to send one identical scope to several firms; if you want to read the underlying obligations first, our guide to accounting requirements for UAE companies sets out what has to exist regardless of who keeps it.
Frequently asked questions
How much do bookkeeping services cost in Dubai?
There is no official or published rate, and we do not quote one. The fee tracks transaction volume, whether you file VAT quarterly or monthly, whether audited financial statements are compulsory for you, and how much catch-up work exists. Send the same written scope to several firms and compare the replies line by line.
Does my Dubai company legally need a bookkeeper?
You need the records, not necessarily an external firm. Accounting records must be retained and maintained so the Authority can verify your tax obligations, for five years following the relevant tax period and longer where there is a dispute or an audit. Whether an employee or an outside firm produces them is your choice.
When does my company need audited financial statements?
Where revenue exceeds AED 50 million during the relevant tax period, and for all Qualifying Free Zone Persons regardless of revenue. That second condition catches small free zone companies claiming the zero per cent rate, so check it before buying the cheapest package on offer.
Is VAT return filing usually included in a bookkeeping fee?
Sometimes, and that is exactly why quotes are hard to compare. Ask whether return preparation and submission sits inside the monthly fee or is billed per return, and do the same for the annual corporate tax return, which many bookkeeping firms price separately or refer elsewhere.
What happens if my accounts are filed late?
Miss the VAT date and it is AED 1,000, then AED 2,000 if it recurs inside two years. Unpaid tax accrues at 14 per cent a year, charged monthly. Corporate tax filed late runs at AED 500 a month, or part month, through the first year and AED 1,000 a month thereafter. Holding no records at all is AED 10,000, doubling on repetition inside two years.
How long do I have to keep the records?
Five years after the tax period they belong to, for a taxable person. Four further years attach on top where a dispute with the Authority is open, where an audit has begun, or where the Authority has given notice that it means to audit, and a further year on top of that where a voluntary disclosure lands in the fifth year.
Ready to price the same scope with several firms? Browse accounting providers or write the scope down once and collect quotes against it.
Official references used for context in this article.
- Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023, Executive Regulation of the Tax Procedures Law, Article 3 (record keeping)
- FTA Corporate Tax Guide: Tax Returns (audited financial statements, 9 month deadline)
- FTA VAT Returns User Guide (tax periods and the 28 day deadline)
- Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 and its amendments, penalties table (as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025)
- Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 and its amendments, corporate tax penalties
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