How to keep books for multiple licences under one owner without losing track

Every company or establishment with its own licence keeps its own ledger, bank account and invoice numbering. Do not run two licences through one set of books with a tag for each. Authorities, auditors and banks will ask for each entity’s accounts separately, and untangling a combined ledger later is slow.

Where one owner holds several sole establishments, the legal picture differs from companies, because the owner is the same person. Ask your tax agent how the businesses should be registered for VAT and corporate tax, but keep the books separate anyway. It is the only way to know which business makes money.

When Company A pays a supplier on behalf of Company B, A records a receivable from B and B records a payable to A, on the same day for the same amount. When B repays, both sides clear. At every month-end, the receivable in A should equal the payable in B.

Worked example: the owner’s Dubai trading company pays AED 36,000 of rent for a warehouse shared with her free zone logistics company, which uses half. The trading company records rent of AED 18,000 and a receivable of AED 18,000 from the logistics company; the logistics company records rent of AED 18,000 and a payable of AED 18,000. If the companies are not in one VAT group and the recharge is a supply, VAT may apply; ask your tax agent.

Related companies that meet the FTA’s conditions can apply to register as a VAT tax group, filing one return, with supplies between members generally disregarded for VAT. That removes VAT on recharges like the rent above, but makes the members jointly responsible for the group’s VAT.

Ministerial Decision No. 197 of 2026 adds a practical benefit: transactions between members of the same tax group are excluded from e-invoicing for 24 months from 1 January 2027. Sales to outside customers are not.

Each company is a separate corporate tax payer by default, with its own AED 375,000 band at 0% and 9% above. Corporate tax law also allows qualifying groups to form a tax group and file one return, subject to ownership and other conditions. Grouping can let losses in one company offset profits in another, but it also has costs. A free zone company seeking qualifying free zone person status has its own constraints. This is squarely a decision for a tax agent.

Before grouping anything, look at the numbers. Suppose the trading company makes AED 900,000 of taxable income and the logistics company loses AED 200,000. Separately, the trading company pays 9% on AED 525,000, which is AED 47,250, and the logistics company carries its loss forward. Whether a group return would reduce that depends on the conditions and on how the rules treat the 0% band in a group, which is why the calculation belongs with your tax agent.

Owners want one view across entities. Build it from the separate ledgers, never instead of them.

• Use the same chart of accounts structure in every entity so reports line up.
• Reconcile intercompany balances monthly before combining.
• Eliminate intercompany sales and balances in the combined view.
• Keep a simple diagram of who owns what, updated when licences change.

The HelloBooks Business plan manages multiple entities from one login, each with its own ledger, numbering and VAT settings. The AI agent posts recharges on both sides and answers “do the intercompany balances between Trading and Logistics agree?” with any differences listed. Role-based access lets a bookkeeper see one entity and the owner see all.

If you want a consolidated management report laid out your way, request it through /book-a-demo or hello@hellobooks.ai.