Bookkeeping for the first 90 days of a new UAE company: a practical plan

Most new companies have spent money before the bank account opens: licence fees, establishment card, visa costs, a lease deposit, a laptop on the founder’s card. Collect every receipt and record each one. Costs paid personally by a shareholder become a balance owed to that shareholder, not a mystery expense.

Worked example: a founder in Abu Dhabi pays AED 18,500 for the licence and registration, AED 12,000 for two visas and AED 9,000 as a lease deposit from her own account before the company account opens. The company records AED 30,500 of expenses and setup costs, a AED 9,000 deposit as an asset, and AED 39,500 owed to the shareholder. When the bank account opens and she is repaid, or the amount is converted to capital, the books already show the right figure.

Once money flows through the company account, set a weekly rhythm. Upload or capture bills as they arrive. Issue invoices from the system, not from a word processor, so numbering is sequential and every invoice is in the ledger. Download the bank statement each week and match it.

This is also the time to decide who does what. If the founder approves spending and a part-time bookkeeper posts entries, write that down. A short rule now, such as anything over AED 5,000 needs the founder’s approval, prevents awkward questions later.

• Weekly: capture bills and receipts, match bank lines.
• Every invoice issued from the accounting system.
• Separate personal and company spending from day one.
• Keep the lease, licence and MOA in the document store.

Corporate tax registration applies to companies whether or not they are profitable, and the FTA sets the deadline for new companies by reference to the licence issue date, so check it on EmaraTax rather than waiting. VAT is different: you must register once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 in the past 12 months, or are expected to in the next 30 days, and you may register voluntarily from AED 187,500.

A new consultancy invoicing AED 45,000 every month will cross AED 375,000 in its ninth month. That is not a day-90 problem yet, but the books should already track cumulative taxable supplies so the date is not a surprise.

End the 90 days with a first review: a profit and loss, a balance sheet and a list of who owes what. If the founder cannot explain any line, fix it now while memories are fresh.

Banks often ask young companies for management accounts when they review the account at the first anniversary or when a credit card or facility is requested. A clean set from day 90 onwards answers that request in minutes rather than a week of reconstruction.

Most early bookkeeping problems come from the same few habits. They are cheap to fix in month two and expensive in month fourteen, when an auditor asks.

• Treating share capital paid in as revenue.
• Recording the full year’s rent as a month-one expense instead of spreading it.
• Leaving visa and licence costs paid by founders unrecorded.
• Issuing invoices with no TRN field ready for when VAT registration comes.

Snap receipts on the HelloBooks mobile app and the AI agent reads them in Arabic or English, proposes the account and VAT treatment, and posts them for your review. Upload bank statements from your UAE bank as PDF, CSV or Excel and the agent matches lines to bills and invoices. Ask “how much do we owe the founders?” or “what are our taxable sales over the last 12 months?” and get the answer from the ledger.

You still approve postings and decide on registrations. For a tailored starter chart of accounts or invoice template, email hello@hellobooks.ai.