IFZA company accounting for consultants and small traders

A new FZCO typically opens a bank account, pays the licence and visa costs, and starts invoicing within weeks. Receipts pile up in email and phone galleries. Forward them to HelloBooks or snap them in the mobile app, and the AI agent reads supplier, TRN, amount and VAT, suggests the account and posts once you confirm.

At month end, upload the bank statement as PDF, CSV or Excel. The agent matches payments to invoices and bills and asks about the few lines it cannot place, such as a transfer from the founder's personal account. Those go to a shareholder loan or capital account, which an accountant will want separated before the year-end audit or tax return.

Imagine an IFZA consultant billing AED 720,000 a year: AED 420,000 to a client in another free zone, AED 300,000 to a mainland company. Consultancy is not listed as a qualifying activity, so the mainland fees would be non-qualifying. Against a de minimis cap of AED 36,000 (5% of revenue), the company cannot be a qualifying free zone person.

It is therefore taxed like a mainland company. With revenue below AED 3 million, it may elect small business relief for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, which a qualifying free zone person could not do. Without the relief, 0% applies to taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above. HelloBooks prepares the numbers either way; the founder or a tax agent makes the election on EmaraTax.

• Revenue tagged by free zone, mainland and overseas client
• Running total against the AED 3 million relief limit
• Corporate tax computation drafted from the ledger for review

Many IFZA founders work with the professional partner that formed the company. That firm, or any accountant, can log in to the same HelloBooks file to review entries and prepare returns. Accounting firms that look after many IFZA clients can join the Partner Program and manage them from one console.

An IFZA founder who wants an invoice layout showing the licence number, approval rules for a co-founder or AI categorisation rules for a particular trade can ask for them through /book-a-demo or hello@hellobooks.ai.