UAQ Free Trade Zone accounting for logistics and trading firms

A UAQ FTZ warehousing company might charge clients per pallet per week, plus handling in and out, plus transport to Dubai. Storage repeats every week; handling and transport vary. HelloBooks bills fixed storage with recurring invoices and the AI agent drafts variable handling invoices from the activity reports you upload.

Each client is a class, so forklift leases, labour, utilities and fuel can be spread or tagged to the clients they serve. The owner can ask "which three customers earn us the least per pallet?" and see the answer with the costs behind it.

Logistics services are listed as a qualifying activity in the FTA guide, subject to the conditions in Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023. For a UAQ FTZ company that meets every condition, income from logistics services can be qualifying even when the customer is on the mainland. Other services sold alongside, such as customs paperwork billed to individuals, need checking.

Example: a logistics firm earns AED 6.2 million, of which AED 5.9 million is logistics and storage for business clients and AED 300,000 is a side business selling packing materials to individuals moving house. The individual sales are normally excluded. The cap is AED 310,000, 5% of revenue. The firm is inside it by just AED 10,000, so the side business needs watching every month.

• Income accounts for storage, handling, transport and goods sales
• Customer type recorded on each invoice
• Monthly check of non-qualifying revenue against the cap

Most UAQ FTZ companies have a handful of staff and an outside accountant. HelloBooks lets that accountant log in, review what the AI posted, and prepare the VAT 201 and corporate tax figures. Statements from any UAE bank are uploaded and matched; there are no live bank feeds.

A qualifying free zone person must also prepare audited financial statements and cannot elect small business relief, according to the FTA. A warehouse chart of accounts or per-pallet billing template can be arranged with the HelloBooks team via /book-a-demo or hello@hellobooks.ai.