Accounting software for holding companies in UAE with several subsidiaries

A holding company’s own ledger is mostly balance sheet: investments, loans and dividends. HelloBooks gives holding entities this structure, with matching accounts in each subsidiary.

• Investments in subsidiaries and associates, at cost
• Intercompany loans receivable and payable, and interest
• Management fee income charged to subsidiaries
• Dividend income, split between UAE and foreign participations
• Shareholder current accounts and holding-level costs

Dividends from UAE resident companies are exempt income for corporate tax. Dividends and gains from other participations can be exempt under the participation exemption where conditions are met, including an ownership interest of at least 5% (or an acquisition cost of at least AED 4 million), holding for at least 12 months, and the participation being subject to tax at 9% or more. The FTA’s guide sets out the full tests; review it with a tax agent.

Management fees charged to subsidiaries are generally standard-rated at 5%, unless the companies form a VAT tax group, in which case supplies between members are outside the scope of VAT. For e-invoicing, transactions between members of the same tax group are temporarily excluded for 24 months from 1 January 2027.

Record a AED 750,000 loan from the holding company to the restaurant group once, and the agent posts the receivable in one ledger and the payable in the other. Monthly management fees are drafted for each subsidiary on schedule. Dividends declared are posted on both sides with the board resolution attached.

Ask “do intercompany balances agree across all entities?” or “what dividend income did we receive from foreign participations this year?” Consolidation eliminations are prepared as journals for your finance team to review; HelloBooks does not consolidate statutory accounts on its own.

Intercompany reconciliation, cash by entity, dividend income by participation and each subsidiary’s P&L are the usual pack. Advanced role-based access lets subsidiary managers see only their own books while the group CFO sees all.

Group chart mapping, management fee schedules and board pack layouts can be set up for your structure. Email hello@hellobooks.ai or book at /book-a-demo for a group review.