Accounting software for real estate brokers in UAE, deal by deal

Brokerage income is lumpy and the costs that matter most are people and marketing. HelloBooks starts brokers with a chart that keeps gross commission and agent payouts visible as separate lines.

• Commission income: residential leasing, residential sales, off-plan, commercial
• Agent commission payable and agent commission expense
• Co-broker fees payable to other agencies
• Listing portal subscriptions and paid listings, photography and signage
• Licence, registration and agent card renewals

The property itself may be zero-rated, exempt or standard-rated, but a broker’s commission is a separate supply of services. The FTA’s real estate guide lists services by estate agents as real-estate-related services, and brokerage fees charged by a registered broker are generally standard-rated at 5%, including when the underlying residential lease is exempt. Commissions paid by a developer on off-plan sales need a tax invoice to the developer, not the buyer.

Agents working as employees are paid through payroll, while freelance agents or other brokerages invoice you, and their VAT may be recoverable. The agent asks which applies when a new payee appears and remembers the answer.

Type “deal closed: 2-bed in JVC, rent AED 95,000, 5% commission, Sara gets 50%” and the agent drafts the tax invoice to the tenant or landlord for AED 4,750 plus VAT, records Sara’s AED 2,375 share as payable, and tags the deal to her and to the listing. When the cheque clears on your bank statement upload, it matches it.

Ask “which agent brought in the most commission this quarter?” or “how much do we owe agents for October?” The managing partner still approves commission payouts and any credit notes for cancelled deals.

Owners watch commission by agent, commission by property type, listing spend against deals closed, and commissions invoiced but unpaid by developers. Those developer receivables can sit for months, so ageing matters.

If you run a split structure with tiers, or want the commission statement your agents receive to carry your own layout, the HelloBooks team can configure it. Book at /book-a-demo or email hello@hellobooks.ai.