Chart of accounts template UAE for VAT and corporate tax

Use four-digit codes in five groups. Leave gaps between codes so you can add accounts later without renumbering.

• 1000-1999 Assets: bank accounts by bank and currency, receivables, PDC receivable, inventory, prepayments, VAT recoverable, fixed assets
• 2000-2999 Liabilities: payables, VAT payable, corporate tax payable, end-of-service provision, accruals
• 3000-3999 Equity: share capital, owner current account, retained earnings
• 4000-4999 Income: sales by stream, with qualifying and non-qualifying splits for free zone companies
• 5000-6999 Costs and expenses: cost of sales, salaries, rent, licence fees, visa costs, professional fees

These accounts save hours at return time because the numbers are already separated. Corporate tax adjustments in particular are much easier when the non-deductible items never get mixed into general expenses.

• VAT input recoverable and VAT output payable as separate control accounts
• VAT on imports under reverse charge, if you import goods or services
• Client entertainment, kept apart from staff welfare, because part of it is not deductible for corporate tax
• Fines and penalties, which are not deductible
• Trade licence and visa fees, often large for small companies
• End-of-service benefits provision and expense
• Post-dated cheques receivable and payable

An extract of a chart for a small general trading company with an Emirates NBD AED account and a USD account.

• 1010 Emirates NBD current account, AED
• 1015 Emirates NBD current account, USD
• 1210 Trade receivables; 1220 PDC receivable
• 1410 VAT input recoverable; 2210 VAT output payable
• 2310 Corporate tax payable; 2410 End-of-service provision
• 4010 Sales, local, standard-rated; 4020 Sales, exports, zero-rated
• 6110 Client entertainment; 6120 Fines and penalties; 6210 Trade licence renewal

HelloBooks starts UAE businesses on a chart with VAT control accounts and common UAE expense lines already in place. The AI agent learns how you categorise each supplier and applies it next time, and it suggests moving a bill to "fines and penalties" if it reads that the bill is a traffic or municipality fine.

Every business is a little different, so the chart of accounts and the AI categorisation rules can be customised. Accounting firms often bring their own house chart for all clients; send it to hello@hellobooks.ai or walk the team through it on a call at /book-a-demo.