Office Work Standards in the UAE

Bookkeeping and record keeping are the responsibilities of every company in the UAE.

The company's financial statements must contain:

• Balance sheet and income statement, export and import statements.
• Accounting of wages and salaries.
• Fixed asset records.
• Inventory records and reports at the end of the relevant tax periods.
• All inventory records related to inventory sheets.
• Accounting for tax payments.

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During the audit, in addition to the above documents, the tax inspector may request:

• A full detailed trial balance for each of the periods requested
• (indicating the opening and closing balances).
• Reconciliation of the trial balance and VAT return.
• List of categories of income received since registration and the applicable VAT collection regime.
• The structure of the group of companies, including all branches and divisions (if applicable).

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The invoice must indicate the purpose of payment. If the invoice indicates a payment term, it should be taken into account that VAT will still need to be paid upon the fact of issuing the invoice, and not upon receipt of funds.

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Know Your Customer

In accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act, before making transactions with a counterparty, it is necessary to identify it by requesting the following documents:

• EID or visa, and
• proof of residential address - for an individual,
• license, charter, personal documents of holders of more than 25% of shares in the company - for a legal entity.

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The company's accounting department must use only software that meets the requirements of the tax authority (FTA). It can be found in a special register.

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"All companies must keep accounting records and prepare annual financial statements. At the same time, these and primary documentation must be kept for 5 years. In some Free Zones - longer" Ekaterina Kupreenkova, бухгалтер