Professional Accounting Services

The scope covers accounting system design and chart of accounts build, accounting software selection and implementation, day-to-day transaction recording, bank and intercompany reconciliation, fixed asset register and depreciation accounting, inventory reconciliation and petty cash control, VAT and Corporate Tax accounting support, and backlog accounting where a company has fallen behind. These are delivered as a coordinated function rather than separately priced fragments, though clients can also engage PNPC for a narrower subset of this scope.

Basic bookkeeping typically means logging transactions as they occur, often without reconciliation, tax-code discipline, or management reporting. Professional accounting, as PNPC delivers it, includes that transaction recording but adds reconciled bank and intercompany balances, a properly maintained fixed asset register, VAT and Corporate Tax-ready coding, and a monthly close cycle that produces audit-ready working papers. The distinction matters most at filing time and during an audit, when unreconciled bookkeeping is far harder to defend.

Yes, in most cases. Accurate accounting is good practice for any trading company regardless of VAT registration status, since it underpins management decisions, bank relationships, and eventual VAT registration once you cross the AED 375,000 mandatory threshold (or choose voluntary registration from AED 187,500). Building accounting discipline before you are legally required to register makes the eventual VAT transition far smoother than starting from scratch under deadline pressure.

Corporate Tax under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 taxes income above AED 375,000 at 9%, with 0% below that threshold and 0% on qualifying income for Qualifying Free Zone Persons, effective for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023. The Corporate Tax computation is built directly from the accounting ledger — taxable income, allowable deductions, and related-party positions all trace back to how transactions were recorded and reconciled throughout the year. Professional accounting ensures those underlying records are accurate, consistently coded, and retained to the standard the FTA expects.

We work across the platforms most commonly used by UAE companies, including Zoho Books, Tally, QuickBooks Online, and Xero, as well as ERP-integrated accounting modules for larger or multi-entity clients. Selection depends on transaction volume, multi-currency needs, bank feed integration capability, and whether the client needs true multi-entity or inter-branch functionality rather than isolated single-entity files.

Yes. This is a common starting point, particularly for newly incorporated companies or founder-managed businesses moving off spreadsheets. We design the chart of accounts, select and configure appropriate software, establish opening balances, and train the client's internal team (or take on the recording function ourselves) as part of the onboarding process.

This is handled as a backlog accounting engagement, a defined subset of professional accounting services focused on reconstructing missed periods from bank statements, invoices, and available records. We agree a practical cut-off point with the client (and auditor, where relevant) rather than attempting an exhaustive historical rebuild back to incorporation when that is not commercially justified, then transition the client onto an ongoing monthly cycle once current.

We build and maintain a fixed asset register covering acquisition date, cost, useful life, and depreciation method for every capitalised asset, and post depreciation consistently each accounting period. We also review whether items expensed as repairs or maintenance should in fact have been capitalised, and vice versa, since this misclassification distorts both the balance sheet and the Corporate Tax computation if left uncorrected.

Yes, both are within scope. Inventory reconciliation compares physical or system stock counts against the ledger on an agreed cadence appropriate to the business's inventory value and turnover, while petty cash control matches vouchers against the float and manages replenishment on a controlled basis. Both are common sources of unexplained variance if left unmonitored between year-end counts.

The core accounting methodology is the same across entities, but the chart of accounts and reconciliation process are designed so intercompany balances between the free zone and mainland entities are clearly tracked and reconciled mirror-image. This matters directly for Corporate Tax purposes, since the nature and volume of transactions between a Qualifying Free Zone Person and its mainland-related entities affects whether income continues to qualify for the 0% rate.

Monthly, as standard. Each month-end close produces a reconciled trial balance, bank and intercompany reconciliation statements, and a management summary, formatted from day one as audit-ready working papers rather than raw system exports that would need reformatting later for an auditor or the FTA.

There is no single UAE statute that names 'professional accounting' as a standalone mandatory service. However, VAT-registered businesses are legally required under UAE VAT law to maintain accurate books and records supporting every return filed, and Corporate Tax law requires taxable persons to maintain records sufficient to support the tax return, generally for at least seven years. In practice, meeting these statutory record-keeping obligations to a defensible standard is not realistically achievable without professionally maintained accounting.

For a single-entity company with moderate transaction volume, system design and software implementation typically take two to three weeks, with day-to-day recording and reconciliation running as a standing monthly process from that point. Companies with multiple entities, foreign currency exposure, or significant backlog will take longer, and timelines depend heavily on how quickly the client can supply source documents and system access.

Cost depends on transaction volume, entity count, currency complexity, and whether backlog recovery is required alongside ongoing accounting. Professional accounting is typically priced as a monthly retainer once steady-state volume is understood, following an initial scoping call. PNPC does not publish a flat headline number, since a single-entity, low-volume company and a multi-entity group with foreign-currency trading are not comparable engagements.

The recording, reconciliation, and reporting work can be fully outsourced to PNPC, but an internal contact is still needed to provide source documents and bank access, respond to queries, and approve correcting journal entries where a judgement call is required. Full autonomy without any internal sign-off is not advisable, since some transactions need business context only the client can provide.

Incomplete or unreconciled accounting records make it difficult to demonstrate that VAT returns and the Corporate Tax computation are supported by accurate figures, which is a core FTA expectation. This can extend the length and scope of an audit, generate requests for further documentation, and in cases where discrepancies suggest under-declared tax, can result in penalties and interest under the relevant UAE tax procedures legislation.

Auditors substantively test cash, receivables, payables, and fixed assets as standard year-end procedures, and a company presenting clean, monthly-reconciled books moves through fieldwork noticeably faster than one where the auditor's team must first reconstruct basic reconciliations before testing can begin. Professional accounting delivered as a monthly discipline produces exactly the working papers an auditor expects.

Yes. Where a UAE entity has an Indian-linked group structure, PNPC coordinates directly with the India-side finance team or chartered accountants for intercompany reconciliation, accounting for differing financial year-ends, currency translation between INR and AED, and reporting formats typically used on each side. This sits alongside — but is distinct from — Indian transfer pricing and FEMA considerations, which the client's India-side advisors handle separately.

At minimum: the trade licence and entity documents, bank statements for the period in scope, access to any existing accounting software or trial balance, sales and purchase invoices, payroll records if staff are employed, and details of any related entities for intercompany purposes. The full document checklist is set out earlier on this page and covers entity registration, banking, transactions, fixed assets, tax cross-references, and governance sign-off.

Banks and investors assessing a facility application or conducting due diligence expect reconciled trial balances, clean bank reconciliation statements, and coherent management accounts as supporting evidence that the underlying finance function is under control. Companies that can produce these on request move through facility approval or diligence noticeably faster than those where the reviewing team has to reconstruct the financial position itself.

At minimum: prompt monthly access to bank statements or online banking, timely submission of sales and purchase invoices, a designated internal contact who can respond to queries within a few working days, and continued separation of personal and business transactions through the company account. Where PNPC manages the full accounting function, this discipline is largely maintained proactively; where the client retains some in-house involvement, PNPC provides templates and checklists to keep the same standard.

The underlying accounting discipline — recording, reconciliation, tax-ready coding, monthly close — is the same. The distinction is delivery model and emphasis: PNPC's professional accounting services describe the full-scope accounting function itself (what work is done), while the virtual and cloud-based accounting services describe how that function is delivered remotely on a cloud platform in place of an in-house hire, with an explicit comparison against the cost and continuity risk of employing UAE staff. Many clients engage professional accounting as the core scope and adopt a cloud platform as the delivery mechanism within the same engagement.

The core professional accounting scope reconciles sales and purchase ledgers to VAT-coded transactions ahead of each EmaraTax filing deadline and prepares the return-ready figures. Actual submission on the FTA's EmaraTax portal is typically bundled into the same engagement so the return is filed directly from the reconciled ledger rather than handed to a separate preparer, though clients who already have a dedicated VAT filer can engage PNPC for the accounting layer alone.

Salary costs, WPS transfer confirmations, and related employment costs are recorded and reconciled against the payroll register each month, with gratuity accrual tracked consistently against UAE Labour Law entitlement rather than calculated only at year-end or on staff exit. Where PNPC also runs payroll processing, this reconciliation happens seamlessly within one system; where a separate payroll provider is used, PNPC reconciles the payroll output against the ledger each period.

Following Cabinet Decision No. 98 of 2024, ESR notification and report requirements were discontinued for financial years starting on or after 1 January 2023, with the underlying substance principles now addressed through the Corporate Tax framework instead — including the substance conditions a Qualifying Free Zone Person must meet. Entities with outstanding ESR obligations for financial years ending on or before 31 December 2022 should still confirm those historical filings are complete.

The UAE is progressively rolling out a structured e-invoicing programme for B2B and B2G transactions, and businesses will need their accounting systems able to generate and exchange invoices in the required structured data format rather than relying purely on PDF or manual invoices. Professional accounting engagements with PNPC assess the client's current invoicing workflow against this direction of travel and align chart-of-accounts and software configuration so the transition, once mandatory for a given business, does not require a disruptive last-minute system overhaul.

Yes. Reconciled monthly books give an accurate, current view of taxable supplies against the AED 375,000 mandatory and AED 187,500 voluntary VAT registration thresholds, so the business (and PNPC) can see clearly when a threshold has been crossed rather than discovering it retrospectively after several months of unregistered trading.

Owner and director transactions that are personal in nature should be recorded through a director's current account or drawings account, kept clearly separate from business income and deductible expenses, rather than blended into general expense categories. This matters directly for Corporate Tax purposes, since only genuine business expenses wholly and exclusively incurred for the business are deductible, and for VAT, since input VAT recovery on personal expenditure is not permitted.

Yes, at the accounting layer. We identify and separately track related-party and intercompany transactions in the ledger so they can be readily extracted and reviewed against the arm's length expectations of Corporate Tax related-party provisions. Where formal transfer pricing documentation or benchmarking is required, that specialist analysis is typically coordinated with PNPC's tax advisory team or the client's transfer pricing specialist, built on the clean transaction data the accounting function provides.

This is treated as a priority backlog accounting matter. We first reconstruct the accounting records to establish accurately when the mandatory VAT registration threshold was crossed, then support the client in registering with the FTA and addressing the historical filing gap, which may require a voluntary disclosure process depending on the specific facts. We do not recommend simply registering going forward and ignoring the historical exposure, since that leaves the gap unresolved rather than addressed.

The inventory valuation method (commonly weighted average or FIFO) is agreed explicitly with management at setup rather than defaulted silently to whatever the accounting software's out-of-the-box setting happens to be, since the chosen method affects reported cost of goods sold, gross margin, and consequently the Corporate Tax computation. Once agreed, the method is applied consistently period to period.

A genuinely dormant entity with zero transactions in the period is better served by a lighter compliance-only engagement — nil VAT filings where registered, and dormant company confirmations as required by the free zone or licensing authority — rather than full monthly professional accounting, which is scoped for active trading businesses. We assess this honestly at scoping rather than selling a full monthly package to an entity that does not need it.

We flag it clearly to management with a written explanation of the nature and likely impact of the error, and agree a correction approach — which may include a prior-period adjustment, a voluntary disclosure to the FTA if a filed return is affected, or simply correcting the ledger going forward with the error's impact disclosed, depending on materiality and the specific facts. We do not silently overwrite a prior error with a fresh opening balance, since that manufactures false comfort rather than resolving the underlying risk.

Yes, this is one of the most common triggers for engaging professional accounting. We ensure the full financial year's records are reconciled, related-party transactions are identified, non-deductible expenses are correctly adjusted, and — for free zone clients — Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions are assessed against the actual income mix, so the Corporate Tax computation is built from a defensible ledger rather than assembled under time pressure close to the filing deadline.

Items that provide an economic benefit beyond the current accounting period — equipment, vehicles, leasehold improvements, significant IT infrastructure — are capitalised to the fixed asset register and depreciated over their useful life, while routine repairs, maintenance, and consumables are expensed as incurred. We review this classification specifically during onboarding and periodically thereafter, since misclassification in either direction distorts both the balance sheet and the Corporate Tax computation.

Standard professional accounting delivers actual results — trial balance and management summary — each month. Budget-versus-actual analysis, cash flow forecasting, and board-level strategic reporting sit within PNPC's virtual CFO and finance function services, which are commonly layered on top of professional accounting once a company reaches a stage where forward-looking planning, not just accurate historical recording, becomes the priority.

For genuinely low-volume businesses, a lighter quarterly or scoped engagement can be more proportionate than full monthly accounting, provided the business is not close to the VAT mandatory threshold and does not carry complexity such as multiple entities, inventory, or payroll that benefits from monthly discipline. We assess this honestly at scoping and recommend the scope that actually fits the business rather than defaulting every client onto the same monthly package.

Access to the client's accounting platform and underlying documents is restricted to the specific PNPC team members assigned to the engagement, with role-based access (view-only versus edit) applied consistently, and access revoked promptly when an engagement ends or a team member's role changes. Where the client's own team also has platform access, PNPC recommends periodic review of who on the client side retains it, since staff turnover on the client's own team is a more common source of stale access than anything on PNPC's end.

The standing monthly deliverable includes a reconciled trial balance, bank and intercompany reconciliation statements, and a brief management summary flagging anything material — an unusual expense, a slow-paying customer, a VAT or Corporate Tax point needing attention — rather than only raw figures with no narrative context. The exact report set can be tailored where a client needs additional detail, such as departmental or cost-centre breakdowns.

Yes. The engagement scope and retainer are reviewed periodically and can be adjusted — reduced reconciliation frequency, a lighter reporting pack, or a scaled-back retainer — if transaction volume genuinely decreases, provided the business remains compliant with its VAT and Corporate Tax record-keeping obligations at whatever reduced scope is agreed.

Yes, in support of the closure process. Final accounts need to be prepared, VAT and Corporate Tax positions need to be clean and, where applicable, deregistration applications filed with the FTA, and outstanding liabilities need to be settled or clearly documented before a licence cancellation or liquidation process can proceed cleanly. PNPC's professional accounting function feeds directly into this closure work, though the formal deregistration and liquidation filings themselves may involve PNPC's dedicated conversion and closure service.

A generic template chart of accounts is rarely mapped to a specific business's actual revenue streams, VAT tax categories, or Corporate Tax income classification, which means transactions get force-fitted into categories that do not reflect reality and later have to be reclassified before a return can be prepared. PNPC designs the chart of accounts specifically against the client's licensed activity, revenue mix, and group structure, so VAT and Corporate Tax reporting are a natural output of normal monthly recording rather than a separate reconstruction exercise each filing cycle.