Industries
Ecommerce (Amazon and Shopify)
Finbryn splits Amazon, Noon and Shopify payouts into sales, fees and refunds before they hit the ledger, watches the AED 375,000 VAT registration threshold, and tracks landed cost by SKU so a seller in DMCC, JAFZA or on the mainland sees real channel margin, not one net deposit.
Management report
Illustrative client · August 2026
AED
| Line | Aug | Jul | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 142,380 | 131,904 | +10,476 |
| Cost of sales | (51,260) | (48,115) | (3,145) |
| Gross profit | 91,120 | 83,789 | +7,331 |
| Payroll | (46,300) | (45,900) | (400) |
| SoftwareNoted | (6,480) | (5,490) | (990) |
| Rent | (8,000) | (8,000) | 0 |
| Other operating | (9,215) | (9,870) | +655 |
| Net income | 21,125 | 14,529 | +6,596 |
Reviewer's note
Software is up on last month after two seats were added mid-month. Revenue includes one milestone invoice that will not repeat next month.
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Exceptions report
Where the books usually hurt
Marketplace payouts land as one lump sum that hides sales, fees, refunds and reserves
Cost of goods sold gets estimated instead of tracked by SKU and inventory location
Sales tax nexus creeps across states as revenue grows and nobody notices until a notice arrives
Multiple sales channels mean multiple ledgers that never quite reconcile to the bank
A payout is not a sale
An Amazon.ae, Noon or Shopify payout lands in the bank as one net figure after commission, advertising spend, fulfilment fees and any reserve the platform is holding back. A seller who books that deposit as revenue cannot tell which channel is actually profitable, and cost of sales gets guessed at instead of tracked.
Finbryn connects Seller Central, Noon and Shopify to Xero or QuickBooks Online so each payout arrives already split into gross sales, fees, shipping and refunds, then reconciles that feed against the bank and against platform reports directly, since connector data can drift during a promotion or a peak trading week.
VAT at 5% and the registration threshold
UAE VAT is charged at 5%, and a business must register once its taxable supplies and imports pass AED 375,000 in the preceding 12 months, or are expected to in the next 30 days. We track turnover against the threshold and flag when registration is approaching. The registration and the VAT return itself are filed by you or by a tax agent registered with the Federal Tax Authority; Finbryn does not file with the FTA.
Cost of sales gets the same discipline. Landed cost is tracked by SKU using supplier invoices, freight and customs paperwork, rather than blended into one average margin that hides which product line is actually losing money.
Corporate Tax and the entity behind the store
Most sellers trade through a mainland licence or a free zone company in DMCC, JAFZA, RAKEZ or IFZA. UAE Corporate Tax applies at 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000, with 0% below that line, and a company on qualifying free zone income can hold a 0% rate as a Qualifying Free Zone Person if it meets the conditions, a status that depends on the free zone authority's own rules as much as the tax law. Small Business Relief lets an eligible resident person elect to be treated as having no taxable income where revenue stays at or below AED 3,000,000, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026, though that relief does not extend to a Qualifying Free Zone Person. The return is filed and any tax paid within 9 months of the tax period end, by you or your appointed tax agent.
Working with Finbryn
You keep the Xero or QuickBooks Online file, with a named pod on your account and a recorded handover memo if that pod changes. Books are reconciled weekly and closed by business day five, in your time zone. Sellers also shipping into Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Kuwait get each jurisdiction's VAT or zero-VAT position tracked on its own set of books rather than merged into one GCC total. Pricing is published on our pricing page, with terms set out in your engagement letter, and catch-up work for a seller coming off raw bank feeds is priced separately from ongoing monthly bookkeeping.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Ecommerce (Amazon and Shopify)
Will you tell me when I need to register for VAT?
Yes. We monitor your rolling 12-month taxable turnover against the AED 375,000 threshold and flag when registration is approaching. Registration and the return itself are filed by you or by your appointed tax agent.
Do you work with Amazon.ae, Noon and Shopify together?
Yes. Multi-channel sellers get one consolidated Xero or QuickBooks Online file with revenue and fees split by channel, including channels selling into other GCC markets.
Does my free zone company still owe Corporate Tax?
It depends on whether the company qualifies as a Qualifying Free Zone Person on its qualifying income. We track the conditions and flag where income falls outside that status, though the qualification itself is a determination for you and your tax agent.
Can you clean up a year of messy Seller Central or Shopify transactions?
Yes. Catch-up and cleanup work rebuilds the chart of accounts and reconciles historical payouts month by month until the books match what actually happened.
How do you handle Amazon reserves that get released later?
Reserves held back by the platform are tracked as a receivable until released, so your cash flow picture reflects money that is coming but not yet in the bank.
Do you work with A2X or Link My Books?
Yes, either one, depending on which the seller already has connected to their marketplace and accounting software.
Can you track cost of goods sold by product?
Yes, when landed cost and inventory data are available from the seller's supplier records or 3PL.
What are the common bookkeeping challenges for a ecommerce (Amazon and Shopify) business?
Beyond the basics, sales tax nexus creeps across states as revenue grows and nobody notices until a notice arrives and multiple sales channels mean multiple ledgers that never quite reconcile to the bank come up often in this industry. We build the chart of accounts and reconciliation process around those specific patterns rather than a generic template that ignores how the business actually operates.
What software do you support for ecommerce (Amazon and Shopify)?
We work inside Shopify and Amazon Seller Central, along with the other tools listed on this page that are common in the ecommerce (Amazon and Shopify) industry. If you have no file yet, we set one up in your name so you own it from day one.
Related services
- BookkeepingMonthly bookkeepingOngoing monthly bookkeeping: transactions sorted into categories, accounts reconciled and month-end reports delivered in the software you already use.
- BookkeepingCatch-up and cleanup bookkeepingMonths or years of books brought up to date and reconciled, with a written record of every adjustment, so monthly bookkeeping can start from a clean base.
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.