Industries
Real estate and property management
Finbryn keeps property-level books for UAE landlords and managing agents across freehold, RERA-regulated Dubai buildings and mainland or free zone holding structures, reconciling Ejari-registered rent rolls and service charge reserves separately from operating cash. We work inside Xero and close by business day five.
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
Rent roll data from a property management system does not line up with what actually hit the bank
Security deposits, owner distributions and reserve accounts get mixed into operating cash
Each property needs its own profit and loss, but the books are kept as one blended pool
Capital improvements get expensed instead of tracked separately from routine repairs
A blended portfolio hides the property that is losing money
A landlord with ten units tracked as one undivided pool of income and expense cannot tell which unit is actually carrying the portfolio. A unit sitting vacant for two months or a service charge invoice that spiked can hide inside an average that still looks fine, and a bank or co-investor asking about one specific property gets an estimate instead of a number.
Finbryn sets up books so each property, or each holding entity where a portfolio uses separate structures across DIFC, ADGM or mainland companies, has its own profit and loss. Rental income is reconciled against Ejari-registered tenancy contracts and the actual bank deposit, since a tenant paying late by cheque or a standing order failing are common enough that platform or agent-reported rent rolls do not always match what landed.
Service charges, reserves and VAT treatment
Owners association service charges and reserve fund contributions in a RERA-regulated Dubai building sit apart from a landlord's own operating cash and get tracked in their own account, so it is clear what belongs to the building's reserve versus what the landlord can actually use. Residential leasing is generally VAT-exempt, while commercial leasing is standard-rated at 5%, and a mixed-use property needs that split applied correctly rather than one VAT treatment across the whole building. Where registration is required, the AED 375,000 mandatory threshold applies the same way it does to any other business activity.
Corporate Tax on rental income
A UAE resident juridical person earning rental income is subject to Corporate Tax at 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000, with 0% below that line, and Small Business Relief can bring taxable income to nil for an eligible person with revenue at or below AED 3,000,000. A natural person renting out personally owned real estate is generally outside Corporate Tax on that income, since real estate investment income earned by an individual is excluded from the natural person turnover test. We prepare the figures either way; filing sits with you or your appointed tax agent.
Working with Finbryn
You keep the Xero file, with a named pod on your account and a recorded handover memo if that pod changes. Books are reconciled weekly rather than caught up once a quarter. Owners inheriting a portfolio with years of mixed records typically start with a catch-up project, priced separately from ongoing monthly bookkeeping. Capital improvements are tracked as fixed assets rather than expensed against a single month, with pricing published on our pricing page and terms in your engagement letter.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Real estate and property management
Can you produce a separate profit and loss for each property?
Yes. Each property, or each holding entity if the portfolio uses separate structures, gets its own profit and loss alongside a consolidated portfolio view.
Do you track owners association service charges separately from operating cash?
Yes. Service charge and reserve fund contributions are reconciled in their own account, apart from the landlord's operating income and expenses.
Is rental income subject to VAT?
Residential leasing is generally VAT-exempt while commercial leasing is standard-rated at 5%. A mixed-use property gets that split applied per unit rather than one blanket treatment.
Does an individual landlord pay Corporate Tax on rental income?
Real estate investment income earned personally by a natural person is generally excluded from the Corporate Tax turnover test, though this depends on how the activity is structured and should be confirmed with a tax agent.
How do you handle capital improvements versus routine repairs?
Capital improvements such as a renovation or a new HVAC system are tracked as fixed assets and depreciated over their useful life, while routine repairs and maintenance are expensed in the period they occur, since treating a major renovation as a same-month expense would understate that month's profit and overstate every month after it.
Can you keep books at the individual property level?
Yes, each property or entity can be tracked as its own set of books or as a class within one file, depending on structure.
Do you reconcile security deposit and trust accounts separately?
Yes, those balances are reconciled apart from operating funds each month.
What are the common bookkeeping challenges for a real estate and property management business?
Beyond the basics, each property needs its own profit and loss, but the books are kept as one blended pool and capital improvements get expensed instead of tracked separately from routine repairs 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 real estate and property management?
We work inside QuickBooks Online and AppFolio, along with the other tools listed on this page that are common in the real estate and property management 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.