SaaS

Subscription revenue is not cash received

A UAE SaaS company that books an annual contract as income the day it is paid overstates that month and understates every month after. Revenue from a subscription is earned as the service is delivered, so deferred income has to move on the balance sheet every month, not just at renewal, and that discipline matters more once a company approaches Corporate Tax registration and an investor or acquirer starts reading the books.

Finbryn sets up deferred income schedules tied to actual contract terms pulled from Stripe or Chargebee, then reconciles those schedules to the general ledger every month. When a customer upgrades, downgrades or gets a refund mid-term, the schedule updates rather than drifting quietly out of step with the billing system.

Corporate Tax, VAT and free zone status

UAE Corporate Tax is charged at 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000, with 0% below that line. A SaaS company incorporated in DIFC, ADGM or another free zone can hold a 0% rate on its qualifying income as a Qualifying Free Zone Person, but that status depends on meeting conditions such as maintaining adequate substance and keeping non-qualifying income within limits, and it is not available to a company electing Small Business Relief instead. Where the company sells software as a service to customers in the UAE, standard VAT at 5% generally applies once the AED 375,000 registration threshold is crossed; where subscriptions are sold to businesses outside the UAE, the VAT treatment can differ, and that determination should sit with your tax agent.

We track MRR, churn and net revenue retention against the ledger each month, so a board pack or a VC data room shows numbers that tie back to the books rather than a spreadsheet built separately from the accounting system.

Filing on the FTA's timetable

A Corporate Tax return is filed, and any tax due paid, within 9 months of the tax period end, and missing registration carries a fixed AED 10,000 penalty, though the FTA's waiver can lift it if the first return is filed within 7 months of the first tax period end. We prepare the figures against those dates; filing itself is done by you or your appointed tax agent.

Working with Finbryn

You keep ownership of your Xero 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, with pricing published on our pricing page and terms set out in your engagement letter. Catch-up work for a company that grew fast on manual spreadsheets is priced separately from ongoing monthly bookkeeping.