5 Best Accounting Software to use in the UAE


Quick links for the Best Accounting Software

Best Overall 🏆

Melio

The winner for its smooth workflow, focusing on exactly what you need in accounting software.

Read Review

Best For U.S. 🥈

ZarMoney

A sales-focused CRM that uses AI to automate repetitive tasks and manage leads and sales.

Read Review

Easiest To Use 🥉

Quickbooks

The industry leader & the incumbent. This will have the most integrations and support network.

Read Review


So, you are in the market for accounting software in the UAE.

Ideal, because in this article we have our compilation list for our top picks, and we compare the features and pricing for you. 


If you just want the best choice, we’ve added that right at the top of the article as this was what is most requested by our customers and what we see the best feedback with. So, that’ll be the “can’t go wrong” option. 

Otherwise, feel free to explore all the options we’ve reviewed on the market to find something that might fit you a little better.

Enjoy the list!

The Best Accounting Software Specifically for the UAE

As a business owner, having accounting software that organizes your finances and helps with tax calculation is a must. If you’re a business based in the UAE, it’s crucial to account your expenditures to scale swiftly. Have a look at the products below to choose the best accounting software in the UAE:

1. QuickBooks

QuickBooks helps businesses, freelancers, and self-employed people to properly account for their expenses and income. You can make payments to contractors or employees and maintain profitability by auto-tracking the expenditures. QuickBooks provides salient accounting features, enabling you to analyze your profit margins.

Get Started with QuickBooks🔥

QuickBooks Features

Here are some exclusive features of QuickBooks:

Cloud Accounting: QuickBooks offers mobile access to its database and provides online banking integration, automatically updating your transactions and statements. You can monitor the real-time status of your expenses or invoices from anywhere and remotely handle the accounting. 

Business Funding and Income Tracking: QuickBooks syncs the bank transactions and tracks the total cash flow of your business. It helps you properly allocate funds to your business endeavours and maintain profit margins after operating costs. Additionally, you can create Tax-compliant invoices and track unpaid GST bills to remind clients about payment.

Online Banking: QuickBooks brings your banking activities online and offers One-click reconciliations. You can connect different bank accounts with QuickBooks and auto-categorize transactions to match expenses or invoices. QuickBooks enables you; to stay on top of your financial situation and maintain cash flow.

Accounting Reports: QuickBooks offers real-time insight into your business data and generates financial reports showcasing balance sheets, profit margins and cashflow statements. You can track all pending invoices and avoid chasing payments at the last second. QuickBooks offers customized data analysis helping you identify business trends.

Inventory Management: QuickBooks helps you easily handle the business inventory and get a real-time evaluation. Your inventory list is automatically updated whenever you make a sale or add a new product. QuickBooks helps you track your restock orders from the vendors and keep every sale recorded in the database.

QuickBooks Pricing

QuickBooks offers 4 Pricing options for its accounting software.

The “Simple Start” plan is priced at $25/month and offers general reports, receipt capture, plus mileage tracking. Additionally, you can manage tax deductions, incomes and expenses or invoices and payments.

The “Essentials” plan is priced at $50/month and offers enhanced reports, bill management, plus sales tax estimation. Additionally, you get 3 User accounts and can assign vendor payments to contractors.

The “Plus” plan is priced at $80/month and offers inventory management plus project profitability determiner. Additionally, you get 5 User accounts and can convert estimates to invoices.

The “Advanced” plan is priced at $180/month and offers customized access, on-demand training, data restoration, plus workflow automation. Additionally, you get more than 5 User accounts and can do business analytics with Excel or manage employee expenses.

2. ZohoBooks

ZohoBooks is an accounting platform from Zoho that lets you work collectively and manage your finances. Zoho is well-known for its intuitive business tools and offers the ideal connective ecosystem. With ZohoBooks, you can automate business workflows and stay tax compliant. It provides features for all business sizes and powers up your bookkeeping.

Get Started with ZohoBooks🔥

ZohoBooks Features

Here are some exclusive features of ZohoBooks:

Invoicing: ZohoBooks offers effortless invoicing and receivables management. You can create polished invoices and accept global payments with a multi-currency platform. Additionally, ZohoBooks lets you create recurring invoices and securely store card information for easy transactions. With ZohoBooks, you can secure your invoices with a digital signature to avoid tampering.

Client and Vendor Portal: ZohoBooks provides a client and vendor portal so you can share recent transactions and accelerate the approval process. Moreover, you can gauge customer satisfaction by asking for feedback and add a layer of authenticity to your estimates by getting digital signatures from your clients.

Banking: With ZohoBooks, you can securely gather transactions from your PayPal and bank accounts, plus do swift reconciliation. You can get accurate cash flow predictions and spot the balance mismatches with ZohoBooks’ banking dashboard. Additionally, it lets you categorize transactions automatically, expedite the matching and streamline the tax filing.

Automation: ZohoBooks is an intelligent accounting platform that allows you to automate tedious, error-prone tasks. You can eliminate the repetitive issues and auto-charge cards for recurring transactions. ZohoBooks boosts your productivity by automating your bookkeeping.

Reporting: ZohoBooks’ Reports cover your finances from all angles and lets you create robust business plans. You can see expenditures and income, generate business reports and make informed decisions. ZohoBooks is ideal for scheduling customizable periodic reports and organizing data with tags.

ZohoBooks Pricing

ZohoBooks offers 6 Pricing options for its accounting platform.

The “Free” plan is priced at $0 and offers payment reminder automation, a client portal, invoice management and a chart of accounts.

The “Standard” plan is priced at $20/month and offers three user accounts. Additionally, it provides custom fields, sales tax tracking, transaction locking and bulk updates.

The “Professional” plan is priced at $50/month and offers five user accounts. Additionally, it provides sales approval, retainer invoices, vendor credits and multi-currency handling.

The “Premium” plan is priced at $70/month and offers ten user accounts. It also provides a custom domain, vendor portal, budgeting, validation, and workflow rules.

The “Elite” plan is priced at $150/month and offers ten user accounts. Additionally, it provides warehouse management, batch tracking, shipment label printing and Shopify integration.

The “Ultimate” plan is priced at $275/month and offers 15 user accounts. Additionally, it provides 25 custom modules, a real-time dashboard, financial metrics tracking and report collaboration.

3. Xero

Xero is an intuitive and beautiful accounting software that helps you run the money side of your business. You can create and send quotes, manage bills, sort bank transactions, chase payments and analyze financial data. Xero provides you with a cloud-based accounting platform, accessible invariably from any remote location.

Get Started with Xero🔥

Xero Features

Here are some exclusive features of Xero:

Bill Payments: Xero helps you make timely bill payments by providing a clear overview of accounts payable and cash flow. You can schedule and make batch payments, plus access all bills inside your Xero interface. With Xero, you can build good relations with suppliers by avoiding late payments and keep the money flowing timely.

Claim Expenses: Xero provides an expense manager to help you capture costs to reimburse expense claims. You can monitor employee spending and approve claims without delay. Additionally, you can use OCR technology to scan vital information and auto-fill your claim.

Bank Connections: Xero connects with your bank accounts and sets up a feed where transactions flow securely. You can set multiple feeds for different accounts. Xero lets you reconcile daily and provides; an accurate depiction of your business finances. All your bank transactions are securely imported between the Xero database and Bank.

Invoicing and Payments: Xero lets you accept payments online through Stripe, GoCardless and other integrations. You can generate invoices and add a “Pay Now” button to redirect clients to the payment gateway. Additionally, Xero offers excellent online protection from fraudulent activities and has an unbreachable database.

Project Tracking: Xero offers a job tracker helping you track costs and project profitability. You can prepare budgets by using cost estimates and send customized quotes. Moreover, Xero allows you to do location-based tracking on Mobile and seamlessly link costs to projects.

Xero Pricing

Xero offers 3 Pricing options for its Accounting software.

The “Starter” plan is priced at $22/month and allows you to send upto 20 invoices. You can reconcile bank transactions and capture bills or receipts through Hubdoc.

The “Standard” plan is priced at $35/month and offers bulk reconcile transactions. Moreover, you can manage short-term cash flow and get a business snapshot of your current finances.

The “Premium” plan is priced at $47/month and allows you to send unlimited invoices. You can use multiple currencies and access all accounting features of Xero.

Additionally, Xero offers 3 Add-on packs. The “Claim Expenses” is priced at $4/month, and The “Track Projects” and “Analytics” are priced at $7/month.

4. FreshBooks

FreshBooks offers Bookkeeping and Accounting features to help businesses and freelancers organize their finances. It provides an easy-to-use interface built for regular users and accountants. FreshBooks is made for all business sizes and adapts according to your company’s accounting needs.

Get Started with FreshBooks🔥

FreshBooks Features

Here are some exclusive features of FreshBooks:

Accounting and Reporting: FreshBooks offers double-entry accounting tools to ensure tax compliance and accuracy. It helps you comprehend the financial status of your business and make intelligent choices to grow your brand further. FreshBooks identifies revenue items and expenses, providing an accurate profit-loss margin. Moreover, your accountant can access intrinsic financial information and reporting whenever needed.

Payments and Estimates: FreshBooks seamlessly links with several online payment channels like Stripe. It lets your clients pay directly through the invoice without additional hidden fees. Additionally, FreshBooks allows you to set realistic expectations by eliminating the guesswork and doing data-driven estimates. You can convert your estimates into an invoice or create new proposals to win projects.

Time-Tracking: FreshBooks provides an inbuilt time-tracker that helps you accurately determine the task duration. FreshBooks automatically logs the time spent on the client project and enables you to prepare detailed invoices or keep track of employees’ working hours.

Mileage Tracking: FreshBooks offers a tracking application that automatically logs your business trips and saves your travel history. You can claim business trips as expenses during tax filings. FreshBooks records the total distance travelled by your business vehicle and various professional trips taken by you.

Client Management: FreshBooks enables you to prepare client estimates and build better relations by accurate billing. You can inform clients about the latest expenses and increase trust by improving connectivity. FreshBooks allows you to track loyalty discounts and foster loyalty with clients.

FreshBooks Pricing

FreshBooks offers 4 Pricing options for its accounting software.

The “Lite” plan is priced at $4.50/month and offers unlimited invoices to 5 clients. Additionally, you can track expenses and sales tax, send total estimates and get paid with credit cards or bank transfers.

The “Plus” plan is priced at $7.50/month and offers unlimited invoices to 50 clients. Additionally, you can automatically capture receipt data, send endless proposals, run business health reports and set up recurring billing or client retainers.

The “Premium” plan is priced at $15/month and removes all limitations on invoice recipients. Additionally, you can track project profitability, customize email signatures, run accounting reports and get paid with checkout links.

The “Custom” pricing option offers an on-demand quote. It removes the FreshBooks branding from the client emails and provides a dedicated account manager.

5. GnuCash

GnuCash is a free accounting platform that allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. It is based on core accounting principles to ensure accurate reporting and bookkeeping. Moreover, GnuCash is downloadable on your device and ideal for every business due to its flexible, powerful, intuitive interface.

Get Started with GnuCash🔥

GnuCash Features

Here are some exclusive features of GnuCash:

Checkbook-Style Register: GnuCash offers a custom, practical and familiar interface to input financial transactions. Moreover, you can enter split transactions, display multiple accounts in a single register window and customize the display style. GnuCash lets you autofill and marks the transaction as cleared or reconciled.

Scheduled Transactions: GnuCash lets you create recurring transactions and set automatic due reminders. It offers high-level timeline customization and allows you to postpone the scheduled transactions without aborting or inputting them before the set date. GnuCash simplifies banking by providing automation and scheduling.

Reports and Graphs: GnuCash offers an integrated module to display your finances in the form of pie charts, bar charts and scatter plots. Additionally, it provides a full suite of customizable reports like balance sheet, portfolio valuation and profit margin. GnuCash’s reports are personalizable in appearance, parameters and content.

Statement Reconciliation: GnuCash offers a reconciliation tool to compare your inputted transactions against bank statements. It allows you to spot untracked transactions or data entry errors and ensure your accounting books match the bank records. GnuCash automates the reconciling and highlights the discrepancies in your database records.

Contact Tracking and Invoicing: GnuCash offers customer and vendor tracking, invoicing and tax calculation tools within its platform. You can manage employee payroll and plan your financial strategy by organizing your business budget. GnuCash ensures you have all relevant details to connect with the clients and vendors.

GnuCash Pricing

GnuCash is open-source and free accounting software. It does not offer any pricing options; you can download the tool by visiting the GnuCash website.

Key Features to Look for in UAE Accounting Software

When selecting accounting software for your business in the UAE, it is essential to choose a solution that not only meets your current needs but also positions your business for future growth and compliance. Here are the key features to consider:

1. Compliance with UAE Regulations

Given the strict regulatory environment in the UAE, ensure that the accounting software complies with local laws, including VAT regulations and corporate tax requirements. The software should facilitate easy VAT registration, filing, and reporting, as well as provide functionalities for tax health checks and return submissions.

2. User-Friendly Interface

The complexity of accounting tasks can be daunting, especially for small business owners without extensive financial backgrounds. A user-friendly interface can significantly reduce the learning curve and improve efficiency. Look for software that offers an intuitive dashboard, easy navigation, and accessible support resources.

3. Automation of Accounting Processes

An effective accounting solution should automate routine tasks such as bookkeeping, billing, invoicing, and financial reporting. Automation minimizes manual errors and saves valuable time, allowing businesses to focus on strategic activities rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks.

4. Robust Reporting Capabilities

Comprehensive reporting features are critical for analyzing business performance and making informed decisions. The software should provide customizable reports that cover various financial metrics, including profit and loss statements, cash flow forecasts, and balance sheets. Advanced analytics can also help track performance against key performance indicators (KPIs).

5. Scalability

Your business needs may evolve, and so should your accounting software. Choose a solution that can grow with your business, offering additional features, user licenses, and integrations as needed. Scalable software helps avoid the hassle of switching systems as your company expands.

Why use Accounting Software at all?

Finance management plays an intrinsic part for every business; in driving growth and boosting revenue. Your finances include everyday transactions, tax returns, lease costs, business revenue and other operational expenditures. Having a dedicated tool to automate the reconciliation and transaction tracking can help you optimize your financial health.

Accounting software enables you to automate and digitize your entire finance management. You can track transactions, accurately reconcile accounts and calculate tax returns. With accounting software, your business can be more stable financially, and you can expand swiftly to grow your revenue.

Why should you use accounting software in the UAE?

UAE is ideally thought of as a businessmen’s paradise because of its loose tax regulations. Many might wonder why waste money on accounting software when you don’t have to worry about the tax returns. After all, saving on business expenditures is also crucial. However, that’s exactly why you should opt for accounting software.

UAE, especially Dubai, where most businesses reside, is quite expensive. Running a successful business while maintaining your payroll and generating revenue is no simple task. If you’re in the service industry, you must manage different receivables from clients.

Accounting software enables you to regulate your company’s finances. Apart from automating tax calculation and filing, it automates bank reconciliations, transaction source tracking and financial analysis. You can use the reporting tools to gain deeper insights and make necessary changes to increase revenue.

Additionally, accounting software allows you to allocate funds for client projects. It ensures you maintain a profit margin and don’t overspend your budget on services. With accounting software, your business costs will reduce, and you’ll be able to; efficiently handle more clients to grow swiftly.

Accounting software for the UAE, A Summary

Having accounting software gives you the necessary edge over your competitors in the extremely hectic business world of the UAE. It ensures you don’t have to worry about your finances by accurately performing tasks on time as per instructions. With accounting software, you can focus on servicing the clients and increasing your profit margin by expanding the clientele base.

QuickBooks offers a simplistic yet multifunctional platform to keep accurate books and manage finances. It is our suggested pick for accounting software in the UAE. Visit the website to get started.

What Accounting Software would you recommend?

In short, It’s Melio.com

It provides your business customers with a convenient payment link, enabling them to make quick and hassle-free payments without the need for invoice attachments. They can pay using their preferred method, and the payments will be directly deposited into your bank account each time.

“🚀Try Melio.com For Free, It’s my favorite Accounting Software to use and recommend.” -Scott Max

Melio is an intuitive Accounting software that offers comprehensive solutions through its powerful tools. Designed for businesses of all sizes, Melio simplifies complex financial tasks and delivers impressive outcomes. Melio seamlessly integrates features tailored to your: Billing, Payments, Vendor Management, Expenses, and Financial Reporting needs.

For more details, read our Melio.com Review.