Groups of companies

Accounting for holding companies and family groups in the UAE

For holding companies and family groups in the UAE, Aqid ERP keeps each company's books, VAT registration and payroll apart under one login, shows what group companies owe each other, and produces consolidated statements in AED, with a corporate tax estimate for each company for your adviser.

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In short

For holding companies and family groups in the UAE, Aqid ERP keeps each company's books, VAT registration and payroll apart under one login, shows what group companies owe each other, and produces consolidated statements in AED, with a corporate tax estimate for each company for your adviser. Aqid ERP lays out the FTA's VAT 201 from the books, generates every invoice as signed PINT AE XML for the 2027 e-invoicing mandate and runs payroll in dirhams with a WPS salary file and end-of-service gratuity. The Premium plan fits, at AED 214 a month, with a 60-day free trial. Not built yet: Consolidation is a report: intercompany eliminations are not posted, so check the intercompany balances with your auditor before you sign off group figures.

At a glance

ForHolding companies
E-invoicingPINT AE: signed UBL XML kept with each invoice; sending through an accredited service provider is not yet live (the mandate starts in 2027)
VAT5% standard rate; the VAT 201 is laid out from the books, sales by emirate
PayrollA WPS salary file, end-of-service gratuity, GPSSA pension for Emirati staff, payslips in Arabic and English
StockNot needed by most businesses of this kind
Recommended planPremium: up to 25 companies under one login, with consolidation, intercompany reports and the API. A group of up to 3 companies can start on Growth.
PriceAED 214 a month before VAT · 60-day free trial today, no card
Not built yetConsolidation is a report: intercompany eliminations are not posted, so check the intercompany balances with your auditor before you sign off group figures.

How it runs

Every company under one login

Each company has its own chart of accounts, TRN, bank accounts, payroll and VAT 201. A mainland company and a free zone company stay separate, each with its own documents, and you switch between them without signing out.

Intercompany balances in one report

Loans, management fees and recharges between group companies show on the intercompany report, so both sides can be matched before you close the month.

Consolidated statements in AED

Run a consolidated profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow across the group, or for any set of companies you choose, in a presentation currency such as AED.

Controls across the group

Give each director and finance user a role per company, send bills, purchase orders, claims and payments above your limit for approval, and keep two-step sign-in on. The audit log shows who changed what in every company of the group.

A month at a family group in Abu Dhabi (example)

  1. Say the group has a holding company in Abu Dhabi, a trading company in a Dubai free zone and a contracting company on the Abu Dhabi mainland, each registered for VAT with its own TRN.
  2. The holding company lends AED 750,000 to the trading company. The loan is posted in both sets of books: a receivable in the holding company, a payable in the trading company.
  3. The holding company invoices each subsidiary a monthly management fee of AED 30,000 plus 5% VAT of AED 1,500, AED 31,500 each. As invoices between businesses they carry signed PINT AE XML; if the companies are registered with the FTA as a tax group, agree the treatment with your adviser.
  4. At month end the intercompany report shows the trading company owing AED 781,500 and the contracting company owing AED 31,500 to the holding company, and both sides agree.
  5. The trading company's USD account is revalued at the month-end rate. You then run the consolidated statements for the group in AED, while each company keeps its own P&L, VAT 201 and corporate tax estimate.

The parts you will use

Multi-company

Each mainland, free zone or offshore company is its own set of books with its own TRN, bank accounts and payroll, all reached from one sign-in. Growth holds 3 companies, Premium 25.

Consolidation and intercompany

The group's P&L, balance sheet and cash flow are run as reports across the companies you pick, and an intercompany report lists what each company owes the others. Nothing is eliminated by a posted entry. Growth or Premium.

Corporate tax estimate

An estimate for each company from its profit: the 0% band to AED 375,000 and 9% above, and the Small Business Relief test, as a starting point for your adviser, not a filing.

Multi-currency

Foreign-currency bank accounts, bills and invoices, with the AED equivalent kept and open balances revalued at month end. Growth or Premium.

Payroll per company

Each company runs its own payroll in AED with a WPS SIF file and end-of-service gratuity accrued every month.

Public API

Feed a group dashboard from Aqid ERP, or send in transactions from another system the group already runs. Growth or Premium.

VAT, e-invoicing and corporate tax for UAE groups

Each company keeps its own VAT settings and lays out its own VAT 201 at 5% from its books, with standard-rated sales by emirate; you enter each return on EmaraTax. Invoices between group companies are issued like any other business invoice. If your companies are registered as a tax group for VAT, the treatment of supplies inside the group changes, so agree the set-up with your adviser before you go live.

Free zone and mainland companies come under UAE e-invoicing on the same terms under current guidance. Under AED 50M of revenue, a provider is appointed by 31 March 2027 and invoices are transmitted from 1 July 2027; at AED 50M and above, from 1 January 2027. Confirm each company's band with the Ministry of Finance and the FTA. Aqid ERP generates every invoice as signed PINT AE XML today; its connection to an accredited service provider is in progress and not yet live.

The corporate tax estimate does not model tax groups or qualifying free zone income, and it refuses Small Business Relief for a member of a multinational group. Your adviser decides those questions; Aqid ERP gives each company's figures and statements to start from.

Plans for Holding companies

Starter

For small businesses that need compliant invoicing

77 د.إ / month

  • Compliant tax invoices
  • Customers & quotes
  • Payroll and WPS file for up to 5 employees
Start now for free

Growth

For teams that want the full books, not only invoices

109 د.إ / month

  • Everything in Starter
  • Full ledger & reports
  • Unlimited payroll, inventory and consolidation
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Compare the plans in detail

Questions

Can one login run our holding company and its subsidiaries?

Yes. Growth holds 3 companies and Premium 25. Each keeps its own ledger, TRN, banks and payroll, and you move between them without signing out. Starter is for a single company.

Do we get group accounts in dirhams?

Yes, on Growth and Premium: a consolidated P&L, balance sheet and cash flow in AED, with an intercompany report showing what each company owes the others. They are reports; no elimination entries are posted.

Can we hold a free zone company and a mainland company together?

Yes. Each is its own company with its own chart, VAT 201 and corporate tax estimate, and the consolidated statements read them together. Whether the free zone company's income qualifies for 0% is for your adviser; the estimate does not model it.

Does the corporate tax estimate handle a tax group?

No. The estimate works company by company, with the 0% and 9% bands and the Small Business Relief test, and it refuses that relief for a member of a multinational group. If your companies form a tax group, your adviser prepares the group's computation from each company's statements.

Can our group dashboard read the figures?

Yes. The public API on Growth and Premium lets a dashboard pull figures, or another system push transactions in.

Will you help move every company in the group?

Yes. We move each company's chart of accounts and opening balances, free during the offer to 31 December 2026, and every company can start with a 60-day free trial.

Appoint your provider before 31 March 2027. Start the books today.

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