How much does a bookkeeper cost in Dubai and is there a cheaper alternative

If you have looked into hiring a bookkeeper in Dubai, you already know the numbers are not small.

A part-time bookkeeper working 2 to 3 days a week costs between AED 2,000 and AED 5,000 per month. A full-time in-house accountant costs AED 8,000 to AED 15,000 per month plus visa, medical insurance, and end of service gratuity. An outsourced accounting firm handling monthly bookkeeping and VAT filing typically charges AED 1,500 to AED 4,000 per month for a small business, depending on transaction volume.

For a cafe doing AED 80,000 a month in revenue, spending AED 3,000 on bookkeeping is 3.75% of revenue just to know your numbers. That is before tax filing, audit fees, or financial advice.

What you actually need at the small business stage

Most UAE SMEs with under AED 200,000 monthly revenue do not need a full-time accountant. What they need is three things. Clean categorised transactions every month. A VAT position they can trust. A P&L they can read without a finance degree.

The cheaper alternative

Software handles the categorisation and reporting automatically. You handle the decisions. A good bookkeeper or accountant then reviews quarterly instead of monthly, which cuts the cost significantly.

Compass costs AED 299 per month. It connects to all major UAE banks including WIO, Emirates NBD, ADCB, FAB, Mashreq, and RAK Bank. You upload your bank statement, classify your transactions once, and get a P&L and VAT summary on demand. Most users spend under an hour a month on their books.

That is not a replacement for an accountant when you need one. It is what you use so you do not need one for the basics.