Cut Above for Accounting & Bookkeeping
An accounting practice working to the UAE compliance calendar: bookkeeping, VAT and corporate tax, payroll and WPS, annual accounts and audit support, ESR, UBO and AML filings, FTA representation and advisory at CFO level.
What the system calls things
| Cut Above calls it | You call it | |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | → | Enquiry |
| Milestone | → | Phase |
| Invoice | → | Fee note |
| Time entry | → | Timesheet entry |
Your pipeline
The work you do
Every job is one of these, and each carries its own defaults and paperwork.
Plans that build themselves
Quarterly VAT return (UAE)
Day 0 is the quarter end. The FTA filing deadline is the 28th of the following month, so the template runs to offset 28.
4 phases, 9 tasks created for you.
Monthly bookkeeping cycle
Day 0 is month end. The retainer's recurring cycle: everything posted and reconciled by the second week, so VAT, payroll and management accounts can be built on it without re-work.
2 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Year-end financial statements
Day 0 is the financial year end. Assumes a 90-day close.
4 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
UAE corporate tax return
Day 0 is the tax period end. The return and any payment are due nine months later, so the scaffold runs to day 270, but the computation is built off the audited or final accounts, which is why the year-end engagement must close first.
3 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
VAT registration
Day 0 is the client's turnover evidence received. Mandatory above the registration threshold on a rolling twelve months or the next thirty days; voluntary above the lower threshold. The FTA issues the TRN and the first return period.
3 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Corporate tax registration
Day 0 is licence and MOA received. Every licensed entity registers, including free zone companies and those expecting to be exempt; registering late carries a fixed penalty. The first tax period follows the licence and financial year.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
Monthly payroll & WPS
Day 0 is the first working day of the month. Salaries must reach employees through WPS within the statutory window; the SIF file is generated from the approved payroll and lodged through the bank or exchange house.
4 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Monthly management accounts
Day 0 is month end. Runs on the bookkeeping retainer: close the books, review, and issue a pack the owner can read by the middle of the following month.
3 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
External audit support
Day 0 is the auditor's PBC list received. The practice prepares the books for audit, answers queries and closes adjustments; the auditor signs. Free zones and banks set the deadline, usually within months of year end.
3 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
ESR notification & report
Day 0 is the client's financial year end. The notification is due six months after year end for every licensee; the report twelve months after, only where a relevant activity was carried on. Both are filed on the Ministry of Finance portal.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
UBO register & filing
Day 0 is the request. Every entity keeps a register of its ultimate beneficial owners, nominee directors and partners, and files it with the licensing authority, with updates within days of any change.
2 phases, 4 tasks created for you.
goAML registration & AML programme
Day 0 is the engagement letter. Designated non-financial businesses, real estate brokers, dealers in precious metals, auditors, corporate service providers, must register on goAML and run an AML/CFT programme. The practice sets it up; the client runs it.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
Bookkeeping backlog clean-up
Day 0 is bank statements and documents received. A catch-up engagement for a client whose books have not been kept, often ahead of an audit, a tax registration or a sale. Priced per month of backlog.
4 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
Accounting system implementation
Day 0 is the software chosen. Set up the system, migrate opening balances and the current year, connect the bank feed, and train the client's team.
3 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
FTA audit or clarification representation
Day 0 is the FTA notice received. Deadlines in the notice are short and fixed; the practice acts as tax agent, assembles the evidence, and manages every exchange in writing.
3 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Budget & cash-flow forecast
Day 0 is the kick-off. A twelve-month budget and a rolling thirteen-week cash flow, built with the owner, delivered as a model the practice then updates on the retainer.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
Financial due diligence
Day 0 is data-room access. Quality of earnings, net debt and working capital for a buyer or a seller, delivered as a report the deal team can rely on. Priced fixed for a defined scope.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
Liquidation & final accounts
Day 0 is the shareholders' resolution. Final accounts to the liquidation date, the liquidator's report, VAT and corporate tax deregistration, and the closing filings.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
Things it watches
- Fee note overdue, escalate to partner
- Fixed-fee engagement burning budget
- New client won, start onboarding
- Proposal gone quiet
- Filing deadline approaching
- Records not received, engagement stalled
- New enquiry, reply the same day
- Large engagement, partner sign-off
- Filing or cycle complete: file the evidence and bill it
- Task overdue ahead of a deadline
- Statutory deadline in two weeks
- Statutory deadline in three days
- Trade licence expiring: registrations depend on it
- First corporate tax return due in about a month
Where this fits, and where it does not
A direct fit. The path from client to opportunity, engagement, tasks, time and fee note already matches how a practice works. What this pack adds is the calendar. Every engagement type here is a statutory deadline with preparation time in front of it: the 28th for VAT, nine months after year end for corporate tax, six and twelve months for ESR, the 15th for WPS. Each plan is dated backwards from its deadline, and the client record holds the year end, filing frequency and registration status that set those dates.