How much does outsourced accounting cost in Dubai?
Roughly AED 1,000-2,500/month for micro remote bookkeeping, AED 2,500-7,000 for SME packages with VAT and reporting, with on-site and dedicated models priced by days or embedded resource.
Outsourcing Costs
Outsourced Accounting Costs in Dubai: The Numbers Behind the Quotes
Outsourced accounting quotes in Dubai range from suspiciously cheap to consultancy-priced — and the spread mostly reflects scope games, not quality tiers. Here is how the pricing actually works, and how to compare offers on the same axis.
- Transparent scope-based fixed fees
- True in-house comparison run on your numbers
- No surprise 'out of scope' invoices
- Right-sized model: remote, part-time or dedicated
Dubai-based accountants working at your office, on your schedule.
Quick Answer
Dubai market reality: basic remote bookkeeping for micro businesses runs roughly AED 1,000-2,500/month; SME packages with VAT filings and monthly reporting AED 2,500-7,000; part-time on-site arrangements price by day; dedicated full-time models track the all-in cost of employment minus your risk. Compare quotes on transaction volume covered, filings included, reporting deliverables and who answers FTA queries — the cheap quote usually excludes three of the four.
AED 1-2.5kMicro business remote bookkeeping / month
AED 2.5-7kTypical SME package with VAT + reports
25-40%Hidden add-on over an in-house salary
ScopeWhat actually separates quotes
The Pricing Models Explained
Three structures dominate: fixed monthly packages scoped by transaction volume and deliverables; day-rate models for on-site presence; and dedicated-resource pricing for embedded staff. Hourly billing exists but rewards slowness — fixed scope aligns incentives better for routine work.
- Fixed monthly: volume-banded, deliverables listed
- Day rate: on-site presence, 1-3 days weekly
- Dedicated: full-time embedded, flat monthly
- Hourly: fine for projects, poor for routine books
The In-House Comparison, Done Honestly
The fair comparison is against a hire's true cost: salary plus visa and permits, medical insurance, gratuity accruing at roughly a month's basic pay per year served, annual leave and its cover, software seats, workspace and the management time nobody invoices. For most SMEs the outsourced equivalent of their actual workload undercuts that total substantially — while removing the key-person risk entirely.
- Salary is 70-80% of the real employment cost
- Gratuity: ~1 month basic per year, accruing silently
- Vacancy and turnover: months of disruption per event
- Outsourced: flat fee, zero vacancies, instant scale
Reading Quotes Like a Buyer
Quote games are predictable: 'from AED 999' covering fifty transactions and nothing else; VAT 'supported' but filings billed separately; reports meaning a trial balance PDF. The defence is a scope checklist — make every bidder answer the same ten questions and the real price order usually reverses.
- 1Fix your volumes: transactions, banks, entities
- 2List deliverables: filings, reports, close dates
- 3Ask who answers FTA queries and at what cost
- 4Compare total annual cost, not headline monthly
Outsourced Accounting Cost Dubai FAQs
Why do quotes vary so much for the same business?
Scope — transaction caps, excluded filings, thin reporting. Normalise the scope and the spread collapses.
Is outsourcing really cheaper than hiring?
For workloads under a genuine full-time week, almost always — the hire's true cost runs 25-40% above salary, and idle capacity is pure waste.
What hidden costs should we watch for?
Per-filing charges, 'setup fees', software passthroughs, FTA-query hourly billing, and volume-cap overage rates — ask about each explicitly.
Does Exiloz quote fixed fees?
Yes — scoped on your real volumes and deliverables, with the scope written down so the invoice never surprises you.
Want a Quote You Can Actually Compare?
Send your volumes and we will return a fixed, itemised quote — plus the honest in-house comparison run on your own numbers.
