Bill it yourself, or pay an accountant to do it?
Many small contractors bill in Excel and send everything to an outside accountant at the end of the month or the quarter. The accountant keeps the books right, but builds them from claims that have already gone out. This is how the three usual set-ups compare.
By Muhammad Arslan, founder of Mizarah, who kept a UAE joinery's books for thirteen years · 5 minute read · Updated 28 October 2026 · Practical guidance, not tax advice: confirm anything that matters for your business with your tax agent or the Federal Tax Authority.
Keep an accountant or tax agent for advice, the corporate tax return, the year end and a check on the VAT return, but build the progress bills yourself, because their figures come from the job: the work certified, the advance and the retention. An outside accountant usually sees each claim after it has gone out, so a mistake is found late. Billing in software built for stage billing, with your accountant reviewing the same books under their own login, catches it before the claim is sent.
The three set-ups most small contractors use.
Whichever you choose, someone has to turn the certificate into a claim, raise the advance tax invoice when the money lands, invoice each retention release and declare the VAT once.
| Set-up | How it works | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Yourself, in Excel | Your office builds each claim; the accountant rebuilds the VAT from your sheets | Formulas copied forward, the advance taken twice, retention forgotten |
| An outside accountant does it | You send the certificates; they raise the invoices and file the VAT | They see each claim late, and were not there when the variation was agreed |
| Yourself in software, accountant reviews | You bill from the certificate; the software does the checks; the accountant reviews and files | Someone in your office has to own the billing |
An accountant is worth keeping for the work only they can do.
A good accountant or registered tax agent advises on how the VAT law applies to your contracts, checks and files the VAT return, prepares the corporate tax return and the year-end accounts, and answers the FTA when a question comes. Software does not replace that advice.
- Advice on your contracts and the tax that applies to them.
- Checking and filing the VAT return, or reviewing the one you file.
- The corporate tax return and the year-end accounts.
- Questions and audits from the FTA.
An outside accountant sees the claim after it has gone out.
A progress bill is built from what happened on the job: the work the main contractor certified, the variations agreed, the advance still to recover and the retention held. The people who know those figures are in your office, not your accountant's.
When the accountant works from copies at the month or quarter end, a wrong deduction or a mixed VAT method is found after the client has paid on it. Fixing it then means a credit note or a new invoice and, if a return has already been filed, a correction your tax agent can advise on.
You bill from the job. Your accountant reviews the books.
The set-up that tends to work is the third: your office bills each claim from the certificate, the system does the arithmetic and the checks, and the accountant reviews the same books under their own login and files the return.
- The advance tax invoice is raised the day the money lands, not at the quarter end.
- Each claim applies one VAT method to every deduction.
- Retention is tracked contract by contract until each release is invoiced.
- The accountant checks the VAT 201 from the posted documents instead of rebuilding it.
Compare the whole cost, not only the fee.
Excel is free, but costs your time on every claim and the risk of the mistakes above. An accountant's fee depends on how much they do: one who also builds your claims costs more than one who reviews them. Mizarah is $49 a month or $399 a year for one company with ten staff logins, after a 14-day free trial that needs no card.
In Mizarah your accountant can have their own login with the Accountant role (it uses one of your ten staff seats), and the VAT 201 is laid out box by box from your posted documents for them to check before it is filed.
Common questions.
- Do I still need an accountant if I use Mizarah?
- For advice, the corporate tax return, the year end and a second pair of eyes on the VAT return, most contractors keep one. What changes is that they review books that are already right instead of rebuilding claims from copies.
- Can I file the VAT return myself?
- Yes. A VAT-registered business can file its own return on the FTA's portal or appoint a registered tax agent to do it. Mizarah lays the return out box by box from your posted documents either way.
- Who should build the progress claim?
- The person who knows what was certified: usually the QS, the project manager or the office accounts person. They know the certificate, the variations and what the main contractor has agreed to pay.
- Can my accountant log in to Mizarah?
- Yes, with their own login and the Accountant role. It uses one of your ten staff seats.
- How much does Mizarah cost?
- $49 a month or $399 a year for one company, with ten staff logins included, after a 14-day free trial that needs no card.
Read next: Mizarah vs Excel for progress bills · VAT 201 for contractors · Pricing
See your own contract worked out this way.
Put a contract you have already billed through the trial and check the figures against what you invoiced. No card needed, and nothing you enter is deleted when the trial ends.