Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this activity cover?
It covers the full cycle: bookkeeping, preparing and auditing financial accounts, certifying their accuracy, preparing personal and business tax returns, and advising and representing clients before the tax authority.
Who are the typical clients?
Companies needing audited accounts, businesses filing corporate tax, and individuals with tax affairs to settle, across the UAE.
Does this include auditing financial accounts?
Yes. Preparing and auditing financial accounts, and examining and certifying their accuracy, fall within the scope of this activity.
Does this include tax returns and representation?
Yes. Preparing personal and business tax returns, and advising and representing clients before the tax authority, are part of this activity.
Does this include designing accounting systems?
No. Designing accounting systems as a management consultant falls under a separate activity, as do data processing and bill collection. This activity is the accounting work itself.
How to Start an Accounting, Bookkeeping, Auditing & Tax Consultancy Business with Meydan Free Zone
Every UAE business runs on numbers that have to be right. The books must balance, the accounts must be ready for audit, and the tax return must be filed on time. Get it wrong and the penalties bite; get it right and the business can prove its health to a bank, an investor, or the tax authority.
An accounting firm is who they call to keep all of it straight.
Accounting is one of the largest professional services on earth, and auditing is a heavyweight inside it. The global accounting services market was worth USD 688.17 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach USD 1,275.84 billion by 2033, according to Grand View Research1.
Auditing alone was worth USD 226.6 billion in 2024, with the UAE leading demand across the Middle East and Africa, according to Market Data Forecast2. For a full-service firm, that is broad, recurring work: the same client needs its books kept, its accounts audited, and its tax handled, year after year.
Accounting, bookkeeping, auditing, and tax sit together as one of the world's largest professional-services markets, with auditing a major component and the UAE a fast-growing centre of demand. The headline number is the size of the global accounting services market.
Sources: Grand View Research (2025); Market Data Forecast (2025).
Picture a firm's workload across a quarter. One team keeps a retailer's books and reconciles its accounts. Another audits a trading company's year-end statements and signs off on their accuracy. A tax specialist prepares corporate tax returns and answers a client's query from the authority.
A partner advises a founder on how to structure the next year cleanly. The firm earns on engagements that repeat every year, so the work is a steady cycle of closing books, auditing accounts, and filing returns.
In a market where compliance is tightening, the firms that win are the ones whose numbers hold up and whose advice keeps clients out of trouble.
Whether it is keeping the books, auditing the accounts, or filing the tax return, an accounting firm gives a business numbers it can stand behind.
Who is this for?
- Accounting and audit firms: Businesses keeping books, auditing accounts, and certifying their accuracy for UAE clients.
- Tax consultants and advisers: Operators preparing tax returns and representing clients before the tax authority.
- Full-service finance practices: Firms combining bookkeeping, accounting, audit, and tax under one roof.
Meydan Free Zone offers 100% foreign ownership, zero percent corporate tax on qualifying income, full profit repatriation, and a fully digital licensing process, providing a regulated and cost-efficient base from which to operate an accounting, bookkeeping, auditing, and tax consultancy business in a market where compliance and reporting standards keep rising.
6920.00 - Accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy
Under this activity, your business is licensed to provide accounting, bookkeeping, and auditing services and tax consultancy, including preparing and auditing accounts and tax returns.
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An accounting firm of this kind handles the full financial cycle for its clients. The work spans bookkeeping and recording transactions, preparing and auditing financial accounts, examining and certifying their accuracy, preparing personal and business tax returns, and advising and representing clients before the tax authority.
The clients are mixed: companies needing audited accounts, businesses filing corporate tax, and individuals with tax affairs to settle. It is a trust business: the firm is paid to produce numbers that are accurate, compliant, and able to withstand scrutiny.
The activity is specifically for accounting, bookkeeping, auditing, and tax consultancy. Data-processing and tabulation (6311) fall under a separate activity, as do management consultancy such as designing accounting systems (7020) and bill collection (8291).
The line is precise. If your business keeps books, prepares and audits accounts, and handles tax returns and advice, you are in. If you mainly process data, design accounting systems as a consultant, or collect bills, a different activity applies.
Third-Party Approval: No third-party approval is required for this business activity.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance: This business activity is exempt from AML compliance requirements.
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Citations
1 Grand View Research. Accounting Services Market Report. Grand View Research, 2025.
2 Market Data Forecast. Auditing Services Market Report. Market Data Forecast, 2025.
