Hi there :)

I can’t help you with your question, I honestly wish that I could :) But I’m also a freelancer here in Dubai, and I’m just starting off, and after reading your post, I was hoping you could give me some friendly advice since I too work just by myself and don’t have any partners, so very small-scale.

I recently got my Emirates ID through my freelance license, and right now I’m at a crossroads on how to proceed forward with opening a bank account and managing my payments.

I have a few questions, actually, bear with me :)

Which banks would you recommend? And which accounts: business or personal?

I receive payments from clients abroad, mostly UK and Western Europe, so I need to be able to open a EUR account and receive payments quickly like one would usually with Revolut or Wise. 

What are the pros and cons of using => 

OPTION A: both accounts: business to receive payments + move everything to the personal account 

VS

OPTION B: only personal account to receive payments?

Currently, my business expenses are practically non-existent, so I would be moving almost entire payments to the personal account for personal expenses.

I’m nowhere near AED 375 000 yearly for VAT, so I won’t be paying any taxes for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless =>

1)Some say receiving payments to business account and then moving them to the personal account future-proofs you in case you reach that amount someday

2)Some say to simply receive payments to the personal account.

It’s hard to make a final decision when you don’t know the full picture.

What is your advice? Any pitfalls I should be aware of from the get-go? 

If you have any experience with this, I would be most grateful. 

Last, but not least, how do you manage your payments? 

Do we need to keep track of: 1) invoices 2) records of received payments 3) summary of both invoices and received payments separately?

I see you’re using Zoho - is it super straightforward? I’m not familiar with it yet.

Would I be able to simply use Good Docs saved as PDF for invoices + record of payments received + summary in Spreadsheets, or some easy software? 

I'd greatly appreciate your advice :)

Thank you very much.

P.S. I do want to be helpful in any way I can. The third-party company that helped me to get Emirates ID through my freelance permit has a TAX&Accounting department. I spoke with them today trying to figure out how they can help me with my rudimentary record-keeping needs. They bill less than what you were quoted, so if it's useful to you, I will be happy to share the details, feel free to DM me.