UAE e-invoicing: Early movers will have a 'competitive edge'

BUSINESSES SHOULD BEGIN BY ASSESSING READINESS OF EXISTING FINANCIAL SYSTEMS

- BY MANOJ NAIR Business Editor

Soon, businesses in the UAE will have to start preparing for a landmark change in how they are billing transactions.

The UAE will rollout the switch to full e-invoicing only from July 2026, but businesses need to start sorting their internal processes now and not leave everything to the last minute, say industry sources.

Now, there are already companies, big and niche, that use e-invoicing across their operations, but for a significant number of UAE companies, much of the process still retains a paper element.

Why is it so important?

In simple terms, e-invoicing takes out the paper from all billing transactions.

The full benefits of e-invoicing go far deeper, according to industry sources. For businesses, it "enhances transparency, operational efficiency, and trust across the tax ecosystem", said Nimish Goel, GCC Leader at the audit firm Dhruva.