Choosing ERP software in the UAE: ten questions to ask first

Questions 1 and 2: VAT and your documents

Question 1: does the system calculate 5% VAT on each line, and does it show your TRN and your customer's TRN on the document? Ask to see one invoice with two different products and check that the lines, the VAT and the total add up without any hand-typing. Question 2: can the same invoice be printed in Arabic and in English, and does it still read well when your customer prefers the other language?

Questions 3 and 4: your companies and your corrections

Question 3: can the system keep the books of a mainland company and a free-zone company, together or separately, in the way your accountant decides? Ask the vendor to walk through your own set-up. Question 4: how does it handle a credit note? You want to see it created from the original invoice, with the customer balance and the VAT summary changing as a result.

Do not accept "yes" as an answer to either question. A system can support a feature in theory and still make it awkward in daily use, so insist on seeing the steps, and count how many screens each one takes. Ask your accountant to join that part of the demonstration.

Question 5: e-invoicing readiness

Question 5: what does the vendor say about UAE e-invoicing, in plain words? The programme belongs to the Ministry of Finance, and businesses send invoice data through an Accredited Service Provider. No software vendor can promise approval or a date on your behalf. A good answer explains what invoice data the system holds, what it leaves to you and your provider, and where to read the official information.

Ask also whether customer records, invoice numbers and the link from a credit note to its original invoice are kept cleanly, because an e-invoice is built from exactly that data. Your own tidy records matter more than any promise on a slide. If a vendor quotes dates or promises approval, ask where the Ministry of Finance published them, and check there.

Questions 6 and 7: support and a demo on your case

Question 6: who supports you, in which language and at what hours, and who answers when a posted invoice needs correcting? Ask how to reach them and how fast they usually reply. Question 7: will the vendor run a demonstration on your own case? Bring your three most common documents, for example a quotation, an invoice and a credit note, and ask to see each one produced.

Test the support channel before you buy. Send one real question, such as how to correct an invoice that has already been sent, and see how long a useful answer takes and who gives it. Ask for the names of the people who would look after your account. Support that is slow during the sale is rarely faster afterwards.

Questions 8, 9 and 10: how you leave and where it runs

Question 8: if you leave, can you export your customers, products, invoices and payments in a format you can open elsewhere? Ask for a sample export now, not later. Question 9: does it install on your own computer or run in the cloud? Each has consequences for access from the shop and the office, backups, updates and who is responsible when something stops working.

Question 10: what does it ask of you? Find out who will enter data every day, what training is needed and how your existing customers and open invoices will be brought in. A system that is easy to demonstrate but hard to start is a poor fit for a small team.

Take the answers to your accountant

Show your accountant the sample invoice, credit note and VAT summary from each system you shortlist, and ask which one would save them retyping. For comparison, TAQNIX ERP covers invoicing and accounting with 5% VAT, quotations, sales orders and purchase orders, credit notes, payment tracking and Arabic and English documents. Hold every vendor, us included, to the same ten questions.