Question 1

Expense or bill — which do I record?

Accepted Answer

Record an expense for something you have already paid: a receipt, a card payment, cash out of the till. Record a bill for something you still owe and will pay later.

Both need a category. When the supplier charged UAE VAT, both can carry input VAT. The difference is timing. A bill stays under You owe until you pay it. An expense does not.

If you are not sure, ask whether the money has already left. It has — an expense. It has not — a bill. Where in the app: Purchases → Expenses

Question 2

What is a bill and when is the VAT claimed?

Accepted Answer

A bill is a purchase you still owe. Enter it, press Receive, and pay it later with Record payment.

Input VAT is claimed when the bill is received, not when it is paid. The bill date decides which VAT period that claim falls in.

A bill needs a supplier. An expense does not. Where in the app: Purchases → Bills

Question 3

When should a bill have line items?

Accepted Answer

A new bill starts as a single amount, which is enough for rent or a phone bill. That amount is the total on the document, VAT included. Press Add line items when the supplier’s invoice has several goods at different VAT rates, or when you are buying stock.

Each line has Qty, Unit price, and VAT type. VAT is added on top of the unit price. Under Additional information the line can have its own Ledger account.

Stock is added only when the line is a product with Track stock on. Pick that product on the line. A line with no product does not create a stock layer.

Once the bill is received, the lines are frozen. Press Return to draft first. That is available only while the bill is received and has no payments. Where in the app: Purchases → Bills

Question 4

Can I scan a receipt or a supplier invoice?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Scan with AI reads a JPG or PNG and fills in the amount, VAT, date, currency, supplier, description, and category. On a bill it can also fill the bill number. Check what it read before saving. It is a suggestion, not a fact.

The scan fills the header only. It does not create line items. A PDF is not accepted.

On a new expense, after the scan, Already paid, or to pay later? decides whether it is saved as an expense or a bill. To pay later needs a due date. The bill form has the same Scan with AI and saves a bill.

Expenses also has Bulk receipts for several photos at once. Those can be JPG, PNG, or WebP. Where in the app: Purchases → Expenses

Question 5

Where do I manage expense categories?

Accepted Answer

Settings → Business → Expense categories. Every expense and every bill needs one.

When accounting is on, the category’s account is where a single-amount expense or bill is posted. On a bill with lines, a line’s own Ledger account is used instead when you set one. A product with Track stock on is posted to Inventory either way.

You can rename the built-in categories, and Archive the ones you never use, so the picker stays short. Archiving hides the category from the picker. It does not change expenses already recorded. Where in the app: Settings → Business

Question 6

I bought a service from abroad — what is reverse charge?

Accepted Answer

When you buy a service from a supplier outside the UAE, the supplier charges no UAE VAT. You account for it yourself: the VAT is declared and claimed in the same return, so for a fully taxable business the two sides usually cancel.

Tick Imported service (reverse charge) on the expense or the bill, and leave the VAT amount empty. The form says it is left empty because the VAT is self-accounted. When the document is posted, Fatura works out 5%.

A supplier whose country is outside the UAE shows “This supplier is outside the UAE” and suggests the tick. It does not set it for you.

This is not ordinary input VAT. The VAT report leaves it out of recoverable input VAT and notes the imported services. With accounting on, Check ledger vs VAT report shows Box 3 — Reverse charge and Box 10 — Reverse-charge input. Where in the app: Purchases → Expenses

Question 7

When can’t I claim input VAT?

Accepted Answer

You need a valid tax invoice from a VAT-registered supplier. If the supplier has no TRN, the form warns “Input VAT cannot be claimed without a supplier TRN” and still saves the expense or the bill. The amount is still included. It is your call and your record.

The FTA also does not allow recovery on entertaining clients, or on a car available for private use. Fatura does not block those saves.

VAT you account for on an imported service is reverse charge, not ordinary input VAT.

If in doubt, keep the document. The FTA asks for the tax invoice. Where in the app: Purchases → Expenses

Question 8

What should I fill in for a supplier?

Accepted Answer

A supplier needs a name. Add their TRN if they are VAT-registered, so the input VAT on their invoices has a tax invoice behind it. Email, phone, address, currency, and notes are optional.

Set the country. A supplier outside the UAE is what makes Fatura suggest Imported service (reverse charge) on their expenses and bills. The tick is still yours.

If the same supplier was entered twice, press Merge. Their expenses, bills, and purchase orders move to the one you keep, and the duplicate is deleted. Where in the app: Purchases → Suppliers

Question 9

How does stock tracking work?

Accepted Answer

Turn on Track stock on a product. Buying that product on a bill line adds a layer of quantity at that unit price. Selling it on an issued invoice takes stock out oldest first, and posts the cost of the goods sold. A sent credit note can put the quantity back.

The product list shows On hand and Stock value from those layers.

You can sell more than is on hand. The invoice still issues, and you see “Sold more than is on hand”. The cost is fixed up when the purchase is entered.

Products without Track stock are not layered. Use the month-end stock count for those. Where in the app: Contacts → Products

Question 10

How do I enter the stock I already have?

Accepted Answer

On a product with Track stock and no movements yet, record Opening stock: Quantity, Unit cost, and As of. It is what you already have, before bills and sales in this app, and it is posted once.

Remove opening stock works only while that opening is still the only movement. After the first sale or purchase, it stays.

Enter opening stock before you issue invoices for that product, or those first sales have no cost to draw on until a purchase is entered. Where in the app: Contacts → Products

Question 11

The quantity on a product is wrong

Accepted Answer

Open the product and use Count stock. Enter Counted quantity and As of. That corrects the running figure and adjusts the value.

Use it after a physical count, breakage, or theft. The movement is kept under Movements, with kind Count, so the history shows what changed and when.

This is one product. For goods you do not track individually, use the month-end stock count instead. Where in the app: Contacts → Products

Question 12

What is the month-end stock count?

Accepted Answer

For goods you have not turned Track stock on for, the cost of what you sold is worked out once a month: Opening stock, plus Purchases, minus what is left. You enter what is left. Saving posts the difference as cost of sales.

Open Finance → Stock counts, pick the Month, and enter Closing stock. The screen already shows Opening stock and Purchases from the books, and the Cost of goods sold those figures produce, before you save. Purchases here are what was posted to Inventory, not every expense.

If you also use Track stock, that stock is shown separately as Tracked stock. The closing figure you enter is for the untracked goods only.

A missing count is a reminder, not a block. Period close warns (STOCK_COUNT_MISSING) when Inventory (account 1400) moved in the month and there is no count for that month’s last day. The warning says “Does not prevent closing.” Where in the app: Finance → Stock counts