Guides: straight answers for the money side of trade work
These guides answer the questions small trade firms in the UAE ask about money: how to chase a late invoice without losing the client, when retention money actually comes back, what belongs on a tax invoice, and what the e-invoicing mandate means for a firm your size. Each one gives the direct answer first, then the steps. No jargon and no sales talk — and where an answer depends on your own contract or tax position, the guide says so plainly.
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Chasing late payment
A reminder ladder for late invoices: what to send, when to send it, and when to pause work — firm, polite, and writ…
Read →Retention money
How retention works on UAE construction jobs: what is held from each payment, when each half comes back, and how to…
Read →Tax invoice anatomy
The anatomy of a UAE tax invoice: the words Tax Invoice, your TRN, a sequential number, VAT per line — each field e…
Read →Progress claims
How a progress claim becomes a payment certificate for a small subcontractor: value the work, submit it, and invoic…
Read →Deposits & advances
How to set a deposit that covers materials without scaring the client: tie it to the materials list, write it on th…
Read →Variations & dayworks
Extra work gets paid when it is priced and approved before it is done: variation wording, daywork sheets, and the p…
Read →Quotes that win
What a winning quote contains: clear scope, named specs, a validity date, exclusions and payment terms — so clients…
Read →AMC contracts
How to price an annual maintenance contract, schedule the visits through the year, and invoice monthly or per visit…
Read →UAE e-invoicing
The UAE e-invoicing mandate for small firms: appoint a provider by 31 March 2027, go live 1 July 2027 — what change…
Read →Your price book
Build each rate from labour, materials, overheads and waste — the method, worked part by part, so a price is a calc…
Read →WhatsApp paper trail
Run jobs on WhatsApp and still keep the proof: approvals, variation sign-offs, completion photos and payments — cap…
Read →Get paid faster
Days-to-paid is an operations problem: invoice the day the job ends, terms agreed before it starts, and a follow-up…
Read →Getting ready for Phase 2
What a small Saudi firm does now to get ready for Fatoora integration: know your wave, prepare client data, plan th…
Read →Penalties & the waiver
E-invoicing violations and the fines waiver initiative ending 31 December 2026: what the waiver covers, what it doe…
Read →Tax invoice fields
What a Saudi tax invoice must carry: the standard business invoice, the simplified household invoice with its QR co…
Read →Mustakhlasat & retention
Current and final progress claims, retention money, the advance payment and deductions — how Saudi project payment…
Read →VAT registration threshold
The mandatory VAT registration threshold is SAR 375,000, the voluntary one SAR 187,500 — and how the e-invoicing wa…
Read →Payment terms that protect you
The terms to print on every quote and invoice — deposits, due dates, retention and late-payment wording — so money…
Read →Credit notes and refunds
When to issue a credit note instead of editing an invoice, what it must reference, how VAT follows the correction,…
Read →Invoice numbering done right
Sequential numbers, no unexplained gaps, separate sequences for quotes, invoices and credit notes — the discipline…
Read →Getting paid as a subcontractor
How money actually flows down the chain — main contractor, certificates, back-to-back clauses — and the habits that…
Read →Snagging and defects liability
What a snag list is, how practical completion starts the defects clock, and how small firms close snags fast enough…
Read →Materials price rises
When copper, steel or tile prices jump between quote and purchase, who carries the rise? Validity periods and wordi…
Read →Quotes vs estimates vs proformas
Three documents clients constantly confuse: what each one commits you to, when to use each, and how each becomes an…
Read →LPOs explained
What an LPO is, why companies and government-linked clients insist on one, what to check on it before you start, an…
Read →The handover documents pack
What a complete handover contains — certificates, warranties, manuals, test results and as-built notes — and why as…
Read →The Fatoora QR code
What the QR code on a simplified invoice encodes, where the tax invoice's code comes from in Phase 2, how customers…
Read →Contractor quote format (Saudi)
What a strong contractor quote contains in Saudi Arabia: measured items, exclusions, a payment schedule, the advanc…
Read →Advances & payment schedules
How the advance payment works in Saudi contracts, how it is recovered through mustakhlasat, and how to build a sche…
Read →Chasing payment (Saudi)
Why a Saudi contractor's payment stalls at certification, not the due date — following a mustakhlas through the app…
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