FREE Corporate Tax Registration + Bank Account Assistance with every license · Pay with Tabby & Tamara · View Offers
Your Key to the UAE Business License in Under 60 Minutes
By Industry

Restaurants, catering and food businesses

The headline for restaurants is reassuring: your ordinary counter and delivery sales to individual customers are outside the mandate today. The detail is less reassuring if you also do catering, corporate accounts or events.

Free readiness checkNo obligationWritten answerAjman head office
30 Oct 2026
Large-business ASP deadline
1 Jan 2027
Large-business go-live
31 Mar 2027
SME ASP deadline
1 Jul 2027
SME go-live
What matters

Worth understanding before you decide anything

If you take four things away from this page, make them these.

1Counter and consumer delivery sales are excluded for now

B2C is outside the mandate at this stage, which covers the bulk of a typical restaurant's revenue.

2Catering and corporate accounts are in scope

The moment you invoice a company for an event, a staff canteen or a corporate account, you are issuing a business invoice.

3You will receive structured supplier invoices

Food suppliers, equipment providers and service contractors will be sending structured invoices. Plan where they land and how they are matched.

4Multi-outlet groups need a numbering decision

Several branches under one licence need consistent numbering and consolidated reporting decided before implementation, not after.

Practical steps

Your practical to-do list

None of this is technical. All of it saves time later.

GoldenKey e-Invoice · in development

We are building our own e-invoicing app — and the ERP and CRM around it

Our e-invoicing product is being built now, alongside the ERP, CRM and accounting systems our technology team already runs for UAE clients. Early-access clients get their requirements built into the core rather than bolted on afterwards, which is genuinely better for them and better for the product. Start with invoicing and add the rest when your business actually needs it.

Audit trailWho created it, who changed it, who issued it and when — recorded automatically.
Numbering that holds upSequential, gap-free numbering per series, per branch and per financial year.
Branch & multi-companyRun several licences or branches from one login with separate numbering and reporting.
Roles & permissionsAccounts, sales and management each see only what they should.
CRM built inLeads, quotations, follow-ups and the invoice that eventually comes out of them, in one thread.
Accounting sideChart of accounts, double-entry ledger, receivables ageing and payment allocation.
Reports that answer questionsOutstanding by customer, VAT summary by period, revenue by branch or salesperson.
API for your existing stackIf you already run an ERP or a shop system, we integrate rather than replace.
Import your historyExisting customers and open invoices moved across from Excel, Tally, Zoho or QuickBooks.

GoldenKey is a business setup and compliance consultancy. We are not a Ministry of Finance Accredited Service Provider, and we do not claim to be one. Our software is built to work alongside the ASP you appoint. Scope, timelines and pricing are agreed in writing before any work starts.

Questions we get asked

Frequently asked

Short, practical answers. If yours is not here, ask us directly — we answer even if you never become a client.

Do restaurants need to do e-invoicing?

Ordinary consumer sales are currently excluded. Catering, corporate accounts, events and any business invoicing are in scope.

What about delivery platform sales?

Look at who is invoicing whom. Sales to individual consumers sit outside; commission and service invoices between you and the platform are business transactions.

Do we need to change our POS?

Usually not. The common approach is routing business transactions from the POS into a compliant invoicing system.

Keep reading

Related guides

A note on this pageA note on how to read this: it is general information, not tax or legal advice, and your own circumstances may change the answer. The Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Authority publish the authoritative guidance and it continues to develop. If anything here matters to a decision you are making, have it confirmed — we will do that in writing for free. Indicative prices are confirmed in writing before any work starts.
Talk to a human

Tell us how you invoice today

Excel, Tally, Zoho, an ERP or paper — send us your current setup and we will tell you what has to change and what does not.

  • Straight answer on whether you are in scope
  • Help choosing an Accredited Service Provider without a sales pitch
  • Invoicing, accounting and CRM handled by one team
  • Offices in Ajman Free Zone, working across all seven emirates

Free e-invoicing readiness check

No cost, no obligation. We tell you which phase you fall into and what you actually need.

Thank you — your enquiry has been received. A GoldenKey advisor will contact you shortly.
Please enter your name
Enter a valid phone
Enter a valid email

Your details stay private. By submitting you agree to be contacted by GoldenKey.

Call WhatsApp Free check
Get Directions Google Review ★ Email info@goldenkeybcs.com
Call +971 55 671 5001 Chat on WhatsApp