UAE e-invoicing
This guide walks through appointing an Accredited Service Provider in EmaraTax, then what still has to happen before the first live e-invoice.
If your business falls under the UAE e-invoicing rules, appointing an Accredited Service Provider is a required step before live exchange. The click happens in EmaraTax, but the work is broader than picking a name from a list. The ASP has to match how you invoice today, connect to the systems you already run, and stay with you through testing and go-live.
Use this page for the EmaraTax sequence, and for the operational work that starts the moment the status turns Active.
EmaraTax is where you register, pick a listed ASP, and start the link. The sequence below is the one most teams follow.
Go to eservices.tax.gov.ae and sign in with UAE PASS or the email and password already on the FTA account. UAE PASS is the better default because it is tied to a verified identity. Without a Tax Registration Number from the FTA, the rest of this flow is blocked.
On the dashboard, find e-Invoicing. Portal updates sometimes put it under Other Services, sometimes as its own icon. That screen also shows the current accredited and pre-approved providers. Use that list, not a vendor brochure, when you choose.
Choose Register for E-Invoicing System. The portal asks you to confirm:
Those values must match FTA records and your legal documents. A mismatch usually has to be fixed before registration can finish.
In System Linking, choose Appoint Service Provider and select the ASP you intend to use. Follow the portal steps to complete the appointment and start the connection between your systems and that provider.
Before you appoint, run a short impact check: how invoices leave POS or ERP today, which providers can carry that traffic, and who owns onboarding. That plan is what makes the portal click reversible if something is wrong, instead of a surprise.
After credentials sit in your accounting or POS stack, EmaraTax runs a verification check. Active on the dashboard means the appointment is in place. Pending or failed usually means the credentials were mistyped or the company profile does not match exactly. Fix the match, then try again.
Appointment is the technical link. The working model is how the team will actually invoice. Before live traffic, lock these with the ASP:
Skip that conversation and the gaps show up after go-live, when every document is already in the network.
The first live invoice without sandbox testing is how rejections start. Use the FTA sandbox to check XML output, then run several transactions across the document types you actually issue before you switch to live mode.
An Active status in EmaraTax is a compliance milestone. It is not the first live e-invoice. A few things still have to be true in your systems and contracts.
ERP, POS, or accounting software has to produce Peppol International Invoice UAE (PINT AE) XML, with every mandatory field filled. VAT-registered businesses still issue tax invoices within the usual window, generally 14 days of the date of supply unless an exception in UAE VAT law applies. Cratis can be the system that captures the sale; the ASP remains the accredited pipe that validates, signs, and sends.
E-invoices, credit notes, and related data have to be kept for the statutory period and produced if the authorities ask. Confirm in the ASP contract how they store and archive files, and whether you still need a copy on your side. Appointment in EmaraTax does not, by itself, equal an archive.
The Ministry of Finance expects three things in order: a listed ASP chosen in EmaraTax, a commercial agreement, then onboarding. Catching the issues below early is cheaper than discovering them in December.
Check the Ministry of Finance list of pre-approved e-invoicing service providers. It is updated, and pre-approval is not the same as final accreditation. If a name is missing, confirm status with the Ministry or pick someone who is already listed.
MoF guidance asks whether a provider can support the systems you already run, move invoices in both directions, and meet reporting needs. Review that before appointment so you are not discovering, weeks later, that POS or ERP output cannot leave in PINT AE shape.
Choosing an ASP in EmaraTax does not finish e-invoicing. You still sign a commercial agreement and complete onboarding before documents can be exchanged. Start technical onboarding as soon as the appointment is done so integration is not waiting behind the deadline.
The Ministry has asked businesses to pick an ASP, finish contracts, and start onboarding early. Businesses with annual revenue of AED 50 million or more were given 30 October 2026 to appoint, with mandatory e-invoicing from 1 January 2027. Later phases, including smaller businesses and government entities, have been pointed at 31 March 2027 for appointment. Confirm the live timetable on MoF channels. A late appointment only shortens the time left to integrate and test.
Appointing an ASP is a defined portal flow, but the groundwork sits in front of it. Have an agreement with a listed provider, check that EmaraTax company details match FTA records, complete System Linking, then test until the XML holds. Cratis keeps sales and back-office records in a shape that makes that handoff to an ASP practical.
Quick answers about UAE e-invoicing.
An ASP is a company accredited by the UAE Ministry of Finance to provide electronic invoicing under the applicable ministerial decisions, including Ministerial Decision No. 64 of 2025. It validates, digitally signs, and transmits invoices over the OpenPeppol network, and reports transaction data to the FTA. Your POS or ERP still creates the commercial document.
No. Each business appoints a single ASP for both outgoing and incoming invoices, covering accounts payable and accounts receivable. A later change is made through EmaraTax, not by running two providers at once.
It follows the published revenue bands. Businesses with annual revenue of AED 50 million or more were given until 30 October 2026 after an earlier July date was extended. Businesses under that threshold, and government entities, have been given 31 March 2027. Always confirm the current band on Ministry of Finance channels before you lock a project plan.
Cabinet Resolution No. 106 of 2025 provides for AED 5,000 per month for failing to appoint an accredited provider or implement the system in time, and AED 100 for each missing or late electronic invoice, capped at AED 5,000 per month. Those figures apply from the mandatory go-live date for your phase. No official grace period has been advertised.
If you need help lining POS or ERP data up with an appointed ASP, we can walk through linking, sandbox tests, and go-live.