Bookkeeping in Egypt for small businesses: VAT, e-invoices and what your software should do

What does bookkeeping in Egypt involve for a small business?

Bookkeeping in Egypt covers the same ground as anywhere else: record what you sell, what you buy, what you spend and what you are paid, and keep a balanced set of accounts. What makes Egypt different is the tax layer around it. Most small businesses deal with three things at once:

• VAT, charged and recovered on most sales and purchases, filed monthly.
• Electronic invoices and receipts, issued through the Egyptian Tax Authority’s (ETA) systems for businesses the ETA has brought into scope.
• Income tax, either on profit under the normal rules or, for qualifying small businesses, under the simplified regime introduced in 2025.

If the day-to-day records are clean, all three become routine. If they are not, each one turns into a month-end scramble with a spreadsheet and an accountant chasing missing bills.

All facts in this guide are as of October 2026. Egyptian tax rules have changed often in recent years, so confirm anything that affects your filings with the ETA or your accountant.

How does VAT work in Egypt?

Egypt replaced its old sales tax with VAT under Law No. 67 of 2016. The standard rate has been 14% since July 2017. Some goods and services carry different rates or are exempt, certain items carry a separate table tax, and exports are generally zero-rated.

For a typical small business, the practical rules are:

1. Charge VAT on taxable sales, shown on each invoice.
2. Recover VAT you paid on business purchases, where the law allows it and you hold valid invoices.
3. File a monthly return showing VAT charged and VAT recovered, and pay the difference.

VAT registration has a turnover threshold. Several advisers reported that a 2025 decision halved it from EGP 500,000 to EGP 250,000 of annual revenue, bringing many more small businesses into VAT and electronic invoicing. Some activities must register regardless of turnover. Check your position with the ETA rather than relying on a summary.

What are Egypt’s e-invoice and e-receipt systems?

The ETA runs two related electronic systems:

• E-invoices for sales to other businesses. Each invoice is sent to the ETA’s system and validated. The programme started with a pilot group of large taxpayers in late 2020 and was extended in phases until it covered VAT-registered businesses generally.
• E-receipts for sales to consumers, such as shop and restaurant receipts. These have been rolled out in waves, with ETA decisions naming the businesses in each wave and their start dates. Coverage was still being extended through 2025.

Because the ETA brings businesses in by decision, there is no single date that applies to everyone. The reliable way to know your obligation is to look up your tax registration number on the ETA portal and read the decision that covers you.

Issuing electronic documents usually involves a digital signature and either the ETA’s own portal or a system connected to it. Many small businesses use a specialist e-invoicing provider for this step, while keeping their main books in separate accounting software.

What is the simplified tax regime for small businesses?

Law No. 6 of 2025 created a simplified tax regime for small businesses, in force from 1 March 2025. It is aimed at businesses with annual turnover of up to EGP 20 million. Instead of tax on profit at the standard corporate rate of 22.5%, qualifying businesses are reported to pay tax on turnover at low banded rates, from 0.4% to 1.5%, with simpler filing.

The regime has conditions, and you must apply to join. It changes how income tax is worked out, but it does not remove the need for proper records: you still need accurate turnover, VAT where you are registered, and electronic documents where the ETA requires them.

What should bookkeeping software for Egypt handle?

Whatever you use, test it on these points with your own transactions:

• Egyptian VAT rates on every line. 14% standard, other rates, zero-rated and exempt, with tax-inclusive or exclusive pricing.
• VAT posted as it happens. Each invoice, bill, expense and till sale should put its VAT on its own account the moment it is saved, so the monthly return is a report rather than a reconstruction.
• A monthly VAT report by rate that agrees with your trial balance.
• Arabic. Staff should be able to work in Arabic, and documents should print in Arabic, ideally with English alongside for importers and foreign customers.
• Your registration number and the customer’s, on every document.
• Stock that matches the books. For traders, manufacturers and shops, inventory and cost of sales should post automatically, not be adjusted once a year.
• Bank reconciliation, so cash in the books matches the bank every month.
• A clear answer about e-invoicing. Either the software connects to the ETA, or it keeps clean records for the tool that does. Get this in writing.

How does Flowyana handle bookkeeping in Egypt?

Flowyana ships an Egypt country profile with 14% standard, 5% reduced and 0% zero-rated VAT, and amounts in Egyptian pounds. Every sale, purchase, expense and POS settlement posts a balanced entry with its VAT on its own account. The books you work from are:

• Accounting with a chart of accounts, a trial balance, profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, general ledger and day book, plus accounts receivable and payable aging.
• A tax return report for each period, using a standard layout by rate for Egypt, which your accountant uses to complete the return on the ETA portal.
• Bank reconciliation: import your bank statement from Excel or CSV, accept suggested matches, and create entries from statement lines you have not recorded yet.
• Inventory, purchasing and production on the same books, so a production order that consumes materials and produces finished goods moves cost through the accounts by itself.
• A financial year with close and lock dates, so a filed month stays filed.
• An Arabic workspace, right to left, and documents that print paired Arabic and English labels.

What Flowyana does not do in Egypt, as of October 2026:

• It does not connect to the ETA’s e-invoice or e-receipt systems, and does not sign or submit electronic documents.
• It does not file VAT or income tax returns for you.
• It keeps one home currency per workspace. Purchases priced in dollars or euros are recorded in pounds at the rate you use.

If you are in scope for e-invoicing or e-receipts, you will need a route that issues them, such as the ETA portal or an e-invoicing provider. Your Flowyana records, structured, VAT-split and numbered in sequence, give that route clean data to start from.

A monthly bookkeeping routine for an Egyptian small business

1. Daily: raise invoices and record till sales in the system, not on paper. Record supplier bills when they arrive.
2. Weekly: record payments in and out, and follow up the receivables aging list.
3. Month end: reconcile each bank account to its statement, post any remaining bills and expenses, and check that stock adjustments are recorded with reasons.
4. Before the VAT deadline: run the tax return report, compare it with the VAT accounts on the trial balance, and file on the ETA portal or hand it to your accountant.
5. After filing: move the lock date forward so nobody posts into a filed month.
6. Year end: close the financial year with your accountant, and keep your records for the period the law requires.

Where to start

If you are moving off spreadsheets, start with the parts that feed the tax return: sales, purchases, expenses and the bank. Import your customers, suppliers and products from Excel or CSV, enter opening balances, and run one full month in the new system alongside the old one. Once the first VAT report agrees with your accountant’s figures, you can drop the spreadsheet.