Inventory and warehouse software in Dubai
Dubai warehousing has a wrinkle most stock systems do not handle: the same goods can be inside a free zone, cleared into the mainland, or in transit to a third country, and those are three different things for tax even though they are one pallet. The stock ledger has to know which.
| Location | SKUs | Qty | Value AED |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jebel Ali — free zone | 284 | 18,420 | 1,842,600.00 |
| Al Quoz — mainland | 196 | 9,860 | 984,200.00 |
| In transit | 42 | 2,140 | 218,400.00 |
What Dubai warehouses use it for
Zone and mainland as separate stock
Goods in a free-zone warehouse and goods cleared into the mainland held as different locations, because for tax they are different goods.
Landed cost in AED
Purchase in USD, add freight, duty and clearing, and carry a real landed cost per unit rather than the invoice price.
Batch and serial tracking
For goods that need it — expiry for food and pharma, serials for electronics and equipment.
Re-export movements
Goods that arrive and leave again tracked through the warehouse without being treated as a domestic sale.
Transfers that post documents
Moving stock from the zone to the mainland is an event with tax consequences, recorded as a document rather than an adjustment.
Stock that ties to the balance sheet
Because a stock movement is a ledger movement, the closing stock value is the figure in the accounts.
Dubai inventory questions
Can I hold stock in a free zone and in the mainland separately?
Yes, as distinct warehouse locations. That separation is not cosmetic — goods inside a designated zone and goods cleared into the mainland have different VAT treatment, so holding them as one total makes the return impossible to compute correctly.
Does tBiz compute landed cost?
Yes — purchase price in the original currency plus freight, duty and clearing charges, converted and carried as a real cost per unit in AED, which is the only figure worth valuing stock or quoting margin from.
How are goods in transit handled?
As their own location, so stock that has left a supplier but not arrived is visible rather than missing from the ledger for three weeks.
Can I track serial numbers for equipment?
Yes, scanned in at goods inward and out at dispatch, so a warranty claim or a service job resolves to the individual unit and the invoice it left on.
Related
Split the zone from the mainland
Start free, set up two warehouses, and get a stock position that matches the tax treatment.