1. Tax compliance in your country
This comes first, because getting it wrong costs penalties, not just missing features. Check:
- The VAT rate in your country, and that you can change it if it changes.
- Tax invoices with the required details: tax number, sequence, currency. See tax invoice vs simplified invoice.
- The VAT return in your country's form boxes, not generic totals.
- E-invoicing where it is mandated:
| Country | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | ZATCA e-invoicing (Fatoora): Phase 1 started on 4 December 2021 and Phase 2 (integration) from 1 January 2023 in waves. Ask: is the software connected for Phase 2? See the Phase 2 guide. |
| Egypt | The ETA's e-invoice system for business sales and e-receipt system for consumer sales. Ask: does the software submit to them? See the Egypt e-invoicing guide. |
| UAE | The Electronic Invoicing System becomes mandatory from 1 January 2027 for revenue of AED 50 million or more and from 1 July 2027 below that, through Accredited Service Providers. See the UAE VAT guide. |
Get the answer in writing and in a live demo; the word "compliant" on its own is not enough.
2. Real Arabic and local details
A full right-to-left Arabic interface, invoices and reports printed in Arabic or both languages, and terms familiar in your market. Print an invoice and a customer statement before deciding.
Your currency and local details
Your local currency and its decimals (three for the Kuwaiti dinar, for example), your weekend, and labour and social-insurance rules if you need payroll.
3. Cloud and mobile
Cloud software works from anywhere, needs no server in your office and updates itself. Ask: does it work on a phone? What happens when the internet drops, especially at the point of sale?
4. Users and permissions
- Who sees what: a cashier doesn't need profits; a storekeeper doesn't need salaries.
- Permissions per screen and approval rules for documents.
- An audit trail showing who changed what and when.
- How users are counted in the price.
5. The apps your business needs
| Your business | What you usually need |
|---|---|
| Services and consulting | Accounting and sales, maybe projects and timesheets |
| Wholesale or retail | Inventory and purchasing, plus point of sale for shops |
| A company with staff | HR and payroll under your country's rules, such as GOSI in Saudi Arabia and end-of-service awards |
| Many fixed assets | Fixed assets and depreciation |
The best fit lets you start with what you need and add the rest later without moving your data.
6. Getting data in and out
- Import: can you upload customers, suppliers and items from Excel? How are opening balances entered?
- Export: can you export your data and reports at any time?
- After cancelling: is your data kept, and for how long? Check the privacy policy.
7. Security
Data isolated per company, encrypted connections (HTTPS), strong passwords with lock-out after wrong attempts, session expiry, regular backups, and a password re-check for sensitive actions such as changing permissions and exporting.
8. Price transparency
| Ask | Why |
|---|---|
| Monthly or yearly, and the difference? | Yearly is usually cheaper but a longer commitment |
| Is tax included? | To know the real cost |
| Who counts as a user? | Costs can rise as the team grows |
| What costs extra? | Apps, e-invoicing connection, setup and training |
| Free trial? Written refund policy? | To try without risk |
| What happens if I renew late? | Is data deleted, or is access just paused? |
9. Support and training
Support in Arabic, a clear response time, a help centre and videos, and help with the first setup.
10. Ease of use
Software your team finds awkward ends up replaced by spreadsheets within months. During the trial, notice how many steps a normal invoice takes, whether a cashier finds an item fast by name or barcode, whether the reports make sense without explanation, and whether there are phone shortcuts for what you do most, such as a new invoice, a receipt or an expense.
How to compare in practice
- Write down your needs before watching any demo.
- Narrow the field to two or three.
- Test each one on your real data during the trial: issue an invoice, record purchases, pull the VAT return.
- Give each criterion a weight and a score from 1 to 5 (tax compliance weighs most).
- Decide on the scores, not first impressions.
Questions to ask in a demo
- Show me a tax invoice in my currency and my country's VAT rate, then a return against it.
- Show me the VAT return for a sample month and how I reconcile it with the books.
- How do I stop a cashier from seeing cost and profit?
- How do I upload my items and customers from Excel?
- What happens to my data if I stop the subscription, and how do I export it?
- What is the support response time, and in which language?
Common mistakes when choosing
- Choosing on price alone: the cheapest software can cost more in time and corrections.
- Paying for features you don't need instead of starting with the basics and growing.
- Leaving out the accountant who will use the software every day.
- Switching mid-year: it is easier to start at the beginning of a period.
Summary
Start with tax compliance and e-invoicing in your country, then Arabic, cloud, permissions and the apps your business needs, and don't overlook export, security, price transparency and support. Test on your own data before committing, and get the important answers in writing.