Accounting software for Ugandan businesses

Bookkeeping software Uganda: bank, mobile money and the EFRIS rule

Finn keeps the books of a Ugandan company or sole proprietor in Uganda shillings, with foreign currency invoices converted at the rate on the day. Statements come in as CSV or PDF from your bank or mobile money account, and Finn categorises every line using what it knows about your business. Receipts and supplier invoices can be sent by WhatsApp, email, Telegram or Slack, and Finn posts the supplier, date, amount and VAT for you to review.

EFRIS, the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution run by URA, is mandatory for every VAT-registered business and, since 1 July 2025, for non-VAT businesses in twelve gazetted sectors. AccountsOS does not issue EFRIS invoices and does not connect to EFRIS. An invoice raised in AccountsOS is not a fiscal invoice in Uganda. You issue the legal invoice through the URA portal, the EFRIS app or an approved system, and AccountsOS records it and matches the payment.

• Sales: issue through EFRIS, then Finn records the invoice and matches the payment.
• Purchases: Finn asks for the EFRIS fiscal document number and flags any purchase without one.
• Without an EFRIS invoice from an obliged supplier, you lose both the input VAT and the income tax deduction.

VAT return software Uganda: 18%, the threshold and the 15th

The standard VAT rate is 18%, with zero-rated supplies (0%, input VAT recoverable) and exempt supplies (no VAT, no recovery). A VAT-registered business files a return for every month and pays by the 15th of the following month, even when there is nothing to pay. Input VAT is claimed within six months of the invoice date and only with an EFRIS e-invoice or e-receipt.

Registration is compulsory above the threshold. It was UGX 150 million a year until 30 June 2026. From 1 July 2026 it is UGX 300 million a year, and a business must also register if its turnover in any three consecutive months passes UGX 75 million. Finn shows both tests.

Each month Finn summarises output and input VAT from your books, lists the purchases it could not count, and reminds you before the 15th. You file and pay on the URA portal.

URA compliant accounting: corporate tax, provisional tax and withholding tax

Companies pay 30% of chargeable income, resident or not. A company files a provisional return by the end of the sixth month of the year of income and pays half of the estimated tax then and half by the end of the twelfth month: 31 December and 30 June for a 30 June year-end. If the estimate falls below 90% of the actual figure, URA charges 20% of the difference in tax. The final return and any balance are due six months after year-end, 31 December for most companies.

Withholding tax runs through Ugandan business life. Designated agents withhold 6% on payments over UGX 1 million for goods and services, on the amount excluding VAT. Professional and management fees carry 6%, and dividends, interest and payments to non-residents 15%. Finn records withholding tax suffered as a credit against your income tax, not as a cost, so the final bill is right.

Finn gives a rough corporate tax figure from the ledger and lists the adjustments it has not made, such as wear and tear on assets and disallowed costs. Your accountant finishes the computation and files it.

PAYE and NSSF payroll: the 2026 bands

The Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2026, assented on 20 August 2026 with effect from 1 July 2026, raised the resident monthly tax-free band to UGX 335,000. Income from 335,001 to 410,000 is taxed at 20%, from 410,001 to 485,000 at 25% on top of UGX 15,000, and above 485,000 at 30% on top of UGX 33,750, with an extra 10% on monthly income above UGX 10 million. Employers who filed July or August 2026 at the old rates amend those returns.

NSSF is 15% of gross pay: 10% from the employer and 5% deducted from the employee. Since the NSSF (Amendment) Act, 2022, every employer registers and contributes, whatever its size. PAYE and NSSF are both due by the 15th of the following month. Finn tracks both once you have employees and records payroll from your payroll report.

URSB annual returns and company types

Companies are registered with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau under the Companies Act, 2012. The common forms are the private company limited by shares, the single member company, the public company, the partnership, the sole proprietor trading under a business name, and the branch of a foreign company, which registers within 30 days of setting up in Uganda. After URSB, the business gets a free 10-digit TIN from URA.

Every company files an annual return with URSB within 42 days after its annual general meeting. Tell Finn the AGM date and it sets the reminder. AccountsOS has no URSB integration and does not file with URSB.

Presumptive tax for small businesses and sole proprietors

A resident taxpayer with annual turnover up to UGX 150 million pays presumptive tax by default, a final tax on turnover with no deductions and no provisional tax. The taxpayer can elect out in writing and be taxed on profit instead. Turnover up to UGX 10 million pays nil. Above that, a business without records pays a fixed amount, from UGX 80,000 to UGX 900,000 a year, and a business with records pays a small percentage of turnover, which is usually lower.

Professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers and architects, and businesses in public entertainment, utilities and construction cannot use it. Finn checks your turnover and type of business against the rules, shows the band you fall in and keeps the records that earn the lower rate. Sole proprietors outside the regime file a provisional return by 30 September and pay four instalments.

QuickBooks alternative Uganda: switching to Finn

If you keep your books in spreadsheets or another accounting package, you can bring them across by CSV: your chart of accounts, contacts, open invoices and bills, and opening balances. Finn maps the accounts with AI rather than asking you to match columns by hand, then shows what it imported for you to check.

Practices can run a whole client book on Finn: every client's VAT, PAYE, NSSF and income tax dates in one list, clients allocated to staff, and the production work done by Finn while your team reviews and signs.