Budgeting and Forecasting Services in Qatar
Budgeting and forecasting services in Qatar come down largely to dates. Salaries go through WPS within seven days of the 1st. Tax withheld from non-residents with no permanent establishment in Qatar is due before the 16th of the following month, and income tax on the day the return is filed. We plan your budget around those dates.
Fixed dates and figures for your budget
- To pay monthly salaries through WPS after they fall due on the 1st
- 7 days
- Withholding tax on last month’s payments to non-residents with no permanent establishment in Qatar
- Before the 16th
- After the year end to file the tax return, paying the tax that day
- 4 months
- Of an LLC’s net profit kept back each year as a legal reserve
- 10%
From the Wage Protection System decision, the Income Tax Law and its Executive Regulations, and the Companies Law; see the sources at the end of the page.
What our budgeting and forecasting services in Qatar cover
Annual budget
Twelve months of income and costs, signed off by the owners before the year starts.
Cash flow forecast
What comes into and goes out of the bank over the next twelve months. When a month closes, another is added at the far end.
Budget against actual
Every month set next to the budget. If rent came in QAR 3,000 over, the report says why.
Scenarios
What the bank balance looks like if your biggest customer pays 60 days late.
Funding needs
The month the account would run short, and how much would cover it.
Projections for others
Figures laid out the way partners, a bank, QFC or QDB want to see them.
Cash flow forecast lines a new WLL in Qatar plans for
A layout for the first twelve months of a WLL whose year ends on 31 December. Qatar’s rules give the timing; your own plans give most of the amounts.
| Cash line | When it leaves the account | What sets the amount |
|---|---|---|
| Salaries | Due on the 1st, sent through WPS within 7 days | Your payroll; at least QAR 1,000 basic a month per worker |
| Housing and food | With the salary, when you do not provide them | At least QAR 500 and QAR 300 a month per worker |
| End-of-service gratuity | When a contract ends after a year or more; built up monthly in the forecast | At least three weeks’ basic wage per year of service |
| New staff contracts | As each person joins | QR 60 to attest a contract online |
| Withholding tax | Before the 16th of the following month, when you pay a non-resident with no permanent establishment in Qatar | 5% of the royalty, interest, commission or service fee |
| CR, permit and establishment card | At renewal, applied for in the 30 days before expiry | QAR 500 for a one-activity CR, QAR 500 for the permit, QAR 200 for the card, plus Chamber fees |
| Rent | On the dates in your lease | Your lease |
| Audit fee | When your auditor bills | Your auditor’s quotation |
| Income tax | The day the return is filed, within 4 months of the year end | 10% of taxable income on the foreign partners’ share |
Worked examples with Qatar figures
The inputs are examples, not client data; each result applies one official rule.
- One worker on the minimum wage, without housing or food
The gratuity provision is added on top.
- Basic wage
- QAR 1,000
- Housing allowance
- QAR 500
- Food allowance
- QAR 300
- Each month
- QAR 1,800
- Twelve months
- QAR 21,600
- Income tax for a WLL with a 49% foreign partner
The 51% Qatari share is exempt.
- Taxable income (example)
- QAR 400,000
- Foreign partner’s share
- QAR 196,000
- Tax at 10%
- QAR 19,600
- Paid
- On the filing day, by 30 April
- A service fee to a consultant abroad
When the consultant has no permanent establishment in Qatar.
- Invoice
- QAR 20,000 (an example)
- 5% kept back by you
- QAR 1,000
- Sent abroad
- QAR 19,000
- Due date for the QAR 1,000
- Before the 16th of next month
- Legal reserve after a profitable year
The money stays in the company. When the reserve reaches half the capital, the partners may stop adding to it (Article 262).
- Suppose the year’s net profit is
- QAR 400,000
- A tenth of it goes to the reserve
- QAR 40,000
- What remains
- QAR 360,000
How financial forecasting differs from a budget
Budget
- Signed off by the owners in December for the year starting in January, and not touched after that.
- That is the point of it: in November, January’s plan is still there to hold the real January figures against.
Forecast
- We redo it every month. Once March has closed it falls off the front and the following March goes on the end, while the months between are rebuilt from actual sales, open orders and payment dates you already know.
- It answers one question: does the cash last until the next customer pays?
Actual figures
- Taken from the closed books after the bank reconciliation.
- Set beside the budget, this is the column that shows the rent coming in QAR 3,000 over.
How the monthly review works
- Close the month
We wait for the books. Until the month is written up and every bank balance agrees with its statement, there is nothing to compare.
- Compare
Each line of income and cost sits beside its budget figure, which is where a QAR 3,000 overspend on rent shows up.
- Roll forward
A new month joins the far end of the forecast, already carrying its WPS and tax dates.
- Flag
Any week where the balance would dip under the next payroll gets marked.
- Decide
You decide whether to hold a payment, chase a customer or find funding, and we rework the figures to match.
If your books are on accounting software, the tax regulations already expect statements of the entries to be drawn from the system every three months. A monthly review fits on top of that without extra record-keeping.
How we build your first budget
In a new WLL the early months carry the risk, because costs begin before sales do. We plan those months week by week. Rent and licence fees are often paid before the first customer is even invoiced, and the first payroll can fall due while that invoice is still open.
What we ask you for
- Accounts
- Last year’s, or your set-up costs if the company is new
- Staff
- Headcount, wages and start dates
- Sales
- Expected customers, prices and payment terms
- Commitments
- Lease, loans and contracts already signed
- Year end
- The date your financial year closes
Related services
Common questions about budgeting and forecasting in Qatar
What makes a forecast different from a budget?
Take a budget the owners approved in December. It stays as it is all year, which is what lets you measure October against it. The forecast is redone every month as real figures come in, and in Qatar it also carries the dates the law fixes, such as salaries through WPS within seven days of the 1st.
Source: Minister of Labour Decision No. 50 of 2026 on the Wage Protection System (Al Meezan)
How do I make a cash flow forecast for a new company in Qatar?
Start with twelve columns, one per month. Take a WLL opening in February: salaries go in the first week of March, rent on the lease dates, the CR renewal in the month before it expires, withholding tax in the month after you pay a consultant abroad, and income tax on the day you file. Each month after that, the estimate gives way to the closed books.
Which payment dates are fixed by law in Qatar?
Salaries fall due on the 1st and go out through WPS within seven days. Pay a consultant abroad in March (one with no permanent establishment in Qatar) and the tax withheld from the fee must reach the tax authority before 16 April. With a 31 December year end, the return is due by 30 April, with the tax paid the day you file.
Source: General Tax Authority, Income Tax Law and its Executive Regulations, 2024 edition (PDF)
How much income tax should a WLL budget for?
Say a WLL makes QAR 400,000 of taxable income and its foreign partner holds 49%. QAR 196,000 of that is taxable at 10%, so QAR 19,600 goes on the tax line in the month you file, since the tax is paid that day. The Qatari and GCC share is generally exempt.
How much do budgeting and forecasting services cost?
Government fees are not part of it; they go in your budget as separate lines, such as QAR 200 to renew the establishment card. Our price depends on how many bank accounts and sales lines there are, and on whether the forecast is rolled forward monthly or quarterly. A new company takes a little longer at the start, because there are no past accounts to build from.
Source: Minister of Interior Decision No. 19 of 2007 on Ministry of Interior service fees (Al Meezan)
Did not find your question? Ask an adviser. We reply with what applies to your case.
Sources
Official sources for the facts on this page, last checked 24 Oct 2026.
- Minister of Labour Decision No. 50 of 2026 on the Wage Protection System (Al Meezan)
- Ministerial Decision No. 25 of 2020 on the minimum wage (Al Meezan)
- Labour Law No. 14 of 2004 (Al Meezan)
- Hukoomi, Attestation of work contracts inside Qatar (Ministry of Labour)
- Single Window, Comprehensive renewal
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Local investor services
- Commercial Register Law No. 25 of 2005, as amended (Al Meezan)
- Minister of Interior Decision No. 19 of 2007 on Ministry of Interior service fees (Al Meezan)
- Income Tax Law No. 24 of 2018 (Al Meezan)
- Income Tax Executive Regulations, Cabinet Decision No. 39 of 2019 (Al Meezan)
- General Tax Authority, Income Tax Law and its Executive Regulations, 2024 edition (PDF)
- General Tax Authority, Investors guide
- Commercial Companies Law No. 11 of 2015, as amended (Al Meezan)
- Qatar Financial Centre, Set up
- Qatar Development Bank, Direct financing
When does your financial year start, and which month looks tightest for cash?
A trading company can start by sending last year’s figures, and a new one its business plan. From that we lay the year out by month and mark the weeks when cash would run thin, such as a payroll week with a big invoice still unpaid.