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Owners and managers need figures more often than once a year. The audited financial statements arrive months after the year end and show the company as a whole. They say little about last month’s margin, which customers are paying late or how much cash will be left next quarter.
Management accounts fill that gap. They are internal reports, usually monthly, prepared for the people who run the business. If a lender or investor asks for them, its agreement sets what they must contain and when, and a buyer of the company will ask for them in due diligence.
This guide explains how management accounts differ from statutory accounts, what a practical monthly pack contains and who should prepare and check it, with the official source for each rule.
- LLC annual accounts
- 2 months after year end
- Withholding tax
- Before the 16th
- IFRS 18
- From 1 January 2027
- Law checked
- 16 October 2026
The short answer
In short
- Management accounts are internal reports on results, financial position and cash, usually monthly, for owners and managers. Their format and frequency are yours to agree.
- They differ from the statutory accounts that an LLC’s managers must prepare within two months of the year end and send with the auditor’s report to the Ministry and each partner (Commercial Companies Law Article 251).
- A practical pack has up to eight parts: a summary, profit and loss against budget, balance sheet, cash flow and outlook, aged receivables, aged payables, other schedules and a short commentary.
- Use the same IFRS-based policies as the year-end accounts, and set a fixed date each month for the pack after the books are closed.
Management accounts and statutory accounts: the difference
Both come from the same books, but they serve different readers and follow different rules.
| Point | Management accounts | Statutory financial statements |
|---|---|---|
| Who they are for | Owners, managers and the board | Partners, the Ministry, the GTA, lenders and other outside users |
| Basis | Internal; contents agreed by the company | Required by law: CCL Arts. 251 and 260; audited accounts go with the tax return where Regs Art. 33 applies |
| Format | Yours to agree | IFRS presentation; IFRS 18 from 2027 |
| Frequency | Usually monthly | Yearly |
| Deadline | Your own calendar | Prepared within two months of the year end; general assembly within four months; tax return within four months |
| Audited | No | Yes |
| Level of detail | By product, branch, project or customer | Summarised, with notes |
| Budget and forecast | Usually included | Not included |
The law requires books: a general journal, a general ledger and an inventory book, with supporting documents (Commercial Law Article 22; Executive Regulations Article 35). Management accounts are built from those books each month. For the year-end documents and who asks for them, see audited financial statements in Qatar.
What goes in a monthly management pack
| Part | What it shows | Question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Summary | The key figures and a few KPIs on one page | How did we do this month? |
| 2. Profit and loss | The month and the year to date, against budget and last year, with the differences | Where did profit come from, and where did it go? |
| 3. Balance sheet | Assets and liabilities, compared with last month and the last year end | What do we own and owe now? |
| 4. Cash flow and outlook | Cash in and out for the month, and expected cash for the coming weeks | Will we have enough cash? |
| 5. Aged receivables | Customer balances by age: current, overdue bands, disputed, related parties | Who owes us, and for how long? |
| 6. Aged payables | Supplier balances by age: due, overdue, held back | Whom do we owe, and when must we pay? |
| 7. Other schedules | Stock, project or contract balances, payroll and end of service, tax and payment dates | What else needs attention? |
| 8. Commentary | The three to five differences that matter, and the action agreed | What are we going to do about it? |
A smaller business can start with parts 1, 2, 4 and 5 and add the rest as it grows. The cash outlook does not need to be rebuilt each month: update the rolling forecast described in SME budgets and cash flow forecasts. Our budgeting and forecasting page describes the service behind budgets, forecasts and budget-against-actual reviews.
Monthly management accounts also matter when a company is sold or raises money, because a buyer will ask for them. See financial due diligence in Qatar and our due diligence page.
Keep the monthly figures on the year-end basis
For tax, books and accounts follow international accounting standards (Income Tax Law Articles 6 and 12), and the auditor’s report states whether the company keeps proper accounts and records under internationally accepted accounting principles (Commercial Companies Law Article 146). Monthly figures prepared on another basis will not agree with the year end, and the differences turn into audit adjustments.
In practice, that means recording accruals and prepayments every month, not only at the year end, and charging depreciation monthly from the fixed asset register. End of service should be accrued each month too: a worker with at least one full year of service is owed not less than three weeks’ wage for each year (Labour Law Article 54).
Stock should be counted or estimated the same way each month. Overdue receivables are reviewed monthly, because they are the starting point for the year-end allowance for doubtful receivables, and revenue is recorded in the month it is earned, not when the cash arrives.
For annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, IFRS 18 requires the subtotals “operating profit” and “profit before financing and income taxes” in the annual accounts. Using the same headings in the monthly pack is a choice, but it keeps the two in line and eases the year end. Any “adjusted” figures in the pack are management measures. See IFRS in Qatar and IFRS 18 and our IFRS advisory and conversion page.
A monthly timetable
A pack is useful only if it arrives while there is still time to act. Agree a fixed date each month with the owner, and keep to it.
- 1
Close the books
Post all invoices, reconcile the bank accounts, record accruals and review balances. The steps are set out in bookkeeping for SMEs in Qatar, and our bookkeeping service covers the monthly close.
- 2
Prepare the pack
Produce the parts agreed, on the date agreed. Check that the balance sheet agrees with the ledger and that cash agrees with the bank statements.
- 3
Hold the review meeting
The owner or managers go through the summary and the commentary, and agree actions on the main differences.
- 4
Update the forecast
Roll the cash outlook and the forecast forward with what the month showed.
Qatar also has fixed dates that fall inside the month. Wages are paid monthly by bank transfer through the Wage Protection System (Labour Law Article 66), and the payroll figures in the pack come from that run. Tax withheld from payments to non-residents is remitted before the 16th day of the following month (Executive Regulations Article 24), so the close should not wait past that date. See withholding tax in Qatar.
Where the books are kept on a computer system, extracts of the entries and accounts must be generated from the system every three months, and records are kept for ten years after the year they relate to (Executive Regulations Article 36). At the year end, the final month’s pack becomes the starting point for the audit and for the tax return, which is due within four months of the year end (Executive Regulations Article 29(1)). See the audit preparation checklist.
For a new company setting up its first routines, see the first-year finance checklist.
KPIs that suit a small business
Choose a few measures, define them once and keep them the same each month. Set the targets from your budget, not from a general benchmark.
- Gross margin: gross profit as a share of revenue.
- Overheads against budget: fixed costs for the month compared with the budget.
- Debtor days: how long customers take to pay, on average.
- Creditor days: how long you take to pay suppliers, on average.
- Stock days: how long stock is held before it is sold, if you hold stock.
- Cash runway: how many months of fixed costs are covered by cash and committed receipts.
Some sectors need a measure of their own, such as project margin for construction and contracting businesses, or occupancy and covers in hospitality.
Who prepares the pack, and who checks it
The pack can be prepared by an in-house accountant or by an outside provider. A company may contract out its bookkeeping, but it remains responsible to the GTA for it (Executive Regulations Article 36(4)). See outsourced accounting in Qatar.
The owner or the board reviews the pack and agrees the commentary. Keep the preparer and the auditor apart: the person who audits the final accounts cannot have taken part in preparing them (Executive Regulations Article 34(4)), and an auditor may not audit an entity to which it provides consultancy work (Law No. 8 of 2020, Article 27(3)). Controls over the monthly close are covered in the internal controls checklist for SMEs.
What to do next
Start by agreeing what the pack should contain and the date each month it should arrive. Our bookkeeping service covers the monthly close, our budgeting and forecasting service covers budgets, forecasts and budget-against-actual reviews, and accounting system setup covers the chart of accounts and reports. The accounting services page lists the rest. To discuss your reporting, request a proposal.
Frequently asked questions
What are management accounts?
Internal reports on a company’s results, financial position and cash, usually prepared monthly for owners and managers. Their format is agreed by the company. They are different from the yearly statutory accounts that an LLC must prepare (Commercial Companies Law Article 251).
Are management accounts required by law in Qatar?
They are internal reports whose format and frequency the company agrees. The law requires books (Commercial Law Article 22; Executive Regulations Article 35) and yearly accounts (Commercial Companies Law Article 251). A lender or investor may set its own requirements by agreement.
What is the difference between management accounts and financial statements?
Management accounts are internal, detailed, usually monthly and not audited, and can include budgets and forecasts. Statutory financial statements are yearly, follow IFRS presentation, are audited and go to the partners, the Ministry and the GTA.
How soon after month end should management accounts be ready?
Agree a fixed date after the monthly close that leaves time to act on the figures. Withholding tax must still be remitted before the 16th day of the following month (Executive Regulations Article 24), so the close should not wait past it.
Should management accounts follow IFRS?
Use the same IFRS-based policies as the annual accounts, so the year end brings no surprises; the presentation can be more detailed. From 2027 the annual accounts show IFRS 18 subtotals such as operating profit, and using the same headings each month helps.
What KPIs should an SME track each month?
A few that stay the same each month: gross margin, overheads against budget, debtor days, creditor days, stock days where stock is held, and cash runway. Set each target from the budget rather than from a general benchmark.
Can our auditor prepare our management accounts?
No. The person who audits the final accounts cannot have taken part in preparing them (Executive Regulations Article 34(4)), and an auditor may not audit an entity to which it provides consultancy work (Law No. 8 of 2020, Article 27(3)).
Sources
Laws and regulations
Accounting standards
This article is general information, not accounting or legal advice for your company. The laws and standards cited were checked on 16 October 2026; English descriptions of Arabic legal texts are our own. A firm that prepares your accounts cannot also audit them.