As of June 2026, a professionally built financial model in the UAE costs anywhere from AED 1,100 to AED 150,000+ — established Dubai agencies start from around AED 9,000, Big-4-calibre firms charge multiples of that, and freelancers range from roughly AED 1,000 to AED 20,000. Finrise delivers investor-grade three-statement models from $299 (≈ AED 1,100), scoped to a fixed price before work begins.
The honest answer: most UAE firms won't tell you until you've sat through a sales call. Valuation Arabia, Farahat & Co, and Aviaan — among the most visible advisory names in Dubai and Abu Dhabi — publish no pricing at all. One of the few that does, Accurate Middle East, lists financial models from AED 9,000 with a 10–15 working day turnaround. That figure is a useful benchmark for what an established local agency charges at the entry level; bespoke or transaction-grade work runs considerably higher.
At the other end, freelancer marketplaces like Upwork quote anywhere from a few hundred dirhams to AED 20,000 — with quality that varies just as widely. Finrise sits deliberately between the two: institutional-grade output, productized delivery, starting at $299. The sections below break down exactly where the money goes.
Four realistic routes to a financial model in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, with honest ranges. Where firms don't publish pricing, ranges reflect typical quoted engagements as of June 2026.
| Provider | Typical price | Timeline | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big 4 / large advisory | AED 35,000 – 150,000+ | 3–8 weeks | Full advisory team, brand-name sign-off, extensive documentation and partner review | Late-stage M&A, regulated transactions, large corporates that need the letterhead |
| Established UAE agency | AED 9,000 – 35,000 | 10–15 working days | Standardised model, often bundled into a feasibility study or business plan package | SMEs that want a local office and in-person meetings |
| Freelancer (Upwork etc.) | AED 1,000 – 20,000 | Days to weeks — varies | Highly variable. No standard QA, audit conventions, or post-delivery support | Tight budgets with the time and expertise to vet and manage the work |
| Finrise | From $299 (≈ AED 1,100) | 3–5 business days | Investor-grade 3-statement model, scenarios, sensitivity tables, KPI dashboard, walkthrough & ongoing Q&A | Founders raising capital and SMEs that need institutional output without agency overhead |
Ranges in AED, indicative as of June 2026. Agency entry price per Accurate Middle East's published rate. Most UAE advisory firms do not publish pricing; Big 4 and freelancer figures reflect typical market quotes.
Mostly cost structure, not modeling complexity. A licensed advisory firm in DIFC, DMCC, or onshore Dubai carries commercial rent, trade licensing, visas, salaried account managers, and a sales pipeline that has to be funded by every engagement it closes. The Excel file you receive is often built by one analyst in a few days — the rest of the invoice covers the firm around them. Opaque pricing compounds this: when nothing is published, quotes are calibrated to what the client looks able to pay, which is why two founders can be quoted figures 3x apart for the same scope. None of this makes agencies a bad choice — some clients genuinely need a local office and a recognisable letterhead. But if what you actually need is a rigorous, auditable model, you're frequently paying five-figure prices for four-figure work.
Watch for the hidden costs, too. Agency quotes often exclude revisions beyond a fixed round, charge separately for the assumptions workshop, and bill again when investors come back with questions three weeks later. A headline AED 9,000 engagement can land closer to AED 15,000 once the model actually has to perform. Whatever route you take, get the revision policy and post-delivery support terms in writing before you sign.
For a pre-seed or seed-stage startup — whether you're at Hub71 in Abu Dhabi, the DIFC Innovation Hub, or in5 in Dubai — a credible fundraising model typically quotes at AED 9,000–25,000 from an agency, or AED 2,000–10,000 from a competent freelancer. The catch is that startup models are assumption-driven: with no trading history, everything rests on the bottom-up revenue build — pricing, conversion, sales cycle, churn. That's a craft, and it's exactly where cheap work falls apart in front of investors.
Finrise builds pre-revenue models from bottom-up assumptions, benchmarked against comparable companies in your sector, from $299. Investors will ask about runway, burn multiple, payback period, and LTV/CAC — the model is structured to answer them. Start with a free scoping call to get a fixed quote for your stage.
Price comparisons only mean something if the deliverable is comparable. A Finrise engagement — detailed in full on our financial modeling service page — includes a fully integrated 3-statement model (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow), a revenue build with granular driver assumptions, three-scenario analysis across base, bear, and bull cases, sensitivity tables on key value drivers, an operational KPI dashboard with unit economics, and an investor-facing summary tab that's board-ready.
Every assumption is documented, every formula is traceable, and delivery comes with a walkthrough session plus ongoing Q&A support for investor questions. Files are native Excel, built to institutional conventions — color-coded inputs, no hardcoded values in calc cells, full audit trail. When you compare an AED 9,000 quote against this list, ask the other firm for theirs.
What you pay tracks what the model has to do. A single-product subscription business is a fundamentally simpler build than a multi-entity group with three revenue streams across the GCC — and the audience matters as much as the structure: a bank credit committee, a VC partner, and a free zone licensing officer each read the file differently. Typical UAE market ranges by use case below; Finrise prices each of these per engagement, from $299, with scope fixed upfront.
Pre-seed through Series C. Scenario-driven, structured around the metrics investors actually probe. The most common request we see from Dubai and Abu Dhabi founders.
UAE banks typically request 3–5 year projections with cash flow coverage. Conservative scenarios and clean documentation matter more than ambition here.
DCF and comparable-driven models underpinning a defensible number — for fundraising, exits, or shareholder disputes. See our business valuation service.
Driver-based forecasting for hiring plans, pricing changes, and expansion decisions. Covered in depth under revenue forecasting.
Projections supporting DIFC, ADGM, DMCC, or IFZA license applications, and business plan financials for golden visa investor routes.
If your use case spans more than one of these — say, a fundraising model that also has to support a valuation discussion — it's usually cheaper to build one integrated model than to commission two. That's a scoping conversation, and it's exactly what the free 15-minute call is for.
Since the UAE introduced 9% corporate tax, a projections file without a proper tax build is incomplete. Taxable income above AED 375,000 is taxed at 9%; qualifying free zone persons in DIFC, ADGM, DMCC, and other zones may retain 0% on qualifying income, but only under conditions your model should make explicit rather than assume away. And there's a deadline hiding in your forecast: Small Business Relief expires on 31 December 2026, which means projections running into 2027 need to carry the full tax line even if you pay nothing today.
Investors and lenders increasingly check for this. A model that ignores corporate tax overstates net income and cash — and signals that the rest of the file may be equally untested. Make sure whoever builds yours can show you where the tax assumptions live.
Choose a Big 4 or large advisory firm when the audience demands it — a regulated transaction, a court matter, or a counterparty that won't accept anything without the letterhead. Choose a local agency if face-to-face meetings in Dubai or Abu Dhabi are non-negotiable and budget is secondary. Choose a freelancer if your budget is genuinely fixed below AED 2,000 and you have the financial literacy to audit what comes back — because nobody else will.
Choose Finrise when the model itself is the point: a file that survives the diligence call, delivered in days, at a fixed price you saw before committing. Every engagement starts with a free 15-minute scoping call — you'll leave with a clear plan either way.
Reserve a 15-minute introductory call. We'll scope your model, confirm a fixed price upfront, and you'll leave with a clear plan.
Schedule a Free Consultation →As of June 2026, expect AED 9,000–35,000 at established Dubai agencies, AED 35,000 and well beyond at Big-4-calibre firms, and AED 1,000–20,000 from freelancers. Finrise builds investor-grade three-statement models from $299 (≈ AED 1,100), with scope confirmed at a fixed price upfront.
Structure, not quality. We carry no Dubai office rent, no licensing overhead, and no layers of account management — and every engagement is scoped to a fixed price before work begins. You pay for the model, not the building it was made in.
Standard engagements deliver in 3–5 business days from scope confirmation. Complex models with multiple revenue streams, geographies, or product lines may extend to 7–10 days. We confirm timeline upfront — no surprises.
Yes. Models are delivered in native Excel with full formula transparency and institutional conventions — color-coded inputs, no hardcoded values, full audit trail. Our models have been used in Series A through Series C raises, M&A processes, and board reporting across GCC and international markets.
Yes. For UAE entities the P&L carries a corporate tax build reflecting the 9% rate above the AED 375,000 threshold, with assumptions documented so you can adjust for free zone status or Small Business Relief, which expires 31 December 2026.
A fully integrated 3-statement model, revenue build with granular drivers, three-scenario analysis, sensitivity tables, a KPI dashboard with unit economics, an investor summary tab, full documentation, and a walkthrough with ongoing Q&A support. Scope and complexity are priced per engagement.
