Ziina and Skrooge.ai Partner to Automate AI-Powered Accounting for UAE SMEs

UAE-based financial platform Ziina has integrated its business services with skrooge.ai, an AI-driven accounting and tax provider. For fintech professionals, this represents a significant move toward unified financial workflows in the Middle East, reducing the friction between payment acceptance and back-office reconciliation for the region's dominant small-to-medium enterprise sector.

What was announced

The partnership between Ziina and skrooge.ai aims to eliminate the fragmented workflows that typically force business owners to manually move data between payment tools, invoicing software, and accounting systems. By connecting a Ziina Business Account to skrooge.ai, all transactions are automatically synced to the company’s books. This automation allows business owners to monitor revenue in real time and reconcile payments without manual data entry.

The integration is designed to support various payment workflows common in the UAE market. For businesses that rely on invoicing, Ziina payment links can be embedded directly into skrooge.ai invoices, with the payment status updating automatically once a client settles the bill. For sectors such as hospitality and food service, where payments are often received before an invoice is issued, the system can generate a corresponding invoice after the transaction and match it to the record automatically.

Furthermore, the service extends to popular messaging platforms, allowing businesses to use skrooge.ai through WhatsApp or Telegram. Through these channels, users can create invoices containing Ziina payment links, verify which invoices have been paid, and send automated payment reminders to clients. The initiative targets a critical segment of the local economy; according to the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, SMEs account for nearly 95% of companies in the UAE, providing over 85% of private sector jobs and contributing 63% of the national GDP.

"Small businesses need financial tools that work together as their businesses grow. We see an opportunity to make managing money simpler by connecting the services businesses already rely on, reducing the operational burden on owners so they can focus on running their businesses. Our partnership with skrooge.ai is a step in that direction, using automation to bring payments and accounting closer together. This is the kind of connected financial experience we are building for businesses across the Arab World."

Tomas Riberio, Partnerships Lead at Ziina

"Businesses shouldn't spend days, hours or weeks reconciling payments. With the Ziina integration, the business you run through Ziina ends up in your books automatically and reconciled, while you still get advice from a human accountant."

Vlad Sharuda, Co-Founder of skrooge.ai

The companies involved

Ziina is a homegrown financial platform based in the UAE, serving both consumer and business clients. The company has positioned itself as a central player in the Middle Eastern fintech ecosystem, focusing on building a unified platform that reflects how businesses in the Arab World live and work. Originally known for its consumer-facing payment features, Ziina has expanded significantly into the business sector, providing tools for money movement, payment acceptance, and now, integrated financial management. Its strategy emphasizes a "connected financial experience" that moves beyond simple transactions to provide a holistic infrastructure for the region's growing SME community.

skrooge.ai is an AI-powered accounting and tax service specifically designed for businesses operating within the UAE. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence to automate the more tedious aspects of bookkeeping and tax compliance, while still incorporating a human element by providing professional accounting advice. By focusing on the specific regulatory and tax requirements of the UAE, skrooge.ai addresses the administrative burdens that often hinder the growth of local startups and established small businesses. The company’s approach centers on reducing the time spent on reconciliation through direct integrations with financial service providers.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed Ziina’s expansion and its efforts to secure a dominant position in the UAE’s financial landscape. In late 2026, the company achieved a historic regulatory hat-trick, securing licenses that allowed it to fast-track the development of its unified financial platform for the Arab World. This followed a significant technical milestone earlier in the year when Ziina partnered with Lean to debut the UAE’s first one-tap Pay by Bank service powered by open finance. Additionally, Ziina has continued to innovate on the consumer side, launching Violet, a program offering zero currency fees and benefits from various UAE brands, further cementing its role as a multi-faceted financial provider.

What this means

This integration marks a shift in the UAE market from standalone fintech products toward integrated "business operating systems." By bridging the gap between payment acceptance and accounting, Ziina and skrooge.ai are directly challenging traditional banking institutions that have historically struggled to offer seamless software integrations for SMEs. This move puts significant pressure on legacy accounting firms and isolated payment processors to modernize their stacks or risk irrelevance. It also highlights the growing importance of "conversational commerce" in the region, as evidenced by the WhatsApp and Telegram functionality. The central question for the sector now is whether human-led accounting can remain competitive as AI-driven reconciliation becomes the baseline expectation for small business owners.