External audit
An audit firm in Dubai whose report a bank, a free zone and the FTA will all accept.
Audited financial statements under IFRS, signed by a firm registered as an auditor with the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism. We tell you first whether you need one, then quote a fixed fee and a date.
Who must be audited
Two sets of rules decide it: the corporate tax law and your free zone.
Ministerial Decision 84 of 2025 replaced Decision 82 of 2023. For tax periods from 1 January 2025 it names three kinds of taxable person who must keep audited financial statements. Everyone else is audited by choice, or because a zone, a bank or an investor asks.
| Trigger | Who it catches | Source |
|---|---|---|
| AED 50 million | Any taxable person with revenue above AED 50 million in the tax period | Ministerial Decision 84 of 2025 |
| Free zone | Every qualifying free zone person, regardless of revenue, to keep the 0% rate on qualifying income | Ministerial Decision 84 of 2025, Decree-Law 47 of 2022 |
| Tax group | Every tax group, on audited special purpose statements in the form the Authority specifies | Ministerial Decision 84 of 2025 |
| License renewal | Many free zones ask for audited accounts every year at renewal, often within 3 to 6 months of year end | Each zone's own rules |
A tax group is the odd one out. It is not asked for ordinary consolidated group accounts. It prepares a separate audited set, called special purpose financial statements, in the form the Federal Tax Authority specifies.
The free zone rule is the one that surprises people. Most free zones ask for audited accounts at renewal, and a few only above a revenue threshold. Each zone sets its own deadline, and they change. Check your zone's rule.
Audits are carried out under International Standards on Auditing. The statements are prepared under IFRS, or IFRS for SMEs where the zone and the FTA allow it.
What we deliver
Six things, in this order.
- Engagement letter. The scope, the fee, the dates and what we need from you, signed by both sides before any work starts.
- Planning. We read the prior year and decide where the risk sits before we test anything.
- Testing. Bank confirmations, samples of sales and purchases, stock counts where there is stock, the year-end adjustments.
- IFRS financial statements. Balance sheet, income statement, cash flows and notes, to the standard your zone or the FTA expects.
- The signed opinion. The auditor's report, signed by the firm under its Ministry of Economy and Tourism registration.
- The management letter. What we found in your controls and records, in plain English.
An audit is a set of tests on the records behind the numbers, and a written opinion on whether the statements show a true and fair view. The fee covers all six.
The timeline
From year end to the signed report.
- Year endBooks closedBank statements, sales and purchase ledgers, payroll and the fixed asset register ready
- Week 1Engagement letter signed, planning doneDocument request list sent the same week
- Weeks 2 to 4Fieldwork and testingBank confirmations out, samples selected, questions sent as they arise
- Weeks 5 to 6Draft financial statementsAdjustments agreed with you, notes completed
- Weeks 6 to 8Signed report and management letterFiled with your zone or attached to the corporate tax return
For a small company with tidy books the run typically takes 6 to 8 weeks. Groups and first-time audits take longer, and the quote says so.
The signed opinion
What the last page says, and why it matters.
Every audit ends with one paragraph. An unmodified opinion says the statements give a true and fair view under IFRS. A qualified opinion says they do, except for one matter. An adverse opinion or a disclaimer says they cannot be relied on. Banks, free zones and the FTA read that paragraph first. Our job is to get you to an unmodified opinion honestly, which means telling you early when a balance cannot be supported.
Questions we are asked before every audit
- 01
Do we need an audit to renew our license?
In a free zone, very probably yes. Most zones ask for audited accounts every year, typically within 3 to 6 months of year end. On the mainland the licence renewal does not ask for it, but Article 27 of the Commercial Companies Law does: every LLC and joint stock company must have its accounts audited every year, whatever its size. Send us your license and we will check your zone's rule.
- 02
What documents do you need from us?
Bank statements for the year, the sales and purchase ledgers, invoices and contracts for the larger items, payroll, the fixed asset register, the license and memorandum, last year's audited accounts if any, and the VAT and corporate tax filings. If the books are in Zoho, QuickBooks or Odoo, read access replaces most of that list.
- 03
Can you audit us if you also keep our books?
Not without separating the work. Independence rules do not allow a firm to audit statements it prepared itself. Where a client wants both, the two jobs are done by different people under different engagement letters, and in some cases one of them should go to another firm. Ask before the year starts and we will tell you which we can do.
- 04
How long does it take?
Typically 6 to 8 weeks from closed books to the signed report, for a small company with tidy records. The biggest delay is always documents, so the request list goes out in week one.
- 05
What does it cost?
A fixed fee, quoted within one business day of seeing your license and last year's accounts, before any work starts.
Internal audit · UAE
A review of how the company runs, for the owner rather than the regulator.
An external audit tests the financial statements once a year. An internal audit tests the way the business works: whether the controls over cash, purchasing, payroll and stock do what the owner thinks they do, whether the company keeps to the rules it is bound by, and where money leaks. It is for owner-managed companies and free zone entities that have grown past the point where the owner sees every payment.
The work is done under the Institute of Internal Auditors' Global Internal Audit Standards, in force since 9 January 2025. Each engagement is scoped on its own: one area, one process or one site, agreed in the engagement letter before we start. Three kinds of review are the usual ask.
Internal audit is kept separate from the external audit. Where we sign the audit opinion, the internal audit work is done by different people under a different engagement letter, and where independence rules do not allow both, we say so and do one or the other.
The three reviews
- OperationalWhether a process, purchasing, sales, payroll, stock, does what it should, at the cost it should, and where it is wasting money or time.
- ComplianceWhether the company keeps to the laws, license conditions and contracts it is bound by: VAT, corporate tax, the free zone's rules, the bank's covenants.
- Internal controlWhether the controls over cash, approvals, access to systems and the owner's account actually stop the errors and losses they exist to stop.
The deliverable
- A findings report: what we tested, what we found, and how serious each finding is.
- A management action plan: who fixes each finding, how, and by when, agreed with you before the report is final.
- A follow-up on the plan at a date agreed in the letter.
Independence
Our name goes on the report. That is the whole point of it.
An audit is only worth what the reader believes about the auditor. So we do not sign statements we prepared, we do not sign what we have not tested, and the fee never depends on the opinion. If a balance cannot be supported you hear it in week three, with a way to fix it, not in a qualified paragraph on the last day.
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