Year-End Audit Readiness Checklist for UAE

Many UAE companies need an annual audit — the commercial companies law, free zone regulations, banks and investors all drive it, and Corporate Tax adds audited-statement requirements for some taxpayers. The audit goes faster and costs less when the client delivers a clean, complete file. Here is what auditors usually ask for.

Who needs audited accounts

Requirements depend on your legal form and licence authority: mainland companies, free zone entities (DMCC, JAFZA, DIFC, ADGM and others), banks, and group reporting each have rules. For Corporate Tax, taxable persons above AED 50 million revenue and Qualifying Free Zone Persons must have audited financial statements under Ministerial Decision No. 82 of 2023. Confirm your own position with your regulator and adviser.

1. Trial balance and ledger

• Final trial balance agreeing to the draft financial statements. Test it with the Trial Balance Checker.
• General ledger for the year in Excel or CSV.
• Prior-year audited accounts and the opening balance agreement.
• List of all manual and year-end adjusting journals with narrations — see journal entries explained.

2. Bank and cash

• Year-end bank statements and reconciliations for every account.
• Bank confirmation requests — auditors send these directly to banks.
• Petty cash count at year-end.

3. Receivables and revenue

• Ageing report agreed to the ledger — AR ageing guide.
• Basis for any provision for doubtful debts (IFRS 9 expected credit losses).
• Post-year-end receipts and credit notes (they help with existence and cut-off).
• Contracts and key invoices for large or unusual sales; completeness of invoice sequence — sequence gaps.

4. Inventory

• Stock count sheets and valuation, with the costing method — FIFO vs LIFO vs average.
• Provision for obsolete or slow-moving stock and net realisable value support.

5. Fixed assets

• Fixed asset register agreeing to the ledger.
• Additions and disposals with invoices; depreciation schedule — see fixed assets and depreciation.

6. Payables and expenses

• Supplier statement reconciliations, accruals listing and support.
• Unrecorded liabilities search: invoices received after year-end for goods and services before it.

7. Payroll and end-of-service

• Payroll register, WPS records and end-of-service gratuity calculation — see the UAE gratuity calculation guide.
• Leave liability calculation.

8. Tax and compliance

• VAT returns for the year and reconciliation to the ledger — FTA VAT audit checklist.
• Corporate Tax computation or workings, and registration details — Corporate Tax bookkeeping checklist.
• Licences, constitutional documents and board/shareholder minutes.

9. Related parties, commitments and going concern

• Related-party transactions and balances (directors, shareholders, group companies).
• Loan agreements and covenant calculations — see financial ratios.
• Commitments, guarantees and litigation.
• Cash-flow forecast to support going concern (ISA 570).

Tips to cut audit time

1. Agree a timetable and a "prepared by client" (PBC) list upfront.
2. Pre-reconcile everything — the auditor's job is to test, not to build your schedules.
3. Name one contact who answers queries within a day.
4. Resolve known issues first and tell the auditor about them early.
5. Lock the period after close so numbers don't move during the audit.

Keep the file ready all year

Year-end is painless when the month-end close is routine. Pyalm Books keeps your ledger, VAT, bank reconciliation and financial reports in one place with period locking and an audit trail, so the audit file is a set of exports. It is free during beta.

Rules, rates and deadlines change. Confirm the current position with the Federal Tax Authority (tax.gov.ae), the Ministry of Finance or a qualified adviser before you file, pay or rely on it.