Business Solutions Through Audit Firms in Dubai

Dubai has a reputation for being a visionary city; a first-mover that shapes its own destiny.  The spirit of possible and wise foresight of its leaders have been hallmarks of Dubai’s economic progress over the past decades. And what once was a tranquil town has rapidly grown into a premier leisure and business tourism destination, becoming the record-breaking and innovative city it is today –  the crossroads of opportunity.

Dubai has emerged as a global city and a business hub in the middle east due to various factors primarily the liberal laws and tax incentives; this very reason has lured the multinational companies to set up their base in Dubai which in fact has led to increasing economic activity and leading to faster economic development.

With thriving business, there comes a need for transparency and assurance of compliance with regulatory matters prevalent in the economy. Having a world class in-house accounting department is important but in long run having an expert audit firm which guides an organization in compliances with various regulatory matters and supporting them in development avenues is inevitable.

Looking at the pace of growth of UAE especially Dubai, an audit firm not only has to ensure compliances but also play a pivotal role in growth and stability of business entity by tackling the traditional aspects and the dynamic challenges present in the external and internal business environment.

• Basic role of an Audit Firm:-

Financial auditors from the audit firm provide reasonable independent and unbiased Audit Reports which gives an opinion on the fairness and accuracy of the financial statement and states that the financial statements are free from material misstatement.

This independent report enhances the confidence of investors and various stakeholders in the management and the company as a whole.

• Need of audit firms in Dubai:-

Apart from providing basic auditing services, an audit firm can provide diverse services depending on the needs of their clients; these services can broadly be classified into

• Company Incorporation

UAE offers a conducive business environment for incoming business in form of world class infrastructure, financial and economic perquisites, but these business entities lack the know-how about UAE’s business environment and then the role of Audit firm becomes crucial.

Generally, there are seven forms of starting a business in Dubai and three forms of license which needs to be obtained from the relevant authorities, an audit firm can play an important role in deciding the most suitable form and type of license required by the business entity to commence their operation.

An Audit firm can provide following related services:-

• Deciding suitable business forms– General partnership company, Partnership-in-commendam, Joint venture company, Public shareholding company, Limited liability company, Share partnership company
• Setting Business in Free Zone– Free Zone Establishment, Free Zone Company, Branch Company
• Deciding business structure– capital structure
• Obtaining of License– Trade, Industrial, Professional

• Audit and Assurance Services

Financial statement audit is one of the most important services provided by the audit firms in Dubai.  Some of the reasons for flourishing financial statement audit are listed below:-

• Some of the authorities in UAE ask for audited financial statements for the purpose of renewing the licenses (Free zones authorities always ask about audited financial statements)
• Most of the banks in UAE ask for audited financial statements to study the possibility of approving the bank facilities required by the company
• Audited financial statements are mandatory required according to commercial companies’ federal law
• Banks and financial institutions have to submit their financial statements to the UAE Central Bank while courier companies are required to submit their statements to the Ministry of Finance and Industry. Further there are many other sector, where companies have to submit their audited/ Unaudited financial statements to their respective authorities.

Financial statement audit is a traditional practice, but with ever changing business needs, the audit and assurance services have taken a leap from its traditional nature and have brought other areas into its ambit. With time the Audit firms in Dubai have started focusing on the other emerging areas of Audit and Assurance Services like Due Diligence audit, Internal Audit, Forensic Audit, Investigation Audit and Risk management.

• Financial Services and Accounting

As the business moves to a greater height it becomes time-consuming and ineffective to manage the accounting services like accounting/bookkeeping, back office transactions and payroll without a dedicated team. This constraint can be an opportunity for Audit firms in Dubai which have dedicated and expertise staff to look into such areas.  Some of them have already catalysed this opportunity and others are equipping themselves to tap this. Apart from accounting services, there are other avenues of financial services like corporate finance, valuation and financial restructuring still in a novice phase and a lot has to be done by the audit firms in Dubai to advantage this prospect through Alya Auditors Chartered Accountants in the market.

• Management Consultancy

In today’s dynamic and competitive environment it becomes utmost important for the company to take the right decision at the right time to maximise the benefits and to be one step ahead of their competitors. Here the audit firms can play an impressive role by providing various management consultancy services like deciding on optimal capital structure, working capital management, providing insights to top management regarding mergers and acquisition and business restructuring. This service of Audit firms helps the organisations which lack much expertise in the above key areas to take sound decisions.

In order to make their presence felt in this particular area audit firms in Dubai needs to equip themselves with the latest knowledge base and expertise in sync with the trends in the market, keep updated with the latest policies of the government and update themselves with the International financial reporting system.

• Compliances and other regulatory matters

Compliance is another major audit work that will see a tremendous growth in coming years as compared to the current prevalent situation in Dubai. A role in compliance means that the audit firm will be responsible for keeping a company in good standing and it will be a promising and rewarding opportunity to the Audit firms.

• Way ahead:-

The past financial crisis and corporate scandals which many countries around the world experienced prompted a new enthusiastic interest in the role and importance of audit. The future of audit will be closely linked with the continuous waves of such financial and corporate frauds that affect the economy and corporate world around the globe.

With increasing complexities and high external and internal risk now more and more companies have realised that the audit and assurance profession are the lifeblood of an organisation. With the increase in the challenging task and risk involved, the audit firms  have to evolve from their traditional spheres and equip themselves which will increase the overall quality of the audit services.

we at  Alya Auditors Chartered Accountants ensure that we evolve and equip ourselves with time so that we can provide world class services to our clients.