UAQ FTZ · Audit and accounting
Clear accounts, organised evidence and reporting you can plan around. SAIF Chartered Accountants supports UAQ Free Trade Zone businesses with annual audit, accounting and related tax services.
Built around your business
A growing UAQ business may have a small finance team but a complex year-end: overseas suppliers, online sales, stock held elsewhere or funding from its owners. The audit needs to reflect those activities.
SAIF Chartered Accountants helps owners and finance teams define the reporting requirement, prepare the evidence and complete an appropriately scoped audit.
Our UAE practice was established in 1994. We combine audit work with separately agreed accounting, tax and advisory support, keeping management responsibilities and auditor independence clear.
Start with the entity shown on the licence, its financial year and the intended recipients of the accounts. An FZE, FZC, branch and individual freelancer should not automatically be treated as the same reporting case.
An audit provides reasonable assurance on financial statements. It is not a guarantee that every error will be found, that a bank will approve funding or that a particular tax treatment will apply.
Company regulations and reporting purpose
Use the authority’s published rules as the starting point, then confirm current instructions for your company.
UAQ FTZ’s published Company Regulations No 1/14 address FZE/FZC financial statements and the auditor’s report in sections 3.27–3.28. They also address auditor independence, licensing and appointment registration.
Read sections 3.27–3.28 ↗The regulations include making accounts and the report available to shareholders before the annual general meeting. That is a different question from a routine upload to the authority.
Confirm the current submission channel, if any, the reporting period and company-specific requests. Do not borrow a fixed filing date from another free zone.
| Purpose | What to clarify | What to prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Annual company reporting | Legal entity, year-end, appointment and shareholder arrangements. | Accounts, supporting records, management approval and the appropriate independent report. |
| Authority or renewal request | Current written instructions, due date and any prescribed format. | The specifically requested documents, plus evidence of submission where applicable. |
| Corporate tax | Tax status, audited-account obligation and the relevant tax period. | Financial statements and reconciled tax workings; a separately tracked filing timetable. |
| Bank, investor or group request | Intended user, scope, period and additional reporting needs. | The agreed reporting pack; confirm whether a special-purpose assignment is needed. |
The authority currently links to regulations issued in 2014. Check amendments, waivers and written directions before acting. Confirm the appointment requirements for your company.
Clearly scoped support
Choose the work your business needs and understand what the engagement includes.
An independent examination of the financial statements against the agreed reporting framework. Plan the scope, material balances, evidence and reporting responsibilities before the year-end becomes urgent.
Explore this support →Reconcile the ledger and prepare schedules for receivables, payables, stock, assets, payroll and owner balances. Identify missing records and agree any cleanup work separately from the audit.
Explore this support →Review the free-zone tax position, income categories and supporting records. Coordinate tax workings with the approved financial statements without confusing a tax review with an audit opinion.
Explore this support →Analyse related-party trading, management charges, loans and other controlled transactions. Align contracts and financial data with the pricing method and any required benchmarking study.
Explore this support →Review selected purchasing, stock, cash or revenue processes. Agree practical management reports and control recommendations as a separate assignment where needed.
Explore this support →Coordinate the final financial statements, supporting schedules and agreed reporting package. Confirm who receives each document and distinguish annual accounts from a special-purpose bank request.
Explore this support →Accounting preparation and audit require an independence assessment when requested together. Management retains responsibility for the accounts and underlying records.
Evidence that matches your operations
These examples identify useful records, not a fixed set of procedures for every engagement.
Match purchases, sales and warehouse movements to the ledger. Goods held by a logistics provider, customer returns and shipments around year-end deserve particular attention. Establish who owns each stock balance and when the transaction belongs in the accounts.
Support revenue with engagement terms, work performed and billing milestones. Explain unbilled work, advance receipts and subcontractor costs. Owner-managed businesses should document expenses and related-party charges clearly.
Reconcile gross sales to marketplace reports, payment-gateway settlements, refunds, commissions and bank receipts. A net cash deposit is not a complete sales record. Track stock held by fulfilment providers and investigate settlement differences.
Prepare production-cost and work-in-progress schedules where relevant. Group entities also need intercompany reconciliations, shared-service agreements and reporting instructions. Align the local financial year and scope with the actual legal entity.
Accounting workflow shown for planning. The correct treatment depends on contracts and the applicable reporting framework.
Before the audit starts
Organise records by reporting year and ledger balance. Share sensitive information through the agreed secure channel.
Current licence, incorporation documents, ownership details, reporting year, prior accounts and any appointment resolution or authority correspondence. Identify the authorised management contact.
Trial balance and full general ledger, bank statements, reconciliations, cash records and borrowing agreements. Explain old or unusual reconciling items instead of carrying them forward without support.
Invoices, contracts, credit notes, ageing reports and subsequent receipts or payments. Link major balances to evidence and explain customer disputes, advances and amounts due to related parties.
Stock by location, count records, valuation workings, shipping documents and goods-in-transit schedules. Include the asset register, additions, disposals, depreciation and lease records.
Payroll, employee-benefit calculations, expense reimbursements and shareholder accounts. Separate personal payments from business expenditure and document funding terms.
VAT and Corporate tax workings, intercompany agreements, guarantees and significant commitments. Explain major events after year-end and the basis for management estimates.
Does each schedule tie to the final trial balance? Are supporting invoices and agreements traceable? Have you identified missing periods, disputed balances and post-year-end changes? These checks reduce avoidable back-and-forth.
Read the UAQ audit-preparation guide →A coordinated engagement
Agree milestones against the real reporting need, with time for evidence requests and management approval.
Share the licence, reporting year, previous accounts, trial balance and intended users. Check appointment eligibility, independence and the relevant company instructions.
Agree a request list, document owners and milestones. Reconcile schedules to the ledger and discuss inventory or external-confirmation arrangements early.
Respond to audit queries with supporting records. Review proposed corrections and disclosures. Management approves the accounts; the auditor independently determines the opinion.
Issue the appropriate report after the required work is complete. Retain one final signed set, share it with the agreed recipients and track any outstanding administrative tasks.
Scope, timing and deliverables
Agree the reporting framework, recipients and any additional schedules at the start. The financial statements should explain the company’s position and performance with appropriate policies, notes and comparative information.
A management letter, consolidation schedule, bank form or authority-form assistance may be useful, but should be included explicitly in the engagement.
Request a written proposal separating audit, cleanup and advisory fees. A promised turnaround should not replace the evidence needed to complete the work.
Connected, but separate
A UAQ licence is not an automatic Corporate tax exemption. Assess the company’s income, activities and conditions for any free-zone tax treatment.
Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025 requires QFZPs to maintain audited financial statements for tax periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025. It also addresses other audited-account categories.
UAQ Corporate tax guide →Document group purchases, shared-service charges, shareholder funding and other controlled transactions. A pricing analysis needs the commercial arrangement and reliable data—not just a benchmark percentage.
Transfer pricing benchmarking →For relevant QFZPs distributing goods or materials in or from a Designated Zone, FTA Decision No. 6 of 2026 introduces a separate agreed-upon procedures report for tax periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. Assess applicability and preserve customer-resale and import evidence; the annual audit alone does not replace that report.
Track tax registration, return preparation, company reporting and any renewal request independently. An older registration timetable is not a new annual deadline, and renewing a licence does not itself complete tax compliance.
If the books are incomplete or the company’s tax position is uncertain, raise the issue before finalising the accounts. Agree who will prepare the analysis and how corrections will be reflected consistently.
Frequently asked questions
Practical starting points for owners and finance teams. Confirm the requirements for your specific entity.
Speak with our team →For FZEs and FZCs, the authority’s published Company Regulations No 1/14, sections 3.27–3.28, provide for annual financial statements and an auditor’s report. Confirm any applicable amendments or written company-specific directions with the authority.
No. Preparing audited accounts, providing them to shareholders and responding to an authority filing request are separate tasks. Confirm the current filing instructions; do not assume another free zone’s portal or deadline applies.
Confirm the signing firm’s professional licence, eligibility for the assignment, independence, relevant experience and the appointment process. Ask for a written scope, responsible contact, evidence checklist and agreed deliverables.
Not by itself. Confirm the authority’s current administrative requirements, payment steps and any company-specific documents. An audit engagement covers the agreed financial reporting work, not every part of licence renewal.
Plan around the company’s reporting year, shareholder timetable and any current authority or lender request. Keep the Corporate tax deadline separate. Confirm dates in writing before relying on a fixed timetable.
Start with the licence, financial year, trial balance, previous audit report and requested completion date. Explain transaction volume, inventory, group dealings and any missing records so the quote reflects the actual work.
A company without sales may still have capital, bank charges, licence costs, rent and owner-funded expenses. Record those transactions and establish the applicable reporting obligations rather than assuming that no turnover means no accounts.
Accounting assistance may be scoped separately, subject to an independence assessment and appropriate safeguards. Management remains responsible for the accounting records, policies and financial statements.
Many records and discussions can be handled securely online. The evidence required may include inventory observation, confirmations or other procedures that need different arrangements. Agree the approach before the reporting date.
Fees depend on record quality, transaction volume, stock, group relationships and reporting complexity. Compare like-for-like proposals and separate audit fees from bookkeeping cleanup, tax work and additional reporting.
No. The company’s tax status, income and applicable conditions need a separate assessment. An audit report alone does not establish eligibility for the Qualifying Free Zone Person regime.
Yes. Identify transactions with related parties and connected persons and assess the applicable arm’s-length and documentation requirements. Benchmarking is selected for the transaction, not added automatically to every invoice.
Relevant guidance
UAQ Free ZonePrepare your UAQ Free Trade Zone audit file with a practical records checklist, reconciliation example and clear steps for management approval and reporting.
Read insight ↗
Corporate TaxUnderstand Corporate tax registration, audited accounts, QFZP assessment and practical compliance records for a business in Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone.
Read insight ↗
Corporate TaxAssess QFZP eligibility, qualifying income, excluded activities, de minimis, substance, audit and transfer pricing requirements under UAE Corporate tax.
Read insight ↗Official references
Updated 17 September 2026. General information, not entity-specific advice. Check current authority directions and applicable tax rules.
SAIF Chartered Accountants · UAQ Free Trade Zone
Share your licence, reporting year, trial balance and required date so we can assess the work and provide a clear proposal.
Discuss your UAQ business →Continue on WhatsApp
