AUDITING SERVICES

Internal audits are carried out by businesses to discover any flaws in internal controls, operational efficiency, or regulatory compliance. Internal audits can be carried out by employees from within the company, but most companies use the top internal audit firms in Dubai to do so. By strengthening risk management and adhering to international and local standards, an internal audit guarantees that the organization is on the correct track. Internal audits are conducted by business owners for a variety of reasons, including monitoring system effectiveness, identifying areas that need improvement, ensuring compliance with laws and regulations, reviewing, and verifying financial information, evaluating risk management policies and procedures, and scrutinizing operation processes.

An external audit is a third-party examination of a company's financial statements that assures stakeholders that the financial records are free of serious misstatement. During an external audit, Dubai auditors examine transactions, methods, and balances, and in some cases, the auditor seeks independent confirmation from sources such as the bank, customers, and suppliers. The UAE audit firms submit an audit report at the conclusion of the audit. The audit opinion is relied upon by lenders, creditors, shareholders, and investors to learn about a company's financial health. In most free zones in Dubai, enterprises are required to submit an annual audit report. Meanwhile, enterprises on the Mainland are subjected to voluntary audits.

At a time when corporate fraud is on the rise, forensic auditing or fraud investigation has become increasingly important. In Dubai, audit organizations that do forensic audits follow and investigate fraud, financial crimes, and commercial disputes. Even the police in the United Arab Emirates require the auditor's certificate in order to file a case. The audit also identifies the source and reasons of financial problems, claimed employee fraud, revenue reductions, expense increases, and other operational issues. Forensic audits cover a broad range of investigative tasks, such as auditing a party to prosecute them for fraud, embezzlement, or other financial crimes. A forensic audit may encompass activities such as bankruptcy filing disputes, business closures, and so on, in addition to financial fraud. When there is a chance that the evidence acquired will be utilized in court, a forensic audit is performed.

Retail businesses operating in UAE shopping malls are required to submit a Statement of Gross Turnover, which is audited by an approved auditor. The conditions of the Lease Agreement dictate this need. The definition of gross turnover shall be as stipulated in the lease agreement, which allows for the inclusion or exclusion of specific sales components. Conducting a sales audit allows you to examine the sales collection process for potential control flaws and to ensure that the tenant is adhering to the lease agreement. It also gives the landlord with certainty of stated gross sales.

A tax audit is a process carried out by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) to examine the commercial records or any information or data of taxable persons conducting business in the UAE, according to the Tax Procedures Law (Federal Decree-Law no. 7). The FTA conducts a tax audit on a taxable person to check that the taxable person is in compliance with the UAE VAT Law and the Tax Procedures Law.

By conducting a tax audit, the FTA ensures that the taxable person has paid all liabilities and that all taxes due are collected and provided to the government within the timeframe specified, as well as whether the taxpayer is in full compliance with the law, such as issuing proper Tax Invoices, receiving eligible VAT credit based on proper Tax Invoices from suppliers, and so on. To ensure VAT compliance, tax agents in the UAE who are registered with the Federal Tax Authority assist companies with pre-audit and post-audit support. Tax agents who are not registered with the FTA should not be approached by businesses.

Other types of audits, such as operational, strategic, and IT audits, have grown in popularity in recent years, owing to the increasing complexity of organizational processes, as well as IT infrastructure, and the fast-paced external marketplace, which necessitates an assessment of whether organizations’ internal processes and strategies are aligned with those of external strategic drivers and imperatives.

IT audits are also being sought to review and evaluate the suitability of an organization's IT infrastructure, systems, and procedures to accomplish stated goals and objectives, as well as to withstand IT threats and security breaches. Indeed, as the nature, type, and variety of IT risks have grown, as has the complexity of IT infrastructure, IT audits have become as common as financial and operational audits, because both internal and external stakeholders want to know if the organization's IT infrastructure is up to snuff and capable of meeting stated goals and objectives.

Financial audits are the most popular type of audit, as previously said, for a variety of reasons, including the fact that businesses exist to create money, return profits, and generate wealth for their shareholders. This means that investors and other stakeholders need to know if the firms are being operated effectively in order for their money to be safe and generate the expected returns.

Furthermore, financial audits are the most prevalent types of audits since any anomalies in the books of accounts reveal company mismanagement in addition to finance, affecting practically all operational and strategic areas of the company and its enterprises.

Furthermore, financial audits are the first line of defense in determining if organizations are telling the truth and whether they are concealing or covering up something that a forensic audit can detect and reveal.

Findings from a product, process, or system audit may necessitate correction and action. Because most corrective actions cannot be completed during the audit, the audit program manager may request a follow-up audit to ensure that all corrections and corrective actions were completed. Because a single-purpose follow-up audit is expensive, it is usually integrated with the area's next planned audit. This judgement, however, should be based on the significance and risk of the discovery.

Follow-up audits may be conducted by an organization to ensure that preventive steps were taken in response to performance issues that were highlighted as chances for improvement. Organizations may also refer discovered performance issues to management for further investigation.

Companies have ensured that every department is ready to face a new era since tax was announced to begin on the first day of 2018 in the UAE. Accounting software is one of the most crucial things to update. Likewise, the requirements governing VAT accounting must be followed.A review of the systems will ensure that there are no discrepancies in the transactions that have been recorded.

A consultant will evaluate the VAT returns that companies must file to ensure that they are prepared correctly, with the values accurately entered in the right boxes and the necessary information filled in, and that they are filed within the timeframe set by the FTA.

On or before the due date, pay the right amount of tax due. By missing the deadline for tax payment to the government, a tax expert will ensure that you do not attract unfavorable attention from FTA.

• The financial report is prepared by the organization's management. It must be prepared in compliance with legal and financial reporting obligations.
• The financial report has been approved by the board of directors of the organisation.
• Auditors begin their investigation by learning about the organization's operations and taking into account any economic or industry difficulties that may have impacted the business throughout the reporting period.
• Auditors identify and assess any risks that could have a significant impact on the financial position or financial performance for each major activity listed in the financial report, as well as some of the measures (called internal controls) that the organisation has put in place to mitigate those risks.
• Auditors analyze what management has done to guarantee the financial report is accurate, and examine supporting evidence, based on the risks and controls identified.
• Auditors then decide whether the financial report as a whole gives an accurate and fair picture of the organization's financial results and position, as well as its cash flows, and if it complies with financial reporting standards and, if relevant, the Corporations Act.
• Finally, auditors create an audit report for the organization's shareholders or members, outlining their findings.

The study and verification of a company's financial records is described by the term audit in accounting. Its purpose is to ensure that financial data is presented in a fair and truthful manner. Audits are also carried out to check that financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting rules. The following are the three primary financial statements:

• Profit and loss statement
• Balance sheet
• Statement of Cash Flow

Through different recorded transactions, financial statements capture a company's operating, investing, and financing operations. Because the financial statements are prepared internally, there is a considerable danger of the preparers of the statements engaging in fraudulent activities. Preparers can readily falsify their financial condition without sufficient controls and standards, making the organisation appear more profitable or successful than it is. Auditing is necessary to guarantee that organizations accurately and fairly portray their financial status in compliance with accounting rules.

Beyond compliance and conformance, words like value-added assessments, management audits, added value auditing, and continuous improvement auditing are used to characterize audit purposes. The goal of these audits is to assess how well a company is performing. Compliance and conformance audits are currently not focused on good or bad performance. Most businesses are concerned about their performance.

The collecting of evidence related to organization performance vs evidence to verify conformity or compliance to a standard or practice is a key difference between compliance audits, conformance audits, and improvement audits. An organization's order-taking procedures may be followed, but if every order is altered two or three times, management may be concerned and wish to address the inefficiencies.

Regular audits are necessary for business owners to understand several aspects of their firm, such as internal control flaws and financial health. Audits can help you detect problems early on before they turn into major blunders. If you don't undertake audits, you can end up evaluating erroneous financial documents, which could have a negative influence on your organization later. Internal audits, external audits, forensic audits, and sales audits are all services provided by the leading firms in Dubai, such as ours.