UAQ Free Zone Audit Preparation: A Practical Checklist

A UAQ Free Trade Zone audit is easier to manage when the finance team can explain the balances, locate the evidence and identify who can answer each question. Sending a trial balance is a starting point, not a complete audit file. This guide provides a practical preparation method for owners and finance teams, especially where trading, online sales or group transactions make the year-end more complex.

Start with the entity and the reporting purpose

The authority’s published Company Regulations No 1/14 cover FZE/FZC financial statements and the auditor’s report in sections 3.27–3.28. Check the requirements for your actual entity and any later written directions. Do not automatically apply the same checklist to a branch or an individual freelancer.

UAQ FTZ Company Regulations — official source

Record the legal name, year-end, previous reporting period, intended recipients and responsible management contact. Ask whether the assignment is a first audit, an annual engagement, a bank request or a group-reporting exercise. This prevents the team preparing the wrong period or assuming a special-purpose report is included in the annual audit fee.

Use a record index, not an unstructured attachment folder

The following is a working preparation checklist, not an authority upload specification. Agree the detailed evidence request with the auditor. Give every file a clear year, account or transaction reference, and owner. Use the agreed secure sharing channel for confidential records.

Reconcile schedules before fieldwork

Start with the final trial balance and build a short schedule for each significant balance. Record the opening amount, movements and closing amount. The schedule should agree to the ledger, and its components should be traceable to evidence. If a reconciliation does not balance, investigate the difference rather than forcing a miscellaneous adjustment.

For receivables, explain old debts, disputes and receipts received after year-end. For payables, compare supplier statements and invoices received after the reporting date. For loans and owner accounts, separate capital, repayments, interest and personal transactions. Document assumptions behind estimates instead of providing only a total.

Example: online sales are more than the bank deposit

Illustrative example: a platform statement shows AED 100,000 in sales, AED 5,000 in customer refunds and AED 8,000 in platform fees, producing an AED 87,000 settlement. The finance team should reconcile all four amounts and investigate timing differences. Recording only the deposit can hide the underlying revenue, refunds and costs. The appropriate accounting presentation depends on the contracts and reporting framework.

• Retain order-level or settlement-level reports supporting the totals.
• Match refunds and credit notes to the correct period and original sale.
• Explain unsettled balances, reserves and charges separately from cash received.
• Link stock movements and fulfilment records to the transactions where relevant.

Plan inventory evidence before the count date

Tell the auditor where material stock is held, including third-party warehouses and fulfilment centres. Discuss count arrangements before year-end. Preserve quantities, count adjustments, damaged or slow-moving stock information and the basis of valuation. Shipping terms and delivery records help explain goods in transit and transactions near the reporting date.

A warehouse listing establishes a quantity record, not necessarily ownership or value. Identify goods held for customers and company-owned goods held elsewhere. Manufacturers should also explain raw materials, production costs and work in progress.

Keep a simple audit request log

Nominate a finance coordinator, but involve the people who understand the transactions. The sales team may explain contract milestones, operations may explain stock movements, and management may need to approve an accounting estimate. A document marked “sent” is not necessarily an issue resolved.

Distinguish the annual audit from additional tax procedures

For relevant Qualifying Free Zone Persons engaged in distribution in or from a Designated Zone, FTA Decision No. 6 of 2026 requires a separate agreed-upon procedures report for tax periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. Assess applicability and discuss customer-resale and import evidence early. This report is distinct from the annual financial statement audit.

Read the FTA decision on distribution-related procedures

Do not treat a checklist as proof of tax eligibility. A tax adviser and the engagement team should agree what work is needed, who prepares the analysis and how it relates to the accounting records. Related-party pricing and benchmarking may also need separately scoped work.

Corporate tax in UAQ Free Zone: registration, accounts and compliance

Approve and retain one final reporting pack

Management should review the proposed accounts and adjustments, resolve material questions and provide the required approvals. The auditor determines the opinion independently. Once finalised, retain the signed statements, report, approved adjustment schedule and any agreed management-letter recommendations together.

Check the recipients and current filing instructions before submitting anything. A shareholder reporting package, lender request and authority submission are not interchangeable. Keep evidence of the handover and assign responsibility for outstanding administrative or tax tasks.

When to ask for help

Raise incomplete bookkeeping, missing statements, unsupported opening balances and disputed transactions at the outset. Agree a reconstruction plan and realistic milestones. SAIF Chartered Accountants can assess audit and separately scoped accounting support, subject to independence requirements and management’s responsibility for the accounts.

Discuss UAQ Free Trade Zone audit and accounting services