Audit support
Audit-ready books
Audit-ready books from Finbryn means every account reconciled, every schedule tied to the trial balance, and a file built under IFRS before your licensed UAE auditor arrives, whether you operate from Dubai, Abu Dhabi or another emirate. We prepare the file; the audit firm you appoint gives the opinion.
Auditor request list
Illustrative client · August 2026
AED
- Trial balance and general ledger exportDone
- Bank confirmations and statementsDone
- Receivables and payables listingsDone
- Fixed asset register with additionsIn progress
- Accruals and prepayments supportNext
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Where UAE fieldwork actually stalls
It is rarely the headline numbers that hold up a UAE audit. It is a bank reconciliation left half finished since the licence renewal rush, a related-party balance with no note behind it, or a fixed asset register nobody has touched since the entity was set up. Closing those gaps before your appointed audit firm starts the clock is most of the job.
Every bank, card and control account gets reconciled to its statement. Accruals, prepayments, fixed assets and intercompany balances each carry a schedule tied straight back to the trial balance, built to match whichever format your auditor already works from.
One set of books, two reporting standards
Mainland companies under the Commercial Companies Law and free zone entities alike generally report under IFRS, with IFRS for SMEs available to smaller companies. Where a Qualifying Free Zone Person needs to keep its qualifying income separate from mainland-sourced revenue to protect the 0% rate, that split is built into the chart of accounts from the first transaction, not assembled retroactively when a reviewer asks for it.
Shareholder loans and intercompany charges
A UAE request list leans on related-party detail: a shareholder loan account, a management fee charged between a Dubai holding company and its operating subsidiaries, a board resolution behind a large or unusual payment. We keep a running note on each through the year, so none of it surfaces for the first time in the last week of fieldwork.
What stays outside our remit
Forming an opinion, testing management's judgement, or representing your company on a disputed estimate all sit with the licensed UAE audit firm you appoint, never with us. Our PBC list management and working paper preparation pick up once the audit firm's request list actually lands.
Second and third audits get shorter
A first audit, or the first one after moving between free zones, tends to run long simply because nobody on the team has seen that firm's request list before. We log what got asked for and how long each item took, so the following year starts from a shorter, known list instead of the same blank page.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Audit-ready books
How do you know what a UAE auditor will ask for before the list arrives?
Most lists repeat the same core items: reconciled cash, aged receivables and payables, a fixed asset roll-forward, and shareholder or related-party detail. We prepare those as a matter of course, then adjust once the actual list lands.
Will you work from our existing chart of accounts?
Yes. We reconcile against your current chart of accounts and only suggest a change when it is genuinely slowing the audit down, never as a default step.
What if this is our first audit after setting up in a free zone?
We walk your team through what a typical free zone auditor asks for and build the schedules ahead of the request list landing, so a first audit does not turn into a scramble.
Do you attend audit fieldwork meetings with us?
We can join calls where a schedule or a request needs walking through, alongside you or in your place, depending on how your team wants to run the relationship with the auditor.
Does this include the audit itself?
No. We prepare the books and schedules; the audit and any opinion on them come from an independent audit firm you engage and credential separately.
How early should we start preparing?
Most businesses see the biggest benefit starting two to three months before fieldwork, so open items get resolved before the auditor is on the clock.
What is included in audit-ready books?
Audit-ready books covers reconciliations for every bank, card and balance sheet account, tied to source statements and supporting schedules for accruals, prepaids, fixed assets and intercompany balances. The exact scope is agreed and set out in writing before work starts, so you know precisely what is and is not covered before the first deliverable arrives.
How is audit-ready books priced?
Pricing for audit-ready books depends on your transaction volume, the software you use, and how much cleanup is needed before ongoing work starts. Current ranges are published on the pricing page, and your exact fee is confirmed in writing before anything begins.
Related services
- Audit supportPBC list managementThe auditor's provided-by-client request list tracked item by item, with documents gathered, organized and delivered on schedule instead of chased down in the final week.
- Audit supportWorking paper preparationSupporting schedules and reconciliations built the way an auditor expects to see them, cross-referenced to the trial balance, so review comments come back with fewer open questions.
Industries
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.