IndependentReviewServicesinUAE

An independent review is not a general legal requirement in the way a statutory audit or corporate tax filing is. It is usually requested by a bank, investor, parent company or free zone authority that wants assurance on the financial statements without the full scope of an audit. Whether one is needed depends on what your lender, shareholder or licence renewal actually asks for.

There is no fixed published fee for independent review work, since cost depends on company size, transaction volume and the scope requested by whoever needs the report. Pricing is quoted after reviewing the accounting records and the intended use of the report, whether that is a bank, investor or head office.

Timing depends on the size of the business and how organised the accounting records already are, but an independent review is generally quicker than a full statutory audit because it involves analytical procedures and enquiry rather than exhaustive testing. A small company with clean books can often be reviewed within a few working days.

A statutory audit gives reasonable assurance through detailed testing of transactions and balances, while an independent review gives limited assurance based mainly on analytical procedures and management enquiry. A review is narrower in scope and cannot be used as a substitute where a licence, free zone authority or regulator specifically requires an audited financial statement.

You will typically need the trial balance, general ledger, bank statements, fixed asset register, sales and purchase invoices, and prior year financial statements if available. Additional records, such as loan agreements or related party schedules, may be requested depending on the nature of the business and what the review is meant to demonstrate.

Independent review reports are most often requested by banks assessing a loan application, investors carrying out due diligence, a parent company consolidating group accounts, or a free zone authority as part of licence renewal. The specific requirement, and the period it must cover, is set by that requesting party rather than by a single fixed rule.