Comprehensive audit liaison services — from pre-audit preparation through fieldwork coordination to management letter responses — minimising disruption while ensuring efficient, clean audit outcomes.
The quality of audit preparation directly determines the cost, duration, and outcome of your statutory audit. Poorly prepared records lead to extended fieldwork, qualified opinions, and management letter points that create regulatory complications — particularly for DIFC and ADGM regulated entities where audit findings can trigger supervisory action.
Polaris serves as the interface between your organisation and your external auditors. We prepare all supporting documentation, manage information requests, resolve queries during fieldwork, and coordinate responses to management letter points. The result: faster audits, cleaner opinions, and lower audit fees.
For entities appointing auditors for the first time — common among growing free zone companies — we guide the auditor selection process, negotiate engagement terms, and prepare the entity for its first statutory audit.
Answers drawn from the published rules of the UAE authorities and regulators. Each answer links to its official source. Last reviewed 25 October 2026.
Joint stock companies and limited liability companies are. Article 27 of Federal Decree Law No. (32) of 2021 on Commercial Companies provides that every joint stock company and limited liability company shall have one or more auditors to carry out an annual audit of its accounts, and Article 102 requires an LLC's auditor to be appointed each year by the general assembly of partners. Article 27 also requires the company to apply international accounting standards and principles when preparing its periodic and annual accounts. Free zone companies answer to their own authority's rules, which in DMCC and RAKEZ, for example, also require an annual audit. We help first-time entities select and appoint an auditor and get the books ready for the first audit.
Source: UAE Legislation portal (Government of the UAE) — Federal Decree Law No. (32) of 2021 on Commercial Companies (English text) (accessed 24 October 2026)
Only in two cases, under Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025 on Audited Financial Statements, issued by the Ministry of Finance on 25 March 2025: a taxable person that is not a tax group and derives revenue exceeding AED 50,000,000 in the tax period, and any Qualifying Free Zone Person, whatever its revenue. A tax group must prepare audited special purpose financial statements in the form the Federal Tax Authority sets. The decision applies to tax periods commencing on or after 1 January 2025 and repeals Ministerial Decision No. 82 of 2023, which still governs earlier periods. Companies below the threshold still need proper financial statements to file their return; only the audit requirement differs. We check which test applies before the year end.
Source: UAE Ministry of Finance — Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025 on Audited Financial Statements for the Purposes of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses (accessed 24 October 2026)
Typically within six months of the financial year end, but each authority sets its own rule. DMCC's guideline on the submission of audited financial statements, updated 29 April 2025, applies to all DMCC companies including subsidiaries and branches and requires the audited financial statements and the auditor's summary sheet to be uploaded through the member portal within six months after the end of each financial year. RAKEZ's published FAQ states that all companies incorporated in RAKEZ must prepare and submit audited financial statements for every financial year, within six months of the year end, and that a late submission attracts a fine of AED 2,500. The other free zones in which we act as registered agent have their own deadlines, which we track per client and file through the portal.
Sources: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority — Submission of Audited Financial Statements and Summary Sheet (Guidelines, Version 1, 29 April 2025); Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) — RAKEZ Frequently Asked Questions (accessed 24 October 2026)
No. DMCC requires the auditor to be registered as an Approved Auditor with DMCCA and listed on its Approved Auditors List, with a limited exception for branch companies that have a group auditor. RAKEZ states that it will not accept financial statements prepared by a firm that is not enrolled on the RAKEZ approved auditors list; an approved auditor there is a UAE auditing firm enrolled under RAKEZ's implementing regulations. Appointing an unlisted auditor risks rejection of the submission and a missed filing deadline. We check the auditor's status with the relevant authority before the engagement letter is signed, and where a client's existing auditor is not listed we manage the switch or the enrolment.
Sources: Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) — RAKEZ Frequently Asked Questions; Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority — Submission of Audited Financial Statements and Summary Sheet (Guidelines, Version 1, 29 April 2025) (accessed 24 October 2026)
Yes. Federal Decree Law No. (41) of 2023 Concerning the Regulation of the Accounting and Auditing Profession, published by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, provides in Article 6 that no natural or juristic person may practise the profession in the UAE, or render any of its services, except after obtaining the licences the law and its executive regulation stipulate; the professional licence is a certificate issued by the Ministry. Article 27 makes practising without it a criminal offence punishable by at least three months' imprisonment and/or a fine of not less than AED 100,000 and not more than AED 2,000,000. A report signed by an unlicensed person puts the whole filing at risk. We verify the licence of the signing partner as well as the firm before any engagement.
Source: UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism — Federal Decree Law No. (41) of 2023 Concerning the Regulation of the Accounting and Auditing Profession (accessed 24 October 2026)
At least five years, at the company's head office. Article 26 of Federal Decree Law No. (32) of 2021 on Commercial Companies requires every company to keep accounting records of its transactions that give a clear picture of its financial position, and to keep those records at its headquarters for at least five years from the end of the financial year. Auditors rely on this record base: incomplete books are a common cause of qualified opinions, extended fieldwork and higher fees. Other regimes impose their own retention periods, so five years is the floor rather than the ceiling. We maintain the ledgers and supporting schedules so that the audit trail is complete before the auditors arrive, which is what shortens fieldwork.
Source: UAE Legislation portal (Government of the UAE) — Federal Decree Law No. (32) of 2021 on Commercial Companies (English text) (accessed 24 October 2026)
Yes, but the first period is flexible. Article 28 of Federal Decree Law No. (32) of 2021 on Commercial Companies requires every company to specify its financial year in its articles of association and allows the first financial year to run between six and 18 months from the date of registration. RAKEZ applies the same range and gives the example of a company incorporated in July 2019 preparing its first financial statements for December 2020. The choice matters: a short first period brings the audit and the filing deadline forward, while a long one defers them. We set the financial year at incorporation with the audit calendar and the group's reporting dates in mind, so the first audit lands when the books are ready.
Sources: UAE Legislation portal (Government of the UAE) — Federal Decree Law No. (32) of 2021 on Commercial Companies (English text); Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) — RAKEZ Frequently Asked Questions (accessed 24 October 2026)
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