The audit schedules to build before the first meeting

• 20 September, 2026
• By Safwan, Managing Partner
• Accounting

Last reviewed 20 September 2026 by the Exiloz tax team against the UAE legislation in force on that date. Tax law moves — confirm any figure against tax.gov.ae before you act on it.

A clean audit starts with schedules that tie

An auditor can work through a messy ledger. They cannot sign off a balance that nobody can explain. The difference is usually not another box of invoices. It is the schedule that ties the balance in the trial balance to the source records, movements and year-end evidence. For a Dubai company, prepare that pack before the first request arrives. It gives the auditor a usable starting point and gives management a short list of gaps to fix while the people who know the transactions still remember them. If you would rather not handle this in house, this is what our audit preparation support covers.

Audit preparation is the work between a closed set of books and a set of financial statements an auditor can test. The pack should let a reviewer move from the trial balance to the underlying balance, then to the document or calculation that supports it. That trail matters more than a tidy folder name.

The auditor starts with the ledger, not the story.

Start with the final trial balance for the period under audit, the general ledger export and a chart of accounts that explains unusual account names. Add the prior-year closing balances and the proposed adjusting entries. If the company is within the scope of Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025, the decision requires audited financial statements for a taxable person that is not a Tax Group and whose revenue exceeds AED 50,000,000 in the relevant Tax Period, and for a Qualifying Free Zone Person. The schedule pack does not replace an audit. It makes the records testable.

Start here.

Build the pack around the trial balance.

Give each material balance its own lead schedule. The schedule should show the opening figure, current-period movement, closing figure, ledger reference and supporting file location. A reviewer should not have to rebuild the arithmetic from a pile of attachments.

Keep it tied.

Bank schedules show whether cash is real.

Prepare one reconciliation for every bank and payment account. Show the statement closing balance, the ledger balance and each reconciling item. Old unpresented cheques, deposits in transit and unexplained transfers need an owner and a proposed resolution. Include the final statement and the next statement where it helps clear items that were still open at year-end.

Cash is different.

Do not bury several accounts in one total. A small unexplained balance can point to a missing account, a duplicated posting or a transfer recorded on only one side.

Revenue and receivables need a clean bridge.

The revenue schedule should move from the ledger total to the sales report, then to invoices, credit notes and cut-off items. For receivables, include the customer-by-customer closing listing, an aging report and receipts after year-end. Mark disputed balances, related-party balances and amounts that have been outstanding long enough to need a provision assessment.

Tie every sale.

Worked example. A customer balance starts at AED 120,000. Credit sales add AED 1,800,000, cash receipts reduce the balance by AED 1,690,000 and credit notes reduce it by AED 45,000. The closing balance is AED 185,000 because 120,000 + 1,800,000 - 1,690,000 - 45,000 = 185,000. The receivables schedule and trial balance must show the same AED 185,000. The amounts are illustrative. The tie-out is the point.

Costs, payables and accruals need owners.

For payables, prepare the supplier listing, aging, major contracts and payments made after year-end. Then scan the first weeks of the next period for invoices that relate to the year under audit. That search is often more useful than another export of the purchase ledger. It helps find expenses that were received before closing but booked later.

Name the owner.

Accruals need a calculation, not a round number. Show the service period, basis, supplier or staff member affected and the reversal or settlement after year-end. If management estimated the amount, write down why. The auditor can challenge an estimate. A schedule that hides the basis gives them nowhere sensible to start.

Fixed assets and leases cannot sit in one total.

A fixed-asset roll-forward should separate opening cost, additions, disposals, transfers, accumulated depreciation and the closing net book value. Attach invoices for additions and disposal documents for items removed. Note the date an asset was ready for use and the depreciation method used. A single spreadsheet total does not show whether the assets still exist or whether the charge began in the right period.

Show the movement.

Keep lease workings separate from owned assets. Show the contract, payment profile, renewal terms, modification history and the calculation supporting the year-end balance. If a contract was changed during the year, flag it before the auditor finds it in the bank payments.

Inventory and work in progress need movement.

Inventory schedules should explain quantity, unit cost, write-downs and the movement from opening stock to closing stock. Link the closing listing to the count sheets and the purchase or production records. For work in progress, show the job, costs incurred, amount billed, recognised revenue and remaining estimate. Construction and project businesses should also identify retention, variation orders and claims instead of leaving them inside one work-in-progress balance.

Both matter.

The auditor is testing existence and valuation. Give both questions an answer.

Payroll, related parties and tax balances need evidence.

Reconcile payroll expense to the payroll register, bank payments, leave balances and end-of-service workings. Keep a list of directors, owners and related entities, then map balances and transactions to the ledger. A related-party schedule should state the relationship, nature of the transaction, closing balance and settlement terms.

For VAT and corporate tax, prepare a book-to-return reconciliation, payment evidence, notices and the calculation behind material balances. The schedule should make it clear which amount is in the accounts, which amount was reported and why any difference remains. If this work is behind, our audit preparation support can build the pack and leave the statutory audit with your appointed auditor. For the wider tax-audit process, see the UAE FTA tax-audit guide.

Evidence closes the loop.

The mistake we see most is a folder with no tie-out.

The mistake we see most is sending an auditor a large folder of invoices, statements and contracts without showing how the files add back to the trial balance. Volume is not evidence of completeness. The missing page is usually the bridge: a clear schedule, a ledger reference and a note for every difference.

A folder is not a tie-out.

A useful comparison is the UAE audited-financial-statements guide. It explains who may fall within the audit requirement. This article deals with the workpapers that help the appointed auditor test the balances once the engagement begins.

One unsettled point: tax-group statements need FTA rules.

There is a genuine planning uncertainty for tax groups. Article 2 of Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025 says a Tax Group must prepare audited special purpose financial statements in the form, procedures and rules specified by the Federal Tax Authority. Until the Authority gives the instruction that applies to the period, do not assume a stand-alone company pack is enough. Ask the appointed auditor which tax-group format and consolidation evidence they expect.

Ask before building.

That point is unsettled. Put the question in writing.

What to send your auditor today.

Start with a short index and give every schedule a named owner. Send the pack in this order:

Make the pack usable.

1. Close the ledger. Freeze the trial balance, export the general ledger and list proposed adjustments.
2. Build the bridges. Tie cash, receivables, payables, assets, inventory, payroll and tax balances to the ledger.
3. Clear the old items. Assign each reconciling difference, open invoice, disputed balance and missing document to someone who can resolve it.
4. Write the exceptions. Tell the auditor what remains open, why it remains open and what evidence will follow.

A concise pack with visible tie-outs gives the first meeting a purpose. It also tells management where the risk is before the auditor has to point at it.

Frequently Asked Questions