What Sets the Liquidation Audit Cost

A liquidation audit quote is a scope price

There is no published UAE tariff for a private liquidation audit. Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies sets the liquidator's duties, including the inventory, the detailed list of assets and liabilities, and the final account. A professional fee is therefore a scope price. It reflects the work needed to make those closing records supportable.

A useful quote names the records to be reviewed and the schedules to be prepared. It says if the work covers bank reconciliations, receivables, payables, payroll settlements, asset disposals, VAT and Corporate Tax balances. It also says what happens when a balance cannot be proved. That is the difference between a fee and a vague promise to check the books.

The government tax applications are separate from the professional fee. The FTA Corporate Tax deregistration service is free of charge, but it still asks for a licence cancellation document and financial statements through the cancellation date. Preparing those statements, finding missing evidence and answering follow-up requests are the parts that can change a private quote.

The ledger decides whether the work is light

A company with a current trial balance, reconciled bank accounts and no open assets needs a narrower review than a company whose books stopped months before closure. An inactive licence does not prove an inactive ledger. Bank fees, deposits, old receivables, supplier balances and tax credits still need an owner and a closing document.

The condition of the records changes the work before the auditor sees them. If sales, purchases and payments are posted to the wrong period, someone has to rebuild the cut-off. If the fixed-asset register is missing, disposals need another trail. The quote should show this as preparation or reconstruction, not hide it inside a low headline fee.

A free-zone company also needs a local authority file, while a mainland company may follow the Commercial Companies Law process directly. A VAT-registered company adds the VAT deregistration evidence and final return. A Corporate Tax registrant adds the licence cancellation document, financial statements and final returns. Start with the company's licence and tax status.

• Current and reconciled ledgers usually narrow the review.
• Missing asset or debt evidence expands preparation.
• VAT and Corporate Tax create separate handovers.
• A free-zone licence adds an authority-specific file.

Pay for deliverables, not a label

The core preparation file should bring the final trial balance to the evidence behind it. That means bank statements and reconciliations, aged receivables and payables, loan balances, employee settlements, asset records, tax ledgers and a proposed distribution schedule. Each schedule should show the balance, the supporting document and the settlement status.

The quote must separate accounting support from statutory assurance. Preparing schedules does not mean signing the statutory audit report. It also does not mean acting as liquidator, approving the final account or obtaining a licence cancellation. Exiloz is not the statutory auditor, is not the liquidator and does not perform statutory audits. Those boundaries belong in the written scope.

The client still supplies the source records. Ask the finance team for the ledger export, bank statements to the cut-off, contracts, invoices, payroll settlement proof, asset sale documents, tax returns and licence correspondence. If a record is unavailable, write the gap down. A clear missing-item list is useful work. A silent assumption is a future rework charge.

• Final trial balance tied to the general ledger.
• Bank, debt, asset and employee settlement schedules.
• VAT and Corporate Tax reconciliation support.
• A written list of exclusions and missing records.

Get the quote after a short file review

Send the provider the licence, constitutional records, latest trial balance, bank position, tax registration details and the planned closure route. The first useful response is not a price alone. It is a statement of what the provider sees in the file, what remains unknown and which records must arrive before work can start.

Next, agree the cut-off date and the handover order. The Commercial Companies Law requires the liquidator to inventory assets and liabilities immediately after appointment and to keep a record of liquidation transactions. The accounting file should therefore have one opening point and one owner for each unresolved balance. That keeps the quote tied to actual closing work.

Finally, ask for a deliverables list and a response rule. The provider should say how revised schedules, FTA questions and authority comments are handled. A quote that ends at the first file upload may be cheaper only because the difficult part is outside its scope. Put the handover point in writing before anyone begins.

• Share the licence, ledger and tax status first.
• Set one cut-off date for the closing file.
• Assign an owner to every open balance.
• Record how follow-up questions are handled.

The evidence trail is what moves the price

A quote rises when the provider has to turn scattered records into evidence. Several bank accounts, related-party balances, stock, vehicles, leases or unpaid staff claims each add a reconciliation or settlement trail. The same is true when the company has filed returns but the tax ledger does not agree with them. Ask for these drivers as separate lines so two quotes can be compared honestly.

One figure can change the worklist. Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025 covers a taxable person outside a Tax Group whose revenue exceeds AED 50,000,000. A file at AED 50,000,001 is AED 1 above that line: AED 50,000,000 + AED 1 = AED 50,000,001. We would check that classification before pricing the statutory-audit handover, because a support pack cannot substitute for an audit engagement where the rule applies.

Proof of a sensible quote is simple. It names the closing date, lists the documents reviewed, states the unresolved balances and separates preparation from the statutory auditor's work. Under the Commercial Companies Law, the liquidator's final account still has to be submitted and approved. The fee should buy a file that helps that account stand up to review.