UAE Corporate Tax calculations are based on financial statements prepared under accounting standards accepted in the UAE, and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is the standard most businesses use — whether required directly, expected by an auditor, bank or investor, or simply best practice for a growing company. Our IFRS Advisory service helps businesses prepare, review or transition to IFRS-compliant financial statements, alongside the wider Accounting Services UAE businesses may need for ongoing financial reporting.
What's Included
We prepare or review your financial statements against IFRS requirements, advise on specific standards relevant to your business — revenue recognition, leases, financial instruments, related-party disclosures — and support your transition where you are moving from another basis of accounting to full IFRS compliance for the first time.
For businesses using IFRS for SMEs rather than full IFRS, we also advise on which framework genuinely fits your business size and reporting needs, rather than defaulting to the more complex standard where a simpler one would serve just as well.
We also provide plain-language explanations of IFRS treatment for management who need to understand the numbers without necessarily needing the full technical accounting detail behind them. Where IFRS review identifies broader weaknesses in bookkeeping or financial reporting, these can be addressed through our Accounting Services UAE.
Why IFRS Compliance Matters
Financial statements that don’t properly apply IFRS create a real risk during an external audit, a bank facility review, or an investor due diligence process, where a qualified opinion or a finding of non-compliance can hold up a transaction or trigger a costly restatement. For UAE Corporate Tax purposes specifically, taxable income is derived from these financial statements, so an IFRS error can also distort the tax calculation itself.
Certain IFRS areas — revenue recognition timing, lease accounting, and financial instrument classification — are common sources of error even in otherwise well-run finance functions, since they require judgement rather than a simple mechanical calculation.
Getting IFRS treatment right consistently, year over year, also makes each subsequent audit progressively smoother, since the auditor isn’t re-litigating the same judgement calls annually.
Who Needs This Service
Businesses preparing for their first external audit under IFRS, companies transitioning from a simpler accounting basis, and any business whose bank, investor or Corporate Tax position depends on financial statements that are demonstrably IFRS-compliant.
What We'll Need From You
Your current financial statements or trial balance, details of any complex transactions — leases, related-party dealings, financial instruments — and the purpose the IFRS-compliant statements need to serve, whether that’s an audit, a bank facility or an investor requirement.
Where the statements are being prepared for an audit, we may also review supporting schedules and accounting records to ensure that the figures can be substantiated during the audit process. This can be coordinated with your wider Accounting Services UAE requirements where additional bookkeeping or reporting support is needed.
Our Process
We review your current financial statements against IFRS requirements, identify and correct any areas of non-compliance, and prepare or finalise statements ready for audit, bank or investor submission.
Common IFRS Areas That Need Judgement
Revenue recognition timing for long-term contracts, lease classification under IFRS 16, and the treatment of related-party loans are areas that regularly trip up otherwise well-maintained books, since they call for judgement against specific criteria rather than a mechanical calculation. We flag these areas specifically during any IFRS review.
Where these accounting judgements affect the figures used for Corporate Tax purposes, we also consider how the resulting financial statement treatment flows through to the broader tax position. This helps keep the accounting and tax work aligned rather than treating the financial statements and tax calculations as completely separate processes.
For businesses requiring support with multiple regulatory and tax requirements, IFRS advisory can also be coordinated with the wider Other Tax & Compliance Services available through our team.
Get Expert Help for Your Business
Talk to an FTA-approved tax consultant today. Free consultation, no obligation — we’ll tell you exactly what your business needs.
Getting Started
Share your current financial statements and tell us what they need to support — an audit, a facility application, an investor requirement — and we will confirm the scope of work needed.
IFRS Support Alongside Your External Audit
Where our IFRS advisory sits alongside an external audit — whether conducted by us or another firm — we coordinate directly to make sure the financial statements presented for audit are IFRS-compliant from the start, reducing the back-and-forth an audit process otherwise tends to generate.
IFRS and Group Consolidation
Where a UAE entity is part of a wider group preparing consolidated financial statements, we ensure the UAE entity’s standalone statements are prepared in a format that supports smooth consolidation at the group level, avoiding rework at year-end.
IFRS for First-Time Investors or Fundraising
Investors evaluating a UAE business for the first time expect financial statements prepared to a recognisable international standard. Clean, IFRS-compliant statements make the due diligence process faster and signal a level of financial discipline that investors notice.
IFRS Fees and Engagement Structure
IFRS advisory can be structured as a one-off review, a full financial statement preparation engagement, or ongoing support tied to your existing accounting relationship. We agree the right structure and a transparent fixed fee with you before work begins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Corporate Tax calculations rely on statements prepared under an accepted accounting standard, with IFRS being the standard most UAE businesses use, though smaller businesses may qualify for IFRS for SMEs.
IFRS for SMEs is a simplified version of full IFRS designed for smaller, non-publicly-accountable entities, with reduced disclosure and measurement complexity in several areas.
Yes — we support the full transition process, including restating prior balances and setting up ongoing bookkeeping processes aligned with IFRS requirements.
Both — depending on your needs, we can prepare your IFRS-compliant financial statements directly or review statements prepared elsewhere for compliance issues.
Yes — IFRS-compliant financial statements prepared correctly upfront make the external audit process smoother, and we can coordinate directly with your auditor where helpful.