A compliance audit tests whether a business is following defined legal, regulatory, licence, contractual or internal-policy requirements within an agreed scope. ZeroSync helps Dubai businesses map obligations, review procedures, test evidence, identify gaps and build remediation plans across areas such as tax record-keeping, AML controls for applicable DNFBPs, internal policies and other business-specific compliance requirements.
A compliance audit compares the organisation’s actual processes and evidence against defined requirements. The audit first identifies the criteria that apply, then tests whether procedures, records, approvals and filings demonstrate compliance during the selected period. Findings should distinguish missing evidence, process weaknesses, isolated exceptions and potentially material non-compliance requiring specialist advice or corrective action.
Because compliance obligations vary by industry and activity, the scope should name the exact laws, authority requirements, contracts or policies being tested rather than claiming to certify universal compliance across every possible UAE obligation.
ZeroSync can review controls, accounting records and documented procedures against agreed criteria. Where interpretation of law, enforcement exposure, litigation or regulatory representation requires legal advice, the appropriate authorised legal or regulatory specialist should be involved.
Review registration status, return-support records, tax invoice processes, reconciliations and selected evidence against the agreed VAT criteria.
Review whether responsibilities, accounting data and retained records support the company’s Corporate Tax compliance process.
Review governance, risk assessment, customer due diligence, beneficial-owner processes, monitoring, goAML/reporting procedures and record-keeping where the business falls within the relevant AML framework.
Test whether documented policies are reflected in approvals, records and actual operating practice.
Review defined reporting, document or procedural requirements specified by the relevant licensing or regulatory authority within scope.
Test selected financial or operational requirements from customer, lender, shareholder or supplier agreements where management needs assurance over adherence.
| Requirement | Control / process | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Specified filing or reporting deadline | Compliance calendar, named owner and review/approval process. | Submission receipt, portal record, approved return/report. |
| Record retention | Document-retention policy and structured archive. | Selected records from the required periods and retrieval test. |
| Customer due diligence | Onboarding checklist, risk rating and verification procedure. | Customer files, beneficial-owner evidence, screening and approval records. |
| Internal approval requirement | Authority matrix and system/manual approval workflow. | Selected transactions with approver and supporting evidence. |
| Policy review / training | Assigned policy owner and periodic update/awareness process. | Current policy, approval, communication and training records. |
The UAE issued Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 regarding Anti-Money Laundering, and the current executive-regulation framework applies obligations to relevant reporting entities including DNFBPs. The Ministry of Economy and Tourism also maintains current DNFBP guidance covering risk assessment, customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, ongoing monitoring, suspicious activity reporting and record-keeping.
In August 2026, the Ministry of Economy and Tourism and Ministry of Justice also launched a forum focused on strengthening DNFBP compliance, highlighting the continuing regulatory attention on the sector.
Identify the money-laundering, terrorism-financing and proliferation-financing risks relevant to the business and customers.
Maintain identification, verification, risk-rating and ongoing-monitoring procedures proportionate to risk.
Maintain procedures for escalation and required reporting through goAML where the reporting obligation applies.
Retain the customer, transaction, risk and compliance records required under the applicable AML framework.
A tax filing can be submitted on time and still be supported by weak accounting controls. A compliance audit can test selected areas such as responsibility, data extraction, reconciliations, review, document retention and issue escalation without replacing the technical VAT or Corporate Tax review needed for complex tax treatments.
The FTA states that Corporate Tax records and supporting documents generally need to be retained for at least seven years after the end of the relevant Tax Period. VAT has its own record-keeping rules and current FTA guidance should be used for the specific VAT records under review.
Confirm the legal, regulatory, policy or contractual requirements included in scope.
Identify owners, procedures, systems, registers and controls used to meet those requirements.
Review documents, samples, reconciliations, approvals and other evidence from the selected period.
Classify gaps by evidence, control design, operating failure or potential non-compliance.
Assign owners and deadlines and obtain specialist tax/legal advice where required by the issue.
A named person is responsible for the obligation and knows the deadline, system and escalation route.
The business has a repeatable process rather than relying only on one employee’s memory.
Supporting documents can be retrieved for the period and linked to the relevant transaction, customer or filing.
Higher-risk filings or decisions have evidence of appropriate review and approval.
Errors, missed deadlines or red flags are escalated and corrected through a documented process.
Policies and checklists are reviewed when relevant rules or business processes change.
Dubai businesses can be subject to federal law, emirate-level rules, free-zone requirements, sector regulation, tax obligations, labour requirements, AML obligations and contractual commitments. No single generic checklist can reliably certify all of those areas for every company.
A credible engagement identifies the exact criteria and period being reviewed and states limitations clearly. That approach is more useful than a broad universal-compliance statement that cannot be supported.
Use ZeroSync’s tax, AML, accounting or policy services for remediation within those professional scopes, and involve legal counsel or another regulated specialist where the issue falls outside accounting/compliance advisory expertise.
Businesses often miss obligations because information is spread across tax calendars, licence emails, HR files, policy documents and individual staff inboxes. A compliance register helps management see which obligations apply, how often they occur, who owns them and where the supporting evidence is retained.
| Register field | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Obligation / criterion | State exactly what must be done or maintained. | Return filing, licence submission, customer due diligence, record retention. |
| Owner | Assign responsibility to a named role. | Finance Manager, Compliance Officer, HR Manager. |
| Frequency / deadline | Make timing visible and monitorable. | Monthly, quarterly, annual, event-driven. |
| Evidence location | Show where proof of completion is retained. | Portal receipt, compliance folder, customer file, signed register. |
| Review / escalation | Define who checks completion and what happens if it is late. | CFO review, Compliance Officer escalation, board reporting. |
A compliance system can become outdated even when staff follow it perfectly. Changes in tax rules, AML requirements, authority portals, licence conditions or internal systems can make an old checklist incomplete.
Assign ownership for monitoring relevant official sources, assessing whether a change affects the company, updating procedures and training the affected staff. The audit can then test not only compliance with current rules, but whether the business has a repeatable method for responding to future changes.
For regulated obligations, maintain the current official law, authority guidance, circular or service condition behind the compliance checklist so staff can trace the requirement to its source.
Compliance reviews often reveal control, tax, record-keeping or policy issues. Keep each remediation stream clearly scoped rather than treating the audit report as the technical solution to every finding.
The exact criteria used in a compliance audit depend on the business. These official sources are current references for the AML and tax-control examples used on this page.
It checks selected processes and evidence against defined legal, regulatory, licensing, contractual or internal-policy requirements included in the agreed scope.
No. Compliance obligations vary by activity, sector, licence and legal form. A credible audit defines the exact criteria and period reviewed and states any scope limitations.
It can review controls, records, reconciliations, responsibility and filing processes. Complex tax treatments or corrective filings should be addressed separately through the appropriate technical tax service.
Yes, within an agreed advisory/audit scope. The review can assess the risk framework, CDD, beneficial ownership, monitoring, reporting procedures and records against current UAE AML/DNFBP criteria.
No. The service can test documented compliance processes and evidence. Legal interpretation, litigation or regulatory representation should be handled by appropriately authorised legal or regulatory professionals where required.
The issue should be described, prioritised and assigned to an owner with a remediation deadline. Material tax, AML or legal issues may also require specialist review or corrective action.
Frequency should be risk-based and reflect regulatory change, business growth, prior findings, licence conditions, transaction volume and management or governance requirements.
Depending on scope, records can include policies, filings, portal receipts, reconciliations, customer files, registers, transaction support, approvals, training records, risk assessments and exception logs.
Tell us the laws, authority requirements, policies or compliance concerns you want reviewed. ZeroSync can define the criteria, test the process and build a practical remediation plan.
