Audit · Factual Findings
Agreed-Upon Procedures (AUP) Reports in the UAE
Agreed-upon procedures engagements under ISRS 4400 (Revised): specific checks on the figures or controls your lender, landlord, franchisor or regulator cares about, reported as factual findings without an assurance opinion — scoped with you and the report’s users.
- ISRS 4400 (Revised)
- Factual Findings Only
- Scope Agreed Up Front
Licensed by Dubai DET · Licence 1394564
At a glance
- Revised standard for agreed-upon procedures
- ISRS 4400
- Factual results, with no assurance opinion
- Findings
- Procedures set with you and the report’s users
- Agreed
- One balance, ratio or calculation — not everything
- Targeted
When someone needs specific facts checked, not a full audit
Lenders, landlords, franchisors, grant bodies and regulators often want one thing checked rather than the whole financial statements: covenant figures, turnover for a percentage rent, royalty calculations, how a grant was spent, or a single balance. A full audit is broader than that question needs. An agreed-upon procedures engagement under ISRS 4400 (Revised) tests exactly what the parties agree and reports the factual findings, without expressing an assurance opinion.
Smartgic scopes and manages the engagement. We help you and the report’s intended users agree procedures that are specific and objective — “agree the declared turnover to the sales ledger”, not “review sales” — and prepare the records the practitioner will test. The procedures are performed and the report signed by UAE-registered auditors who are independent of your bookkeeping, and the findings are set out so each reader can draw their own conclusions.
Key facts
- Revised standard for agreed-upon procedures
- ISRS 4400
- Factual results, with no assurance opinion
- Findings
- Procedures set with you and the report’s users
- Agreed
- One balance, ratio or calculation — not everything
- Targeted
Everything covered in Agreed-Upon Procedures
The concrete scope our team delivers, grouped the way we actually run your file.
Scoping
Getting the procedures right before any testing starts.
- Review of the underlying agreement or request
- Procedures drafted in objective terms
- Engagement terms and intended users
- Independence requirements confirmed
Typical Engagements
The questions AUP reports most often answer.
- Lender covenant and ratio checks
- Landlord turnover rent certificates
- Franchisor royalty and sales checks
- Grant and funding usage reports
- Regulatory information requests
- Specific balance and transaction checks
Reporting
A report the user can act on for the facts it states.
- Records prepared for testing
- Findings and exceptions listed by procedure
- Signed report under ISRS 4400 (Revised)
- Restriction on use where appropriate
- Follow-up questions from the user
What you gain with Agreed-Upon Procedures
The practical difference when the work is planned and filed properly the first time.
Exactly the Scope Required
Procedures cover only what the lender, landlord or regulator needs, so you are not paying for a full audit to answer one question.
Procedures Agreed in Advance
We draft procedures with the report’s intended users before work starts, so the report addresses what they actually asked for.
Objective, Clear Findings
Each finding states what was done and what was found, in terms any reader can check, without vague words like “reviewed” or “satisfactory”.
Records Ready to Test
We prepare the ledgers, reconciliations and source documents behind the figures in scope, so testing is not held up by missing evidence.
Independence Stated Clearly
The report states the practitioner’s independence position, and where your lender or landlord requires independence, it is written into the engagement terms.
Recognised Reporting Format
Reports follow the structure ISRS 4400 (Revised) sets out — purpose, procedures, findings and any restriction on use — which users recognise.
A clear process, step by step
One adviser owns your file from first call to completion, and you always know which step you are on.
- 01
Understand the Request
We read the loan agreement, lease, franchise contract or regulator’s letter behind the request, and identify exactly which figures or controls the user wants checked.
- 02
Agree the Procedures
We draft specific, objective procedures and the engagement terms; you, and where possible the intended users, confirm the procedures are appropriate for their purpose.
- 03
Prepare the Records
We gather the ledgers, statements, invoices and calculations in scope, reconcile them where needed, and organise them so each procedure can be performed directly.
- 04
Perform the Procedures
The UAE-registered practitioner performs each agreed procedure and records the factual findings, including any exceptions, without forming an opinion or conclusion.
- 05
Issue the Report
The signed report lists each procedure with its findings and states the purpose and any restriction on use; we help you deliver it to the user and answer follow-up questions.
Who it’s for and what you’ll need
Have these ready and we can move quickly. If something is missing, we will tell you what the authority accepts instead.
Common uses for an AUP report
- Lender covenant checks on ratios, balances or cash flows
- Landlord turnover certificates for percentage-rent leases
- Franchisor royalty and sales reporting
- Grant, sponsor or regulator requests on how funds were used
- Checks on a specific balance, such as receivables, stock or related-party amounts
Information we’ll need
- The agreement or letter requesting the report
- Any procedures or template the user has specified
- Ledgers and trial balance for the period in scope
- Source documents for the figures to be tested
- Calculations already submitted, such as covenants or royalties
- Contact details for the intended users, if they will confirm scope
Need documents attested or translated? Our document clearing team can help.
Agreed-Upon Procedures questions
Straight answers to what clients ask us most. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
It is an engagement under ISRS 4400 (Revised) in which a practitioner performs specific procedures agreed with you — and usually with the report’s intended users — and reports the factual findings. Unlike an audit or review, it expresses no opinion and gives no assurance; the users read the findings and draw their own conclusions.
An audit covers the financial statements as a whole and ends in an opinion on whether they give a true and fair view. An AUP engagement covers only the procedures agreed — perhaps one balance or one calculation — and reports what was found, with no opinion. Because the scope is tighter, the report is easier for a specific user to act on, but it is not evidence that the accounts as a whole are right.
ISRS 4400 (Revised) does not require independence by itself, but many users do — lenders and landlords often specify it — and the report must state the position either way. We confirm what your user requires at the outset. If we keep your books, the procedures are performed by UAE-registered auditors independent of that bookkeeping.
You do, as the engaging party, usually together with the report’s intended users. The practitioner helps draft procedures that are specific and objective enough to produce factual findings, and can decline procedures that would amount to giving an opinion. Once agreed, the procedures are set out in the engagement letter and repeated in the report.
The report is addressed to the engaging party and written for the purpose agreed. It can be restricted to named users, which is common where a lender or landlord set the procedures. If someone else later wants to use it, they should be added as an intended user in the terms, or the scope reconsidered.
Many retail leases, particularly in malls, charge rent partly as a percentage of the tenant’s sales. The landlord then asks for a certificate or AUP report on the turnover declared for the period. Procedures typically agree declared turnover to the sales ledger, point-of-sale reports and VAT returns, with any differences listed as findings.
Related services
Most clients combine these. We run them as one engagement with a single point of contact.
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