Audit · Internal Audit
Internal Audit Services in Dubai & the UAE
Risk-based internal audit that tests whether your controls actually work — procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, payroll, inventory and IT — with findings rated by risk, practical recommendations and follow-up, reported to owners or the board.
- Risk-Based Audit Plan
- Findings Rated by Risk
- Outsourced or Co-Sourced
Licensed by Dubai DET · Licence 1394564
At a glance
- Rating on every finding: high, medium, low
- Risk
- Audit plan agreed with owners or board
- Annual
- Access and system controls tested alongside processes
- IT
- Until each agreed action is closed
- Follow-up
Controls on paper are not controls in practice
Control failures in growing companies are usually ordinary: purchases approved by the person who placed them, discounts nobody checks, payroll changes without sign-off, stock counts that never reconcile, system access that outlives the employee. Owners and boards tend to assume the controls work because they exist on paper. Internal audit tests that assumption, independently of the people who run the processes.
Smartgic runs a risk-based internal audit programme for you. We map your key processes, agree an audit plan with the owners or board, and test procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, payroll, inventory and IT controls against how they are meant to operate. Each finding is rated by risk, paired with a practical recommendation and an owner, and followed up until it is closed. Where risks need a new framework rather than testing, our risk advisory service takes it on.
Key facts
- Rating on every finding: high, medium, low
- Risk
- Audit plan agreed with owners or board
- Annual
- Access and system controls tested alongside processes
- IT
- Until each agreed action is closed
- Follow-up
Everything covered in Internal Audit
The concrete scope our team delivers, grouped the way we actually run your file.
Planning
An audit plan built around the risks in your business.
- Business risk assessment
- Risk-based internal audit plan
- Internal audit charter
- Reporting line and committee setup
Process Reviews
The cycles where money, stock and data move.
- Procure-to-pay review
- Order-to-cash review
- Payroll and HR controls review
- Inventory and warehouse controls
- IT general controls and user access
- Fraud risk and segregation of duties
Reporting & Follow-Up
Findings that reach the right people and actually get fixed.
- Risk-rated findings report
- Root causes and recommendations
- Management action plans
- Board or audit committee summaries
- Follow-up testing and closure tracking
What you gain with Internal Audit
The practical difference when the work is planned and filed properly the first time.
Effort Where the Risk Is
The audit plan is built from a risk assessment of your business, so time goes to the processes that could actually hurt you.
Controls Tested, Not Described
We test samples of real transactions against each control, rather than relying on policies or what people say happens.
Findings You Can Prioritise
Every finding is rated high, medium or low, with the root cause and a recommendation sized to your business, not a large corporation.
Actions That Get Closed
Agreed actions are logged with an owner and a date, and we follow up until each one is implemented and retested.
Independent Reporting Line
Reports go to the owners, board or audit committee rather than to the managers whose processes were reviewed.
Flexible Delivery Model
Use us as your whole internal audit function, or co-source specialist reviews alongside an in-house team that needs extra capacity.
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
Risk Assessment
We interview owners and managers, review your processes, systems and past issues, and rank the areas where errors, fraud or inefficiency would cost you most.
- 02
Audit Plan
We agree an internal audit plan with the owners or board, setting out which processes are reviewed, in what order, and what each review will cover.
- 03
Fieldwork and Testing
For each review we walk through the process, identify the key controls and test samples of transactions, approvals, reconciliations and system access against them.
- 04
Reporting
Findings are discussed with management first, then reported to the owners or board, each rated by risk with a root cause, recommendation, action owner and target date.
- 05
Follow-Up
We track agreed actions, retest the controls once they are fixed and report progress to the owners or board until every finding is closed.
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.
When internal audit pays off
- The owners no longer see every transaction themselves
- You run several branches, entities or sites with their own staff
- A board, investor or lender wants independent comfort on controls
- Stock, cash or purchasing losses cannot be explained
- You are preparing for an external audit, a sale or a regulatory inspection
Information we’ll need
- Organisation chart and delegation of authority
- Process documents, policies and procedures
- Previous audit reports and management letters
- Access to accounting, ERP and payroll systems
- Transaction listings for the review period
- User access lists for key systems
- Known concerns or incidents you want examined
Need documents attested or translated? Our document clearing team can help.
Internal Audit questions
Straight answers to what clients ask us most. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
An external audit gives an opinion on whether your financial statements are fairly presented, for shareholders, authorities and the FTA, and is signed by a UAE-registered auditor. Internal audit looks forward and inward: it tests whether your processes and controls work, finds weaknesses and recommends fixes, and reports to the owners or board. One does not replace the other.
Risk advisory helps you identify and assess risks and design the framework, policies and controls to manage them. Internal audit then tests whether those controls operate in practice and reports on the gaps. Keeping the two distinct matters: the people testing a control should not be the ones who designed it, so we scope each engagement to keep that separation.
For most private companies, no. Listed companies and regulated financial institutions are subject to governance rules from their regulators that expect an internal audit or internal control function. Private companies usually set one up because owners, boards, investors or lenders want independent comfort that the controls work — often as the business outgrows direct owner oversight.
Outsourced means we act as your internal audit function: we plan, perform and report every review. Co-sourced means you keep your own internal audit staff and we add capacity or specialist skills — an IT controls review, an inventory count or coverage of a new branch — under a plan you control.
Most businesses work to an annual plan, with higher-risk areas such as cash, purchasing and inventory reviewed more often and lower-risk areas on a rotation over a few years. The plan is revisited when the business changes — a new branch, system or product line — so coverage follows the risk rather than the calendar.
For most private companies it is not required by statute — it is a management choice. Listed companies and regulated institutions face governance rules that expect one. For everyone else, the value is practical: an independent look at whether your controls work, with findings ranked by risk and a plan to fix them, scaled to the size of your business.
Related services
Most clients combine these. We run them as one engagement with a single point of contact.
Let’s plan your next move
Tell us what you are planning. An adviser will come back with the route, the documents and an itemised quote — no obligation, no pressure to commit.
Visit our office
Office 44, Floor M2, BN Complex, Deira Al Muteena, Dubai, UAE
Mon – Sat, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM (GST)
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