Internal Controls Consulting in the UAE
Most control frameworks fail quietly. Nothing breaks on the day a new system goes live or a new regulation lands. The control simply stops matching the way work actually gets done — and the gap only becomes visible when an auditor, a regulator, or a loss makes it visible.
Markef designs, tests and implements internal controls for UAE businesses that have outgrown their original processes. Our starting position is straightforward: a control that slows the business down will be worked around, and a control that is worked around is not a control.
When companies come to us
Most engagements begin with a specific trigger rather than a general interest in governance.
- A statutory audit produced management-letter points that keep recurring year after year.
- Corporate Tax filing exposed weak record-keeping and no reliable audit trail from transaction to return.
- An ERP migration went live and the old manual controls no longer map to the new system.
- The business grew past the point where the founder or Finance Director could personally review every payment.
- A regulator requires documented, evidenced controls rather than written policies.
- A funding round, group reporting line or sale process introduced a control standard the company has never had to meet.
Our internal controls methodology
Four phases, each with a defined output — so you know exactly what you are buying.
1. Assess
We walk each transaction end to end and record where authority actually sits, not where the policy says it sits. Risks are rated by exposure, not by template. Output: risk and control matrix, gap register, prioritised remediation plan.
2. Design
Controls are redesigned against the COSO framework's five components and seventeen principles, then mapped to the specific process cycle they govern segregation of duties, delegation of authority thresholds, maker-checker rules, three-way match logic.
3. Implement
Configuration in your ERP or accounting system, workflow build, and training for the people who will operate each control. A control that is never trained is never operated. Output: configured system controls, control owner training, evidence templates.
4. Monitor & Improve
Design-effectiveness and operating-effectiveness testing on a defined cycle, with exception reporting and periodic health checks as systems and structures change. Output: testing results, deficiency tracker, management and board reporting pack.
Process cycles we cover
Procure-to-Pay
Vendor master governance, three-way match, payment authorisation thresholds, duplicate-payment detection.
Order-to-Cash
Credit approval, revenue recognition cut-off, receivables ageing review, credit-note authorisation.
Record-to-Report
Balance sheet reconciliations, journal entry review, close checklist, consolidation controls.
Payroll and HR
Starter and leaver controls, payroll change authorisation, WPS compliance, gratuity provisioning.
Treasury and Banking
Bank mandate governance, signatory limits, cash forecast review, FX exposure approval.
Inventory and Fixed Assets
Cycle counting, movement authorisation, capitalisation policy, physical verification.
IT General Controls
User access provisioning and review, privileged access, change management, backup and recovery.
Internal controls in the UAE regulatory context
Generic control frameworks rarely survive contact with UAE supervisors. We build controls that produce the evidence local regulators and auditors actually ask for.
Corporate Tax
Your filing position is only as strong as the records behind it. We build a traceable audit trail from source document to return, alongside controls over related-party transactions, expense authorisation and record retention that will hold up under FTA review.
VAT
Output and input tax controls, reverse-charge treatment, and a working reconciliation between the VAT return and the general ledger.
Statutory Audit
Controls documented and evidenced so your external auditor can place reliance on them — reducing substantive testing and stopping the same management-letter points from reappearing each year.
Regulated and Free Zone Entities
Control documentation and testing evidence proportionate to the supervision your entity is subject to, whether that sits with a mainland or free zone authority.
What we deliver
Internal Control Assessment
A structured review of your control environment against the risks that actually threaten your business, rather than a compliance checklist.
Internal Control Design and Redesign
Building an environment that matches how your people genuinely work, so controls are operated rather than bypassed.
Controls Testing
Independent testing of design and operating effectiveness, with documented evidence you can hand to an auditor or regulator.
Control Deficiency Remediation
Closing gaps before they become findings or losses, including root-cause analysis so the same deficiency does not recur next year.
IT General Controls Review
Access, change and system-embedded controls. A weak ITGC environment quietly undermines every financial control that depends on the system.
Internal Audit Support
Aligning the audit plan with the control framework so the two functions reinforce each other instead of duplicating effort.
Engagement models
Controls Health Check
Fixed-scope diagnostic across two or three priority cycles. The right first step if you are not yet sure where the exposure sits.
Full Implementation
Assess through to test, across finance, IT and operations.
Remediation Only
Targeted closure of specific audit findings or regulator observations.
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Retained Monitoring
Quarterly or half-yearly testing and reporting.
Why organisations choose Markef
Controls and tax under one roof. Because Markef also delivers your Corporate Tax, VAT, audit and assurance and outsourced CFO work, controls are designed against your real filing and reporting obligations — not in isolation from them.
We stay through implementation. Recommendations are the start of the engagement, not the end. We train the control owners and test the controls before we consider the work complete.
- Led by ACCA, with 12 years of controls and assurance experience across multiple in the UAE
- Controls designed against live UAE filing and reporting obligations
- Control owners trained and controls tested before sign-off
- Practical, sustainable implementation over checklist compliance
- Long-term partnership approach, not a one-off report
Industries we serve
Manufacturing
Real Estate
Construction
Retail & Distribution
Professional Services
And More
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between internal controls consulting and internal audit?
Internal controls are the preventive and detective checks built into your daily processes. Internal audit independently evaluates whether those controls are designed properly and operating as intended. Controls consulting builds the framework; internal audit tests it from outside the process.
How long does an internal controls implementation take?
A focused assessment across two or three cycles typically takes two to four weeks. A full implementation covering finance, IT and operations usually runs three to six months, depending on entity count, systems, and how much process documentation already exists.
We already have documented policies. Do we still need a controls review?
Documented policies are not the same as operating controls. A review tests whether the policy is actually followed, whether evidence exists to prove it, and whether the control still matches the process after system or personnel changes. That gap is usually the main finding.
Do internal controls matter for UAE Corporate Tax?
Yes. Corporate Tax obligations depend on reliable books, a traceable audit trail, and disciplined record retention. Weak controls over journal entries, related-party transactions and expense authorisation create direct tax exposure, not just accounting risk.
What does an internal controls engagement cost in Dubai?
Cost depends on scope — the number of cycles, entities and systems involved, and whether testing is one-off or retained. A controls health check is fixed-fee; implementation engagements are scoped after the diagnostic.
If your controls were designed for a smaller, simpler version of your business, the gap will surface eventually.
In an audit finding, a tax review, or a loss. A short diagnostic will tell you where you actually stand.