External audit services in Qatar

An external audit is an independent check of a company’s yearly financial statements by an auditor entered in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s register under Law No. 8 of 2020. The auditor examines the accounts and gives a written opinion on them to the shareholders. It is separate from the company’s own internal checks.

Mainland limited liability and joint stock companies must appoint an auditor each year under company law. Tax-return requirements are separate: the GTA’s investor guidance distinguishes eligible wholly Qatari or GCC-owned resident companies from mixed or foreign-owned companies, for which it requires audited accounts regardless of size. QFC and free zone entities follow their own frameworks. Confirm the rules for your entity before deciding an audit is unnecessary.

Under Law No. 8 of 2020, only auditors entered in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s register may practise auditing in Qatar. When a firm issues the report, a partner or manager registered as an individual auditor signs it personally, with their registration number. Listed companies and QFC companies also have their own auditor registers.

Not during the year being audited. Law No. 8 of 2020 says a company may not remove its auditor during that financial year unless the auditor has broken the law and the Ministry approves. Limited liability and joint stock companies appoint the auditor at the general assembly each year, so a change is normally made there.

It depends on the size of the business, the number of transactions, the state of the books and whether there is a group of companies. Clean, up-to-date books cost less to audit. We look at your accounts first and then give you a fixed fee in a written proposal, so you know the cost before we start.

It depends on the size of the company and how ready the books are. Clean, up-to-date records make it much faster. Our proposal includes a timetable with the dates for each step and the papers we need from you, so you can plan the audit around the tax return deadline.

Check that the auditor is entered in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s register of auditors, ask who will sign the report and what the written proposal covers, and confirm that the firm did not prepare the accounts it will audit. Companies listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange and QFC companies also need an auditor on the QFMA or QFC register.

Not for the same accounts. Qatar’s tax rules say the auditor of a company’s accounts cannot be someone who took part in preparing them, and the law on the auditing profession bars an auditor from giving consultancy work to a company it audits. If a firm keeps your books, a different firm must audit them.

A management letter is a letter from the auditor to the company’s management, sent with or after the audit report. It sets out weaknesses in controls, accounting or records found during the audit, how serious each one is and what should be done. It is written for management, not for outside readers of the accounts.