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Statutory Audit
We conduct an integrated audit, which combines the financial statement audit,independent and objective assurance on financial information, transactionsand processes.
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Limited Review
We offer services relating to reviews of historical financial informationby expressing negative assurance on such historical financial information.
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Agreed Upon Procedures
We engage with organisationsto perform specific procedures and report findings to conform to their needs.
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Financial Reporting Advisory Services (FRAS)
Our team provides timely advice on the impact of accounting changes to assist businesses in the development of an appropriate implementation roadmap.
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Business Consulting
Grant Thornton UAE provides organisations with implementable plans that drive sustainable growth strategies to grow and optimise their business performance.
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Business Risk Services
Organisations need to understand risks thoroughly to be able to manage them better. Grant Thornton UAE helps businesses achieve the best balance between minimising risk exposure, optimising profitability and developing compliance review checklists.
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Regulatory Advisory Services
Grant Thornton UAE's extensive understanding of the overarching supervisory framework within the region equips our professionals to support financial institutions comply and abide by the set of regulatory mandates throughout the rapidly evolving ecosystem.
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Financial Advisory
Grant Thornton UAE works with organisations on transactions from start to finish, assisting with strategy, identifying risks, executing deals, and helping to unlock their potential for growth and value creation.
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Restructuring Advisory
Grant Thornton UAE is committed to realising value for shareholders, in a way that recognises and supports the interests of all stakeholders. Our solutions maximise value, provide clarity and direction, and accelerate recovery and transformation for businesses.
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Technology Advisory & Cybersecurity
IT and technology are fundamental to drive the performance of businesses. Through leveraging the power of technology, Grant Thornton UAE helps organisations define and identify growth opportunities to achieve value-driven transformation and innovation.
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Forensics
Fraud and corruption pose a growing challenge worldwide. As the commercial landscape changes, an increasingly regulated environment requires stringent governance and compliance processes. Grant Thornton UAE helps organisations navigate challenges and crisis with a hands-on approach coupled with the use of technology.
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ESG Services
The Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) agenda has gained significant traction over the years, to become one of the key strategic aspects of any business. It is imperative that all organisations, irrespective of industry sector, engage with their stakeholders and prioritise ESG practices to unlock sustainable growth opportunities.
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Business Process Solutions
Our team at Grant Thornton offers comprehensive and cost effective outsourced solutions, enabling stakeholders and business owners to focus on their core business goals.
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Corporate Tax
Our diversified team of corporate tax subject matter experts combines a perfect blend of international experience across several industry sectors, technical expertise, and commercial nuances with a commitment to deliver exceptional value to your business.
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VAT
The VAT team at Grant Thornton is well versed with the VAT Laws applicable across the region and holds valuable experience and professional accreditation in assisting clients across diverse industries to comply with the VAT obligations.
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Transfer Pricing
Grant Thornton UAE assists its clients in providing transfer pricing solutions that are implementable and operational, considering the facts and concerns of its clients.
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International Tax and Tax Due Diligence
Grant Thornton UAE supports multinational groups to optimise their tax structures. We can also assist businesses in analysing existing group transactions and inter-group supplies, as well as advising on potential implications of various taxes to facilitate an efficient Group tax structure.
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Economic Substance Requirements
Economic Substance rules were introduced in the UAE in 2019, requiring UAE businesses that undertake certain ‘Relevant Activities’ to maintain and demonstrate adequate substance.
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Customs and International Trade
The team at Grant Thornton is positioned centrally to assist the businesses with global cross-border tax structuring, planning and compliance needs.
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Excise Tax
We provide Excise Tax related advisory and compliance services to the producer, importer, and the storekeeper of excisable goods
From the advent of AI in accounting to the need for more diversity, Grant Thornton UAE CEO Hisham Farouk discusses the brave new world of financial accounting.
Hisham Farouk may have been working with Grant Thornton UAE for 24 years now, serving as CEO since 2012; however, as he tells The CEO Magazine, that doesn’t mean he’s feeling any less inspired. Far from it, in fact.
“Look, it is a long time, but what keeps me going is that every day feels like a brand-new day,” he says with a smile.
“Every day has its own challenges and every day has its own satisfactions. I’ve been working for I don’t know how many thousands of days over those years, but that’s always been a great pleasure.”
Farouk adds that one of the most gratifying parts of his job has been nurturing the next generation and seeing them, like himself, climb the ranks at Grant Thornton, which is one of the world’s largest tax, audit and consulting firms.
“That’s one of the greatest feelings. It gives me such a sense of satisfaction for what I do and keeps me going,” he says. “I relish the opportunity to work with progressive entrepreneurs and support them in materializing their dreams. That’s an underlying joy that we have in our profession.”
Personal touch
By the same token, when it comes to how Farouk defines success, he believes nurturing happy and fulfilled employees is of central significance.
“The wellbeing of our people is extremely important,” he says. “We are in a highly stressful profession – there are a lot of laws and regulations we need to understand and be very selective about, plus a significant amount of deadlines for listed entities and financial institutions.
“It’s a very large level of responsibility, so naturally builds a lot of stress.”
He believes it’s essential to ensure that Grant Thornton’s people have the right space and mental state to be able to deliver the quality of work required while actually enjoying their lives as much as possible.
Farouk emphasizes that the other most significant indicator that a business is doing well is related to how clients feel about the work being delivered.
“It’s about a personalized approach and the sense that we have the expertise and caliber to support our clients to fulfill their own strategies and expectations,” he explains.
Internally, KPIs are driven by the second win, not the first win.
“We believe the first win can always happen, but it’s actually when the client renews with you that you get the reaffirmation that you’ve done a good job,” he says.
A diverse perspective
While Grant Thornton has always prioritized diversity and inclusion as part of its global culture, Farouk is proud to report that part of a new strategy following the COVID-19 pandemic saw its numbers on this front improve even further.
“We focused very heavily on increasing our diversity and inclusion, not just in terms of gender, but also cultural backgrounds,” he reveals. “So today, for example, we have people from more than 50 nationalities in the office. And we almost have a 50–50 split between men and women.”
But he hasn’t stopped there.
“We also said that we needed to ensure that we are representative of our economy. So we started doing a lot of work around our Emiratization program ‘Izdehar’, which is aimed at recruiting, training and developing Emirati nationals. And I’m very proud today to say we have over 40 United Arab Emirates nationals that we are supporting, who are completing their professional qualifications while they work with us.”
“We focused very heavily on increasing our diversity and inclusion, not just on gender, but also on cultural backgrounds.”
In 2022, Grant Thornton celebrated 55 years of operations in the United Arab Emirates, and hitting such a significant milestone was a proud moment for Farouk for a multitude of reasons. The one standout, however, was recognizing just how many clients and suppliers have been there since the very start of the company’s journey in the country.
“So many of our relationships span decades,” he enthuses. “In our profession, suppliers are critical to us – and it’s very important that our growth is aligned with their growth.
“At the end of the day, because we have these very strong relationships in the marketplace, it ensures that our operations and systems are running very effectively.”
One such example has been Grant Thornton’s partnership with Spencer Interiors and Contracting, which brought to life a refurbishment of the company’s offices.
“We explained to them that our priority was to create an office that provides positive feelings to our people. And they were able to put it together for us, not only once, but replicated in a number of other offices too,” Farouk confirms.
“They did each one with the same heart and commitment and quality – and that shows what an important relationship it is, because ultimately it directly impacted our employees, as well as our clients.”
The point of differentation
Partnerships are ever-evolving, especially as new technologies and tools enter the market. Right now, there’s nothing more important than AI, a tool Farouk believes can be positively harnessed, rather than one that makes jobs obsolete.
“We’ve invested historically in robotics software, and now more recently in AI, where we’ve adopted a number of technologies that will be online in the coming months,” he says.
“It’s not radically going to change what we do, but AI will ensure that the quality of delivery will be even higher and more consistent, and that our people can invest their time in what really matters.”
“AI will ensure that the quality of delivery will be even higher and more consistent.”
Farouk adds that while it’s likely over the next 10–20 years that the financial accounting elements will increasingly be done through AI software such as Xero, he predicts it will mark a gradual yet sure step toward more ethical accounting.
“What it means is we could ensure that the algorithms that are put in place to generate revenue for a company are actually ethical and aligned with the values and statutes of that company,” he explains.
However, Farouk also emphasizes that no amount of tech solutions are able to successfully imitate what a company like Grant Thornton does. This is because ultimately, its culture and people are the point of difference.
“We have a great belief in the quality and the intellect of our people,” he says. “We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been on a path of accelerated growth for the past decade, so change is normal for us, and we want to pursue change for the better.
“There’s never a moment where we are at a standstill.”
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![Hisham Farouk]()
Hisham Farouk Hisham is the CEO of Grant Thornton UAE who has successfully led the firm’s offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah for over 10 years. With a focus on innovation with exemplary leadership, he has played a key role in transforming the firm into one of the fastest growing companies in the UAE.View Profile
