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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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M&A and Transactions 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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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
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Incorporation and PRO
We provide guidance and help with setting up new entities in the UAE’s mainland and all the UAE free zones, as well as re-domiciliation of companies in the UAE. Our team drafts the needed legal documents and interacts with government authorities on various regulatory matters.
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HR & Payroll Services
HR & Payroll Services
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Outsourcing Advisory Services
Outsourcing Advisory Services
Global profit outlook weakens while GCC remains optimistic
Grant Thornton report highlights changes in the GCC’s labour markets
There is a general skills shortage as the region embarks on ambitious programmes toward significantly more diversified economies. Over the long-term, though, the economies will be transformed for the better by innovative use of labour-saving technology.
Grant Thornton’s quarterly International Business Report (IBR), which surveys 2,500 businesses in 36 economies, notes that large-scale projects such as Expo 2020 in Dubai are driving demand for new hires, as is the introduction of value added tax (VAT) in 2018 in KSA and the UAE. Voluntary employee turnover, however, has increased to 39% of organisations over the last three years1, and this coupled with renewed growth in local job markets has made for challenging times.
Peter Bodin, Global CEO-Elect at Grant Thornton, commented:
“Profits are under pressure in the GCC, as they are in the rest of the world. Wage bills are firmly on the rise as businesses try to tackle the skilled worker shortage. It’s an issue that is becoming acute. In all the years surveying businesses, this is the highest level of concern we have seen globally about the potentially negative impact of a lack of skilled staff on growth prospects.”
“Companies are having to compete for skills - both to retain those they have and recruit those they need. As a result, we are seeing businesses planning to boost pay. This reflects what we are hearing from companies around the world, and firms paying staff more is almost certainly hitting the outlook on profits”.
Peter Bodin is visiting the UAE for the first time, in order to experience the launch of Grant Thornton UAE’s‘Mission2021’ strategy. This strategy will deliver new and innovative solutions whilst penetrating innovation and technology, in recognition of the new economic landscape.
The IBR highlights the scale and complexity of the changes that are taking place in the GCC’s labour markets.
- The Dubai Government has already made estimated savings US$1.17bn through shared government smart services since 2003 2.
- UAE based Mashreq Bank recently announced it could become branchless as all services would be available online and AI could replace customer service representatives with chatbots 3.
- In Dubai, over 600 typing centres used in the processing of visas are currently being phased out and instead replaced with just 50 Amer Business Centres housing smart systems to process visa and residency transactions all under one roof.
- Automation could replace close to half of all work activities in the GCC: 41% in Kuwait, 46% in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and 47% in the UAE .
Observed Hisham Farouk, CEO of Grant Thornton for the Middle East: “Tasks are being replaced by technology, but these are the time-consuming, repetitive, and mundane ones. Skillsets will need to adapt to the jobs of the future: by 2020, 21% of core skills in the countries of the GCC will be different compared to skills that were needed in 2015” .
“The IBR therefore describes the long-term opportunity for the region as much as the short-term challenge. Eventually, new technology and training will, resolve the skills shortage, boost productivity and raise the potential growth rates of the GCC countries.