Companies in the UAE seeking to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) regulations should adopt a structured approach to testing and auditing that aligns with best practices:

Conduct risk assessments – Identify high-risk areas for financial fraud or misstatement based on SOX risk assessment principles. Focus testing efforts on these high-risk areas.

Develop testing plans – Detail the controls to be tested, associated risks, sampling methods, and testing frequency based on the risk assessment. Cover all SOX compliance areas.

Ensure auditor independence – Use external auditors and make sure they don’t have conflicts of interest to maintain objectivity during “Sarbanes-Oxley testing”.

Perform walkthroughs – Have auditors observe processes in action to fully understand control flows before detailed testing.

Use sampling techniques – Apply effective statistical and non-statistical sampling to pull selections representative of the entire population.

Standardize documentation – Document all aspects of SOX compliance using standard templates and methodologies.

Remediate issues – Have a corrective action follow-up process to fix deficiencies identified during SOX testing and audits.

Provide staff training – Conduct ongoing “SOX compliance training” for staff involved in SOX control processes to maintain compliance.

Assess annually – Perform risk assessments and control testing at least annually to satisfy annual SOX compliance requirements.

With appropriately planned testing and auditing conducted by skilled independent auditors, UAE companies can demonstrate adherence to SOX standards while better preventing and detecting financial misstatements.