Your finance team on the ground, reporting the way your group expects

Branches and subsidiaries in the Kingdom prepare their statutory financial statements under IFRS as endorsed in Saudi Arabia by SOCPA, have them audited by a locally licensed auditor and submit them with the annual return to ZATCA. The group may report under its home GAAP or under full IFRS with its own policy choices. We keep the local books on the Saudi basis and maintain a documented bridge to the group's policies, so the statutory accounts and the group pack agree line by line.

From one reconciled set of numbers. The local auditor receives the statutory audit file; the group auditor receives the reporting pack and the responses its instructions require. We prepare the schedules both ask for, answer their queries and make sure an adjustment agreed with one is reflected for the other, so the year does not end with two versions of the branch.

Transactions with head office and other group entities, such as management fees, technical services, recharged costs, financing and royalties, have to be priced at arm's length under ZATCA's transfer pricing rules and disclosed with the annual return. Larger groups also carry documentation obligations. We put intercompany agreements and allocation keys in place, keep the support for each charge, prepare the disclosure and work with the group's transfer pricing advisers on the local file. Payments to head office can also carry withholding tax, which we compute and file monthly.

Mudad for payroll and the Wage Protection System, Qiwa for employment contracts and workforce compliance, GOSI for social insurance registrations and contributions, Muqeem for iqamas and exit and re-entry visas, and the ZATCA portal for VAT, withholding tax, corporate income tax and zakat. We work through user access that you grant, so the establishment and its accounts stay in your name.

Payroll is processed monthly and paid through the Wage Protection System. Iqama and work permit fees, the expatriate levy and visa costs are booked to the right period and, where the group recharges them, to the right entity. GOSI contributions, the end-of-service accrual, VAT, withholding tax and the corporate income tax or zakat provision are each reconciled to the filings, so the tax and payroll balances in the group pack can be traced to a return or a payment.

We manage ZATCA correspondence for you, prepare the responses to information requests and reviews, and support the branch through tax audits with the working papers behind each return. Where a matter requires a licensed tax agent or a lawyer, we arrange it and stay on the file, so the numbers are explained by the people who prepared them.

A regional headquarters has its own licensing, substance and tax conditions under the Kingdom's RHQ programme. We set up the finance function from day one: chart of accounts, policies aligned with the group, payroll and platform registrations, and the reporting that evidences the RHQ's activities. Eligibility for specific incentives is confirmed against the current MISA and ZATCA guidance for your structure.