Fuad Abdul Kareem & Partners achieves QFMA accreditation!

Business owners often aren’t great at tooting their own horns, so at TGS, we do it for them! Why? Because we are proud of our members who show up and learn, who collaborate and adapt, and who consistently put in the work to build a sustainable business.

Today, the “horn” in question is our member firm in Qatar. Fuad Abdul Kareem & Partners has achieved their QFMA accreditation which means that they now have the capacity to audit listed companies. It took them a long time to receive the status of ‘external auditor’ so we caught up with them to discuss what they did to achieve this and what this means for the future of their firm.

Can you share a little bit about your firm’s history?

Fuad Abdulkareem & Partners – Public Accountants is an independent accounting firm established in 1984 as one of the first to serve professional accounting needs in Qatar. Since then, the firm has served hundreds of clients by providing audit, tax, accounting, consulting, and special advisory services.

With over 20 professionals with extensive experience, we have successfully serviced different-sized clients with various assignments and projects. Providing services throughout the State of Qatar, the firm has also proudly partnered with the local community and the private sector to create and sustain the service sector as public accountants and business advisors and consultants.

Fuad Abdul Kareem & Partners- Public Accountants is committed to making a difference to clients and to its people and delivers this through the integrity of its effort and by living its core values. That, and for many other reasons, is why we are considered one of the top accounting firms in Qatar today.

What services do you offer?

We offer integrated audit and assurance services to our clients in order to maintain trust and fair financial reporting processes as well as financial information and reporting. Audit and Assurance Services are duly achieved through deep analysis of client needs, building mutual understanding with principal partners and implementing professional evaluation of client’s systems for upgrade and quality assurance.

Our range of services include:

• Statutory Audit and Review of Annual Financial Statements
• Internal Development and Review of Internal Control Functions
• Development of Financial Statements and Financial Reports
• Improvement of Internal Control Systems
• Special Purpose Audits
• Full Taxation Services
• Pre-Feasibility Study
• Business Plan with Technical & Financial Feasibility Study

How did you achieve the QFMA status?

The Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) is a very prestigious status, so we needed to maintain full compliance with local regulations relating to audit and tax issues to achieve it. Along with this, we also maintained a strong professional reputation built over many years.
We have been working towards becoming an external auditor registered at QFMA for a very long time and being a TGS member definitely helped with this. We’ve been a member for almost 7 years (since 2015) and we’ve made so much progress, especially when it comes to maintaining quality and corporate social responsibility.

Why is this status beneficial to your firm and how do you expect your firm to grow because of it?

The QFMA status is incredibly beneficial to our firm because the Big 4 companies take up 95% of the audit market. What that means is that, in the remaining 5%, auditors like us need to compete against each other as well as with the leaders in non-audit services for a small portion of the cake.
Rapid earnings growth can only come from non-audit services, as audit alone limits our ability in our small market in Qatar. So, with that being said, we expect our firm to grow quite significantly as a result of having this accreditation. As new areas of business are slowly opening up, we are pushing to put our vast experience as a team, at work, for our clients.

Congratulations to Fuad Abdulkareem & Partners!

Many congratulations again to Fuad Abdulkareem & Partners for being registered as an external auditor in the QFMA!

We are proud of our members whether they regularly attend their accountability sessions or achieve a renowned accreditation that they’ve been working towards for a long time. Why? Because every single effort they make, no matter how small, puts them closer to building a sustainable business and that’s a win. Both for our members and for us too.