Friday, August 29, 2008

Dubai Charities

There are many charities operating from Dubai and I am keen to contribute to some of them. I have come to know of their activities from the Dubai newspapers and the websites of the charities.

However I need some assurance that major proportion of my contribution (say 70%) is spent on the beneficiaries of the charities and not on fancy salaries to the staff or on publicity campaigns.The only way to know of this is, if they publish their annual audited accounts in the newspapers and in their websites. I have looked at the websites of many charities operating from Dubai. No one is publishing their accounts at least to my knowledge.

All the banks in the UAE publish their annual audited accounts in their websites and in the newspapers. In the same way quoted companies like Emaar and Etisalat publish their accounts. This helps the public to take an informed decision on whether to invest in those companies.

The charities may argue they do not have the finances to hire qualified accountants in order to prepare and get their accounts audited. I am sure many accountants,especially the Big4, would be prepared to do this work free if requested as part of their CSR.

If there is transparency in the Charities sector it will help them to generate more contribution to help the beneficiaries.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Thoughts from an Accountant in Dubai

I am a professionally qualified accountant and have been in Dubai for nearly two decades as an expat. I am witness to the amazing changes Dubai has undergone over the years.

The purpose of this blog is to share my thoughts on matters relating to accounts and business with people of similar interest in Dubai and the outside the world. Once a while I might digress and write on matters of general interest.

People of the world! ( Do I sound like Obama?) You could read my thoughts more often in the coming months.