ICV Preparation vs Certification Who Does What

ICV preparation assembles the supplier’s information and supporting records for review. Certification is the technical review and certificate issuance performed by a MoIAT-authorized certifying body. A completed spreadsheet, an adviser’s report and audited financial statements are not interchangeable with an ICV certificate.

For an Abu Dhabi supplier, the practical decision is which work your finance team can complete, whether you need preparation assistance, and which authorized body will handle certification. This comparison concerns the UAE National In-Country Value programme administered by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, or MoIAT. It separates those responsibilities so you can plan the handover without buying overlapping or incomplete services.

Separate preparation, financial auditing and certification

StageWho performs the workWhat it produces PreparationThe supplier’s team, with preparation assistance if neededCompleted ICV information and supporting evidence ready for review Financial-statement auditThe financial auditorAudited financial statements used as an input to the certification process ICV certificationA MoIAT-authorized certifying bodyTechnical review and, following approval, the ICV certificate

MoIAT’s ICV issuance service procedure distinguishes submitting information from the subsequent review and receipt of the certificate. Its National ICV directory of authorized certifying bodies identifies the firms authorized to conduct the technical review and issue certificates.

Use the directory’s ICV Certifying Bodies tab, not the separate ICV Certified Companies list. Holding an ICV certificate does not authorize a supplier to certify other businesses. Equally, being your existing financial auditor does not, by itself, establish ICV certification authority.

When arranging financial audit services, name the financial-statement deliverable separately from the ICV preparation and certification deliverables. This makes it clear which engagement addresses each unfinished stage.

Use the following decision path:

Keep preparation internally when your team can reconcile the figures, organize the evidence and allocate time to review queries.
Consider preparation assistance when unclear classifications, incomplete records or staff capacity prevent the team from completing that work. Define the particular gap rather than commissioning an undefined “ICV package.”
Appoint an authorized certifying body when the file is ready for certification review. Buying more preparation work does not replace this appointment.

When one firm proposes several roles

Before accepting a combined preparation, financial-audit and certification engagement, obtain written confirmation from MoIAT and the proposed certifier about the independence requirements applicable to that exact arrangement. Do not assume that separate teams within one firm settle the issue. Resolve the arrangement before paying for work that the proposed certifier would later need to review.

Identify the customer requirement before building the file

Start with the purchasing entity and its actual request, not simply the phrase “ICV required.” Establish:

Which ICV programme and certificate the customer accepts.
Which supplier legal entity and reporting period the request concerns.
The certificate submission deadline.
Whether supplier registration, prequalification or an improvement plan is a separate requirement.

For example, ADNOC’s tendering guidance distinguishes supplier registration and relevant prequalification from ICV treatment in tender evaluation. An ICV certificate should not be treated as completion of buyer onboarding or a promise of a contract award. Apply the particular tender instructions rather than one customer’s rules to every buyer.

This distinction also defines the assignment you are purchasing: preparing a certificate submission and completing a customer’s supplier-registration process are different deliverables.

Build a preparation file your team can explain

A useful internal allocation is for finance to extract and reconcile the figures, procurement to organize vendor evidence, and the relevant record owners to explain payroll, asset and revenue information. Preparation assistance should address the work your team cannot complete, rather than replace its understanding of the underlying records.

The following is a recommended working-file structure for National ICV preparation, not an exhaustive official document checklist:

Entity information: identify the business licence, supplier entity and reporting period.
Financial information: keep the applicable financial statements beside schedules explaining how the reported figures reconcile.
Completed ICV information: maintain one controlled working version rather than competing spreadsheets.
Supporting records: index the procurement records, vendor ICV certificates, payroll, asset and revenue evidence relevant to the figures reported.
Review record: record unresolved questions, proposed corrections, management approval and the final submitted version.

The MoIAT ICV service requirements list a valid business licence, audited financial statements and additional documents depending on company size. Confirm the financial-statement basis applicable to your entity before building the file; do not assume a group’s accounts automatically meet the needs of an individual supplier.

Define any preparation assignment precisely. Resolving a reconciliation, completing the template and coordinating evidence are separate tasks. For example, a completed template still leaves work outstanding if nobody can trace a reported procurement figure to its supporting schedule.

Keep supplier approval and records under your control

As a practical control, appoint a management reviewer to check the reporting entity, period, significant classifications and unresolved issues before authorizing the final submission. An adviser can explain how the information was prepared; the supplier’s record owners need to explain the underlying transactions.

Retain the evidence, approved version and correspondence in a supplier-controlled location. An adviser’s working file should not be your only record of what was submitted. Agree who maintains the file and who will answer factual questions after the preparation engagement ends.

Move the prepared information into certification review

The MoIAT ICV application procedure directs the applicant to log in or register on the Ministry’s digital platform, apply for the service, select an audit firm, submit information, pay the firm, complete the review stage and receive the certificate. Read the firm-selection step alongside the authorized-certifying-body directory.

For historical workflow context, MoIAT’s 2024 supplier-awareness presentation describes quotation selection, the certifier uploading a signed engagement letter, and the supplier populating draft information for review. Confirm current screens and access permissions before following those older operational instructions.

The supplier company is the applicant. Before assigning submission to an employee or adviser, confirm the company’s authorized representative and the platform permissions needed for that person. Login access should not be treated as permission to represent the company. Agree a secure method for transferring supporting records with the selected certifier.

Illustrative example of a review query

Assume a supplier’s draft procurement schedule totals AED 210,000, while the corresponding ledger total is AED 200,000. For this example, assume the difference is a single AED 10,000 invoice entered twice in the working schedule—not an error in the ledger. A sensible response sequence is:

Finance retrieves the evidence: locate the ledger entry, invoice and both entries in the working schedule.
The preparer explains the difference: document the duplicate and propose correcting the schedule total to AED 200,000, together with any affected draft information.
The supplier’s management reviewer approves the change: check the explanation against the underlying records before resubmission.
The authorized submitter sends the response: provide the reconciliation and approved correction through the agreed channel.
The certifying body assesses the response: determine whether the evidence resolves its review query.

This is an illustrative internal-control sequence, not a prescribed portal-editing procedure or an estimate of the effect on an ICV score. Keep the question, evidence, explanation and approved correction together so the reviewer can follow the change.

Compare fees and timing by stage

Compare quotations for the same supplier entity, reporting period and scope. Separate preparation, financial-audit and certification charges: a price covering template completion alone is not comparable with one that also includes reconciliations and responses to review queries.

Preparation: specify whether the scope covers template completion, reconciliations, evidence organization and query responses.
Financial audit: identify whether this is a separate engagement or already completed.
Certification: name the authorized body and distinguish its review fee from the preparation adviser’s charge.
Extras and exclusions: clarify bookkeeping corrections, additional query rounds, buyer registration and improvement-plan work, together with taxes and payment terms.

MoIAT’s ICV service card, checked in November 2026, lists a service time of 14–28 working days. This is the authority’s published service estimate, not a provider guarantee or a complete timetable for collecting records, completing an audit and preparing the submission.

For your planning schedule, distinguish the preparation period from the certifier’s review period. Establish when the review timetable starts and how outstanding evidence or corrections affect it. A customer’s certificate deadline needs to accommodate both stages, not just the published service estimate.

Treat an estimated score as a calculation requiring supporting assumptions, not an issued certificate. A preparation engagement should specify its work and deliverables rather than promise a particular certification decision.

Identify the stage you need help with

FTOM offers ICV-related services. Keep the scope of any assistance distinct from the authorized certifying body’s role.

To enquire, use the ICV service enquiry form and state the unfinished stage, relevant reporting period and any customer submission deadline. Keep financial statements and other sensitive records out of the initial message. Use the enquiry to clarify the assistance you are seeking before agreeing a scope or paying a fee.

Contact Us

Contact our team using the details below.

Back to blogs