On 27 October 2026, the Saudization rate for the accounting profession in Saudi Arabia steps up from 40% to 50%. The change comes from Ministerial Decision 103108, part of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development's (HRSD) multi-year plan to localize key professions across the private sector. For accounting departments and finance teams at establishments with five or more accountants, the deadline is no longer a distant compliance item — it is now about two weeks away.
This guide explains exactly who the rule applies to, what counts as a compliant Saudi accountant under the decision, how HRSD and GOSI monitor compliance, and what finance and HR teams should do before the deadline arrives.
What Decision 103108 Actually Changes
Decision 103108 is HRSD's second phase of Saudization for the accounting profession. It was issued on 26 January 2025 as part of a five-year phased schedule that steadily raises the minimum share of Saudi nationals employed as accountants at covered establishments:
| Phase | Year | Minimum Saudization Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Phase One | 2025 | 40% |
| Phase Two | 2026 (effective 27 Oct) | 50% |
| Phase Three | 2027 | 60% |
| Phase Four | 2028 | 70% |
| Phase Five (3–4 accountant establishments) | 2029 | 30% |
Source: HRSD Ministerial Decision 103108, as reported by noqta.tn, citing HRSD's own procedural guide, and corroborated by DLA Piper's 2026 Saudisation increases briefing and Global Law Experts' accounting Saudization compliance guide. As of this article's publication, HRSD's own decision and procedural-guide pages could not be independently fetched for direct citation; the figures above are corroborated across three independent secondary sources rather than a single one, and organizations should verify current requirements directly with HRSD or SOCPA before acting.
Phase Two is the step that lands this month. From 27 October 2026, any covered establishment that cannot show at least 50% Saudi nationals among its accounting staff is out of compliance.
Who the 27 October Deadline Applies To
The rule is scoped more narrowly than many employers assume, and getting the scope wrong is the most common early mistake:
• Headcount threshold: the 50% rate applies to establishments employing five or more accountants. Smaller teams of three to four accountants fall under a separate, later phase (30% from 2029, per the table above).
• Entity-level, not branch-level: the accountant count and Saudization ratio are assessed across the establishment as a whole, not location by location. A company cannot meet the ratio at its head office while leaving branch finance teams entirely non-Saudi.
• Accounting offices are handled separately: licensed accounting and auditing offices (firms that provide accounting services to external clients, rather than in-house finance departments) fall under a related but distinct Saudization track, Decision 658, and are not governed by the 50% figure in Decision 103108.
If your organization employs in-house accountants rather than operating as a licensed accounting firm, and your accounting headcount is five or more, Phase Two applies to you directly from 27 October 2026.
What Counts as a "Saudi Accountant" Under the Decision
This is where many establishments discover gaps they did not know they had. A Saudi national on the payroll does not automatically count toward the 50% ratio. According to the sources above, HRSD and GOSI treat a position as a qualifying Saudi accounting role only when three conditions are satisfied together:
1. Correct occupational classification. The employee must be registered under an accounting-profession job code in the GOSI system. A Saudi employee informally doing accounting work but registered under a generic administrative or finance-support code will not count toward the ratio — this is one of the most common reasons establishments appear non-compliant even when they believe they meet the target.
2. Minimum wage floor. The role must meet GOSI's minimum wage threshold for the accounting profession to be treated as a genuine, substantive position rather than a nominal one — reported at SAR 6,000 per month for bachelor's-degree holders and SAR 4,500 per month for diploma holders.
3. Active SOCPA accreditation. The individual must hold current accreditation from the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA), confirming they are professionally qualified to perform the accounting function they are counted against.
A Saudi employee who meets only one or two of these three conditions is not counted as a compliant accounting hire under Phase Two. This is the detail that most frequently trips up finance teams who assume headcount alone is sufficient.
How Compliance Is Monitored
Unlike some Saudization rules that rely on periodic audits, Decision 103108 is designed around automated cross-checking between GOSI and SOCPA records. HRSD and GOSI can verify job classification, wage level, and professional accreditation status electronically, without requiring a manual inspection to flag a gap. This means misclassified roles or lapsed SOCPA accreditations can surface as compliance failures well before an establishment is aware of a problem — making a proactive internal audit far more valuable than waiting for an external one.
This pattern is consistent with how GOSI data errors already affect Nitaqat status more broadly: a single incorrect job code or registration gap in GOSI's system can be enough to move an otherwise-compliant establishment into a lower Nitaqat band, with knock-on effects for visa and work-permit privileges.
The Wider Saudization Picture This Quarter
Accounting Phase Two is not an isolated change. It lands in the same autumn-2026 window as several other Saudization increases working through HRSD's broader professions schedule, including the move to 100% Saudization for administrative support roles effective 4 October 2026, with further increases for gyms (15% from 18 November 2026) and project management roles (70% from 14 February 2027) following in subsequent months. Establishments operating across multiple job families should treat this as a single compliance season rather than isolated deadlines, and review their overall Nitaqat banding rather than checking each profession in isolation.
Readiness Checklist Before 27 October 2026
1. Pull a current accounting headcount report and confirm whether your establishment meets or exceeds the five-accountant threshold that triggers the 50% requirement.
2. Cross-check every Saudi accounting employee's GOSI job code. Confirm each one is registered under an accounting-profession classification, not a generic administrative or finance code.
3. Verify wage levels against the GOSI floor — SAR 6,000 for bachelor's-degree holders and SAR 4,500 for diploma holders — for every role counted toward the ratio.
4. Confirm active SOCPA accreditation for each Saudi accountant counted, and flag any accreditation nearing expiry for renewal before the deadline.
5. Recalculate your Saudization ratio using only roles that satisfy all three conditions above, not simple headcount.
6. Identify and close gaps early — through internal reclassification, accelerated SOCPA accreditation for existing staff, or recruitment — rather than waiting for an automated GOSI/SOCPA flag after the deadline.
7. Document your compliance position (job codes, wage records, SOCPA certificates) so it can be produced quickly if HRSD or GOSI raises a query.
Employers building this readiness process into a broader Saudization and Nitaqat compliance program, rather than handling each profession's deadline as a one-off scramble, typically find it easier to track obligations like this one as they recur. The Saudi Compliance Institute's Saudization & Nitaqat Compliance course is built around exactly this kind of cross-profession tracking — covering job classification rules, GOSI/Nitaqat mechanics, and how to structure an internal audit before a deadline rather than after one.
What Happens If You Don't Comply
Establishments that fail to meet the 50% accounting Saudization threshold after 27 October 2026 risk the same category of consequences as other Saudization shortfalls: a lower Nitaqat classification, restrictions on new work visas and visa renewals, and reduced eligibility for government services and tenders tied to Nitaqat status. Because compliance here is checked through automated GOSI/SOCPA cross-referencing rather than manual review, a shortfall can affect an establishment's Nitaqat band before its HR team has had a chance to self-correct — which is why the readiness steps above are worth completing before the deadline rather than after.
