Abdifatah Elmi

Concurrent dual role — appointed by Emirates Transport leadership to simultaneously build and
lead the finance function of its wholly-owned subsidiary.
• Sole finance leader for an AED 90 million revenue security business employing 2, 000+ staff
across the UAE, with full ownership of financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, treasury, and
compliance — delivering consistent double-digit growth over a 9-year tenure.
• Built the entire finance function from zero at inception — established Oracle ERP, a full chart of
accounts, internal control framework, accounting policies, and corporate governance structures within
the first 6 months of operations.
• Owned the full budgeting and forecasting cycle — built annual budgets from scratch, supported
12-month rolling forecasts, and conducted monthly variance analysis across all cost centres, delivering
actionable recommendations that informed executive decisions on AED 90M+ in annual spend.
• Drove a 30% improvement in operating cash flow and reduced operating costs by 10% (AED
9M+ in annualised savings) through strategic cost-optimisation initiatives, working capital
improvements, and renegotiated supplier payment terms.
• Delivered 12 consecutive monthly financial reporting cycles on schedule — presenting board
ready P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statements, and KPI dashboards to senior leadership, reducing
reporting turnaround time by 40% through process standardisation.
• Established 5+ financial models and business cases supporting strategic expansion decisions,
directly contributing to AED 70M+ in revenue growth and 3 new contract wins in the UAE security sector.
• Deployed a fully integrated Oracle ERP system across Finance, HR, and Payroll within 4
months — eliminating 100% of manual inter-departmental data entry, reducing processing errors by
35%, and cutting monthly close time from 10 days to 6 days.
• Led 9 consecutive annual external audits with EY, KPMG, and Deloitte (2014-2022) —
achieved zero material findings across all cycles through proactive audit preparation, robust internal
controls, and year-round documentation readiness.
• Ensured 100% statutory compliance across UAE VAT (from 2018 launch), IFRS reporting
standards, and corporate regulatory requirements — with zero penalties or regulatory findings over 9
years.
• Supervised a finance team of 6 across AP, AR, GL, payroll, and banking — improving AR
collections by 30% (reducing DSO from ~75 days to ~52 days) and maintaining 99%+ on-time payment
accuracy throughout tenure.
• Managed all banking and treasury relationships across 3 UAE banks — optimised cash pooling
structures, secured AED 15M+ in working capital facilities, and maintained daily liquidity monitoring to
ensure uninterrupted payroll for 2, 000+ employees.

• Directed enterprise AP operations across an AED 2.5 billion annual payment portfolio,
overseeing thousands of supplier invoices and operational expenditures monthly.
• Led, recruited, and developed a high-performing AP team, driving a 30% year-on-year
improvement in operational performance and service delivery quality.
• Reduced AP processing cycle time by 50%, compressed supplier reconciliation turnaround by
80%, and cut overdue payments by 70% through targeted automation and workflow redesign.
• Delivered Oracle ERP Payables enhancements achieving a 50% improvement in AP
operational efficiency across the department.
• Produced monthly, quarterly, and annual cash flow forecasts, prepayment schedules, and open
prepayment reports, cutting reporting time by 30% and directly supporting treasury planning and
working capital strategy.
• Prepared and reviewed financial statements in compliance with IFRS and UAE statutory
regulations, ensuring full adherence to tax requirements and internal financial policies.
• Maintained rigorous governance and audit readiness, achieving only 2 low-severity
observations across full audit cycles conducted by Big Four firms.
• Oversaw monthly AP financial reporting and KPIs including AED 40 million invoice validation,
AED 500 million invoice aging portfolio, and AED 30 million monthly AP accruals.

• Processed and verified high-volume invoices, fared supplier reconciliations, and administered
payment runs in a large-scale corporate finance environment.
• Executed month-end close activities including AP aging analysis, accruals posting, account
reconciliations, and financial reporting on schedule every period.
• Contributed to Oracle ERP enhancements and workflow automation projects, standardising
Procure-to-Pay (P2P) processes and reducing manual effort by 25%.
• Collaborated cross-functionally with procurement, treasury, and operations to improve invoice
processing accuracy and payment turnaround times.

1. Responsible for the vat implementation in oracle payables and cost management module
Including but not limited to
Providing business requirements and workflow design
Review the suggested changes from developers by swot analysis and repercussions of other modules such as the asset, inventory and GL module.
Testing the provided solution from the developer by selecting the appropriate team and coordinate with the relevant teams for the test environment and setting up as many business scenarios as possible.
Key training and support after implementation in processing transactions in the most efficient manner.
2. Preparing the Vat return file in regards to payables the 1st and second quarter manually which involved unique solutions due to below reasons
A. A large number of purchases of more than two hundred thousand transactions per quarter.
B. Total purchases of more than 200 million dirhams per quarter.
C. The complexity of the file as the current employer has more than 20 different services (sale) and purchases were never linked to services before.
Was able to maximize accuracy and thus returns reducing the risk of fines.
3. Key personnel for Oracle implementation payables module
Including but not limited to
Providing business requirements and workflow design
Review the suggested changes from developers by swot analysis and considering repercussions of other modules such as the asset, inventory and GL module.
Testing the provided solution from the developer and setting up as many business scenarios as possible.
Key training and support after implementation in processing transactions in the most efficient manner.
Generally, the goto guy for development even if I did not initiate the project.

Manage the booking after verification of compliance to procedures and payment of the following
Vehicle invoices around 30 million monthly
Fuel invoices around 20 million monthly
Insurance prepayments of around 40 million yearly
Construction payments of around 100 million yearly
Rent prepayments
Spare part and service purchases of roughly 15 million DHS monthly through an average of 15000 invoices per month.

Key Responsibilities:
Managing the Human Resources of a regional branch.
Which consisted of but not limited to
Reviewing the recruitment and termination procedures in accordance with organization policies and UAE regulations.
Preparing memorandums for approval by the HR committee.
Revising employee leaves.
Guiding the branchs HR coordinators to carry out tasks.
Delegating the Branch to perform certain jobs.