New financial system to ease transition to accrual based system

DOHA, Qatar, March 09, 2006 - Q-Post, the independent corporation serving the postal needs of the State of Qatar, today announced that it has completed the implementation of Oracle Financials, part of the Oracle E-Business Suite.

The transition from government entity to operating as a corporate in 2001 brought significant opportunities to Q-Post, as well as a number of operational challenges. Previously Q-Post had operated on cash accounting basis, in keeping with the government practices. Managing the transition to accrual based accounting is one of the many benefits of the Oracle Financials project, which also allows Q-Post to link in to the e-Services now in place at many of the government ministries in Qatar.

The Oracle E-Business Suite solution includes Accounts Payable, Accounts Received, General Ledger, Financial Analyzer, Cash Management, Purchasing, and Payroll.  The software improves a company's view of its comprehensive financial picture as well delivering improved operational efficiencies, and reduced costs.

"In order to provide a swift, efficient postal service, Q-Post's primary goal is to ensure we keep our costs down - and our customers happy - while providing excellent quality of service. To achieve these aims, we looked at the ways our internal departments were operating, as well as how we produce accurate data and reports as we moved towards an accrual system. What we found was that the Oracle E-Business Suite offered the optimum product in the market to achieve the transformation we required," said Ali al-Kubaisi, Director of Financial & Commercial Affairs, Q-Post.

As Q-Post required a number of centralized processes including accounts payable and receivables as well as budget preparation, the Oracle E-Business Suite was selected because of its ability to meet all the requirements as well as its potential to scale upward as the company grows. Areas highlighted by the Q-Post IT team included the ability to monitor new projects to assess costs and profitability, as well as monitoring audit trails to make them easier to view and control. Underpinning the entire Oracle E-Business Suite project was the key objective to support the company in its shift to accrual based accounting, where the revenue is recognized at the time of delivery of the service, rather than when the payment is received. 

"Oracle E-Business Suite immeasurably improved the consolidation of information such as postal statistics, as well as Q-Post's ability to monitor financial data and streamline our business processes.   I believe that it is already making it easier for us to make fast and informed business decisions" added Ehsan Idrissi, Chief of ERP, Q-Post.

"It is critical for Q-Post to be able to produce up-to-date financial reports at any time, as our management team needs access to information in order to be able to make the right decisions. This Oracle system will streamline this process and allow us to make much more informed decisions regarding our financial status."

Q-Post's implementation of the Oracle E-Business Suite was implemented and managed by Oracle partners Mannai and GTS.

"Q-Post have shown that streamlining back office systems can help the organization become competitive as they introduce new and improved products to the market," commented Ayman Abouseif, Oracle Managing Director, Gulf States. "The Oracle E-Business Suite offers the rich functionality necessary to underpin the future growth of Q-Post." 

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© Press Release 2006