Why Procure to Pay is Broken and How To Fix It, With Monzir Abdel-Motalib

In this thought-provoking episode of FinTalk, our Co-Founder and CEO, Ivan Jesus, sits down with Monzir Abdel-Motalib, a finance transformation leader with experience across fast-growing startups and mature enterprises and current Transformation Leader at Instashop. Together, they dissect one of the most overlooked yet vital areas of finance: Procure-to-Pay (P2P).

With a background that spans accounting, ERP implementation, and regional transformation strategy, Monzir brings a rare combination of technical expertise and people-first leadership. This episode cuts through the noise and gets to the heart of what makes P2P work - and what causes it to fall apart.

Whether you’re a CFO, finance manager, or founder scaling your back office, this conversation is a blueprint for creating finance functions that move fast, stay compliant, and support growth.

Key Highlights

Rethinking Procure-to-Pay: A Strategic Process, Not a Task

P2P isn’t just about paying invoices -it’s a multi-step journey that spans procurement, accounting, and treasury. Monzir breaks down the three core stages of P2P and explains why failing to connect them leads to data fragmentation, uncontrolled spending, and poor cash visibility.

He shares examples where the absence of basic controls like a goods received note (GRN) has led to audit issues and delayed payments - and how a well-designed workflow can fix this.

From Bookkeeping to Transformation Leadership

Monzir shares his personal career journey, starting in manual accounting before realising the future lay in automation, system integration, and strategic finance. With a passion for building from the ground up, Monzir now leads transformation initiatives that integrate P2P with broader finance objectives, aligning people, process, and tech.

Common Mistakes in Finance Transformation

Throughout the episode, Monzir highlights the most common reasons why digital transformations fail - from unclear scope to not involving the right stakeholders early enough. He emphasises the importance of understanding both the technical and functional sides of transformation and ensuring cross-functional collaboration is baked in from the start.

The Maturity of Your Organisation Shapes the Journey

Startups and large corporates require completely different transformation approaches. Monzir explains why a “get from A to B” mindset works in the early days, and how more mature companies should focus on enhancements like lead time reduction and process refinement.

This maturity lens helps finance leaders tailor their digital strategy - whether that’s implementing a new ERP or optimising what they already have.

Finalytics Perspective

During the conversation, Ivan highlighted how Finalytics supports clients in building high-performance finance functions through a cost-efficient Finance-as-a-Service (FaaS) model. From procure-to-pay to forecasting and internal controls, Finalytics helps businesses avoid the trap of siloed operations and delivers fully integrated finance teams that operate like in-house departments - minus the overhead.

Key Lessons for Finance Leaders

• P2P is a Business-Critical Workflow: Align procurement, accounting, and treasury to gain full visibility and control.‍

• Don’t Delay Internal Control Maturity: As the business scales, controls must keep pace - or risk breakdown.

• Empower Your People: Transformation isn’t tech-first, it’s people-first. Bring teams on the journey.

• Move from I-Shaped to T-Shaped Talent: Broader functional awareness is now essential for modern finance leaders.

• Transformation ≠ Patchwork: Sustainable change requires full process mapping, system design, and ownership.

Practical Takeaways

• Audit Your Procure-to-Pay Process: Map your end-to-end workflow and identify missing controls (e.g. GRNs, approval flows).

• Streamline Vendors and Payments: Consolidate suppliers, implement automation, and track category-level spend.

• Engage Stakeholders Early: Involve IT, procurement, and operations from day one to ensure buy-in and relevance.

• Invest in Finance Playbooks: Document your processes to drive performance, scale efficiently, and avoid knowledge loss.

• Adopt a Transformation Mindset: Challenge legacy systems, roles, and behaviours that no longer serve the business.

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🎧 Tune In Now

This episode with Monzir is a must-listen for anyone building or transforming a finance function. Learn how to optimise your procure-to-pay process, empower your teams, and lead sustainable change - all while keeping compliance, control, and clarity at the centre of your finance strategy.

Listen now on Spotify, YouTube, or your favourite podcast platform - and subscribe to stay updated on future episodes of FinTalk.