Procurement & Vendor SSC UAE | Centralised P2P | Virtual Accountants

A typical procure‑to‑pay cycle includes: selecting suppliers, raising requisitions and POs, receiving goods or services, matching invoices and initiating payment. 

When this process is fragmented across departments and locations, it often leads to:

• Slow cycle times from request to payment
• Poor compliance with purchasing policies
• Limited leverage on spend, because volumes are scattered
• Extra work for finance when invoices arrive without clear references

Many organisations move towards centralised or centre‑led procurement models to fix exactly these issues – consolidating buying activity and aligning stakeholders while keeping some local flexibility. 

From Ad‑Hoc Buying to Procurement Shared Services

Picture a group with several entities in Dubai and across the UAE:

• Each department negotiates with its own suppliers
• There is no single view of who you buy from and at what price
• Finance spends days every month sorting invoices and chasing missing POs
• Suppliers complain about late responses and unclear communication

After shifting to a Procurement & Vendor SSC:

• All purchasing requests flow through one standard P2P process
• Vendor master data and contracts are centrally maintained
• Purchase orders, receipts and invoices are matched consistently
• Management can finally see spend by vendor, category and entity

This is the journey we support – going from scattered, ad‑hoc buying to structured procurement shared services that still respect your business realities. 

Our Solution: Procurement & Vendor SSC in Dubai, UAE

What Is a Procurement & Vendor Shared Services Centre?

A Procurement & Vendor Shared Services Centre is a central team that delivers common procurement and vendor management activities for the whole organisation. Typical responsibilities include:

• Processing requisitions and issuing purchase orders
• Maintaining vendor master data and onboarding new suppliers
• Supporting contract and price list administration
• Coordinating three‑way match (PO, receipt, invoice) with finance
• Monitoring basic vendor performance and policy compliance

Instead of every department doing things differently, a procurement shared services model creates a consistent, policy‑aligned way of buying and managing suppliers.

How Our Procurement Shared Services Model Works

At Virtual Accountants LLC, our Procurement & Vendor SSC:

• Acts as a central P2P support hub for all your UAE entities
• Works hand‑in‑hand with your Finance & Accounting SSC for invoice and payment coordination
• Uses agreed service levels (e.g. turnaround time for POs, query responses)
• Operates on top of your existing ERP or procurement system where possible

You keep control over what is bought and from which strategic suppliers; we help ensure it is done the right way, every time.

Scope of Procurement & Vendor SSC Services

Requisition & Purchase Order Management

We help standardise the front‑end of your procure‑to‑pay process:

• Providing simple templates or system workflows for purchase requisitions
• Validating requests against budgets and approval limits
• Converting approved requisitions into purchase orders (POs)
• Issuing POs to vendors and ensuring they include clear terms and references
• Tracking open POs and following up on overdue deliveries

A clean requisition and PO process reduces confusion, improves pricing discipline and makes later invoice matching far easier. 

Vendor Master Data & Supplier Onboarding

Accurate vendor master data is at the heart of a reliable procurement and vendor management process.

Our Procurement & Vendor SSC supports you by:

• Capturing and validating supplier details (licenses, tax numbers, bank details)
• Classifying vendors by type, category and risk level
• Applying standard naming and coding rules to avoid duplicates
• Coordinating approvals for new vendors and changes to existing records
• Periodically reviewing vendor lists to clean up inactive or duplicate suppliers

Good vendor master data helps you reduce errors, improve controls and understand your true spend with each supplier. 

Contract, Pricing & Catalogue Administration

We help you get the value you negotiated with suppliers into everyday purchasing:

• Storing contracts and price lists in a central, easy‑to‑find location
• Ensuring agreed prices and terms are reflected in POs and catalogues
• Supporting simple catalogue‑based ordering for commonly used items
• Flagging contract expiries and renewal dates in advance

This ensures procurement shared services support your strategic sourcing decisions rather than working around them. 

Goods Receipt & Three‑Way Match Support

A robust three‑way match (PO, goods receipt, invoice) is one of the most effective controls in the P2P process. 

Our Procurement & Vendor SSC:

• Helps capture goods received notes (GRNs) or service confirmations
• Assists with matching POs, receipts and invoices for accuracy and quantity
• Flags discrepancies to the right stakeholders for resolution
• Works closely with finance on AP processing to reduce delays and duplicates

This alignment between procurement and accounts payable improves cycle time and compliance to policy, which are common performance metrics in procurement shared services. 

Vendor Management & Supplier Performance Support

While strategic supplier negotiations typically sit with your procurement leadership, our SSC supports operational vendor management activities:

• Tracking basic KPIs such as on‑time delivery and service responsiveness
• Coordinating vendor queries about POs, receipts and payments
• Assisting with vendor assessment forms and documentation
• Helping your Vendor Management Office (if you have one) implement consistent standards across the group 

The result is better day‑to‑day communication with suppliers and fewer escalations.

Procurement Reporting & Spend Visibility

Because all procurement data flows through the shared services centre, we can help you build simple but powerful reports, such as:

• Spend by vendor, category and entity
• PO cycle time and request‑to‑order metrics
• Purchase compliance with preferred vendors or contracts
• Open PO and GRN ageing reports

This visibility supports smarter decisions on sourcing, negotiation and cost control. 

Benefits of Procurement & Vendor Shared Services

Efficiency & Lower Cost per Transaction

By moving purchasing and vendor tasks into a Procurement & Vendor SSC:

• Routine activities follow standard workflows, reducing rework
• Staff specialise in P2P processing, improving speed and accuracy
• The cost per purchase transaction typically drops as volume increases

Research on shared services and P2P shows that centralisation can significantly improve performance and reduce the cost of back‑office operations. 

Better Control & Policy Compliance

A procurement shared services model helps you:

• Enforce approval levels and segregation of duties more consistently
• Ensure purchases go through the right channels and preferred vendors
• Reduce maverick or off‑contract spending
• Maintain clear documentation for audits and internal reviews

Centralising procurement processes often improves policy compliance compared with fully decentralised, ad‑hoc purchasing. 

Improved Vendor Management & Risk Mitigation

With a structured vendor management process supported by shared services, you can:

• See your full exposure to each supplier
• Identify concentration risks or over‑reliance on certain vendors
• Ensure vendor qualifications and documentation are up to date
• Handle vendor issues through a consistent, documented process 

This reduces operational risk and helps build stronger, more predictable relationships with key suppliers.

Stronger Link Between Procurement, Finance & Tax

Because procure‑to‑pay connects procurement, finance and tax, running it through a shared services model makes it easier to:

• Align purchasing data with accounts payable and cash management
• Support VAT and other indirect tax requirements with clean documentation
• Provide reliable data to your Finance & Accounting SSC and Tax & Compliance SSC

This integrated approach supports better decisions on spend, working capital and tax compliance. 

Why Virtual Accountants LLC for Procurement & Vendor SSC?

Finance‑Led Procurement Shared Services

Virtual Accountants LLC is an accounting and shared services‑focused firm. Our roots in finance, accounting and tax mean we understand the downstream impact of procurement decisions on your books, cash flow and compliance.

This perspective is especially valuable for procure‑to‑pay shared services, where procurement and finance must work seamlessly together. 

Shared Services Experience Across SSC Towers

We don’t treat procurement in isolation. Our broader SSC offering includes:

• Finance & Accounting SSC (AP, AR, GL, reporting)
• HR & Payroll SSC
• Tax & Compliance SSC

Your Procurement & Vendor SSC can be designed to fit neatly alongside these, giving you a coherent shared services model rather than a collection of siloed outsourcing arrangements. 

UAE‑Based, Virtual‑Friendly Delivery

From our base in Dubai, UAE, we support clients across the region using a virtual delivery model, with on‑site interaction where needed. We align with your existing tools and structure, rather than forcing a one‑size‑fits‑all system on you.

How We Implement Procurement & Vendor SSC

Step 1: Assessment & Operating Model Design

We start by understanding your current procurement and P2P environment:

• Who buys what, from whom, and how
• Existing policies, approval levels and vendor lists
• Systems used for purchasing, inventory and AP
• Main pain points (delays, exceptions, supplier complaints, lack of visibility)

From there, we design a procurement shared services operating model that defines:

• Which activities move into the SSC
• How the SSC interacts with local teams and approvers
• Service levels, turnaround times and escalation paths

 Step 2: Transition, Process & Data Setup

Next, we:

• Map current workflows and design standard P2P processes
• Set up or refine requisition, PO and vendor master data structures
• Document SOPs, RACI charts and practical checklists
• Clean vendor data where necessary and migrate it into the shared structure
• Pilot the new process with one or two entities before expanding

The aim is to transition without disrupting the business – while immediately improving visibility and control.

Step 3: Steady‑State Shared Services Operations

Once live, our Procurement & Vendor SSC:

• Handles day‑to‑day P2P activities as per agreed scope
• Monitors performance metrics (cycle times, policy compliance, query volume)
• Holds regular review meetings with your leadership to refine processes
• Scales up as you add entities, categories or new systems

Your team gets a stable, predictable procurement support function that can grow with the business.

Who Should Consider Procurement & Vendor SSC in UAE?

Our Procurement & Vendor Shared Services Centre is well suited to:

• SMEs and family businesses with growing purchasing volumes
• Groups with multiple entities, branches or warehouses
• Companies wanting to move from reactive buying to structured procurement
• Organisations experiencing frequent invoice disputes, supplier escalations or policy breaches
• Businesses planning broader shared services or GBS models and needing P2P as a foundation 

If you recognise your organisation in this list, a Procurement & Vendor SSC can be a practical next step.