Atta-us-Samad Sabir

• Finance manager with 15+ years’ experience and deep understanding of FMCG, EPC, IT and Agri operations.
• Last 7 years spent in management positions at many of GCC’s well-respected food companies.
• Proven record of enhancing profitability and cash flow, Optimizing and controlling costs.
• Building finance functions from scratch with ERP implementation.
• Managing reporting and compliance across multi-entity, multi-country groups.
• Operational Finance Expert.
 

Finance Manager – Pure Harvest Smart Farms Ltd., UAE & KSA | Aug 2022 – Present
• Deployed $200M in CAPEX and managed $50M annual OPEX across GCC operations, ensuring budget adherence within ± 2% variance.
• Directed budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis for 6 business units, improving forecast accuracy by 8% and enabling decisions that delivered $0.5M in cost savings / EBITDA uplift.
• Oversaw full-cycle accounting across 8 group entities, reducing month-end timelines from 15 days to 5 days.
• Led group-wide VAT/CT compliance, achieving 100% on-time filings and avoiding historic penalties of $48k.
• Extended vendor terms from 30 to 90 days, improving DPO by 60 days and releasing $1M in working capital.
•Engineered and deployed a product costing framework across 5 farm sites, delivering granular unit economics and driving an 8% reduction in COGS.
•Deployed WMS in 6 warehouses, boosting inventory accuracy to 99% and cutting stock-outs by 23%.
•Produced board-level presentations and variance reports, enabling executive decision-making that resulted in 4% margin improvement / $300k savings. Actively involved in fund raise exercises.
•Delivered $2.2M in savings by implementing effective and alternative vendor management strategies, enhancing cost efficiency without compromising quality or supply continuity.
•Reduced cash usage across the group through initiating and implementing prepaid cards which replaced petty cash, POS terminals which replaced cash sales, and replacing cash vendors.
•Led impairment testing for 10,000+ assets (>$130m NBV), ensuring compliance and accurate valuation.

Regional Finance Manager – Gulf & Levant – Al Safi Danone Co. Ltd., UAE | Nov 2020 – Aug 2022
•Formulate annual budgets, rolling forecasts, and 3–5-year strategic plans across 6 countries, ensuring alignment with group financial targets.
•Conducted monthly/quarterly performance reviews vs. budget with regional teams, enabling 11% reduction in controllable costs and realignment of resources.
•Partnered cross-functionally with Sales & Logistics to optimize working capital and improve profitability; adjusted credit and pricing policies to reduce bad debt exposure by 27%.
•Oversaw inventory management (worth $56M), identifying reduction opportunities that cut holding costs by 9%.
•Managed regional P&L reporting and SKU profitability analysis (by customer/channel), improving visibility into margin drivers and supporting corrective actions.
•Controlled trade spending, receivables, returns, and logistics costs, leading to 3% margin improvement / $833k cost savings.

Sr. Accounting Supervisor – Almarai Company, Saudi Arabia | Nov 2018 – Nov 2020
•Streamlined weekly, monthly, and annual P&L/cost centre reporting with variance analysis (Actual vs. Budget vs. PY), reducing reporting cycle time by 3 days.
•Led annual operating plan, rolling forecasts, and 5-year strategic plan, improving forecast accuracy by 7% and driving cost optimisation across 3 business units.
•Led period-end closing and product costing processes, delivering accurate cost estimates and plant variance insights that improved margin visibility and profitability tracking.
•Supervised fixed assets and inventory teams to ensure accurate capitalization, depreciation, and reconciliation processes.
•Partnered with Sales & Logistics to strengthen receivables, reducing bad debt exposure by 15% via tighter credit policies and proactive collection.
•Oversaw payments, reconciliations, insurance claims, VAT/tax filings, and audits, ensuring 100% compliance with statutory and internal controls.
•Drove ERP/automation initiatives, cutting month-end close timelines by 2 days and improving reporting accuracy.
 

Divisional Accountant - Sales, Supply Chain – Almarai Company, KSA | Jul 2016 – Oct 2018
•Ensured operational compliance with accounting policies, financial controls, and IFRS reporting standards.
•Improved reporting accuracy by 9% through effective management of month-end close, ensuring precise journal entries, P&L adjustments, and variance analysis
•Prepared annual budgets and rolling forecasts (>$21M) including labour cost/headcount analysis.
•Processed and reconciled payroll for 350+ staff, invoices, and expenses while supervising petty cash and GL accounts.
•Supported internal/external audits and stock counts, delivering recons that improved audit turnaround by 24%.
 

Divisional Accountant – Fixed Assets & Inventory – Almarai Company, KSA | Jan 2015 – Jun 2018
•Managed capex, capitalization, depreciation, transfers, and disposals of fixed assets worth $300M, ensuring IFRS compliance.
•Prepared 5-year asset replacement plans and cost-benefit analyses, supporting investment decisions of $30M+.
•Coordinated with auditors and finance leadership to ensure fixed asset reconciliations and policies were accurate and up to date.
•Led inventory accounting & reconciliation for stock worth $55M, reducing inventory variances by 3% ($450k).
•Monitored stock movements and implemented new controls that reduced inventory losses by $1.3M.

Accounting Technician – Sales Finance – Almarai Company, KSA | Nov 2012 – Dec 2014
•Managed daily recons of sales transactions & cash receipts (> $1.7M daily), ensuring accuracy and compliance.
•Prepared and analyzed sales location P&Ls & KPI’s on weekly and monthly to support management decisions and compliance with company policies.
•Oversaw credit management & collections, reducing overdue receivables by 8% and improving cash flow.

CPA - Australia (2017)

MBA – Finance (Pak, 2011) 

Bachelors – Accounting (Pak, 2008)