The Partner: Graphite
Graphite is the #1 team startups rely on for accounting, CFO, and tax. The firm gives founders clean books, strategic guidance, and industry-specific support in one place, spanning quality bookkeeping, Fractional CFO services, and tax.
Born out of a VC fund, Graphite has a unique vantage point on the needs and nuances of early-stage companies, and helps founders scale efficiently and sustainably. The team is made up of seasoned CFOs, accountants, entrepreneurs, and operators who partner directly with early-stage companies to help them succeed.
As client demand grew, Graphite needed to expand its senior analyst bench with talent that could operate autonomously, engage directly with founders and CFOs, and deliver institutional-grade financial analysis across multiple engagements at once. Hiring at that seniority level in the U.S. would have significantly compressed margins on every engagement. Graphite partnered with South to build the team from LATAM instead.
The Challenge: Client-Facing Senior Talent With High Autonomy
This wasn’t an execution-only backfill. Graphite needed Senior Financial Analysts who could fully own a demanding, client-facing role from day one:
- Confidently participate in client meetings and financial discussions
- Deliver and interpret complex financial results for founders and executives
- Operate autonomously with minimal internal oversight
- Communicate fluently in English with U.S.-based stakeholders
- Support startups with forward-looking analysis and strategic decision-making
The analysts needed strong judgment, the ability to “tell the story” behind the numbers, and comfort operating across multiple fast-paced startup engagements simultaneously, in line with Graphite’s operator-led approach.
Role requirements included:
- 7+ years of experience in financial planning, analysis, and reporting
- Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills
- Hands-on experience with SAP, Oracle, Calipso, and QuickBooks
- Confidence engaging with Managers, Controllers, CFOs, and business owners
Core responsibilities:
- Building assumptions-driven financial models to forecast performance, assess headcount and resource needs, manage runway, and plan fundraising
- Preparing and presenting comprehensive monthly financial reports for multiple clients (full financial statements, trend analysis, budget vs. actuals, key metrics)
- Building financial dashboards and visualizations to communicate results clearly
- Ad-hoc analysis on pricing strategy, margin sensitivity, and cash burn scenarios
- Ensuring forward-looking models were investor-ready and easy to interpret
The South Solution: Two Senior Financial Analysts, Fully Vetted
South managed the entire process end-to-end:
- LATAM senior talent sourcing
- Financial and analytical skill vetting
- English proficiency assessment for client-facing work
- Multi-stage interview coordination
- Compliance, contracting, and payroll setup
While South typically closes hires in ~21 days, this engagement involved an extended interview cycle with multiple assessment stages to guarantee long-term fit at the senior level. The full process wrapped in just over one month.
Both analysts are now fully embedded in Graphite’s advisory practice, and the partnership has been running successfully for some time.
The Results: Senior Advisory Talent at a Fraction of U.S. Cost
Cost Structure That Protects Advisory Margins
That translates to approximately $124,800 in annual savings, a ~55% reduction in senior analyst payroll costs, with no compromise on seniority or client-facing capability.
Delivery Impact
- Time to hire: ~1 month (extended cycle by client design)
- Senior-level advisory support fully embedded across multiple client engagements
- Stronger financial insights and improved client delivery
- Scalable growth for Graphite’s advisory practice, without U.S. senior-analyst cost structure
A Long-Term Partnership
Both hires remain embedded in Graphite’s advisory practice today, evidence that senior LATAM talent, properly vetted, can hold client-facing roles at the highest level for the long haul.
Graphite scaled its advisory bench with senior LATAM talent at ~55% below U.S. cost. Schedule a free call with South and see how we can build your team.