How a Real Estate Investment Firm Hired a Financial Specialist in Latin America for $2,700/Month

When a real estate investment firm’s most experienced accountant left the team, the firm needed someone who could step in immediately and keep the books current for several investment fund vehicles, each with its own set of monthly financial records, with no gap in reporting to investors.

A financial specialist with that kind of fund-accounting experience earns $91,662 a year on average in the US. That price tag made hiring at the seniority the job needed a real constraint, especially given the rest of the ask: the role required someone willing to flex hours around month-end close and fund closings rather than clock out at five, exactly when the workload was heaviest.

So the firm came to Hire With Near to hire finance and accounting talent from Latin America: specifically, a financial specialist who could take over investment fund bookkeeping in QuickBooks, work with property data flowing in from a property management platform, and bring the reliability the outgoing accountant had set as the bar.

What Made This Real Estate Investment Firm Look to Latin America?

This was the firm’s first hire specifically sourced from Latin America. Its existing remote team had come together in a more ad hoc way: word-of-mouth hires in another offshore region, a handful of short-term freelance-platform contractors, and one earlier attempt with a general staffing agency that delivered weak candidates too slowly to be useful.

None of that added up to a reliable channel for a role this central to the business. Fund accounting isn’t something a company can leave to whoever happens to be available. It needs someone dependable enough to own the monthly close for several funds with minimal oversight, and a search fast enough that the firm wasn’t stuck waiting weeks for a shortlist.

A nearshore staffing approach solved both problems at once: a dedicated search built around the specific skills the role needed, sourced and screened before the firm ever saw a resume. The region offered overlapping business hours and a deep bench of accountants trained on US accounting standards.

What Does a Financial Specialist Hire From Latin America Look Like?

Hire With Near sourced and screened candidates for the fund-accounting fundamentals the role needed first, treating real estate or property-management exposure as a bonus rather than a requirement. 

The client was explicit about that trade-off: a genuinely strong, reliable accountant mattered more than whether someone already knew the property management software the firm used.

The hire chosen is based in Brazil and holds a master’s degree in corporate finance on top of a bachelor’s in business administration. 

His background is unusually credentialed for a role titled financial specialist: nearly six years progressing through audit and financial-controls consulting at a Big Four accounting firm, followed by project financial analyst and project management roles at global consulting and professional services firms, including work in the healthcare-industry consulting space. 

On paper, he was overqualified for the job posting, exactly the kind of profile that tends to grow into more than the role first called for.

His English was strong enough to be functional for internal and vendor-facing communication. The role was never client-facing, so fluency mattered less than reliability and follow-through.

Related reading: Hiring in Brazil: The Talent, the Costs, and What US Companies Need to Know 

How a Financial Specialist Hired at 65% Below US Cost Ended Up Leading $9 Million Loan Closings

What started as investment fund bookkeeping didn’t stay there. 

The hire went on to lead loan closings on financings worth $9 million across 90 properties, took ownership of the firm’s internal asset management reporting company-wide, and ran a workflow-documentation project that mapped processes across the organization, including managing an intern who reported directly to him.

He also stayed deeply hands-on through a full restructuring of the firm’s acquisitions team and business model, the kind of change that touches how a company operates end to end. 

In the firm’s own words, he did an excellent job, and his motivation, drive, and character became the standard the firm wanted to replicate in future hires.

At $32,400 a year, or $2,700 a month, the salary comes in 65% below the $91,662 a comparable US-based financial specialist earns, a difference of $59,262 annually. 

But for a firm that started this search just trying to keep the books current, the real return was ending up with someone trusted to run point on loan closings, asset management reporting, and a business-model restructuring, work that goes well beyond what a financial specialist job description typically covers.

That track record built enough trust that the firm went on to expand its Latin America hiring further, growing a search that started as a single fund-accounting hire.

Salary Benchmarks: Real Estate Finance Roles in Latin America

According to Hire With Near’s salary benchmarks:

For the most up-to-date figures, see Hire With Near’s US vs Latin America Salary Guide.

Actual compensation depends on experience, scope, and country. We will give you a specific range at the start of a search.

Why Does Latin America Work for Real Estate Investment Finance Hiring?

Real estate investment firms running multiple fund vehicles have finance needs that don’t map neatly onto a generic bookkeeping search: parallel funds with separate books, property data flowing in from outside systems, and reporting cadences tied to fund closings rather than a normal month-end calendar. 

Companies working with a real estate recruiting agency that understands Latin America’s talent pool tend to find a few things line up especially well.

A deep accounting bench trained on US GAAP, not just local practice

Latin America’s accounting programs train candidates on US GAAP and IFRS side by side, since the region does substantial work with US firms and multinationals reporting under both standards. A hire doesn’t need a long runway to get comfortable inside US-style fund books.

Overlapping business hours support fund-closing deadlines

Investment fund accounting runs on a schedule set by month-end close and fund closings, not a fixed 9-to-5. A hire working the same business hours as the finance team can flex around those deadlines in real time instead of picking up a question the next morning.

You can see how São Paulo, Brazil, and other Latin American cities overlap with the US time zones in the table below:

Note: Most Latin American countries don’t observe Daylight Saving Time, so these times shift by one hour outside of March–November, when the US reverts to standard time.

A bench of overqualified candidates fits lean investment teams

A small or fast-growing investment firm often can’t justify a full-time controller or senior analyst, but still needs that caliber of judgment on its books. 

Latin America’s talent pool includes professionals with Big Four and global consulting backgrounds open to roles a US market would price well above what a growing firm can pay, exactly the kind of overqualified-for-the-title fit that turned into a much bigger role here.

How to Hire a Financial Specialist Through Hire With Near

To hire financial specialists in Latin America through Hire With Near, the process moves quickly. Most companies hire a candidate within 7–21 days, but more specific requests or senior roles may take longer.

Here’s how the process works, step by step:

1. Kickoff call: We start by understanding the role, the fund or reporting structure involved, and what a successful first few months looks like.
2. Job description and compensation: We write or refine the job description and set realistic compensation expectations for the market.
3. Sourcing and screening: We source candidates and run them through our screening process, including an English proficiency assessment and verification of the accounting and fund-reporting experience on their resume.
4. Interviews: You interview the finalists we shortlist and make the call.
5. Offer and onboarding: We handle offer logistics, and you can run payroll through us or pay the hire directly.

There’s no retainer and no fee until you hire.

If you need to hire a financial specialist and want to know exactly what that role costs in the country you want to hire from, book a free discovery call today. We’ll give you specific salary ranges and explain how the search will work for your situation. 

If you’re still in the research process, our How to Hire Finance & Accounting Talent in Latin America and 9 Best Finance Staffing Agencies for US Companies guides can help answer all your questions. 

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