How Pricing And Billing Work
Structure, Billing, and Terms of Your Financial Services Engagement
Graphite's pricing is built to be predictable, transparent, and structured to scale with the client’s business. The sections below walk through how pricing is structured across services, how billing works, when pricing can change, and how to raise a question if something doesn't sit right.
How Pricing Is Structured
Graphite uses a fixed-fee subscription model for core services, with specialized pricing for a few specific types of work where fixed pricing wouldn't be fair to either side.
Monthly subscription (core services)
Core services — Accounting, Tax, Finance, Payroll, and HR — are billed as a monthly fixed fee. An engagement is custom-scoped based on the complexity and needs of the client’s business, not billed by the phone call or the email. That provides a consistent monthly line item for budgeting, and it gives Graphite the flexibility to handle the ongoing questions, coordination, and context-building that good service requires.
Core services run on a 6-month contract term, with tax services on a 12-month term to align with the annual compliance cycle.
Volume-based pricing (AP and AR)
Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable services are priced based on volume, because the workload scales directly with how many invoices we're processing. The specific volume tiers and rates that apply to the engagement are documented in the service agreement. Graphite reviews volume periodically and will reach out if pricing needs to adjust — up or down — based on what we're seeing.
Percentage-based pricing (R&D tax credits)
R&D tax credit work is billed as a percentage of the savings/return Graphite secures for the client. Graphite will bill a minimum fee that covers the technical time and expertise required to prepare the filing. Because the value is tied to the outcome, R&D work is invoiced at the end of the project. The specific percentage and minimum fee for the engagement are documented in the service agreement.
Project and custom work
Work that falls outside the ongoing subscription — a special analysis, audit prep, a one-time financial model, an employee handbook — is handled as a separate Custom Project Engagement. These are priced either as a flat fee or hourly, depending on the scope of the work:
- Flat-fee projects are invoiced upfront before work begins.
- Hourly projects are invoiced in arrears — clients receive an invoice at the start of each month for hours worked in the previous month.
Before any custom work begins, the CSS will walk through what is needed and provide a clear quote for review.
The Onboarding Fee
Every new engagement begins with a one-time onboarding fee. This covers the foundation-building phase of the relationship — the work that happens before steady-state service can run cleanly. The fee covers:
- Meetings and working sessions with the new Graphite team.
- Communication setup (shared channels, system access, points of contact).
- Cleanup and catch-up, bringing past books current and accurate.
- System configuration, including tech stack setup, Chart of Accounts build, and revenue recognition models.
The fee is quoted and agreed to during the sales process and invoiced as part of the initial engagement. The scope and amount are documented in the service agreement.
How and When Graphite Bills
Billing runs on a consistent monthly cadence through Ignition, Graphite's billing and payment system. Payment is collected via auto-draft/ACH using the payment method set up during onboarding.
Pre-payment model
Core subscription services are billed on a pre-payment basis — one month ahead of the work being performed. If your agreement begins on January 1, your January 1 draft covers January's services.
Invoice delivery
You'll receive an electronic invoice by email the day before your payment is drafted. The email includes a summary of charges and a downloadable PDF for your records.
Because payment is handled through auto-draft, your invoice will clearly state "Do not pay this invoice." This is to prevent accidental double payments — the charge is already on its way through Ignition.
Multiple invoice recipients
If your accounting or operations team needs to stay in the loop, invoices can be sent to multiple people within your organization. Let your CSS know who to add.
Updating payment methods
If you need to update your payment method — a new bank account, a new credit card — you can make the change directly in Ignition. Because payment method changes affect auto-draft timing, update Ignition as soon as the change happens to keep service uninterrupted.
For invoice copies, billing questions, or help resolving a failed payment, reach out to your CSS.
When Pricing Can Change
Your pricing stays consistent through the term of your engagement. Pricing can change in three situations:
- At renewal. Contracts auto-renew by default — core services at the end of each 6-month term, tax at the end of each 12-month term. At renewal, pricing may be adjusted based on changes in scope (services added or removed), volume (material shifts in transaction or work activity), or alignment with current market rates. Your CSS will communicate any pricing changes in advance of the renewal taking effect, including what's changing, why, and when. Once the renewal is finalized, the new rate is updated in Ignition and reflected on your first invoice of the new term.
- Mid-term, when scope shifts materially. If the work you're asking Graphite to handle grows meaningfully beyond what was originally scoped — more transactions, more entities, more services, more complexity — your CSS will initiate a conversation about rescoping, including any pricing adjustment. Graphite reviews the work to confirm the shift, speaks with you about it, amends the agreement to reflect the additional work, and bills accordingly. These conversations also happen ahead of renewal so everything is aligned before auto-renewal takes effect for the next term.
- For volume-based services, as activity shifts. AP, AR, and other volume-based services adjust based on activity, following the tiers defined in your service agreement. Your team reviews volume periodically and will reach out if an adjustment is coming.
Pricing changes run on an opt-out basis per your service agreement. Graphite sends advance notice of the change, and the new pricing takes effect as communicated unless you raise a concern with your CSS.
If a Pricing or Billing Question Comes Up
If a price change, invoice, renewal term, or charge isn't clear — or doesn't sit right — raise it with your CSS. Pricing and billing questions are a legitimate and expected part of the engagement, and your CSS is the right person to bring them to. They'll walk through the reasoning, look at the context of your account, and work toward a resolution that reflects the value you're getting.
For how to submit pricing or billing questions and what to expect, see How to Submit Requests. For what happens if a conversation doesn't resolve an issue, see Your Graphite Team And How We Work Together for escalation paths.
Staying Aligned on Value
Predictable pricing only works when it reflects the actual work being done. The value of the model compounds over time — the longer we work together, the more context the team builds, and the more leverage you get from every dollar of the engagement. Keeping pricing aligned to that reality is what keeps the model sustainable on both sides.