Empire Portfolio Group gains real-time spend visibility with Brex.

Multiple card and payment solutions and poor spending visibility

Empire had been outsourcing its financial functions to third parties and using multiple cards and payment solutions, including Amex, Chase, Venmo, and Zelle — making it difficult to track spending.

As Empire grew, the team decided to build out its financial operations in-house, leveraging a modern approach to spend management that would help them move faster and more efficiently across their Orangetheory Fitness locations. Because Empire was starting from scratch, they needed more than a provider — they sought a partner who could quickly implement a new solution with high-touch service and scale as Empire grew its studio portfolio.

Cards, expenses, and reimbursements on one platform

Empire chose to consolidate corporate cards, expense management, and reimbursements onto Brex to improve spending control and visibility. Empire first issued Brex cards to employees and used spend limits to allocate budgets to managers at each location. Tiffany Miller, Director of Accounts Payable at Empire Portfolio Group, said the clear limits and expense policies make it easy for teams to do the right thing for the individual location — and the business as a whole.

“There are so many great functionalities in Brex, and it’s not just for the finance team,” Tiffany says. “It’s also given managers a way to be recognized for managing their budgets and allows us to give them ownership.”

Positive employee feedback around Brex cards led Empire to accelerate the rollout of expense tracking and reimbursements. With Brex’s comprehensive spend management solution, Empire’s controllers and managers finally had real-time visibility and granular control over spending across their Orangetheory Fitness locations in one place.

“Coming to Brex was a great decision for us because we formed a partnership, and they made the preliminary setup process go really smoothly,” Tiffany said.

“With Brex, we’ve seen a huge shift in accounts payable from being a back-office data entry function to a powerhouse of information that creates a decision-maker and stakeholder.”

— Tiffany Miller, Director of Accounts Payable, Empire Portfolio Group

Improved reporting and visibility that drives studio efficiency

An integrated corporate card and spend management solution gave Empire the platform it needed to build a world-class finance department that’s driving business strategy. “With Brex, we’ve seen a huge shift in accounts payable from being a back-office data entry function to a powerhouse of information that creates a decision-maker and stakeholder,” Tiffany said.

Fast reimbursements, real-time expense tracking, and improved reporting enable Empire to increase its overall financial discipline and performance. “Now we have the tools to easily run information to the C-suite,” Tiffany said. “It’s why we needed Brex — to see in real time what’s being spent across multiple locations.”

Empire Portfolio Group leveraged these new insights into incentive programs to empower studio owners and improve business results. “Because we’re able to see spending at such a granular level, we’re able to benchmark our studio locations against one another and truly understand the cost of running the most efficient studio.”

Empire Portfolio Group continues its impressive growth and dream-big mission, with the strength of Brex’s AI-powered spend platform — and partnership — behind them. “When we moved to Brex, I felt like I had a partner in this space,” Tiffany says. “Brex is willing to work with end users directly. Having the Brex team there, like they were part of my team, was really helpful.”