AssemblyAI narrows in on zero-day close and frees up headcount with Brex

Manual finance workflows collide with a culture of speed

As a fast-growing startup, AssemblyAI’s philosophy centers on velocity and minimizing friction. Unfortunately, this was at odds with the clunky experience of typical business banking, rigid expense processes, and manual accounts payable — threatening to slow them down.

While they recognized that many growing companies attempt to solve financial complexity by adding headcount, their AI-first mindset demanded a smarter, more efficient way. So they sought an intelligent finance platform that could automate critical workflows and eliminate manual overhead without compromising compliance or control.

Shared AI mindset, and a unified financial stack

AssemblyAI looks for partners that share their AI-native mindset, leveraging AI in their products and in how they run the business. “We build with AI at the core both in how we optimize internally and how we deliver value to customers,” said Nick Johnson, VP of Finance. “So we expect the same from the tools we use.”

Brex met that bar with intelligent, automation-first products and AI-native operations. “Brex is clearly built with the same AI-native mindset,” Nick said. “That alignment gave us confidence we could grow with them without slowing down.”

AssemblyAI runs on the entire Brex stack: cards, banking, bill pay, expenses, and accounting automation. They gradually scaled up on the platform, starting years ago with the Brex card.

“Our full trust in the Brex system crystallized during the regional banking crisis in 2023,” Nick recalls. “It was a stressful time. We needed new banking partners fast. Large legacy banks were taking weeks, but Brex had us up and running with a bank account in minutes. Startups need that speed.”

AssemblyAI now operates out of Brex’s modern FDIC-insured checking account with ease. And they use the integrated Brex bill pay to automate invoicing and payments. “Brex bill pay’s automated approval flows are fast and intuitive. All invoices, W-9s, and supporting docs are centralized in Brex too — not scattered across drives or emails,” said Dara Lammerding, CPA, Controller at AssemblyAI.

Dara also uses Brex expense management to auto-enforce custom policies. For example, recurring Google ad spend is pre-approved and doesn’t require receipts. “I trust the Brex system to control spending without my constant oversight,” said Dara.

Lastly, AssemblyAI closes the books in real time with our two-way QuickBooks integration and accounting automation, including AI-powered suggestions for GL codes, vendor mappings, and departments for every transaction..

“I trust the Brex system to control spending without my constant oversight.”

— Dara Lammerding, CPA, Controller at AssemblyAI

Zero-day close, audit readiness, and headcount savings

The transformation has been profound. “Brex is a critical finance vendor,” Nick emphasized. “Brex is one of only a handful of app notifications that I allow on my phone.” Brex’s 24/7 customer service has also felt like an extension of their team. “With Brex, it feels like you have more people focused on helping you as a customer,” said Nick.

As AssemblyAI’s controller, Dara is in Brex every day and finds the experience effortless. “From managing limit increases to paying bills, Brex’s UX is so easy,” she remarked. As a result, Brex has meaningfully reduced the time she spends on AP and spend management.

The increased trust, ease of use, and automation benefits employees too. They’re empowered to spend, and freed from manual expense reporting. They just forward or upload receipts, and Brex AI handles the rest — categorization, memos, and even adding attendees from their calendar. They’re avoiding around 5 hours of manual expense reporting tasks entirely every month.

With AI-supported accruals and the integration between Brex and QuickBooks, AssemblyAI has accelerated its close process — saving up to 5 days each month vs. traditional month-end timelines. This brings the team meaningfully closer to their goal of a zero-day close. Nick remarks, “Brex gives us half a headcount back at our stage, and we expect to save even more at scale.”

“Brex gives us half a headcount back at our stage, and we expect to save even more at scale.”

— Nick Johnson, VP of Finance, AssemblyAI

The QuickBooks integration is so well-tuned that nearly everything is auto-coded correctly the first time. "The Brex system gets it right before it even reaches our GL. I rarely have to reclassify manually," Dara explains. This has reduced manual reconciliation and errors, with an accuracy rate of 92%.

Brex’s clean documentation trail and native controls also enhance audit readiness by ensuring all approvals and required documentation are organized and accessible. “Audit prep is significantly faster now than before Brex because everything is audit-ready,” Dara noted. “Brex gives us both speed and compliance.”

Perhaps most important, the company culture has improved. “I have trust in the financial system we can design with Brex,” said Nick. “People know the rules, have set limits, and can operate quickly.”

As AssemblyAI grows, Brex continues to scale with them. “Brex handles more complexity without adding friction,” Nick concluded. “The simplicity of Brex makes collaboration easy — across finance and the entire company.”

Ready to see how Brex can streamline your financial operations? Sign up for Brex today and discover how our integrated platform can eliminate the complexity of managing multiple financial tools while delivering measurable time and cost savings.