# Attivo Partners automates 80% of expense categorization See how Attivo Partners automates 80% of expense categorization and gets time back to focus on advising their VC-backed startup clients. **URL Source:** https://www.brex.com/resources/customer/attivo-partners --- ![Attivo hero](https://brand.brex.com/transform/ed226e31-b27d-4c2a-9f6b-c87bbc22bbba/Attivo-hero) # Attivo Partners automates 80% of expense categorization with Brex and Puzzle ![attivo stats](https://brand.brex.com/transform/e5c29007-52a6-44a2-8c98-99f3a102a0c3/attivo-stats) ### About Attivo Partners Scaling accounting for high-growth startups [Attivo Partners](https://attivopartners.com/) is a full-service finance and accounting firm. Their fractional CFO and accounting services help founders navigate the complexities of company building through all stages: raising capital, building business models, and achieving successful exits. Attivo's partnership is built to scale, providing customized solutions and thought leadership that evolve alongside their clients' businesses. ### Challenges Volume and friction, with expensive manual work Attivo Partners was growing rapidly, but the growth created a troubling pattern: they were scaling linearly. More client transactions meant more headcount, with senior accountants spending most of their time on lower-value work. "It wasn't complexity. It was volume and friction," says John Truong, Assistant Controller, Attivo Partners. "Manually reviewing transactions in the month-end close, coding inconsistencies, chasing down receipts." Attivo was using a fragmented financial stack: QuickBooks for the ledger, and separate systems for reimbursements, bill pay, and corporate cards. Each tool worked in isolation. "It wasn't really connected with anything," John recalls. "A lot of manual import-exports. Waiting for CSVs." Senior accountants were reviewing nearly 100% of client transactions manually. Month-end close meant chasing down missing receipts, reconciling across disconnected systems, and validating repetitive, low-risk activity. "We had highly skilled team members spending most of their time validating repetitive low-risk activity," John says. "It's not leverage at all." ### Solution One intelligent platform for spend, cards, and bill pay Attivo chose Brex as the [intelligent operating system](https://www.brex.com/platform/intelligent-finance) for their finances. This allowed them to consolidate cards, reimbursements, banking, and bill pay into a single AI-native platform. Integrated with [Puzzle's accounting software](https://puzzle.io/), this solution transformed how Attivo's team worked. "It was a breath of fresh air," John says. "Things that we thought we had to do manually were just automated." Brex captures spend data with full context at the point of transaction. Receipts, memos, categories, and GL codes all flow directly into the Puzzle accounting system via [seamless integration](https://www.brex.com/one-click-accounting). This enables continuous ledger preparation because spend data flows into the ledger in real time with context intact, eliminating the manual CSV exports and imports. With Brex, card issuance, approval workflows, and policy enforcement all happen in one place with built-in controls, giving Attivo's team visibility and control without the operational drag. "At the end of the month it's not chasing people down for things, it's just reviewing and making sure things reconcile," John explains. "Yep, check." “Brex and Puzzle was a breath of fresh air. Things that we thought we had to do manually were just automated." — John Truong, Assistant Controller, Attivo Partners ### Impact From counting transactions to consulting on strategy With Brex and Puzzle, Attivo Partners fundamentally changed how they operate. Across their 400+ VC-backed startup clients, the firm now handles 80% of transactions through automated categorization. Of those, 87% are categorized accurately without any human review. Senior accountants shifted from reviewing nearly every transaction to exception-based oversight only. The time savings were significant, but where that time went matters more. Senior accountant capacity increased without adding headcount. Each can now manage more clients while delivering higher-value work. Hours that used to get burned validating mundane transactions now go into what clients actually pay for: implementing systems for data-driven decision making, designing internal controls, setting and enforcing policy, and providing proactive insight instead of reactive cleanup. "It's really allowing us to shift from being a transaction processing mentality to being strategic oversight, working more on providing insights," John says. "It's allowing us to replace that time we would have spent just dealing with transaction categorization, to actually advising our clients, interpreting the financials." "Using Brex and Puzzle allows us to shift from a transaction processing mentality to strategic oversight, working more on providing insights.” — John Truong, Assistant Controller, Attivo Partners For firms supporting high-growth startups, Brex's unified platform paired with Puzzle accounting software solves a fundamental scaling problem: how to handle increasing transaction volume without proportionally increasing headcount. "Technology is amazing," John says, "but you still need the human element to design guardrails and controls, and handle the exceptions." With Brex and Puzzle working together, Attivo's team can stay focused on governance, judgment, and strategic guidance, while the integrated platform connects spend management and accounting, reduces manual work, and delivers real-time financial visibility. Get started with Brex and Puzzle in [one click today](https://www.brex.com/one-click-accounting). ## Related Articles ### [Bringing mental health resources to founders](https://www.brex.com/journal/brex-launches-catharsis) Today I’m excited to announce Catharsis, a new program designed to support startup founders’ mental health. ### [Treasury management for busy founders](https://www.brex.com/journal/articles/treasury-management-for-busy-founders) See how Brex automates your treasury management so your finance team can stop juggling accounts and start focusing on strategic work. ### [📋 Controlling spend with hyper-efficient finance teams](https://www.brex.com/resources/controlling-spend-with-hyper-efficient-finance-teams-register) Thomas Piani from Brex and Josh Waldron from Scale AI discuss the impact of AI on finance teams and how it can drive business impact. ### [A CFO’s checklist for going international](https://www.brex.com/journal/cfo-checklist-for-going-international) Getting people paid, managing expenses, taxes & accounting — there’s a lot to consider before expanding operations in a new country. ### [How to manage runaway SaaS spend](https://www.brex.com/journal/how-to-manage-runaway-saas-spend) Tech CFO CJ Gustafson details how to save on SaaS spend in marketing, engineering, finance, and more. ### [Dude Wipes case study](https://www.brex.com/resources/customer/dude-wipes) With Brex, Dude Wipes is unlocking higher capital and rewards and saving 40 hours a week on reconciliation through automation.