How Cluely streamlines vendor payments and tackles bills 8x faster

Manual processes slowing down a fast-growing startup

When Cluely was scaling their operations, they found themselves drowning in manual financial processes that were consuming valuable time and creating operational bottlenecks. "We were previously in Google Sheets all the time, calculating these amounts, making sure that we were keeping track of 1099s," Kayman recalls. Managing creative marketing campaigns meant dealing with numerous contractors and complex milestone-based payments that required careful tracking and documentation.

The expense management situation was particularly overwhelming. With heavy AI infrastructure costs generating constant transactions, the team was spending hours on receipt management. "I get hit with so many OpenAI bills every few minutes. And I remember posting for help at 3 AM, because we were getting an OpenAI bill every 4 minutes," Kayman explains. The manual effort required to process hundreds of API transactions was becoming a significant drain on productivity.

For a company that spends aggressively on marketing and infrastructure, Cluely also needed to balance growth velocity with proper financial controls. Traditional banking solutions either lacked adequate oversight capabilities or created approval bottlenecks that slowed their ability to make fast decisions and capitalize on opportunities.

A modern spend management platform built for growth

Cluely chose Brex for its deep understanding of startup operations and comprehensive spend management capabilities. The company implemented Brex's full platform, including corporate cards with granular controls, automated vendor management, and integrated expense tracking.

Rather than wrestling with spreadsheets, Cluely leveraged Brex's vendor portal to streamline their complex contractor payments by 3x. "Brex's vendor portal has been very useful for sending out these one-time payments. And if we need to pay regularly, it's super easy to make it recurring," Kayman notes. What previously took 15-20 minutes of work in a spreadsheet, now takes under 5 on Brex — with automated receipt capture, built-in 1099 tracking, and recurring payments.

The team established sophisticated spending controls while maintaining operational agility. Every team member received their own corporate card with appropriate limits, and the platform's role-based access enabled delegation without compromising security. "It's been easy to delegate some of our creator coaches to be specific card admins, without giving them admin access to the whole org," Kayman explains.

"Our team often says 'just put it on the Brex.' We can make big bets while staying in policy with proper spend limits."

-Alexa Kayman, Chief Revenue Officer

Less manual work, and more time for big swings

With bills arriving every 4 minutes during peak periods (approximately 15 receipts per hour) manual processing previously consumed up to 4 hours of manual work during an 8-hour peak period. Brex's automated receipt system has reduced this to 30 minutes of spot-checking and review — an 8x improvement in efficiency.

"With Brex, I don't have to go in and upload all of the receipts. The platform helps us move a lot faster, especially across all of our API spend and AI server bills." And with only occasional edge cases requiring intervention, Cluely has effectively eliminated 99% of manual receipt processing work.

But the impact has gone beyond day-to-day finances. By automating more manual work, the team has gained more time to focus on larger and more strategic initiatives like marketing pushes. “We are able to take even bigger swings. And Brex is very easy to just keep an eye on on those categories," Kayman shares. With real-time visibility into cash flow through Stripe and Brex integration, plus granular spending controls, the team can spend confidently on those initiatives while maintaining proper oversight.

Cluely has also partnered with Brex on co-sponsored events, transforming the relationship from solely a banking services provider into a strategic partner. "Brex has just been incredible. We've done a lot of fun collaborations that show they are really there to support their customers in the long run," Kayman concludes. For fast-growing startups managing complex vendor relationships and significant infrastructure costs, Brex provides the financial infrastructure needed to scale operations without sacrificing control or speed.

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.