# One Step Beyond saves 70 hours a month processing expenses with Brex Discover how nonprofit One Step Beyond dramatically reduced expense processing and nearly 4x-ed employee productivity with Brex. **URL Source:** https://www.brex.com/resources/customer/one-step-beyond --- ![One Step Beyond hero](https://brand.brex.com/transform/733418d8-2d4c-49d3-8577-057d4915fb0d/One-Step-Beyond-hero) # One Step Beyond saves 70 hours a month processing expenses with Brex. ![One step beyond stats](https://brand.brex.com/transform/ef180355-4e21-4398-86ba-ea0df8e34f1e/One-step-beyond-stats) ### About One Step Beyond Empowering adults with disabilities through inclusive programs and advocacy [One Step Beyond Inc.](https://osbi.org/) provides engaging programs and services to create opportunities for adults with disabilities. Their mission extends across various life spheres — employment, social recreation, housing, and communication skills. In recent years, the team of 300 people has expanded its mission to include advocacy for disability rights, rate reform, and improving government funding. The group recently purchased more than 3 acres near their headquarters in Glendale, Arizona, to build an inclusive community where people with disabilities can live and thrive. They've also developed an employer toolkit to help businesses create inclusive workplaces, addressing the 86% unemployment rate among adults with disabilities. “When we set off on our mission, we looked at all the different spheres and aspects of what it means to be an adult. And for people with disabilities, where a lot of those opportunities and doors of opportunity are closed, we want to open them,” explains Madison Blanton, CEO of One Step Beyond Inc. ### Challenges Manual expense management and time-consuming reporting One Step Beyond faced significant challenges in managing company expenses, and it wasn’t getting any easier as it expanded its work. With approximately 80 cardholders across different programs and services, manual expense workflows were consuming valuable time and resources. Previously, employees had to scan physical receipts and manually code each transaction. "We were taping receipts to pieces of paper and sending pictures over to finance,” Madison says. It was all so ridiculous." Such tedious financial tasks were taking time away from mission-critical work like expanding housing initiatives and addressing staff retention issues. “There are a lot of mountains to move with the work we do, and it takes a lot of time and effort,” Madison adds. “If I'm spending hours tracking credit card expenses, I'm not able to do that important work.” Reporting and visibility were the other challenges. As a nonprofit, One Step Beyond faces stringent reporting requirements to ensure every dollar is spent on its mission. “In order to keep our 501c3 certification as a nonprofit, we need to prove not just that we’re spending money appropriately, but also that we're avoiding unnecessary financial risk,” Madison explains. “Our auditors go through our books with a fine-tooth comb every year, and much of our credibility relies on a good audit. So, financial reporting and transparency around that reporting are critical.” ### Solution Integrated card and expense management that improves efficiency One Step Beyond switched to Brex's corporate card and expense management solution, eliminating numerous manual workflows and improving operational efficiency. With Brex, One Step Beyond increased the number of cardholders by 40% while reducing the number of hours spent processing the additional transactions. ![UI of a Brex card being issued](https://brand.brex.com/transform/ab51aa63-30a4-4b04-b74a-13399ddf5513/OSB-inline) "Our previous institution was actually deterring us from our mission because of how manual everything was, and we were ready for a more modern solution,” Madison says. “Brex met all of our needs. It’s a credible institution for issuing credit cards, but then you have this great expense and accounting technology that helps us be more financially efficient.” “Brex met all of our needs. It’s a credible institution for issuing credit cards, but then you have this great expense and accounting technology that helps us be more financially efficient.” — Madison Blanton, CEO, One Step Beyond Inc. ### Impact 70 hours saved a month and a 4x rise in productivity One Step Beyond transformed expense management with Brex, resulting in significant time saved processing expenses and operational improvements. “With Wells Fargo, our finance team was spending 100+ hours a month processing expenses. With Brex, that’s down to 30-40 hours," Madison shares. "We estimate employee productivity has increased by about 288%. Even my personal expenses now take about an hour, down from nearly 24.” Brex’s integrated cards and expense management also simplifies reporting and compliance for One Step Beyond: “We’ve been able to accelerate so much finance and reporting work with Brex,” says Controller Kathy Scaglione. “Having an audit-compliant system is paramount in the nonprofit world, and Brex makes it incredibly easy to meet our compliance needs.” Kathy also notes the responsiveness and constant innovation of the Brex team. "The Brex product development team has been very responsive, and the software is ever-evolving to meet our needs,” she says. “We’ve been quite satisfied with the intuitive actions, custom mapping, and AI-powered accounting automation Brex provides.” ![UI of AI auto-mapping](https://brand.brex.com/transform/ba2f40f5-ed55-40c3-b71a-ee39e9a66a94/Seatgeek-inline) Perhaps most importantly, Brex enables the One Step Beyond team to focus on its mission. "Brex takes a lot of work off my plate so I have more time for things that impact not only our organization but the communities we serve," Madison says. "My personal job satisfaction has increased significantly since we started with Brex.” Overall, One Step Beyond views Brex as a true partner in its mission. “A lot of vendors say they’ll support our work and community, but don’t follow through,” Madison says. “Brex demonstrated a real partnership by supporting One Step Beyond through its products as well as financial contributions. Brex consistently shows up for our mission.” ## Related Articles ### [📋 FutureScape IDC Report](https://www.brex.com/resources/future-enterprise-intelligence-2024-predictions) Use IDC’s 10 best bets for boosting enterprise intelligence and accelerating the quality and speed of your business decisions. ### [Numeral case study](https://www.brex.com/resources/customer/numeral) See how Numeral cut month-end close time by 80% and unified financial operations after switching from Ramp to Brex's all-in-one platform. ### [Goody case study](https://www.brex.com/resources/customer/goody) Gifting platform Goody switches to Brex cards to capture more business-building rewards and reinvest in its employees. ### [AssemblyAI case study](https://www.brex.com/resources/customer/assembly-ai) How AssemblyAI narrows in on zero-day close and frees up headcount with Brex cards and accounting automation. ### [📋 Controller's Council Webinar](https://www.brex.com/resources/controllers-council-using-ai-register) Brex's Chief Accounting Officer explores how AI can automate manual tasks, deliver outputs for contract reviews and flux analysis, and free up time for growth. ### [5 ways fast-growing startups optimize their cash management](https://www.brex.com/journal/startup-cash-management-optimization) Optimize your cash, and maximize your growth. 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