Statsig controls 100% of corporate expenses with Brex.

Inefficient expense and bill pay processes and fragmented financial tools

With just two people on the finance team and a company in hyper-growth mode, Statsig’s decentralized financial approach couldn't scale. When Stephen Praast joined as Head of Accounting in early 2024, “everyone from our CEO to a part-time accountant was doing a bit of bill pay with little oversight,” he said.

Having navigated the limitations of regional banks and fragmented AP, expense, and travel tools in previous roles, Stephen recognized the warning signs. “Getting bank statements was slow, and everything was just clunky," he says. “That disjointed approach wouldn’t work for the growth stage Statsig was in.”

The turning point came when Statsig hit a milestone ARR number and the CEO wanted to organize a companywide retreat. "We were going to LA for three days and going to Disneyland, staying in a nice hotel, and oh yeah, it’s in three weeks. And I was like, ‘we are not set up for this,’" Stephen recalls. An ad-hoc expense management approach — including weekly manual reimbursement processing — wouldn’t have worked well for such a trip. And that got Stephen thinking more holistically about Statsig’s finance operations.

Stephen sought centralized visibility and proactive spend controls that could simplify expense workflows for employees and the finance team.

One platform for cards, banking, bill pay, and expense management

Statsig was already using Brex business banking and bill pay, so Stephen took over ownership and unlocked Brex’s corporate cards, travel, and expense management capabilities. For the urgent Disneyland retreat, Stephen issued Brex virtual cards to every employee, created a retreat budget with individual spend limits, and used Brex travel for seamless booking — all accomplished in a matter of hours rather than weeks.

Stephen realized the power of Brex and began putting more of the platform to work for Statsig, such as using Brex bill pay to manage invoices and vendor payments with just a few clicks. Brex’s integration with QuickBooks Online accounting software eliminated manual data entry and streamlined Statsig’s month-end close process.

“Getting set up for that trip was really eye-opening, but the aha moment for me was just how much the Brex platform can do to simplify all of our business spending,” Stephen says. “From a $5 Starbucks drink to our seven-figure monthly Google Cloud bill, every single expense category flows through Brex, either on a card or invoicing through bill pay.”

“Brex allows me to do my job in a way that allows everyone else at Statsig to do their jobs. We like to move fast, and Brex ensures we can.”

— Stephen Praast, Head of Accounting, Statsig

Automated expenses, meaningful rewards, and 3x faster reconciliation

The Disneyland retreat proved to be a transformative moment for Statsig's financial operations. "It felt like I had to be scrappy to get it done, but it was really a seamless process in Brex. Everyone had a positive experience, and I didn't break my back trying to classify all those expenses," Stephen says. The success prompted him to get the entire company on Brex cards, virtually eliminating reimbursements.

Using Brex’s AI-powered finance platform delivered immediate operational benefits. "I really like having everything under one roof," Stephen explains. "I don't have to go to my other vendor or bank sites. I can see it all, plus our bank balance, right in the Brex platform.” This efficiency especially stood out for Stephen after Statsig's Series C raise. "All of a sudden, we're on every vendor's radar, and they’re trying to sell us card, travel, and AP alternatives. And I just tell them I don't have any needs right now; I have Brex.”

Brex bill pay simplifies vendor management and automates invoice processing. "It's super easy to forward an invoice to bills@brex.com. We have a lot of repeat vendors, and all their info is already in Brex, which eliminates the manual data entry," Stephen says. These automations accelerate Statsig’s expense reconciliation. “Having all expenses flow through Brex allows me to record and reconcile expenses in only 8-10 hours, where a decentralized approach would take a few days.”

Moving from reimbursements to Brex cards also accelerated rewards, and Statsig CEO Vijaye Raji noted the meaningful impact of the billboards offering: “The Brex billboard program let us stretch our dollars further, and provided expertise that a startup simply can’t have in-house. We wouldn’t launch another campaign without Brex.”

Employee satisfaction is also up. “Anytime a new employee starts, especially remote team members, they're concerned about having to spend their own money and waiting to get paid back," Stephen shares. "All of their concerns are alleviated within 20 minutes of getting set up with Brex."

Stephen shared that Raji appreciates the granular visibility that Brex provides. "I can say, ‘here is the retreat budget and here's exactly what we spent against it because I set it up and tracked it in Brex,’ ” Stephen says. “Providing that level of transparency is a nice value-add."

Perhaps most importantly, Brex became the foundation enabling Statsig's rapid pace. “Brex allows me to do my job in a way that allows everyone else to do their jobs," Stephen says. "I never have to worry about finance holding the business back. We like to move fast, and Brex ensures we can."