BlueBridge Alliance saves 10 hours per week on bookkeeping with PEX
About BlueBridge Alliance
BlueBridge Alliance is a nonprofit that partners with law enforcement agencies to provide immediate, needs-based assistance to people in crisis. Through its BlueBridge card program, the organization equips officers to make fast, essential purchases like diapers, car seats or hotel stays. BlueBridge partners with hundreds of agencies nationwide to bring its community-first approach to public safety.
PEX is the backbone of our program. We needed something that could accommodate our unique structure, was easy for officers to use and scaled with us as we grew. We looked at a bunch of options, but PEX just made sense. It gave us the structure and tools we needed without a lot of extra complexity.
Brian Spracklen, CEO & Co-founder, BlueBridge Alliance
The challenge
BlueBridge needed a platform that could support decentralized spending, real-time field purchases and strict government-level accountability from day one. The team researched technology, gathered input from police officers and community members and stress-tested ideas to ensure the model would drive real impact.
Getting the financial infrastructure right from the start was critical. They couldn’t rely on clunky reimbursement processes or disconnected spending systems. Every dollar had to be accounted for with rigorous oversight and transparency standards. Their officers in the field needed to make instantaneous purchases while ensuring proper documentation and compliance.
A key component of BlueBridge’s model involves multiple law enforcement agencies. Each agency has its own funding pool and administrative oversight. The team needed a platform that could support a hierarchical “parent-child” structure, allowing each agency to manage its own budget while remaining under BlueBridge’s central oversight.
And finally, the solution had to be simple for officers to use in the field, require minimal training and scale across departments and regions. It needed to streamline tasks like receipt capture, reporting and bookkeeping, while reducing the administrative burden on both BlueBridge and partner agencies.
BlueBridge’s challenge was common to many nonprofits with field-based operations: how to securely and efficiently manage decentralized spending while maintaining high standards of fiscal accountability and transparency.
The solution
The BlueBridge team evaluated different options during the early design phase of the program. They chose PEX for its ability to scale quickly, support decentralized oversight and help maintain compliance without complexity.
Officers often respond to high-stress, unpredictable situations. Waiting for reimbursements or approvals isn’t an option. With PEX, they can cover immediate needs like hotel stays or essential supplies. Then they quickly snap a photo of the receipt and move on. The platform’s simplicity supports officer workflows while helping BlueBridge maintain oversight.
BlueBridge’s custom-built app, powered by the PEX API, supports their unique reporting needs. The app lets officers upload receipts and submit post-transaction data in one place. Using these tools, the organization can capture financial records along with the relevant context that helps them measure impact.
PEX’s parent-child account structure allows each law enforcement agency to operate semi-independently, with its own budget, controls and administrative access. At the same time, BlueBridge maintains centralized oversight. Officers in the field received PEX Disburse Visa® Prepaid Cards tied to their agency’s sub-account, enabling spending without losing control.
PEX also integrates directly with BlueBridge’s QuickBooks environment, making it easy to track transactions, organize records and stay audit-ready. For a lean nonprofit team managing hundreds of sub-accounts, the automation significantly lightens the manual bookkeeping load.
The results
Saved 10 hours per week on bookkeeping
PEX helps BlueBridge streamline its reconciliation process and has reduced their bookkeeping time by 10 hours each week. This time-savings frees up valuable resources as the program expands.
3x growth in officer participation in 12 weeks
BlueBridge had around 320 officers actively using PEX cards at the time of the interview. That number was expected to surpass 1,000 in the next 8-12 weeks, showcasing PEX's ability to support rapid, multi-agency growth.
Frictionless receipt compliance in the field
Officers are required to upload receipts for every purchase. It's a vital part of maintaining accountability for a community-supported nonprofit. BlueBridge's custom app powered by the PEX API makes that process easy and fast, supporting compliance without adding overhead.
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