What types of controls are available with spend limits?

Spend limits can be provisioned as individual limits (e.g. $5,000 per employee) or a shared limit (e.g. $5,000 shared among employees), you can set them up to issue once or recur on an ongoing basis, and can even set limits on approved vendors. So when employees go to spend against them, you’ll have confidence knowing it will be in-policy and on budget.

Can I block spending from specific merchants?

Yes. For example, if you want to create a WFH stipend for employees, you could create an embedded policy of $100 per employee per month, on an approved list of vendors. This gives you more control over how employees spend their money, so you can be sure it’s being spent as intended.

How do spend limits work with budgets?

Brex gives you the ability to plan budgets across your organization, and then build in spend limits to track actual spending against. Which means you can control spend before it happens, from the top down, and track everything in real-time. With Brex, you can: Set budgets across departments, and create sub-budgets for more granular planning and tracking. Customize spend limits with embedded expense policies for things like business travel, stipends and perks, and vendor payments. Enable employees to use one card for everything, since multiple spend limits and policies are applied to one card. Track spending actuals against your budgets in real time, with multi-currency visibility, and talk to budgets owners about tradeoffs if spending needs readjustment. Automate compliance by enabling employee spending using pre-approved limits and built-in policies.

Spend control software solution for startups and enterprises

Control spend before it happens.

Provision spend limits with built-in controls and empower employees to spend with confidence by card, ACH, check, wire, and reimbursement.

Get started

Control spend before it happens.

Provision spend limits with built-in controls and empower employees to spend with confidence by card, ACH, check, wire, and reimbursement.

Get started

Spending smarter is easier than ever.

Create spend limits for things like stipends, travel, and procurement. Embedded policies are auto-enforced, giving employees confidence in every transaction.

Enable and allocate spend.

Issue spend limits and assign them to individuals or teams for spending via card, ACH, check, wire, or reimbursement. And for easier tracking, you can assign each spend limit to an associated budget.

Enforce your policy automatically.

Create unique policies for each spend limit, and Brex will auto-enforce them across Brex card, bill pay, travel platform, and reimbursements — giving you more control over every transaction.

Simplify approvals with AI.

Don’t waste time reviewing every transaction, every month. Brex AI automatically approves expenses that are in-policy, and flags those that need a closer look.

Explore Brex AI →

Automate almost everything.

Brex automates receipt capture, spend alerts, approval reminders, expense reports, GL coding, and more. Which automatically makes month-end easier for everyone.

Explore accounting automation →

Customize your spend limits and controls.

Merchants and categories.
Block unwanted spend categories and restrict spend to specific vendors.
Max transaction amounts.
Set a maximum transaction amount, and auto-decline anything that exceeds it.
Virtual card only.
Block a spend limit from being used by a physical card or via reimbursements.

Merchants and categories.
Block unwanted spend categories and restrict spend to specific vendors.
Max transaction amounts.
Set a maximum transaction amount, and auto-decline anything that exceeds it.
Virtual card only.
Block a spend limit from being used by a physical card or via reimbursements.

Limit increase requests.
Allow members to submit requests for higher limits.
Limit flexibility.
Create buffer room for a spend limit’s overages, or create a hard cap.
Hide total limit.
Members won’t see the total spend limit or be able to request limit increases.

Limit increase requests.
Allow members to submit requests for higher limits.
Limit flexibility.
Create buffer room for a spend limit’s overages, or create a hard cap.
Hide total limit.
Members won’t see the total spend limit or be able to request limit increases.

“Brex is helping us control our expenses, as well as be more efficient with our No. 1 resource: our employees.”

— Teddy Collins, VP Corporate Finance, SeatGeek

Empower employees to spend with confidence.

Issue spend for stipends, travel, procurement, and more. Auto-enforced controls and Brex AI will keep every transaction in-policy, in real time.

Vendor payments

Create spend limits with built-in controls and deactivation dates for recurring payments, like subscriptions.

Stipends and perks

Issue spend limits for WFH stipends, L&D, and other benefits. You can even limit spend to specific merchants.

Group events

Create a shared spend limit for events, and assign employees to spend on per diems, dinners, entertainment, etc.

Business travel

Create spend limits for work trips and embed policies for flights, hotels, and meals. Plus, book travel right on Brex.

Brex does it better.

Our spend controls make life easier for employees, managers, and controllers.

Time saved

4,000 hrs.

Average time managers and employees saved per year on compliance.

Money saved

$250,000

Average salary dollars saved per year in compliance effort reductions.

Superior policy compliance

99%

Average rate of employee compliance with Brex.

These metrics are from enterprise customers in July 2023 and for illustrative purposes only. The 99% compliance rate takes into account a cohort of top customers that follow our best-in-practice guidelines and recommendations. Past performance does not guarantee future results, which may vary.

Get started with Brex.

Join the tens of thousands of customers using Brex to simplify the way they plan and manage spending.

Contact sales Open an account

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Spend control software solution for startups and enterprises

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Control spend before it happens.

Provision spend limits with built-in controls and empower employees to spend with confidence by card, ACH, check, wire, and reimbursement.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Control spend before it happens.

Provision spend limits with built-in controls and empower employees to spend with confidence by card, ACH, check, wire, and reimbursement.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Spending smarter is easier than ever.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Create spend limits for things like stipends, travel, and procurement. Embedded policies are auto-enforced, giving employees confidence in every transaction.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Enable and allocate spend.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Enforce your policy automatically.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Simplify approvals with AI.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Automate almost everything.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Customize your spend limits and controls.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}“Brex is helping us control our expenses, as well as be more efficient with our No. 1 resource: our employees.”

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Empower employees to spend with confidence.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Issue spend for stipends, travel, procurement, and more. Auto-enforced controls and Brex AI will keep every transaction in-policy, in real time.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Vendor payments

Stipends and perks

Group events

Business travel

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Brex does it better.

Our spend controls make life easier for employees, managers, and controllers.

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Time saved

4,000 hrs.

Money saved

$250,000

Superior policy compliance

99%

@media(min-width: 1024px){.css-hqxvux{max-width:100%;}}Get started with Brex.

Join the tens of thousands of customers using Brex to simplify the way they plan and manage spending.

FAQ

Can I block spending from specific merchants?

How do spend limits work with budgets?

Spend control software solution for startups and enterprises

Control spend before it happens.

Control spend before it happens.

Spending smarter is easier than ever.

Create spend limits for things like stipends, travel, and procurement. Embedded policies are auto-enforced, giving employees confidence in every transaction.

Enable and allocate spend.

Enforce your policy automatically.

Simplify approvals with AI.

Automate almost everything.

Customize your spend limits and controls.

“Brex is helping us control our expenses, as well as be more efficient with our No. 1 resource: our employees.”

Empower employees to spend with confidence.

Issue spend for stipends, travel, procurement, and more. Auto-enforced controls and Brex AI will keep every transaction in-policy, in real time.

Vendor payments

Brex does it better.

Time saved

Get started with Brex.