Policy Engine

Overview

Early accessNew for SummerA policy defines the rules your employees must follow when spending company money—including what’s allowed, what needs approval, and what documentation is required. Brex’s Policy Engine is our powerful yet easy-to-use policy solution for creating, managing, and automatically enforcing policies across your company. Admins can create dynamic rules by amount, expense type, role, or location, and we’ll intelligently apply them at the point of spending. You can manage all of the following under Cards and limits > Manage policy in your Brex dashboard.

How policies are structured

Policies in our product reflect the same structure as a traditional policy PDF document with different sections based on expense types. This makes them easy to understand, easy to manage, and scalable as your company grows. Policies are made up of Default, Sections, and Rule groups with specific rules that define the actions and permissions that the policy allows.

Default

Rules in the Default section always apply to all expenses unless another section overrides them, creating company-wide baseline rules.

Example: Require receipts AND memos for all expenses over $100.

The Default section is organized into built-in rule groups, Card expenses and reimbursement and Bill pay, so you can apply rules specifically to those use cases.

Sections

Early access These are optional, targeted rule groups you create for specific use cases - like travel and benefits. Each Section inherits the rules from Default unless they’re overridden (see below under How rules are evaluated). Example: In your Travel Section, you require VP approval for flights over $1,000, even though the Default policy only requires manager approval.

Customizable Rule groups

Early access If you choose, you can add custom rule groups to apply rules for specific cases.

Create or edit a policy

When you're ready to set up your policy, you have two starting points:

Option 1: Use a preconfigured policy

For new customers who haven’t set up policies yet, you can get started with a pre-configured policy that includes common rules for receipts, memos, approvals, and spending amounts. This is Ideal if you're looking for a quick setup with basic guardrails.

Option 2: Build a custom policy with the Universal Policy builder

The Universal Policy builder gives you complete control to customize how spend should be handled across your organization. You can create rules in Default and add custom sections like "Travel" or "Benefits" - all in one streamlined interface. You can:

• Write rules once, apply them across all relevant spend types.
• Update rules in one place, and they automatically update everywhere.
• Avoid duplicating policies as your org structure evolves.

You can manage and publish your policy under Cards and limits > Manage policy in your Brex dashboard.

Set up policy rules

You can use our Policy Engine to create flexible rules that follow if-this-then-that logic. Each rule is made up of two key parts:

1. Expense condition (the “if”)

This is the “if” part of your rule - the criteria that an expense must meet. You can set simple or complex conditions using attributes like amount, expense category, vendor, employee role, or custom fields from your HRIS.

Examples:

• If an expense is over $50 (Note: You can define the currency directly within the field on a per rule basis)
• If an expense is a Meal
• If an expense is a Meal over $50 made by an Executive
• If a Vendor is AWS and the expense type is Bill Pay
• If a Workday field = Intern and the category is Client Entertainment

2. Action (the “then”)

This is the “then” part of your rule - what happens when the condition is met. These are automatic enforcement steps that Brex will apply in real time.

Examples:

• Require approval from a specific reviewer
• Require employees to add attendees
• Require a receipt or memo
• Block transaction entirely

You can create multiple rules within any policy section. Rules are highly customizable and can be adapted to different spend types, employee roles, or business scenarios. Example: You want to create a rule where all AWS bills need to be reviewed by the Head of Engineering, while all other vendors should follow the standard Bill Pay workflow. You can structure that rule: Expense Condition:

• If vendor = AWS
• And expense type = Bill

Action:

• Require memo
• Require approval from Jane Brown

Now, every AWS bill will require a memo, and be automatically routed directly to Jane Brown for review. Example: You want to enforce stricter documentation and routing for client meals over $100, while keeping team meals more lightweight. Here’s how you could set that up in your policy: Expense Condition:

• If expense category = Client Meal
• And amount > $500
• And employee level = Manager or above

Action:

• Require listing of all attendees
• Require an itemized receipt
• Require approval from John Smith

How rules are evaluated

Every time an employee spends using our platform - whether it’s a card swipe, reimbursement, or bill pay - the Policy Engine checks which rules apply and automatically enforces them in real time.

Here’s how it works:

• Brex evaluates two rule sources:
  • Default rules: The general rules apply to all spend.
  • Section-specific rules: These rules apply only to certain spend types (travel, benefits, etc.)
• Brex then enforces the appropriate actions:
  • Who needs to approve it
  • What documentation is needed (like receipts or memos)
  • Whether to flag or block
• If both Default AND Section rules apply:
  • Brex gives priority to the more specific rule (Section > default).
• If multiple rules match in the same Section:
  • Brex reads rules from top to bottom
  • The last rule wins (overrides earlier ones)

Example: A section rule can override a default rule

In your Default, you have the rule Require a receipt for any expense over $75. In your Benefits section for employee stipends, you add a the receipts rule: Do not require receipts for expenses under $500. Now, an employee uses their $300 wellness stipend to buy a treadmill. Even though the default rule says a receipt is needed (since it’s over $75), Brex applies the more specific rule from the Benefits section. In this case, no receipt is required.

Example: Why rule order matters within a Section

In your Default section, you have the rule Require a receipt for any expense over $75. In your Travel section, you’ve created two approval rules:

• Rule 1: If expense is over $100 → require Manager approval
• Rule 2: If expense is over $500 → require Manager + VP approval

Now, an employee books a $600 flight. If Rule 1 is listed after Rule 2, Brex applies the first match it sees and only sends the expense to the Manager. If Rule 2 is listed last, Brex applies the more specific logic and routes it to both the Manager and VP. In this case, the expense would require a receipt (since it’s over $75) and be sent to both reviewers (since it’s over $500). Always place more specific rules lower in the list so they’re evaluated correctly.

When rules are re-evaluated:

We’ll automatically re-check and apply updated rules if:

• The policy changes before the expense is approved.
• The employee updates the documentation (adds a missing memo or receipt).
• Any field that affects the rule (like amount, role, or expense type) is edited.

Applying a policy

You can select a new policy section when you create/edit a spend limit or request type.