Brex in your books

A Brex card is a liability of the company, booked as Brex card payable. The founder doesn't owe it personally. Every employee card on the account rolls up into that one liability, so the balance at month end is what the whole company has charged and not yet repaid.

Each charge is booked on the day it's made, to the account that matches what was bought. In the example, the $499 software tool goes to Software subscriptions and the $320 flight goes to Travel, and the card payable rises by $819. The software is a monthly plan, so all of it is that month's expense. An annual plan would go to prepaid expenses instead.

When Brex is repaid from the bank, however often that happens, the entry debits Brex card payable and credits cash. No expense is booked at that point, because the charges already were.

Start with the charges that are missing a receipt, an account or a business reason, and clear that list before you close. Then tie Brex card payable in the books to the balance Brex shows for the same date. A difference usually traces to a charge that was booked twice, one that never came through the feed, or a repayment coded to an expense.

The receipt and memo on each charge are its audit trail. American Express works the same way in the books, with the card payable named for the issuer.