Brex Xero Integration Guide [2026 Updated]

Connecting your Brex corporate card activity to your Xero accounting software eliminates hours of manual data entry and reconciliation. A properly configured integration ensures that transactions, receipts, and vendor details flow directly into your general ledger, giving you a real-time view of company spending. This guide provides a complete walkthrough of how to connect the two platforms, what data gets synced, and how to troubleshoot common issues.

What the Brex and Xero Integration Accomplishes

At its core, the Brex and Xero integration creates a direct and automated link between your corporate spending and your accounting records. When an employee makes a purchase with a Brex card, the transaction detail is automatically pushed into Xero without requiring you to download a CSV file or manually key in the data. This connection helps your finance team in several key ways.

First, it drastically speeds up the monthly close. Instead of spending the first week of the month chasing down receipts and categorizing transactions, the data is already in Xero, coded to the right expense account. This continuous reconciliation process transforms month-end from a frantic cleanup into a quick review.

Second, it improves the accuracy of your financial data. Manual data entry is prone to human error—typos, incorrect categorizations, or duplicate entries. By automating the data flow, the integration reduces these mistakes, leading to more reliable financial statements and cleaner audits. You get accurate, up-to-date information for better financial planning and analysis.

Choosing Your Integration Method

You have a few ways to connect Brex and Xero, each with different levels of complexity and customization. The method you choose depends on your team's technical comfort and specific workflow needs.

1. The Native Brex-Xero Integration

For most businesses, the direct, built-in integration offered by Brex is the best option. It's designed to be set up in minutes without any coding. This native connection handles the most important functions, such as syncing transactions, mapping expense categories to your chart of accounts, and reconciling payments. It’s reliable, supported by both Brex and Xero, and covers the needs of most startups and small businesses excellently.

2. Third-Party Automation Tools

If you have more complex workflows, tools like Zapier, Make, or Workato can offer greater flexibility. These platforms act as intermediaries, allowing you to build custom, multi-step automations. For example, you could create a "Zap" that not only sends a Brex transaction to Xero but also adds a line item to a project tracking tool and sends a notification to a Slack channel. This approach is ideal for businesses with unique operational processes, but it comes with additional subscription costs and a more involved setup.

3. Custom API Integration

For large organizations with specific data requirements, building a custom connection using Brex's and Xero's APIs is an option. This requires development resources and ongoing maintenance but offers complete control over the data transfer process. You can dictate precisely what data syncs, how it's transformed, and when it happens. This path is generally reserved for companies with in-house developers or a substantial budget for custom development.

How to Set Up the Native Brex-Xero Integration (Step-by-Step)

For this guide, we'll focus on the native integration, as it's the most common and recommended method. Before you begin, make sure you have administrator permissions for both your Brex and Xero accounts.

Prerequisites

• An active Brex account with transaction history.
• An active Xero subscription.
• Administrator-level access to both platforms.

The Setup Process

1. Log in to Your Brex Dashboard: Start by signing into your Brex account.
2. Navigate to the Integrations Page: In the left-hand menu, find and click on "Integrations." Here, you'll see a list of software that Brex can connect with directly.
3. Select Xero: Find the Xero integration in the Best Apps or Accounting section and click the "Connect" button. This will start the authorization process.
4. Authorize the Connection: A Xero login window will pop up. Enter your Xero credentials and grant Brex permission to access your Xero organization's data. This OAuth step securely links the two accounts without you needing to share your password with Brex.
5. Configure Your Sync Settings: Once authorized, you'll be taken back to Brex to configure how the data should sync. This is the most crucial step.
   • Bank Account Mapping: Choose which Xero bank account you want Brex transactions to sync to. Many accountants create a new bank account in Xero called "Brex Clearing Account" for this purpose. This makes reconciliation cleaner.
   • Expense Category Mapping: Map Brex’s default expense categories to the corresponding accounts in your Xero Chart of Accounts. For example, you might map Brex’s “Software” category to your “720 - Subscriptions & SaaS” GL account in Xero. You can also set up custom mapping rules for specific vendors or departments.
   • Sync Frequency: Decide if you want transactions to sync in real-time or on a daily basis. Daily syncs are often preferred to avoid clutter and make reconciliation easier.
6. Save and Activate: After adjusting your settings, save the configuration. The integration is now active, and Brex will begin syncing transaction data according to the schedule you set.

Test and Validate the Sync

After a few transactions have synced, log in to your Xero account to verify everything is working as expected. Navigate to the bank account you designated for Brex and check the feed. Confirm that transactions are appearing correctly and that the expense categorizations match the rules you set up. If you find discrepancies, return to the integration settings in your Brex dashboard to adjust your mapping rules.

Understanding What Data Syncs Between Brex and Xero

Knowing what information transfers helps you manage your data effectively. The native integration syncs several key pieces of information:

• Transactions: Every charge, refund, and reimbursement processed through Brex appears as a separate transaction in your Xero bank feed. The data includes the vendor name, date, amount, and any receipts or memos attached in Brex.
• Expenses and Receipts: When an employee attaches a receipt or categorizes an expense in Brex, that information carries over to Xero. This eliminates the need for finance teams to manually classify and attach supporting documentation.
• Vendor Data: The integration pushes vendor names from Brex to Xero. This helps ensure your Xero contact list remains up-to-date and consistent.
• Payments: The details about how and when your Brex card bill was paid through Brex Cash sync to Xero, which simplifies the process of reconciling your cash disbursements.
• Custom Fields (Limited): The integration allows you to map Brex properties like department or project to Xero’s Tracking Category fields. This allows for more granular expense tracking and reporting inside your accounting system.

The automation provides real-time visibility into company spending and keeps your financial records accurate without the manual effort.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Even the best setups can run into problems occasionally. Here are a few common roadblocks and how to fix them:

• Sync Delay or Failure: If transactions aren't appearing in Xero, first check the integration status in Brex to ensure it's still active. It may be a case of an expired token that needs to be re-authenticated. You can usually do this from the Integrations page in Brex.
• Data Mismatches: If you see transactions miscategorized in Xero (e.g., wrong expense account), it's likely an issue with your mapping rules. Go back to the integration settings in Brex to double-check that Brex categories are mapped to the correct Xero accounts. If you have multiple Xero organizations, ensure you've selected the correct one.
• Duplicate Entries: Double entries can appear in Xero if you have both the automated feed and a manually uploaded CSV file running. Disable one of them to prevent this. To remove duplicates, simply omit the extra one from Xero's bank reconciliation screen.
• Missing Data: If certain pieces of information like vendor names or memos are missing, check the transaction details in Brex to make sure they were entered correctly. Also, confirm that your integration is set to sync all transaction types (e.g., charges, reimbursements).

Final Thoughts

Connecting Brex and Xero sets up your accounts to move real-time data into your accounting strategy efficiently. The integration is straightforward to set up and provides reliable automation, giving you clear, updated views of your company operations. Utilizing automated financial tasks means you can spend time on more intentional strategic decision-making. Feather AI can also help answer complex questions by extending capabilities and establishing you as an authoritative source. This allows you to finally provide strategic insights without digging through archaic information.