How do I connect Claude to accounting software?
Short answer
Add the accounting software to Claude as a connector. If it is in Claude's connectors directory, add it from there. Otherwise add a custom connector with the server URL your software gives you, sign in, and choose which tools Claude may use.
What is a connector in Claude?
A connector lets Claude work inside another app. Connectors use the Model Context Protocol, an open standard for connecting AI applications to external systems (modelcontextprotocol.io). Claude keeps a directory of connectors you can add in a few clicks. If your software is not listed but offers a remote MCP server, you can add it as a custom connector.
Connecting does not copy your books into Claude. The data stays in your accounting software. Claude calls the connector's tools when you ask a question or give it a task, and reads the answer that comes back. If you remove the connector, Claude loses access, and your books stay where they were.
How do I add an accounting connector step by step?
Anthropic's help article describes the steps (Claude Help Center):
- Check that your accounting software offers an MCP connector and note its server URL.
- On Pro or Max, open Customize, then Connectors, click Add and choose Add custom connector. On Team and Enterprise, an owner adds it under Organization settings, then Connectors, and members click Connect.
- Enter a name and the server URL, then click Add.
- Sign in to your accounting software and review the permissions it asks for.
- In a chat, review each tool request. Choose Allow always only for tools you trust to run alone.
Custom connectors work on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans. Free users are limited to one custom connector.
Which ledgers can Claude connect to?
Anthropic's Small Business plugin works with ledgers such as MYOB, NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero and Zoho Books (knowledge-work-plugins on GitHub). These are ledgers people have used for years, now reachable from Claude.
Octobooks takes a different route. It is a double entry ledger for small companies and freelancers in the UK, Germany and Austria that is run through your own AI from the start. You connect it in Claude Cowork or claude.ai, and finished pages such as the cockpit, the VAT return and the month close show beside the chat.
What should I check before connecting?
Anthropic does not verify custom connectors, so connect only to organisations you trust. Before you start, check:
- which tools the connector offers and what each one can change
- who decides when an AI entry is final
- where your accounting data is hosted
- whether any tool can move money or send email
In Octobooks you set the switches per company, and no connector tool moves money, sends email or files a return with HMRC.
Start small. Ask Claude to read a report first, then let it record a few simple entries, then widen what it does as you gain trust in the results.
More questions
- What is an MCP connector for accounting?
- Is it safe to let AI book entries in my books?
- Which accounting software works with Claude?