Does Claude work with Xero?
Yes. As at October 2026, Xero publishes an official read-only connector in Claude's directory (added April 2026) that answers questions about your profit and loss, cash, invoices, bills and contacts, plus an open-source MCP server that can also create and update records. On Autopilot, a Melbourne-based AI consultancy, uses Xero in its AI Bookkeeping Assist ($1,500 setup plus $399 a month) to support your existing bookkeeper.
Can Claude connect to Xero?
Yes, in two ways. As at October 2026, Xero’s own read-only connector sits in Claude’s connector directory, added in April 2026: sign in and ask about your profit and loss, cash position, invoices, bills and contacts. For read and write access, Xero also publishes an open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server on GitHub that can create invoices, contacts and payments, within the OAuth scopes you grant.
| Official Xero connector | Xero MCP server | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Xero Limited, in Claude’s connector directory since April 2026 | Xero’s XeroAPI team on GitHub, MIT licence |
| Access | Read-only | Read and write, limited by the scopes you grant |
| Covers | P&L, financial position, cash, chart of accounts, invoices, bills, contacts, aged receivables and payables, bank transactions, purchase orders, tracking categories | Similar reads, plus creating contacts, invoices, quotes, credit notes, payments, bank transactions and manual journals |
| Setup | Connect from Claude’s directory on web, desktop or mobile | Xero developer account, a Custom Connection or bearer token, Node.js 18+, then Claude Desktop or Claude Code config |
| Best for | Owners asking questions about their numbers | Builders automating bookkeeping steps |
How does it change for a sole trader, a 2–10 person team and a 10–50 person business?
Most sole traders and small teams only need the read-only connector, which takes minutes and can’t change your books. Write access through the MCP server makes sense once there’s a repeatable bookkeeping job worth automating and someone to own it. Larger businesses with several entities need one scoped connection per organisation, logging and a named person who approves changes.
- Sole trader. Connect the official connector and ask plain questions: “What’s my cash position?”, “Which invoices are more than 60 days overdue?”, “How did gross profit compare with last quarter?”
- 2–10 staff with a bookkeeper. The owner uses the connector for answers; the bookkeeper keeps control of the ledger. If coding and month-end prep eat your bookkeeper’s hours, that’s the job an agent can take on.
- 10–50 staff or several entities. One connection per Xero organisation, the narrowest scopes that do the job, approval on every write, and a log of what the agent did. This is where a managed build beats a DIY config file.
How does On Autopilot use Xero, and what does it cost?
On Autopilot builds Xero-connected agents on Claude for Australian businesses. AI Bookkeeping Assist costs $1,500 to set up plus $399 a month (AUD, ex GST, month to month). It reads Xero with read-only access, suggests codes for uncoded transactions, prepares month-end drafts and runs BAS-ready checks for your bookkeeper or BAS agent. It helps your existing bookkeeper; it doesn’t replace them or lodge anything.
How we build it:
- Read-only Xero access from day one. The agent suggests; your bookkeeper accepts or changes. Every change in Xero is made by a person.
- Access you control. The Xero connection is granted from your Xero account, so you can revoke it whenever you like. You own the code, prompts and settings; while we run the agent it uses our hosting and our Claude API account, and if you stop, we move it to hosting and an Anthropic account in your name.
- Claude API under commercial terms, so your financial data is not used for model training by default. Claude API costs are absorbed in the monthly fee.
- Clear limits. It never lodges, never decides GST treatment and never gives tax advice. Our answer on whether AI can do your BAS or tax return explains why.
If your team would rather wire up the MCP server itself, our Claude Code Setup Day is $1,500 fixed. Otherwise see AI Bookkeeping Assist or book a free AI audit with Jenn Yang, our founder.
What can the official Xero connector do?
It answers questions from live Xero data without changing anything. Ask for your profit and loss, balance sheet position, cash, aged receivables or payables, top customers by revenue, repeating invoices or a list of bills, and Claude pulls the figures and explains them in plain English. Xero’s listing says data retrieved is used only to answer your questions and isn’t stored between sessions.
A few practical notes:
- On Claude Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner has to enable connectors before staff can use them.
- One of its tools is a US 1099 report summary, which you can ignore in Australia.
- Read-only means safe to explore, but answers are still a starting point. Check anything you act on against Xero’s own reports.
What can the Xero MCP server do that the connector can’t?
It can write. The open-source server includes tools to create contacts, invoices, quotes, credit notes, items, payments, bank transactions, manual journals and tracking categories, and to update contacts, items, bank transactions, manual journals and draft invoices, quotes and credit notes. It runs locally with Node.js and connects through a Xero Custom Connection (one organisation, client ID and secret) or a bearer token for several organisations.
Two details matter in Australia. Its payroll tools only work for New Zealand and UK Xero organisations, and Xero moved to granular OAuth scopes for Custom Connections created from 29 April 2026, so older guides may list the wrong scopes. For the wider picture, see our guide to Claude Code MCP servers for the Australian business stack.
Is it safe to connect Claude to Xero?
It can be, if you start read-only and widen access deliberately. The official connector can’t change your books, so it’s the safe first step. With the MCP server, grant only the scopes a task needs, keep a person approving every write, and test against the Xero Demo Company first. Your Claude plan matters too: business plans are not used for model training by default.
- Start with the read-only connector. Live with it for a month before you consider write access.
- Grant the narrowest scopes. If the job is drafting invoices, don’t grant payments or manual journals. The server’s XERO_SCOPES setting lets you limit what it asks for.
- Approve every write. Keep tool approval on in Claude so a person confirms each change before it reaches the ledger.
- Test on the Demo Company. Xero’s README recommends it because it comes with sample data you can reset.
- Protect the credentials. Never commit client IDs, secrets or tokens to a shared folder or code repository.
Before you connect client or customer financials, read our answer on using ChatGPT or Claude with confidential client data, and for plan prices in AUD see what Claude costs per month.
Sources
- Anthropic, Xero connector listing (checked 03/10/2026)
- Xero, xero-mcp-server on GitHub (README checked 03/10/2026)
- Xero Developer, Custom Connections (checked 03/10/2026)
- Anthropic Help Center, Use connectors to extend Claude’s capabilities (checked 03/10/2026)
- Anthropic, Claude API pricing (checked 03/10/2026)
Other questions people ask
Can Claude change data in my Xero account?
Not through the official connector, which is read-only. Through Xero's open-source MCP server it can create contacts, invoices, quotes, credit notes, payments, bank transactions and manual journals, within the scopes you grant. Keep human approval on every write tool and test in the Xero Demo Company before you touch real books.
Does it work with Australian payroll?
Not yet. The MCP server's documentation says its payroll tools (employees, leave and timesheets) only work for New Zealand and UK Xero organisations, and the official connector has no payroll tools. For Australian businesses, keep pay runs and Single Touch Payroll in Xero Payroll as they are.
Which Claude plan do I need?
Connectors work on every Claude plan, on the web, desktop and mobile apps, according to Anthropic's help centre. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner must enable connectors first. For financial data, Team or Enterprise also means your chats are not used for model training by default.
What does it cost to run?
The MCP server code is free under the MIT licence, but a Xero Custom Connection is a paid Xero subscription. Claude usage counts toward your plan or API bill. On the API, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs US$2 per million input tokens, so reading 50,000 tokens of Xero data costs about US$0.10 (roughly A$0.14) plus the answer.
Can my accountant connect Claude to all their clients' Xero files?
Carefully. On the MCP server, a Custom Connection is tied to one organisation, which is the safer pattern for client work. The bearer-token mode is built for several organisations at once, which raises the stakes if something is misconfigured. Practices should scope connections per client and check their confidentiality obligations first.
Want this built for your business?
Book a free 30-minute AI audit call with Jenn Yang. We map where your time goes, name the first systems worth building and give you fixed AUD prices. No obligation.
Book a free AI auditOr have us run it for you, end to end: On Autopilot is Australia's outsourced AI department.