Stop 1 of 9 · Set once
Connectors and the read-only audit
Wire QuickBooks Online to Claude, then get a ranked findings table on any client file in ten minutes, with nothing posted.
What it is
Twenty sets of books, two bookkeepers and a part-time CPA. Farida's practice does not have a data problem, it has a twenty-tab problem: the only way anyone knows how a client file is doing is to open it, and nobody opens twenty. This stop connects Claude to QuickBooks Online so it can read a client file directly, and gives her one audit that returns a ranked findings table in ten minutes.
The rule the rest of the course rests on starts here. Nothing posts, reclasses or changes a bank rule without a human. Claude reads, ranks and proposes. A person clicks.
Before a client file goes near a connector
MCP is how Claude reaches an outside system: one server, one set of tools. Whether QuickBooks Online is reachable for your practice depends on what has been set up, and that changes, so check support.claude.com and your own IT first. Settle three things and write the answers into the practice Project:
- Settings, Connectors: is there a built-in entry, or does your practice point Claude at a custom server?
- The tool list shown as you connect. Read tools list accounts, pull reports and fetch transactions. Write tools create journal entries, update transactions and add bank rules.
- Who operates the server, where the token lives, and which client files that token can reach.
Two things never enter a chat, connector or no connector: a client's bank or portal credentials, and tax identifiers such as an EIN, an SSN or a VAT number. The connector authenticates on its own. If you are typing a login into a message, stop and close the tab.
The six checks, cheapest first
| Check | The finding you want |
|---|---|
| Uncategorised and Ask My Accountant | Row count, dollar total, date of the oldest row |
| Bank and card feeds | Last reconciled date per account and the difference |
| Undeposited funds | Balance and the age of the oldest item |
| AR and AP ageing | Dollars past ninety days and whose they are |
| Opening balance equity and suspense | Any balance at all, with the entries behind it |
| Vendors and chart of accounts | Near-duplicate names, accounts used once |
By the sixth check Farida knows whether CL-14 is a data problem or a discipline problem, and she has not opened the file.
Using the QuickBooks Online connector on [client file name], read only. Cover the last three closed months and work through these in order: uncategorised and Ask My Accountant totals with the oldest row date, last reconciled date and unreconciled difference for every bank and card account, undeposited funds balance with the age of the oldest item, AR and AP past ninety days by name, any balance in opening balance equity or a suspense account with the entries behind it, and near-duplicate vendor names. Return one findings table with three columns: finding, dollars or rows involved, what to check next. Sort by dollars. Post nothing, reclass nothing, change no bank rule. List any check you could not complete and say why.
Take the top three findings from that audit. For each one, show the transactions you counted with dates and amounts, the date range, and the report you read them from. Then say which of the three you are least sure about and what would settle it. If a number came from a report total rather than the underlying transactions, label it that way.
For every connected client file, return one line: client code, uncategorised row count, oldest unreconciled bank account, days since the last close, AR past ninety days. Sort by uncategorised rows, highest first. Read only, no client names, codes only. Do not draft any client message.