How to
How to connect Claude to Xero
Xero has a native Claude connector, and it is good at what it does: pulling reports and answering questions about your finances. It just cannot touch the ledger. Here is what changes when it can.
Connect Claude to Xero either with the native connector, which is read-only and pulls reports and answers questions about your finances, or with a custom MCP connector when you need write access. A custom build lets Claude draft invoices, create and code bills, add contacts, and post manual journals, with every ledger change gated behind your approval.
Key takeaways
- The native Xero connector for Claude is read-only: it pulls reports and answers questions, but cannot draft an invoice, code a bill, or post a manual journal.
- A custom connector adds scoped write tools like `draft_invoice`, `create_bill`, and `post_manual_journal` on top of that read access.
- It authenticates as your Xero login through OAuth 2.0, so Claude inherits your existing permissions and organization access, nothing more.
- Anything that sends a document or changes the ledger is a gated step that runs only after you confirm it.
Does Xero have an official Claude connector?
Yes, and it is worth connecting: the native Xero connector can pull reports and answer questions about your finances. But it is read-only. It cannot draft an invoice, code a bill, add a contact, or post a manual journal. Anything that would change the books is out of its reach.
Start with the honest version: if what you want is a finance analyst that reads your Xero and explains it, the native connector delivers that today. Ask about aged receivables, gross margin, or an odd line in the profit and loss, and Claude answers from your actual books.
The friction is that reading the books and keeping the books are different jobs. The native connector can tell you an invoice is overdue; it cannot draft the next one. It can spot a miscoded bill; it cannot fix the coding. Every insight ends with you clicking through the same Xero screens as before.
The wider pattern holds beyond this one tool: in our June 2026 review of 264 business tools, 77 percent had no Claude connector at all, and none shipped full read-write out of the box.
How do I set up a custom Xero connector for Claude?
A custom Xero connector is built for you as a small MCP server that authenticates with OAuth 2.0 and the narrowest scopes the work needs. Read tools and write tools are separated, Claude acts as your own Xero login, and anything that sends a document or posts to the ledger waits for your confirmation.
The path from request to working connector:
- 1Describe the Xero work Claude should handle: the invoices you draft, the bills you code, the adjustments you post at month end.
- 2We build a small MCP server with read tools (reports, transaction lookups) separated from write tools (draft invoice, create bill, post manual journal).
- 3You authenticate through OAuth 2.0 as your own Xero login, so Claude inherits your existing permissions and organization access.
- 4Claude starts drafting and coding in conversation, and anything that sends a document or changes the ledger runs only after you confirm it.
Access is revocable at any time, and scopes stay as narrow as the work allows. If your login cannot see or edit something, neither can the connector.
What can Claude do in Xero with write access?
With full read-write access, Claude drafts a sales invoice against the right contact, account, and tax rate, creates and codes bills, adds or updates contact records with billing details, posts draft manual journals for adjustments you describe, and sends a drafted invoice once you approve it.
The tool set maps to the month-end routine most bookkeepers still click through by hand:
draft_invoiceto draft a sales invoice for a contact and submit it for your approval.send_invoiceto send a drafted sales invoice to the contact once you approve it.create_billto create and code a bill to the right account and tax rate.update_contactto add or update a contact record with billing details.post_manual_journalto post a draft manual journal for an adjustment you describe.
The read side stays in the loop too: Claude can pull a profit and loss or aged receivables report, flag what stands out, and then draft the fix in the same conversation.
Will Claude change my books without asking?
No. Read tools and write tools are separated, and any action that posts to the ledger or sends a document is a gated step that runs only after you confirm it. Claude can prepare an invoice, bill, or manual journal, but you decide what is automatic and what requires sign-off.
In practice, most teams let report pulls and transaction lookups flow freely, let drafting run fast, and reserve confirmations for the send and the post. Drafting an invoice costs nothing; issuing it is the step that waits for you.
Claude only has your access
The connector authenticates as you through Xero's OAuth flow and inherits your existing permissions and organization access. It never grants Claude more access than your own login already has, and you can revoke it at any time.
When is the native Xero connector enough, and when is it not?
The native connector is enough when your work is analysis: reports, questions, and explanations grounded in your real books. It stops being enough the moment the answer requires a change. Drafting invoices, coding bills, updating contacts, and posting journals are write actions, and write actions need a custom connector.
A quick self-test: write down the last five things you wished Claude had done in Xero. If they are all questions about your numbers, connect the native connector today. If any end with a document sent or a line posted to the ledger, the read-only connector will not carry them, and a purpose-built connector with gated writes will.