QuickBooks Online + AI - for ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Gemini, and any agent that speaks MCP
Unofficial. Community-built Claude Code Skill and MCP server for the QuickBooks Online
API. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Intuit Inc..
▶ Watch the 30-second demo - demo data is simulated; every command shown exists in the real CLI.
Every QuickBooks Online Accounting entity, plus an offline SQLite mirror, cross-entity search, and AR/AP aging no SDK or read-only MCP ships. Works with the AI you already use - ChatGPT (Plus/Pro+), Claude Desktop, Codex, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and GitHub Copilot - plus Microsoft 365 Copilot / Copilot Studio and Google Gemini via the remote path. Free, open source, runs on your laptop. Built for MSP owners. No code required.
Works with your agent
The six agents MSP owners actually use (self-serve, works today):
| Your AI agent | How to install the QuickBooks Online skill |
|---|
| Claude Desktop | Run installer, then Settings > Extensions to register quickbooks-mcp (no JSON editing). |
| ChatGPT (paid plans) | Run installer, expose quickbooks-mcp over HTTPS, register as a Developer Mode connector. |
| Codex CLI | Paste the install prompt below. |
| Claude Code | Paste the install prompt below. |
| Claude Cowork | Paste the install prompt below. |
| GitHub Copilot (VS Code) | Run installer, add quickbooks-mcp to mcp.json under the servers key, then pick Agent mode. |
For ChatGPT, run quickbooks-mcp --transport http and expose that behind HTTPS - no bridge package is needed. See mcp-install.md.
Also for the Microsoft and Google stacks
Big install base, but an honest heads-up: these are the remote / enterprise path, not the local binary you just installed.
| Agent | What it takes |
|---|
| Microsoft 365 Copilot / Copilot Studio | Not self-serve. Host quickbooks-mcp over HTTPS, then wire it into Copilot Studio (Tools > Add a tool > Model Context Protocol > Server URL) or a declarative agent. Needs a Copilot Studio license + tenant admin. See mcp-install.md. |
| Google Gemini | Gemini CLI is local - same as Claude Code. The Gemini app is remote - same HTTPS path as ChatGPT. See mcp-install.md. |
Skill-native agents (also covered): Hermes and OpenClaw read this skill's SKILL.md directly and speak MCP - see their install sections below. Also works with Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, Continue.dev, and Zed via MCP. Full per-tool wire-up: docs/which-agent.md.
Run more than one agent? Install across all 51+ supported agents in one command: npx skills add Servosity/msp-skills@latest (requires Node.js, then run the per-skill installer for the CLI/MCP binaries). See docs/which-agent.md.
Install in 60 seconds
Fastest for Claude Desktop - one-click .mcpb
Interim note on .mcpb: check the bundle before you trust it (#287). Its manifest.json launches ${__dirname}/bin/quickbooks-mcp, while the builder stores the release binaries in bin/ under their platform-suffixed names - quickbooks-mcp-darwin-arm64, -darwin-amd64, -linux-arm64, -linux-amd64, -windows-amd64.exe. Run unzip -l <file>.mcpb | grep bin/: if the name the manifest launches is not among them, Claude Desktop has nothing to run - use Path A or Path B below and wire Claude Desktop up through mcp-install.md.
Download QuickBooks Online MCP (.mcpb) - then open Claude Desktop > Settings > Extensions and select the file. One click, no JSON, no shell. (Browse every QuickBooks Online release on the releases page.)
Prefer the Claude Code plugin? Add the marketplace once, then install - works immediately, no directory listing required:
/plugin marketplace add Servosity/msp-skills
/plugin install quickbooks@msp-skills
Path A - paste one prompt into your AI agent (recommended)
Copy this into Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Claude Cowork:
Install the QuickBooks Online Skill and MCP server from Servosity/msp-skills in this agent workspace. If this workspace uses a POSIX shell (macOS, Linux, WSL, or Bash), run bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/quickbooks/install.sh). If it uses Windows PowerShell, run iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/quickbooks/install.ps1 | iex. Then authenticate per the README and run quickbooks-cli --help to explore.
The same prompt works in any agent that can run shell.
Path B - run the installer yourself
Windows (PowerShell):
iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/quickbooks/install.ps1 | iex
macOS / Linux:
bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/quickbooks/install.sh)
The installer drops both quickbooks-cli (the CLI) and quickbooks-mcp (the MCP server) into your user bin path. Claude Code, Codex, and Cowork discover the Skill via SKILL.md in this directory.
Verify:
Upgrade to the latest version
The installer always fetches the current release - re-run it to upgrade:
macOS / Linux:
bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/quickbooks/install.sh)
Windows (PowerShell):
iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/quickbooks/install.ps1 | iex
Claude Desktop .mcpb users: download the latest .mcpb (top of this section) and re-select it in Settings > Extensions. Claude Code plugin users: /plugin update quickbooks@msp-skills.
Add to Claude Desktop, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Microsoft 365 Copilot, or another MCP client
After the installer runs, see mcp-install.md and docs/which-agent.md for the per-agent wire-up - one section per agent, including the GitHub Copilot servers key and the remote Microsoft 365 Copilot / Copilot Studio path. Claude Desktop's Settings > Extensions panel is the simplest path; the MCP config block (for users who prefer editing JSON) is documented in mcp-install.md.
Install for Hermes
From the Hermes CLI:
hermes skills install servosity/msp-skills/skills/quickbooks --force
Inside a Hermes chat session:
/skills install servosity/msp-skills/skills/quickbooks --force
Hermes speaks MCP natively, so it can also use the quickbooks-mcp server directly - same install path, same env vars.
Install for OpenClaw
Tell your OpenClaw agent (copy this):
Install the quickbooks skill from https://github.com/servosity/msp-skills/tree/main/skills/quickbooks. The skill defines how its required CLI (quickbooks-cli) can be installed via the openclaw: frontmatter block.
OpenClaw isn't generally available yet; the frontmatter wiring is pre-shipped and will activate the moment OpenClaw launches.
Authenticate
Set the credentials the CLI needs. You need two things: an OAuth access token
(scope com.intuit.quickbooks.accounting) and your company realm ID - the
token says who you are, the realm ID says which company to read.
export QUICKBOOKS_ACCESS_TOKEN=<token>
export QUICKBOOKS_REALM_ID=<company-id>
quickbooks-cli doctor
doctor confirms the credentials and company scope work before you run anything that
touches data. It exits 0 even when the credential is rejected, so scripts should add --fail-on error. Have a refresh token instead of a live access token? quickbooks-cli auth refresh mints a fresh one (set QUICKBOOKS_CLIENT_ID, QUICKBOOKS_CLIENT_SECRET,
and QUICKBOOKS_REFRESH_TOKEN).
What this skill does
Sync your company once, then ask:
| Question your MSP keeps asking | Command |
|---|
| Who owes us money, bucketed 0-30 / 31-60 / 61-90 / 90+? | quickbooks-cli ar-aging --agent |
| What do we owe vendors, and when is it due? | quickbooks-cli ap-aging --agent |
| Which overdue invoices should I chase first? | quickbooks-cli invoices stale --days 30 --agent |
| Where does our cash stand across accounts, AR, and AP? | quickbooks-cli balances --agent |
| What net cash movement is scheduled over the next 4 weeks? | quickbooks-cli cash-forecast --weeks 4 --agent |
| What is our DSO, and who are the slowest payers? | quickbooks-cli dso --agent |
| Are the books clean enough to close this month? | quickbooks-cli reconcile --agent |
| Who slipped an aging bucket since our last check? | quickbooks-cli aging-delta --agent |
Full command reference: guide.md. For the AI-agent operating contract (--agent, --dry-run, when to confirm before mutating), see AGENTS.md.
What makes this different
Most QuickBooks Online integrations and MCP servers proxy each question into a live API call. That's fine for one record. It dies at close time, when you're asking "who's overdue across the whole book and how much is in the 90+ bucket" - because QuickBooks has no single endpoint that returns aging, DSO, or a reconciliation verdict.
This skill syncs QuickBooks Online into a local SQLite mirror with full-text search. Aggregate questions become one local SQL join: instant, offline, and the AI sees the answer, not the raw data. Compound commands like ar-aging, dso, and reconcile join across invoices, payments, customers, and vendors with real date math - work a stateless API wrapper can't do.
The pain this closes
Ask any MSP owner what eats the last day of the month and the answer is the books. On r/msp and r/QuickBooks the same complaints recur: close drags because you're chasing unapplied payments, deduping "Acme Inc" against "Acme, Inc.", and proving the ledger balances before it goes to the accountant. Receivables age silently - by the time you export the A/R Aging Summary, the 90+ bucket holds money you'll fight to collect - and because QuickBooks reports are point-in-time, you can't see who slipped a bucket since last month without keeping your own spreadsheet history.
This skill turns each chore into one offline question:
| The chore | The command |
|---|
| See who's overdue without an export-and-pivot | quickbooks-cli ar-aging --agent |
| Build this week's collections call list | quickbooks-cli invoices stale --days 30 --agent |
| Run the whole month-end close-hygiene sweep | quickbooks-cli reconcile --agent |
| Find duplicate customer/vendor records | quickbooks-cli dupes customers --agent |
| See what changed in aging since last check | quickbooks-cli aging-delta --agent |
See pain-point.md for the longer narrative.
Frequently asked questions
Does this work with ChatGPT?
Yes, on Plus, Pro, Team, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans (Free tier does not yet expose Developer Mode). ChatGPT connects to remote MCP servers over HTTPS, not local stdio binaries. The QuickBooks Online MCP server runs locally, but it speaks HTTP natively: start it with quickbooks-mcp --transport http --addr :7777 and put it behind an HTTPS tunnel or your own reverse proxy. No bridge package is involved. Step-by-step in mcp-install.md.
Does this work with Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, Copilot, or Gemini?
Yes - all of them speak MCP. Cross-tool install commands are in the matrix above and the deep-dive in docs/which-agent.md.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. The recommended install is to paste one sentence into Claude Code or Codex - your agent reads SKILL.md and does the install. The fallback is a one-line installer per OS (bash or PowerShell). Neither path requires writing code. You'll enter your QuickBooks Online credentials once.
Is my QuickBooks Online data safe?
Your data stays on your machine. The CLI and MCP server are local binaries. The SQLite mirror sits in a directory under your user account. The AI agent only sees what the CLI returns - typically a query result, not raw bulk data. Credentials are read from your environment or your agent's config; never bundled into this repo or transmitted anywhere by MSP Skills.
Will this hit my QuickBooks API rate limits?
Rarely. The only API-heavy step is the one-time sync that mirrors your company into local SQLite; after that, ar-aging, dso, cash-forecast, reconcile and the rest run entirely offline against the mirror. Intuit throttles per company (realm), and the CLI paginates and rate-limits sync for you, so day-to-day questions never touch the API.
Do I need to be an Intuit partner to use it?
No. You need a QuickBooks Online company and an OAuth access token scoped to com.intuit.quickbooks.accounting, plus your company realm ID. Mint the token from the Intuit Developer portal or the OAuth 2.0 Playground; quickbooks-cli auth refresh turns a refresh token into a fresh access token. No partner status required.
Will this replace my QuickBooks Online portal?
No - it complements it. QuickBooks stays your book of record; this skill answers questions from your terminal or AI agent, keeps cross-run aging memory the portal doesn't, and composes a one-shot month-end reconcile the UI makes you assemble by hand. Writes go through the same Accounting API the portal uses.
What does it cost?
Free. Apache-2.0 licensed. You pay only for whichever AI agent you use (Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, etc.), and that's billed by your AI provider, not by us.
Safety model
| Tier | Examples | Recommended agent policy |
|---|
| Read | ar-aging, ap-aging, balances, dso, cash-forecast, reconcile, dupes, search, plus every list / get | Allow |
| Write (routine) | invoices / bills / payments / customers / vendors / accounts / items / journal-entries create and update (16 commands), plus bulk import | Preview with --dry-run, then a reviewed write |
| Destructive / config | invoices delete, bills delete, payments delete, journal-entries delete (hard deletes) | Human-in-the-loop only |
The strongest control is the scope you grant the QuickBooks Online credentials - the CLI can only do what the credentials are permitted to do. Full details, including how to lock it down, are in governance.md.
Status
Beta. Validated against the QuickBooks Online API surface and being validated with MSPs running it live against their own production tenant in our weekly Build Sessions. RSVP at compoundingteams.com/build-sessions.
Standards. Conforms to the open Agent Skills spec (Anthropic, Dec 2025; 40+ agents). MCP-compatible - works with any MCP-capable agent including Hermes. OpenClaw-ready (frontmatter pre-wired, awaiting OpenClaw launch).
Maintained by Servosity. Apache-2.0 licensed. Built with CLI Printing Press. Last updated: 2026-06-06.