AI help for finance

Finance has a bright line between a file and the books. A spreadsheet skill works on a workbook you can open, diff, and throw away. A connector to QuickBooks, Xero, or Stripe works on the system that invoices customers and records money. Those are not the same kind of help, and they should not be installed with the same level of trust.

Anthropic's spreadsheet skill is for creating and editing xlsx files. Its instructions tell the assistant to use formulas rather than typing a total by hand, and to recalculate the file. That is the right habit, and you should still open the workbook. A formula that runs is not the same as a formula that measures the thing you meant. Use a copy of the file, not the only copy on the shared drive.

Intuit's QuickBooks server is a local program that signs in to a QuickBooks Online company. The README describes full create, read, update, and delete coverage across the records it supports, plus financial reports. It also says you must register an app with Intuit before it will authenticate. Xero's official server covers contacts, the chart of accounts, and invoices, and it expects a Xero developer app. Xero's README suggests a demo company for early tries. Use that, or a sandbox, before anyone points an assistant at the live ledger.

Stripe's repository is the company's hub for AI tooling. It documents a hosted MCP server at mcp.stripe.com that signs in with OAuth, plus skills and plugins for several AI apps. This directory does not invent a list of payment actions the README does not spell out. Connecting an assistant to a Stripe account is still high risk, because the account is where charges, customers, and payouts live. Do not let an assistant create a payment link or a customer record you have not read.

Nobody on this page should be asked to estimate tax, close the books, or tell you a number is audit-ready. Ask for a draft workbook, a list of invoices that need a human check, or an explanation of a formula in a file you already have. Then have the person who owns the books confirm it. If a listing requires a paid product account, that is labeled. A free spreadsheet skill does not include a bookkeeper.

As with the rest of the directory, these entries were written from the publishers' own docs in October 2026 and are marked untested. We have not run them against a company file or a live ledger.