AI for finance teams: what to hand Claude first
Start AI on finance jobs that only read Xero and HubSpot, like deal-to-invoice matching and variance commentary. Anything that writes to the ledger or reaches a customer needs a person to approve it.
Start AI on the finance jobs that only read data: matching won HubSpot deals to Xero invoices, drafting month-end variance commentary, drafting management report notes, building a first cut of the cash flow forecast from pipeline, and preparing overdue invoice reminders for a person to send. None of those changes a figure in Xero, and a finance person can check every line before it goes anywhere.
Anything that leaves the building or changes the ledger needs a human sign-off: a reminder email to a customer, a code written back onto a supplier bill, a report that goes to the board. To start, connect Xero through the read-only connector Xero publishes in Claude's connectors directory, and HubSpot through HubSpot's own connector. Run both on a Claude Team or Enterprise plan, where an owner decides which connectors your staff can use and what they are allowed to change.
When a job needs to write into Xero, it becomes a build on Xero's API or its Remote MCP server, with an approval step and a log you own. That is the work we do on our AI engineering projects.
Which finance jobs can AI take on first?
These are the six jobs finance leads ask us about most, sorted by what they touch. The effort and risk ratings are our view, based on how many systems each job reads and whether anything changes in Xero.
| Job | What the AI does | Reads or writes | Effort | Risk | Who signs off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matching HubSpot deals to Xero invoices | Lists won deals with no invoice, invoices with no deal, and amounts that differ | Reads both | Low to medium | Low | Finance fixes the records it finds |
| Month-end variance commentary | Compares this month with last month and the same month last year, and drafts the notes on what moved | Reads Xero | Low | Low to medium | Finance lead edits before it circulates |
| Management report drafting | Drafts the commentary pages from Xero reports and HubSpot pipeline | Reads both | Low | Medium | CFO signs off every page |
| Cash flow forecast draft from pipeline | Combines open deals by stage and close date with receivables and payables in Xero | Reads both | Medium | Medium | CFO owns the assumptions |
| Overdue invoice follow-up | Reads aged receivables and the account history, drafts the reminder | Reads both, then sends | Medium | Medium | Finance approves every message |
| Supplier bill coding | Suggests the account code and tracking category for each bill | Reads, then writes the code | Medium | Medium to high | A person approves each bill |
Overdue invoice follow-up has its own guide: can an AI agent chase overdue invoices in Xero and HubSpot covers where Xero's built-in reminders stop and how an agent routes disputes to a person.
We usually suggest deal-to-invoice matching first, because it shows straight away whether HubSpot and Xero agree. If they do not, read why HubSpot, Xero and Power BI numbers do not match and write your number definitions down before an AI reads either system. An agent reading two systems that disagree will produce confident commentary on the wrong figure.
How does Claude connect to Xero?
There are three ways in. Which one you need depends on whether the job only reads Xero or also writes to it.
- The Xero connector in Claude. Built by Xero and listed in Claude's connectors directory. Xero says it is read-only, follows each user's Xero permissions, and that "Claude can't create, edit, approve, reconcile or pay in Xero." Its tools include aged receivables and payables, invoices, bills, bank transactions, the chart of accounts, tracking categories and purchase orders. Xero says it is free to add, and you need an active Xero subscription and a Claude account. You sign in with your Xero login and pick the organisation.
- Xero's Remote MCP server. A developer tool hosted by Xero for building agents that read and write Xero data, authorised through OAuth 2.0 with PKCE. Xero's developer FAQ says it is included on developer plans Core and above, and Starter apps can only use the demo organisation. This is the route for a job that writes, such as bill coding.
- Xero's open-source MCP server. Published by Xero on GitHub under the MIT licence and run on your own machine. It includes tools that create invoices, payments, bank transactions and manual journals, which is exactly why a finance team should not hand it to staff without a build around it.
HubSpot has its own connector in the same directory, built by HubSpot, so Claude can read the pipeline and the customer record alongside Xero. Our guide to connecting HubSpot and Xero covers the separate data sync between the two systems, which is worth having in place first.
This video from our YouTube channel asks whether AI actually knows your business.
Xero's page also describes a duplicate invoice check that looks at the last 60 days for invoices with the same customer and amount, dated within 14 days. Run it in your first week, and treat what it finds as leads to check: Xero points out that two matching invoices can both be genuine.
Which of your finance jobs could Claude read today?
Our AI engineering team builds Claude agents that connect to Xero and HubSpot. Talk to Matt about the finance jobs you have in mind.
What controls should a finance lead insist on?
Four, and they are the same controls you already apply to people.
- Read-only first. On Claude Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner has to enable a connector before anyone can use it, and owners can allow a connector to read while blocking writes across the whole organisation. Individual users cannot override that. Start every connector on read, HubSpot's included, because it can update deal stages and records if you let it.
- Approval before any write. Xero's Remote MCP FAQ says its current tools do not ask the user to confirm before changing data, and tells developers to instruct the agent to confirm first. In practice that means a draft lands with a named person, who approves, edits or rejects it, and only then does anything reach Xero or a customer.
- An audit log you own. Xero logs every API call an app makes in its Developer Portal. It does not log the prompts or the reasons. If you need to show why the agent coded a bill a certain way, your build has to record the request, the data it read, the suggestion and who approved it.
- Segregation of duties. The agent should never both prepare and approve. If it codes a bill, a person approves the bill. If it drafts a reminder, finance sends it. Give it its own Xero app that requests only the scopes its job needs, so every call it makes is logged against that app.
Plan for mistakes too. Our post on whether you can undo what an AI agent just did covers what to build before an agent writes anything.
The four controls from this post in one shape: read-only first, approval before any write, a log you own, and separate duties.
What do the ATO rules mean for AI in finance?
Record keeping. The ATO says most business records must be kept for five years, and ASIC requires companies to keep financial records for seven. If an agent writes a code onto a bill or drafts a figure that ends up in a report, keep the agent's log for as long as the record it changed.
Payday Super. From 1 July 2026, super guarantee contributions have to be received by the employee's fund within 7 business days after each payday, where payday is day 0. Each Single Touch Payroll report now carries year-to-date qualifying earnings and super liability for every employee.
For 2026 to 27, the ATO's practical compliance guideline PCG 2026/1 sorts employers who miss a payment into three risk zones. Low risk broadly means you tried to pay on time, some contributions arrived late, and you fixed the shortfall quickly enough that nothing is left owing. Medium risk means you fixed it within 28 days after the end of the quarter. High risk is anything still unpaid after that, and is where the ATO will focus.
Watching for this is a reading job, which suits an agent. Each payday, an agent can compare the super liability from your payroll run with the date each contribution cleared and flag any payday heading past day 7. Fixing it, and deciding on a voluntary disclosure, stays with your payroll and finance team.
- 1 July 2026Payday Super starts. Super has to reach the fund within 7 business days of each payday.
- Payday, day 0The STP report carries year-to-date qualifying earnings and super liability for each employee.
- Day 7, in business daysThe fund must have received the contribution. This is the date the agent checks.
- 28 days after the quarter endsSuper fixed by now puts a missed payment in the medium risk zone. Anything still unpaid is high risk.
From the ATO guidance on Payday Super and PCG 2026/1 cited in this post.
What does a 30-day start look like?
- Week 1: connect, read-only. An owner enables the Xero and HubSpot connectors on your Claude Team or Enterprise plan, with writes blocked. Give access to finance only. Our Claude pricing in Australia guide has the seat costs.
- Week 2: two reading jobs. Run deal-to-invoice matching and variance commentary alongside your normal month-end. Compare the drafts with what your team wrote.
- Week 3: fix the instructions. Write down every miss. Most are definitions: which date, GST in or out, what counts as a customer. Turn the prompts that worked into a fixed set of instructions your team reuses.
- Week 4: pick one write job. Usually reminders or bill coding. Scope it as a build on Xero's Remote MCP or API, tested against Xero's demo organisation, with the approval step and log from the controls above.
At the end of the month you know which reading jobs are worth keeping, and you have a written scope for the one job that writes. That scope is what we price on our AI consulting page: AI projects start from A$10,000 ex GST, and ongoing AI partnerships from A$8,500 a month ex GST.
Frequently asked questions
Can Claude connect to Xero? Yes. Xero publishes a connector in Claude's connectors directory that reads your Xero data, including invoices, bills, aged receivables and bank transactions. Xero says it is free to add with an active Xero subscription and a Claude account.
Can Claude create invoices or pay bills in Xero? Not through the connector. Xero says Claude can't create, edit, approve, reconcile or pay in Xero that way. Writing to Xero needs a build on Xero's API or Remote MCP server, with an approval step you add.
Is it safe to give AI access to our Xero data? Start read-only. The Xero connector follows each user's Xero permissions, Xero says connector data is not used to train Anthropic models, and on Claude Team or Enterprise an owner can block writes for the whole organisation.
What finance task should we give AI first? Matching won HubSpot deals to Xero invoices, or drafting month-end variance commentary. Both only read data, and your finance team can check every line.
Can AI help with Payday Super compliance? It can flag any payday where a super contribution has not cleared within 7 business days. Paying the shortfall and deciding on a voluntary disclosure stay with your payroll team.
Sources
- Claude and Xero, Xero, for the read-only connector, cost, setup, data use and the duplicate invoice check.
- Xero connector, Claude connectors directory, for the developer and the tool list.
- Connect Xero using the Xero connector in Claude, Xero Central, for Xero's own documentation of the connector.
- Remote MCP FAQs, Xero Developer, for authorisation, plan access, write confirmation and API logging.
- xero-mcp-server, Xero on GitHub, for the open-source server and its create tools.
- HubSpot connector, Claude connectors directory, for the HubSpot connector.
- Use connectors to extend Claude's capabilities, Claude Help Center, for owner enablement and read-only controls on Team and Enterprise.
- Overview of record-keeping rules for business, ATO, for the five-year rule and ASIC's seven years.
- Getting it right: compliance in the first year of Payday Super, ATO, for the 7 business day rule and the PCG 2026/1 risk zones.
- Single Touch Payroll reporting under Payday Super, ATO, for qualifying earnings and super liability in STP.
We build AI agents on Claude that connect to HubSpot and Xero, with the approval steps and logs a finance team needs. See our AI engineering work.
Where should AI start in your finance team?
Talk to Matt about AI for your finance team. He can explain how we work and whether our AI services fit what you need.