How to do your bookkeeping in ChatGPT or Claude

How to connect each assistant

• ChatGPT: Open Switchbooks in the ChatGPT plugin directory (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6abd8e0efeec8191ac492b360ecda570), click Install plugin, sign in to Switchbooks, keep Allow bookkeeping changes ticked (untick it for read-only) and click Allow, then mention @switchbooks in a chat. Plugins work on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro; in Business and Enterprise workspaces an admin controls them.
• Claude: Open Switchbooks in the Claude directory (https://claude.ai/directory/switchbooks), click Connect and sign in. Keep Allow bookkeeping changes ticked to let Claude update your books. Directory connectors work on every Claude plan, including Free; on Team and Enterprise an owner turns them on first.
• Cursor: Add the Switchbooks plugin from the Cursor marketplace (https://cursor.com/marketplace/switchbooks), or type /add-plugin switchbooks.
• Grok Bot: Install Switchbooks from the Grok Bot plugin marketplace (https://x.ai/bot/plugin/71396845) under Settings, Plugins, Marketplace.
• Grok chat: Add Switchbooks as a custom connector: open grok.com/connectors, choose New Connector, then Custom, and enter the server URL https://app.switchbooks.ai/api/mcp. On Grok Business and Enterprise, a team admin adds the connector first.
• Any MCP client: Server URL https://app.switchbooks.ai/api/mcp, with OAuth 2.1 (PKCE and dynamic client registration, no client secret), or a personal token (sb_live_) made under Settings, MCP. Listed in the official MCP Registry as ai.switchbooks/switchbooks.
• New to Switchbooks: Choose Sign up on the connect screen, set up your company, then connect again from the assistant.

What the assistant can do in Switchbooks

• Read: A summary of the books, To Review counts, transaction search, and reports: Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, trial balance and the entries behind any number.
• With changes allowed: Categorize, post, split and unpost transactions; match transfers; make rules; edit categories and payees; book journal entries; reconcile accounts and set opening balances; and undo its own changes.
• Connect a bank: With changes allowed, in Claude, Cursor, Grok Bot and other MCP clients, the assistant sends a one-time Plaid link that works for 25 minutes. In ChatGPT, bank connections are made in the Switchbooks app.
• Import files: With changes allowed, in Claude, Cursor, Grok Bot and other MCP clients, the assistant can upload a bank, card or journal file (up to 3 MB) and import it after a preview. In ChatGPT, files are imported in the Switchbooks app.
• Several companies: One connection reaches every company you can open: the assistant lists them, works in the one you pick, or names a company for a single request.
• Read-only option: Untick Allow bookkeeping changes when connecting, or make a personal token without Can make changes.
• Pace: Up to 60 changes a minute per connection, and one change can carry hundreds of transactions.
• Never: Invite or remove people, change roles, share report links, download exports, change billing, delete a company or move money. Those stay with the people in the Switchbooks app.
• After the trial: When a company's 10-day trial ends without a subscription, the assistant's tools answer with a link to subscribe.

Things to ask

• "Do my books."
• "What did we spend on software this year?"
• "Post every Amazon charge to Office Supplies and make a rule for it."
• "Reconcile checking to this month's statement."
• "Why did net income drop in September?"
• "Show me the Profit and Loss by month for this year."

Accounting tools inside ChatGPT and Claude

From each vendor's listing in the ChatGPT plugin directory, the Claude directory and the Cursor marketplace, checked October 26, 2026. FreshBooks, Zoho Books, Kick and Digits also have Claude connectors. Kick's connector categorizes transactions, reconciles books and posts journal entries, and third-party connectors such as NumbersGame update QuickBooks Online and Xero.

Switchbooks fits if

• You already spend your day in ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor or Grok Bot.
• You want the assistant to do the bookkeeping, not only read reports.
• You run several companies and want one connection for all of them.

Look elsewhere if

• You want the assistant to send invoices or run payroll; QuickBooks' own apps cover invoices and payment links.
• You want to do everything inside ChatGPT, including connecting banks and importing files; those happen in the Switchbooks app when you use ChatGPT.

Switchbooks facts

• Price: $25 a month per company. One plan with every feature. No per-user fee, no setup fee and no annual contract.
• Free trial: 10 days for each new company, with no credit card. Nothing is charged when the trial ends; the company is locked until someone subscribes.
• What Switch, the AI bookkeeper inside Switchbooks, does: Categorizes and posts transactions, matches transfers between your own accounts, reconciles accounts to bank statements, books journal entries, makes categorization rules, answers questions from your books and can undo most of his own changes.
• Several companies: One login for any number of companies, each with its own books and its own $25 subscription. Combined Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow across companies are included at no extra cost.
• Bank sign-in and security: You sign in to your bank on Plaid's own screen, never in Switchbooks. Switchbooks only reads bank data, such as transactions, balances and statements, and cannot move money. Bank connection tokens are kept in an encrypted vault, and data is limited to the people on each company.
• Not included: Running payroll (Switch books your payroll provider's register as a journal entry), invoicing and accounts receivable, bills and bill pay, inventory, sales tax filing, 1099 filing, multiple currencies and time tracking.
• Who makes it: Switch Holdings, LLC. The founder, Ryland Beard, grew a bookkeeping firm, Ledge Accounting, to 40 people before building Switchbooks.

How do I start doing my bookkeeping in ChatGPT?

1. Open Switchbooks in the ChatGPT plugin directory (https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6abd8e0efeec8191ac492b360ecda570) and click Install plugin. 2. If you are new, choose Sign up on the connect screen, set up your company and connect your bank in Switchbooks, because ChatGPT cannot connect banks; then go back to ChatGPT and connect Switchbooks again. 3. Sign in if asked, keep Allow bookkeeping changes ticked and click Allow. 4. In a chat, type "@switchbooks Do my books."

Can ChatGPT do my bookkeeping?

With Switchbooks connected, yes: ChatGPT can categorize and post transactions, match transfers, reconcile accounts and book journal entries in real books, for $25 a month per company. On its own, ChatGPT keeps no ledger from one chat to the next, and its Finances feature links personal bank accounts to track spending, not to keep business books.

Can I connect my bank from ChatGPT?

Not inside ChatGPT. Connect it in the Switchbooks app on the Banking page, and ChatGPT then works with those transactions. With changes allowed, Claude, Cursor, Grok Bot and other MCP clients can send you a one-time Plaid link instead.

Can Claude do my bookkeeping?

Yes, with the Switchbooks connector from the Claude directory: Claude can categorize and post transactions, match transfers, reconcile accounts and book journal entries in real books, for $25 a month per company. With changes allowed, Claude can also connect your bank by sending a one-time Plaid link, and import bank files after a preview.

Which ChatGPT or Claude plan do I need?

ChatGPT plugins work on Free, Go, Plus and Pro, and in Business and Enterprise workspaces where an admin allows them. Claude directory connectors work on every plan, including Free; on Team and Enterprise an owner turns them on first.

How is Switchbooks in ChatGPT different from QuickBooks in ChatGPT?

QuickBooks' plugin runs reports and manages invoices, estimates, payment links, customers, products and payroll employee records, such as adding a new hire; working in your QuickBooks books needs a QuickBooks Online subscription. Switchbooks' plugin does the bookkeeping itself in Switchbooks' own books, such as categorizing, posting, reconciling and journal entries, for $25 a month per company.

Is it safe to connect my books to ChatGPT or Claude?

You choose read-only or changes when you connect, bank sign-ins happen on Plaid's own page, and no assistant can move money, add people or create report share links. Disconnect any time in Switchbooks under Settings, MCP, Connected apps, or remove Switchbooks in the assistant's own settings. OpenAI says it may use what ChatGPT reads from plugins to improve its models on Free, Go, Plus and Pro when Improve the model for everyone is on; you can turn that off in ChatGPT's data controls. Anthropic may use chats on Claude Free, Pro and Max to improve its models when its model-training setting is on; you can turn that off under Privacy in Claude's settings.

Will the assistant change my books without asking?

Only if you allowed bookkeeping changes when connecting, and then only in a chat where you ask it to work. A broad ask like "Do my books" lets it post without showing you each transaction first, so say "show me first" if you want to review. Between chats the assistant does nothing, though rules set to post on their own, matched transfers between your own accounts and the weekly books check (if Do the work too is on) can post new transactions. Bank account merges, QuickBooks imports and emails show a preview and wait for your yes; for other permanent steps, such as deleting a file, the assistant is told to ask you first. In ChatGPT, those steps stay in the Switchbooks app.

Can I undo what the assistant did?

Yes, for most changes: ask the assistant what it changed and to undo it. Undo does not reverse making a company, connecting a bank, importing bank, card or QuickBooks files, merging bank accounts, deleting files or sending emails. Rows from a bank or card import can be deleted instead.

Does Switchbooks work in Grok?

Yes. In Grok Bot, install it as a plugin from its marketplace. Grok Bot is xAI's app whose bots work on cloud computers; it is separate from Grok chat and needs a paid Cursor plan, SuperGrok or Grok Business. In Grok chat on grok.com, add it as a custom connector at grok.com/connectors with the server URL https://app.switchbooks.ai/api/mcp; on Grok Business and Enterprise, a team admin adds it first.