Most accountants already use AI for client work: 88% used it for client services and 86% used it to run firm operations. But those tools can't change what's in Xero. Claude or ChatGPT manipulate the numbers and then you have to copy them from the chat to get them back in the ledger.
The interesting work starts when the agent connects to Xero directly and can both read the books and write to them.
You should be able to use agents to do accounting, even if you're not a developer. So we built a free, hosted MCP server that gives Claude, Cowork, ChatGPT, or Codex full read and write access to Xero.
The connection is the bottleneck
Today, the bridge between the chat window and the ledger is usually a person. Accountants in an Intuit survey say they spend about five hours a week moving, re-entering, and reconciling data across tools.
MCP, short for Model Context Protocol, is the open standard that fixes this. It has become the default way to give an agent hands: rather than a person shuttling data between two tabs, the agent reads from and writes to the system itself.
The catch is that an agent can only do what its tools allow. A capable model behind a read-only, summary-level connector still leaves you reading numbers off one screen and typing them into another.
Introducing the Xero Connector by Meridian
Xero Connector by Meridian is a hosted MCP server for Xero. It works with Claude, Cowork, ChatGPT, and Codex. You sign in with Xero, choose which organizations to connect, and connect the server to your agent. There is nothing to install and no developer account to create.
Setup takes under three minutes.
The connector can:
- Bulk-create invoices from a spreadsheet, or import and categorize credit card transactions from PDF statements
- Read and write transactions, including manual journals
- Connect multiple Xero organizations to the same agent, so you can post both sides of an intercompany entry at once
- Fill out an investor information request using what's in the books
This is intentionally a lightweight connector. Today, only one connector user can access a given client organization. It does not provide shared access, workflow management, review, or an end-to-end close process. If you are an accounting firm and need those things, I recommend checking out Meridian.
Meridian started inside Pilot, an accounting firm that's been around for nearly a decade. Pilot's accountants use Meridian to close the books for roughly 4,000 businesses every month.
Getting the most out of the MCP
Start small as you explore the use cases. First have it read data from Xero on a client whose books you know well. Give it one bounded task, like a question you already know the answer to, or a report that you'll quickly be able to verify.
From there, move on to more complex uses. Try a write: one manual journal and review before it posts to Xero. Then try importing a client's PDF statement and let it propose categories, or connect a second organization and book both sides of an intercompany entry. Eventually, once you trust the agent and the connector to get the job done, you can give it the manual work that takes up your time.
The connector is completely free. You don't need a Meridian account or even an email address, you just need to connect a Xero account.
If you find a useful workflow, hit a limitation, or make it do something surprising, email us at xero-mcp@pilot.com. I'd love to hear about it.