AI for Accountants Vol. 6 - MCP
Welcome to issue #013 of New Age Accounting — Vol. #6 of AI for Accountants. Stop copying and pasting. Let Claude pull the data itself.
Claude gives you the tools to build.
Chat to converse and design what you want to see. Code to build exactly what you want. Cowork to be your multi-task assistant. (Vol. 4)
The question is — where is the data coming from?
More often than not you’re manually downloading it. Exporting a CSV. Copying a table. Pasting it in. Every single time.
You’re leaving time saved on the table. You’re leaving automation on the table.
That’s where MCP comes in.
What is MCP?
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. Forget the name — here’s what it actually means for an accountant.
It’s a bridge between Claude and your actual systems. Instead of exporting data, copying a table, or manually typing numbers into a prompt — Claude connects directly to your tools and pulls the data itself. Live data. No copy paste. No export. No manual step in between.
Think about what that means in practice. The flux analysis from Vol. 5 — pulling chart of accounts, pulling period balances, comparing periods, generating commentary — none of that required a single manual data export. MCP pulled it directly from the system.
That’s the shift. Chat, Code, and Cowork design what you want Claude to do. MCP gives it the data to do it with.
Where does MCP connect?
This is where it gets practical for accountants. There are three categories worth knowing.
Your ERP
Most modern ERPs have built MCP connections. NetSuite, Rillet, and Campfire all have MCP — which means instead of exporting a report, Claude can reach directly into your chart of accounts, pull period balances, and work with live data. No file. No download. No manual step.
If your ERP has an MCP connection, this is where you start.
Spend Management
Same story on the spend side. Ramp and Brex both have native MCP connections. Claude can pull transaction data, card activity, and spend by category directly — without you touching a CSV. Ask Claude to analyze last month’s spend by vendor, flag anything over a threshold, or compare to prior period. It goes and gets the data itself.
Admin and workflow tools
Beyond the financial systems there’s a growing library of MCP connectors for the tools accountants use every day.
Slack — Claude can pull messages, threads, and context from conversations your team has already had.
Email — surface relevant threads without switching windows.
Google Drive — pull documents and spreadsheets directly into the conversation.
Calendar tools, project management systems, and more are being added constantly. The pattern across all of them is the same. Connect once. Claude pulls what it needs when it needs it.
What this looks like in practice
Here’s the clearest way to understand the difference MCP makes.
Without MCP: Open ERP. Export data. Save file. Upload to Claude. Describe the format. Ask Claude to run the analysis.
With MCP: Tell Claude what you need. It connects, pulls the data, runs the analysis.
Same output. Fraction of the friction.
How to get started
Getting connected is simpler than it sounds.
Step 1 — Open Claude desktop and go to Settings. Find the Connectors section.
Step 2 — Browse the available connectors. Look for the tools you already use — your ERP, your spend management platform, your admin tools.
Step 3 — Connect and authorize. Claude will ask for the permissions it needs. It only sees what your account is allowed to see — the same permissions you already have.
Step 4 — Test it. Open a conversation and ask Claude something that requires data from that system. See what it pulls back.
Step 5 — Build from there. Once you’ve seen it work once, you’ll immediately start thinking about every other workflow where you’re manually moving data that MCP could handle automatically.
The bigger picture
MCP is what turns Claude from a chat tool into an accounting system.
Everything from Vol. 1 through Vol. 5 gets more powerful with MCP underneath it. Better prompts on live data. Projects that pull real numbers. Cowork workflows that run without manual steps in between.
The accountants connecting their tools right now are operating at a completely different level than the ones still copying and pasting. Not because they’re more technical. Because they took the time to connect once and let the system do the rest.
Vol. 7 is next. Keep building.
Here’s my question to you:
What system would you most want Claude to connect to directly? Drop it in the comments — I read every one.
The purpose of New Age Accounting is simple: to empower accountants — at every level — to become builders, not bookkeepers. Whether you’re a staff accountant, a controller, or a CFO, there’s something here for you. Some topics will be high level, others will come with step-by-step guides, and some will include the exact prompts and tools you need to start building today.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re already thinking differently about this profession. Subscribe and come build with us.
MCPs!!!! I think that people often overthink the complexity of these things and this definitely acts as a great resource for accountants to overcome fear of trying. It really is that easy haha