Connect claude.ai or ChatGPT to QuickBooks Desktop

With LedgerCrossing Remote, you can chat with your QuickBooks Desktop company files from claude.ai or ChatGPT — from any device, with nothing installed where you're chatting. Each user signs in with their own username and password. The owner can make a user read-only, limit them to particular company files, and remove them at any time.

This page is the setup. Ten minutes, most of it clicking.

What you need

• LedgerCrossing installed on the QuickBooks machine, with Internet connections turned on under Settings > Allowed Connections — that is LedgerCrossing Remote. Sign-in works only through Remote's relay; a self-managed tunnel does not offer it.
• A paid claude.ai plan (custom connectors) or a paid ChatGPT plan (Developer mode).

Step 1 — Add the user

On the QuickBooks machine, open LedgerCrossing Settings > Allowed Connections > Internet and click Add user (the button next to Users).

• Username — what they'll type when signing in, and what the audit log records.
• Read-only — on for every new user. Turn it off only if this user may change the books.

Click Add. LedgerCrossing shows the user's password once. Click Copy username and password and give them to the user.

A new user can use all company files. To limit them, click Edit on their row and choose Only these: full paths to the .qbw files they may use, one per line. If a password is lost, click Edit, then Reset password to make a new one; apps that are already signed in stay signed in.

Step 2 — Copy the MCP Server address

On the same Internet tab, copy the MCP Server address. It's your Remote address ending in /mcp. The same address works for ChatGPT, and for any other MCP client that supports OAuth sign-in.

Step 3 — Add the connector

claude.ai

1. Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector.
2. Name it LedgerCrossing and paste the address. Leave the authentication and OAuth client settings on what claude.ai detects.
3. Click Add, then Connect.
4. LedgerCrossing's sign-in page opens. Enter the username and password and click Allow.

ChatGPT

1. Settings > Security and login, turn on Developer mode.
2. Settings > Plugins, click +. Name it LedgerCrossing, paste the address, set Authentication to OAuth, and create it.
3. Sign in on LedgerCrossing's page the same way.
4. To show the LedgerCrossing logo in ChatGPT, open the plugin's Manage menu and upload it.

Step 4 — Chat

Start with: "Which QuickBooks company files can I use?" — LedgerCrossing answers with the list this user is allowed to use. Then ask about the books, naming the file the first time:

• "In Acme.qbw, which customers are more than 60 days overdue?"
• "Total sales by item for August."
• "Show me open bills due this week."

Sign in once per device. The connection renews itself; after 60 days without use it asks for the password again.

Managing access

Everything is on Settings > Allowed Connections > Internet:

• Edit… changes a user's read-only flag or company files. It takes effect on their next request.
• Reset password makes a new password, shown once.
• Remove signs the user out everywhere, immediately.
• Every request a signed-in user makes is written to LedgerCrossing's audit log under their username, with reads and writes marked separately.
• The tab's own Read-only switch applies to every internet connection at once. It is on for new installs.
• Allow the API key is off by default. Turn it on only for a script or website that cannot sign in. This computer and computers on the office network are never affected.

If something doesn't work

• "Connection issue" before the sign-in page appears — click Connect again, and make sure your browser allows pop-ups from claude.ai or chatgpt.com.
• "Username or password not recognized." — the username must be the one entered in Settings (capitals don't matter), and the password must be the current one; if it was reset, use the new one.
• "Too many attempts. Try again in a minute." — ten wrong tries in a minute from one address locks sign-in briefly. Wait a minute and try again.
• "This sign-in may not use that company file" — the user's company-file list doesn't include it. Edit the user, or ask for a file that's on the list.
• Sign-in works, but the chat says it's not connected — remove the connector and add it again.

Using Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code instead? They connect the same way over Remote, or with the API key on the office network — see the MCP quickstart.

Get LedgerCrossing Remote →

QuickBooks is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc. LedgerCrossing is an independent product for QuickBooks Desktop and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Intuit. Claude and ChatGPT belong to their respective owners.