Connecting Prosaic to AI Assistants (MCP)

Yes, Prosaic has an MCP server. You can connect Prosaic directly to AI assistants like Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity using MCP, the open standard those assistants use to connect to other software.

Once connected, you can manage or even automate a range of accounting and booking tasks through natural conversation — ask questions about transactions, reconcile bank feeds, create journals, review your ledger, and more across all your entities, or connect into other services like Outlook or Gmail (eg to create a client query email from unreconciled bank transactions)

This guide walks you through setting up each platform. The connection takes a couple of minutes and you'll sign in with your existing Prosaic account.

• What is MCP?
• Before You Start
• Claude
• ChatGPT
• Perplexity
• What You Can Do
• Skills
• Troubleshooting

What is MCP?

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It's the open standard AI assistants use to connect securely to other software, and it's how Prosaic makes your entities, transactions and reports available to an assistant.

Prosaic's MCP server is at https://mcp.prosaic.works/mcp     . The same server works with every assistant below, so the only thing that changes between platforms is where you paste the URL. You authorise the connection by signing in to Prosaic, so the assistant works within your existing Prosaic access.

Before You Start

You'll need a Prosaic account at app.prosaic.works and a subscription to one of the supported AI platforms. When connecting for the first time, your browser will open so you can sign in to Prosaic and authorise the connection. This is a one-time step — you won't need to sign in again unless the connection expires.

The server URL you'll need for all platforms is:

https://mcp.prosaic.works/mcp         

Claude

Claude is available as a desktop app (Mac and Windows), a web app at claude.ai, and a command-line tool called Claude Code. The desktop and web apps are the simplest to set up.

1. Open Customise > Connectors > Add Custom Connector
2. Enter the name Prosaic and server URL: https://mcp.prosaic.works/mcp         
3. Your browser will open — sign in to Prosaic to authorise the connection
4. The Prosaic tools will now be available in your conversations

On claude.ai, you may also need to toggle the connector on when starting a new conversation.

Claude Code

Claude Code is a command-line tool aimed at developers. If you use it, run the following command to add Prosaic:

claude mcp add --transport http prosaic https://mcp.prosaic.works/mcp         

Your browser will open to sign in on first use.

Claude Cowork

Claude Cowork is a powerful tool that lets you build a project with specific skills, and run tasks on a schedule, for example reconcling bank transactions for a client, or preparing a client email draft in Gmail

ChatGPT

To connect Prosaic to ChatGPT, you’ll need a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription and must enable Developer mode.

Connect Prosaic

1. Go to Settings → Security & Login.
2. Under Developer mode, turn on Developer mode.

3. Open Plugins and select the + button in the top-right corner.

3. Enter the following details:
   • Name: Prosaic  
   • Description: Accounting tools for managing entities, transactions, journals, the general ledger and chart of accounts  
   • Connection: Select Server URL
   • Server URL: https://mcp.prosaic.works/mcp  
   • Authentication: Select OAuth
4. Select I understand and want to continue to confirm that you trust the connection.
5. Select Create.
6. When prompted, sign in to Prosaic and authorise ChatGPT to connect to your account.

Use Prosaic in a conversation

1. Start a new conversation.
2. Select the + button beside the message box, then choose More.
3. Select Prosaic from your available plugins.
4. Ask your question. ChatGPT will automatically use the relevant Prosaic tools.

ChatGPT will ask for confirmation before completing actions that change your Prosaic data, such as creating a journal or reconciling a transaction.

Perplexity

Perplexity supports Prosaic through its Mac app, but the setup is more technical than Claude or ChatGPT. It requires Node.js to be installed on your computer, which your IT team or a developer can help with if needed.

Setup

1. Ensure Node.js is installed on your Mac (ask your IT team if you're unsure)
2. Open the Perplexity Mac app
3. Go to Settings → MCP Servers
4. Add a new server and paste the following configuration:

json { "mcpServers": { "prosaic": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@latest", "https://mcp.prosaic.works/mcp"] } } }         

1. On the Perplexity homepage, toggle the MCP on under Sources
2. Your browser will open to sign in to Prosaic on first use

What You Can Do Once Connected

Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant to help with any of the following across your Prosaic entities:

• View and manage your entities and clients, and send a client an onboarding invite
• List and filter bank transactions
• Reconcile transactions individually or in bulk
• Reverse a reconciliation
• Create and review manual journals
• Upload files and attach them to journals
• View ledger entries and general ledger reports
• Browse and update your chart of accounts, including chart templates and the global account library
• Manage fixed assets and asset categories
• Read GST returns: the status, period, due date, net GST position and how many transactions are still unreconciled, plus the full IRD box breakdown for any one return
• Run financial reports: profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, current accounts, and the depreciation schedule
• Create and manage rules, which auto-suggest journal postings for matching bank transactions
• Set up, edit and run Prosaic AI scheduled tasks, so a recurring job runs on its own
• List your own connected bank accounts, separately from your clients'
• Scaffold and validate a Prosaic extension, if your practice builds its own integrations

Just describe what you need in plain language. Here are some example prompts to get you started:

Quick lookups

• "Show me unreconciled transactions for ABC Company this month"
• "What's the balance on the motor vehicle account for Smith Family Trust?"
• "List all active fixed assets for Jones Partnership"

Reconciliation

• "Look up my rental properties and reconcile the high-confidence transactions"
• "Reconcile all the Spark and Contact Energy bills across my sole trader entities"
• "Show me what's left to reconcile for Wellington Rentals and help me work through them"

GST returns

• "Which of my clients have a GST return due in the next two weeks?"
• "Show me the GST return for ABC Company for the March quarter, with the box breakdown"
• "List any GST returns that are overdue, and how many transactions are still unreconciled on each"

Reports

• "Run a profit and loss for Wellington Rentals for the last financial year"
• "Give me the trial balance for Smith Family Trust as at 31 March"
• "Compare the balance sheet for ABC Company against the same date last year"

Rules and scheduled tasks

• "Create a rule that codes anything from Z Energy to motor vehicle expenses"
• "What scheduled tasks are running in this workspace, and when did each last run?"

Journals and ledger

• "Create a journal entry for the monthly rent accrual for 123 Queen St"
• "Show me the general ledger for ABC Company for last quarter"
• "Create a reversing journal for the year-end wage accrual"

Workflows and automation

• "Set up a daily task at 10am each morning to reconcile any sole trader clients, then send me a summary"
• "Go through all my entities and flag any that have more than 50 unreconciled transactions"
• "Check each rental property entity for missing insurance payments this quarter"

Client management

• "Create a new client for Sarah Thompson and send her an onboarding invite"
• "Show me all entities linked to the Morrison Group"

What's not available yet

A couple of areas are deliberately held back:

• GST returns are read-only. An assistant can read a return and its IRD boxes, but finalising a return and filing it with IRD stay in Prosaic, where you can see exactly what you're approving.
• Invoicing isn't available through an assistant yet.

Skills for bigger jobs

For work that follows the same steps every time, such as a conversion, we publish skills: packaged instructions you upload to Claude once, so it runs the job the same way each time instead of you explaining it from scratch. Each one is a download with its own guide.

• Converting chart of accounts templates into Prosaic with Claude turns a Xero or MYOB master chart into a Prosaic chart template. A once-per-template job for the practice.
• Importing conversion balances into Prosaic with Claude turns a client's trial balance into opening and comparative journals. Run per client, once the chart is in place.

Both present their work for you to review, and neither posts anything without your approval.

Troubleshooting

The sign-in page doesn't appear or doesn't complete

Make sure you have a Prosaic account. You can check the server is running by visiting https://mcp.prosaic.works/health in your browser. For Claude, make sure you're adding the connection through Settings → Connectors (not through a configuration file).

No Prosaic tools appear after connecting

Double-check the server URL is exactly https://mcp.prosaic.works/mcp          — the /mcp          at the end is required. Try disconnecting and reconnecting. In ChatGPT, click Refresh on the connector in Settings.

"Unauthorised" errors when using tools

Your sign-in session may have expired. Disconnect the Prosaic connector and reconnect it to sign in again. Also check that your Prosaic account has access to the workspace and entities you're trying to use.

Perplexity won't connect

The Perplexity connection requires Node.js installed on your computer. If you're getting errors, ask your IT team to verify that npx          is available from the terminal.