How to Connect Claude to LedgerMCP with MCP

Connecting Claude to LedgerMCP turns Claude into the bookkeeper for a real double-entry ledger. Claude can set up books, import bank statements, categorize transactions, reconcile accounts and run reports such as a profit and loss or a balance sheet. You keep full control in the LedgerMCP web app, where every change Claude makes is logged and can be reversed.

Checked against: LedgerMCP's docs on 28 October 2026. eSEOspace built LedgerMCP.

Before you start

You need a Claude account on the web or in the desktop app. Claude's connector guide says connected connectors then work on the web, desktop and mobile.

You do not need a LedgerMCP account first. LedgerMCP's Claude connector page says new accounts are created during sign-in, and the pricing page lists a Free plan at $0 with unlimited books, all reports and MCP access. Live bank feeds are the paid part, starting with Starter at $9 a month.

On a Claude Team or Enterprise plan, Claude's docs say an Owner adds a connector for the organization first. Members then connect with their own account. If you add LedgerMCP by URL instead, Anthropic notes that the Free plan allows one custom connector.

Steps

Option 1: from Claude's connector directory

1. In Claude, open Customize > Connectors. In the desktop app, select Customize in the sidebar, then Connectors. LedgerMCP's own page calls this Settings, then Connectors, then +.
2. Select Discover and type LedgerMCP in Search connectors.
3. Open the listing and select Connect to Claude. LedgerMCP's docs describe this as clicking Connect.
4. A LedgerMCP sign-in opens. Enter your email and the 6-digit code LedgerMCP sends you.
5. Review the access request and approve it. LedgerMCP's connector page shows the request as reading your businesses, transactions and reports, and categorizing, splitting, tagging and posting entries on your behalf.
6. Back in Claude, LedgerMCP appears under Your connectors with the status Connected.
7. In a chat, select +, then Connectors, and make sure the LedgerMCP toggle is on.

Option 2: add it by URL

LedgerMCP's docs say that if the listing isn't showing for you, "Add custom connector" with the server URL still works. Use Claude's custom connector steps and enter:

https://ledgermcp.com/mcp

LedgerMCP's llms.txt says to leave the OAuth client fields blank. If your dialog asks how Claude should identify itself, note that LedgerMCP's published OAuth metadata lists a registration endpoint, which is what Claude's Register automatically option uses. You then sign in with the same email code.

Option 3: an API key, for other MCP clients

The docs say Claude Code, Claude Desktop config files and other MCP clients can "paste a key." Create one in LedgerMCP under Settings, Your AI, then use the docs' config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ledgermcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://ledgermcp.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer lmcp_YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Check that it works

The docs tell a connecting AI to call list_businesses first, then read the book's conventions and open questions.

Example prompts:

• "List my LedgerMCP businesses, then show any open questions and conventions for the first one." (Uses list_businesses, list_questions and list_conventions.)
• "Set up books for my design studio. Then import this bank statement CSV and categorize what you can." (Uses create_business, import_transactions and bulk_categorize.)
• "Run my profit and loss for last quarter and compare it with the quarter before." (Uses run_pnl with its period comparison.)

Permissions and safety

LedgerMCP is built so an AI can write to the books without being able to corrupt them. Its security page and docs describe these controls:

• One sign-in covers the account. The docs say a key "covers your whole account," across every book.
• Read-only option. Read-only keys "can run every list and report but never write." Use one for a reporting-only assistant.
• Immutable postings. There is no edit and no delete. Corrections post as linked reversals, and the security page says UPDATE and DELETE are revoked at the database level.
• Logged and reversible. Every write lands in the audit log under the actor that made it, and the owner can reverse it in one click.
• Previews. dry_run on categorize, split and post tools shows the exact lines without writing.
• Flagged tools. The docs mark 4 tools as destructive because they retract earlier writes or merge two bank accounts: undo_import, reverse_entry, resolve_duplicate and update_bank_account.
• Human-only actions. Deleting transactions, deleting receipts, deleting accounts and disconnecting a bank stay with the owner in the web app.
• Lock dates. A locked period rejects new posts, and the docs tell the AI never to move a lock to get a post through.

In Claude, set each tool group to Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked on the connector's page under Tool permissions. Leave writes on Needs approval until you trust the results. For the wider risks, see the MCP Security Center.

If it doesn't work

• No LedgerMCP listing. Add it by URL with https://ledgermcp.com/mcp, as the docs describe.
• Free plan already has a custom connector. Claude's Free plan allows one custom connector, so use the directory listing or remove the other one.
• A post is refused because the period is locked. That is by design. The lock date is the owner's decision, so change it yourself in LedgerMCP if the correction belongs there.
• Bank feed stopped after 14 days. On Free, the pricing page says feeds run as a 14-day trial for up to 5 accounts, then the accounts stay as offline accounts with their history. CSV imports keep working.
• Claude lost access. Claude's docs say the connector row shows Reconnect. Select it and sign in again.

Next step

Read the LedgerMCP MCP server profile for the full tool groups, or the LedgerMCP client spotlight for the story behind it. To compare options, see the best MCP accounting tools and MCP for accounting. More setup guides are in the connect series, including ChatGPT to LedgerMCP.

Frequently asked questions