Turn Claude Cowork into your accounting assistant in a focused four hour session. This hands-on, in-person class teaches professionals and small business owners how to automate painful Xero workflows: invoice drafting, vendor bill recording, and bank reconciliation, using officedesk CLI as the bridge. Software setup is completed before class with a guided checklist, so every minute in the room goes into building real workflows. No terminal experience required.
What you'll learn
Install and configure Claude Desktop with Cowork, officedesk CLI, and the MCP bridge
Draft, authorise, and send Xero invoices via Claude - no manual data entry
Record vendor bills with evidence attachments and reconcile payments
Match bank statement lines to Xero transactions safely
Write an effective CLAUDE.md for accounting workflows
Apply the dry-run discipline and safety guardrails for financial operations
Curriculum
16 lessons · 3h 50m total
1Why Your Accounting Is Ready for Automation
5 min
The real cost of manual accounting. How AI changes the equation. What Claude can and cannot touch in your Xero workflows.
2Meet the Stack: Claude Cowork, officedesk, Xero
5 min
How the three pieces connect. Claude Cowork talks to the MCP server, which runs officedesk CLI, which talks to Xero. The architecture explained without jargon.
3Real Wins: What This Looks Like in Practice
5 min
Concrete examples from the workspace. A reconciled bank line. A sent invoice. A recorded bill with evidence. What you will be able to do by the end of this course.
4Installing Claude Desktop with Cowork
5 min
Step-by-step installation for macOS and Windows. Configure Cowork mode. Verify your installation with a simple test.
5Installing officedesk CLI and Connecting to Xero
5 min
Install officedesk CLI. Run plugin-xero login to authenticate. Verify the connection with get-organisation. Test with a read-only command.
6The MCP Bridge: Connect Claude to officedesk
5 min
How the MCP server works. Configure Claude Desktop to load officedesk_mcp_server.py. Understand the tool permissions model. Test the connection with officedesk_doctor. This is the critical link that lets Claude talk to Xero.
7Your First CLAUDE.md for Accounting
25 min
Write a CLAUDE.md that teaches Claude about your business. Include your entity name, chart of accounts, invoice numbering format, tax rates, and the dry-run rule. Make Claude understand your financial context.
8Safety: Guardrails and the Dry-Run Discipline
20 min
The most important lesson. Always use --dry-run first on mutating commands. Never create manual bank transactions on bank-feed accounts. Understand xero-guardrails.md. What Claude should never touch without human approval.
9Lab: Draft an Invoice
25 min
Hands-on. Use Claude to look up a contact, find the right account codes and tax rate, then draft a single-line invoice. Review the draft in Xero.
10Lab: Authorise the Invoice
15 min
Review the draft. Understand what authorisation means and why it is irreversible. Run --dry-run first, confirm the payload, then authorise. Verify the invoice status changed to AUTHORISED.
11Lab: Send the Invoice to Your Customer
10 min
Send the authorised invoice via email. Verify delivery. Download the rendered PDF. Understand what happens after sending.
12Multi-Line Invoices and Attachments
20 min
Extend the invoice lab. Draft invoices with multiple line items. Attach supporting documents to invoices. Full invoice lifecycle from draft to sent with evidence.
13Lab: Record a Vendor Bill with Evidence
30 min
Hands-on. Match a bank expense to a vendor invoice. Have Claude draft the bill, attach the invoice PDF as evidence, authorise it, and record the payment. Full audit trail from bank debit to paid bill.
14Lab: Basic Bank Reconciliation
25 min
Use get-bank-statement-lines to find unreconciled items. Match them to existing Xero transactions. Verify the match is correct before confirming. Understand the difference between a bank transaction and a statement line match.
15Reviewing Claude's Work: What to Check
10 min
Claude is fast but not infallible. What to verify before approving: amounts, dates, contacts, account codes, tax rates. Building the habit of review.
16Your First End-to-End Workflow
20 min
Capstone. Combine everything. Start with a bank statement line, draft the related invoice, authorise it, send it, and reconcile. One smooth workflow from chaos to closed.
