Nobody hands an AI the keys to the accounting system. That instinct is correct, and it is also why your QuickBooks looks the way it does by quarter end: customer names in three formats, vendor records that drifted from their W-9s, item descriptions nobody has read since setup, memos that still cite last year's terms. Claude could read all of it and tell you what needs fixing. The problem was never the reading. It is that every way of wiring AI to the books also wires in the writing.
Scratch splits the two. It pulls your QuickBooks Online records down to files on your computer, all 23 entity types, and Claude does 99% of the work there: reads the whole ledger, flags what drifted, rewrites the records you point it at, in the copy. The last 1% is yours. Every change comes back as a word-level diff next to the original, and nothing reaches the live company file until you approve it, record by record. Tax codes and tax rates come down read-only, so the tables your filings depend on never move.
How it works
- Scratch pulls your QuickBooks records into files. Customers, vendors, employees, invoices, bills, payments, estimates, items, accounts, journal entries, 23 entity types in total, land in a folder on your computer, one file per record. Nothing in QuickBooks changes at this step.
- Claude audits the books and fixes the records. Open the folder in the Claude desktop app. Ask a question in Chat first: which customer records are inconsistent, and what would you change? Read the answer. Then let Cowork or Code run the fix across the entity. Claude edits the files, never the live company file.
- You review every diff and write back. Each changed field shows next to the original, word by word. Approve what is right, and Scratch writes only those records, and only the changed fields on them, back to QuickBooks.
What people use it for
The cleanup the books need every quarter, and never get, because it means opening records one screen at a time:
- Normalize customer and vendor names to one format, and reconcile the records that drifted apart.
- Clean up item names and account descriptions so the ledger reads one way.
- Sweep invoice and bill memos for stale terms, old prices, and references to things you stopped selling.
- Surface the invoices, bills, and estimates that need attention before close, then fix the ones that are wrong.
- Run an end-of-quarter review across every entity type at once, with the findings written up before you change anything.
Start with the audit. Approving fixes comes naturally once you have read what Claude found.
Why not an MCP server?
A QuickBooks MCP server hands a model live API access to your accounting system, with the write bundled into the same connection as the read. One confident pass writes to the books directly, and you find out what it did from the audit log instead of a review queue.
Scratch gives Claude the same full read of your ledger, against a local copy, and takes the write out of the agent's hands entirely. What reaches QuickBooks is a separate step: per record, changed fields only, after you have read the diff. Claude can propose anything. Only you can post it.
What Claude edits in QuickBooks
- Customers, vendors, and employees
- Invoices, bills, payments, and estimates
- Purchase orders, credit memos, deposits, and journal entries
- Items, accounts, payment methods, and terms
20 of the 23 entity types write back. Tax codes and tax rates are read-only, company info can be updated but never created or deleted, and any table you never want written can be marked read-only when you connect. Computed values like balances and invoice totals are QuickBooks' own arithmetic: Scratch does not calculate them, and QuickBooks rejects or ignores attempts to set them on write. For the full picture, see Scratch for QuickBooks.
Questions people ask
Is this an MCP server or a QuickBooks app?
Neither. Both of those hand Claude a live line to your accounting system with the write built in. With Scratch, Claude works on local files, and writing back is a separate step you approve, one record at a time, changed fields only.
Can Claude touch my tax tables?
No. Tax codes and tax rates come down read-only, so the tables your filings depend on never move. QuickBooks also applies its own validation to every write, so the books get a vote on anything that does go back.
Can a rewrite corrupt my balances or totals?
No. Balances and totals are computed by QuickBooks, not stored prose. Scratch never calculates them, and QuickBooks rejects or ignores attempts to write them. What Claude edits is the record content around the math: names, descriptions, memos, the fields that drift.
Will my accountant see what changed?
Yes, twice over. The Scratch workspace is git-backed, so every pull and every edit is tracked, and each approved change exists as a diff you can show anyone. On the QuickBooks side, the write lands like any other edit, in the audit log as usual.
Can I undo a write after it lands?
Yes. Every written record is reversible from Scratch, per record. The original sits next to the rewrite until you decide which one stays.
How is this different from exporting to a spreadsheet and importing back?
An export-and-reimport writes back in bulk with no word-level diff and no per-record approval, and a spreadsheet formula only fixes what a rule can express. Claude handles the records that take judgment, and Scratch still holds every change for review before anything posts.
Do I need to be technical?
No. Install Scratch, connect QuickBooks, point Claude at the folder, and approve the diffs. Scratch is SOC 2 compliant, holds no AI credentials, and runs no model. You sign into Claude the way you already do.
See it on your own books
The fastest way to trust it is to watch it read your ledger. Book a 30-minute demo on your QuickBooks →, or try Scratch free and run the first audit yourself.