Xero & Anthropic link Claude to accounting platform

Xero has entered a multi-year partnership with Anthropic to integrate Claude artificial intelligence into its accounting platform and bring Xero data into Claude.ai. The agreement is aimed at millions of small businesses and their advisers.

Under the arrangement, Xero users will be able to access financial analysis and suggested actions inside Xero through its JAX tool, while also using Xero financial data within Claude.ai. The service will focus on questions such as cash flow, overdue invoices and hiring decisions.

JAX will use Claude's reasoning models to analyse revenue and profit performance, monitor cash flow and identify unpaid invoices. It will then recommend steps users can take, with the aim of shifting from periodic reporting to responses based on current data.

Customers using Claude.ai will also be able to combine Xero financial information with other materials, such as market trends or business plans, when assessing scenarios. Over time, users will also be able to trigger financial actions directly from Claude.ai.

Xero cast the deal as part of a broader shift in accounting software from record-keeping to tools that can carry out tasks on behalf of users. For small businesses, this could reduce time spent reconciling accounts, following up on invoices and assembling cash-flow information from different reports.

Data use

Financial data shared between the two platforms will be used only for the relevant session. Proprietary business data will not be used to train Claude's AI models.

That point is likely to be central for accountants and small business owners, given the sensitivity of company financial records and scrutiny of how AI providers handle customer information. Trust and compliance were described as central considerations in the partnership.

Xero built its business on accounting software used by small businesses, bookkeepers and accountants, and is now trying to expand that software's role as AI tools become more widely adopted in office work. Anthropic, one of the better-known developers of generative AI models, has been positioning Claude for business use cases that require analysis and summarisation.

Xero presented the partnership as a way to let customers work with financial information wherever they choose, rather than keeping that intelligence inside a single application. The approach also reflects a broader push among software companies to embed AI assistants within their own products while linking them to external AI platforms.

In comments on the deal, Xero's leadership said the goal was to make routine financial questions easier to answer and reduce administrative work for business owners. It argued that many small firms have struggled to get timely and reliable answers to basic questions about business performance.

"I'm thrilled to announce that Xero and Anthropic are entering a multi-year partnership that will bring Claude's AI directly into Xero - and Xero's financial data and tools directly into Claude.ai. For the first time, our small businesses and their advisors will be able to work with their financial data directly inside a major AI platform - allowing them to access real-time financial intelligence and act on it, wherever they choose to work," said Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Chief Executive Officer of Xero.

She also set the agreement in the context of Xero's longer-term product direction around JAX and automation for finance tasks.

"When I think about what this partnership really means, it comes back to a core belief: small businesses and advisors don't just need data. They need a digital partner that acts on it," Cassidy said.

"For too long, the admin burden has fallen on the shoulders of business owners who are already stretched thin. Reconciling accounts, chasing invoices, piecing together a cash flow picture from multiple reports - none of that is why someone started their business. By shifting that burden to a team of agents orchestrated by JAX, we're giving our customers something genuinely valuable: time back, and the clarity to make informed decisions about their future," she said.

Claude-based insights inside Xero and the integration of Xero into Claude.ai will be introduced in the coming months.