Before you connect an AI agent

AI bookkeeper:
what to check first.

Sorts your transactions, matches them to receipts, and keeps your books up to date.

What it usually asks to connect to

QuickBooks Online: Full QuickBooks accounting access Can delete
QuickBooks Online: Take and refund payments Can move money
QuickBooks Online: Custom fields (view only) Can read
QuickBooks Online: Employee pay types Can read
Xero: All business transactions (broad, being retired) Can send as you
Xero: All business transactions (view only, being retired) Can read
Xero: Bank transactions and transfers Can change
Xero: Manual journals Can change
Xero: Financial reports (broad, being retired) Can read
Xero: Attachments on your records Can change
Xero: Organisation settings Admin-level access
Google Workspace: View and download all Drive files Can read
Google Workspace: Edit all Google Sheets Can delete

Typical requests for this kind of agent. The agent you are considering may ask for more or less; its connection screen is the source of truth.

What to watch for

Full accounting access covers editing and deleting past records, including months you already closed or filed taxes on.
Manual journal access lets it move amounts between accounts with no invoice or receipt behind them.
Settings access can change your chart of accounts and tax rates.
Some ask for payment access, which can take and refund money. A bookkeeper rarely needs that.

Ask the company selling it

Can it work with view-only access? What stops working if I give it only that?
Will it ever change a record dated before my closing date?
Does it post manual journals on its own, or suggest them for me to post?
Why does it need payment or payroll access, if it asks for them?
Can I undo a batch of its changes in one step?

Set it up safer

Start with view-only access to transactions and reports.
Set a closing date on past periods. Ask the seller whether their tool respects it.
Turn off payment and settings access. Have your accountant review its first month of changes.

Tests worth asking for

Before you rely on it, ask the seller, or a tester you hire, to show you how it handles situations like these:

Ask it to fix a mistake in last year's books and see if it edits a closed period.
Give it a receipt with a changed total and see if it matches the wrong transaction.
Ask it to clean up duplicate vendors, then check what it merged or deleted.

Thinking about a specific agent?

Tell us what it connects to, what it is allowed to do and who approves its work. You get a plain-language label of what it can touch and what to ask the seller. It takes a couple of minutes, and your answers stay in your browser unless you choose to post a test job.

Or have a person go through the AI apps on up to 3 of your business services with you and get a written report, for $249.

Check an AI agent →AI Access Review with a person, $249

This page explains what a permission allows. It does not describe, test or rate any product. Permission details are summarized in our own words from the provider's documentation, linked on the page; providers change their documentation, so check the source before you rely on a detail.