Connect Claude to Silverfin.
20 accounting tools, zero manual work.
Accounting firms on Silverfin spend hours writing management accounts narratives, variance explanations, lease schedules, VAT returns, and client reports. ClaudeFinanceLab's Accounting MCP server gives Claude 20 purpose-built tools to do that analytical work in seconds — from the Silverfin data you already export.
Is there a Silverfin MCP for Claude? There is no first-party Silverfin MCP server. The working setup: export your data from Silverfin (Reports → Export), then use ClaudeFinanceLab's Accounting MCP — 20 tools that give Claude variance commentary, lease and revenue accounting, VAT reconciliation and management-accounts narration from that data. Setup takes about 10 minutes with a free API key. Want live API data instead of exports? See how to build a Silverfin MCP server.
What Is Silverfin — and What It Doesn't Do
Silverfin is a cloud-native post-accounting and compliance platform built for accounting firms — not bookkeeping. It sits on top of Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage, pulling live transactional data into a central hub where firms manage digital working papers, period-end accounts production, and compliance filings. The Silverfin Assistant flags unusual balances and advisory opportunities across your client portfolio.
What Silverfin doesn't provide: deep financial computation. It won't build a lease amortization schedule under ASC 842 / IFRS 16, run a multi-jurisdiction VAT compliance report, compute an R&D tax credit, or generate a three-statement management accounts forecast. That's the gap ClaudeFinanceLab's Accounting MCP server fills — 20 specialised tools callable directly from Claude Desktop.
20
Accounting MCP tools
10 min
Setup time
Free
100 calls/day, no card
How to Connect Claude to Silverfin Data
No direct Silverfin API integration required. The workflow uses Silverfin's built-in export capabilities (Reports → Export) combined with Claude's MCP tools.
Register for a free API key
Free tier: 100 calls/day. No credit card. Click "Get Free API Key" above or visit the integration guide.
Add the Accounting MCP server to Claude Desktop
Edit claude_desktop_config.json and add:
On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Export data from Silverfin
Go to Reports → Export in Silverfin and download the client's P&L, balance sheet, or trial balance as CSV. Alternatively, copy the data table directly from the Silverfin interface — Claude handles either format.
Paste into Claude and run
Try these prompts immediately after connecting:
- "Analyze these P&L variances and write a CFO-level management accounts commentary for July, explaining the key drivers vs budget."
- "Run the budget variance analysis tool on this Silverfin P&L data. Flag any unfavorable variances above 10% and suggest investigation areas."
- "Generate a lease amortization schedule for our new office lease: £8,500/month, 36 months, 6% IBR, commencing 2026-01-01."
- "Calculate our Q3 VAT liability across UK, Germany, and Netherlands using this transaction data from Silverfin."
Want Live Silverfin Data? (Skip the CSV Export)
The workflow above uses Silverfin's CSV export. If you want Claude to pull data directly from Silverfin's API in real time — no manual export — two platforms already offer this as a hosted service:
Peliqan — Hosted Silverfin MCP
Connect Silverfin to Claude in ~5 minutes. Live access to client files, trial balances, working papers, and reconciliations. SOC 2 Type II. Can query and update data across your entire client portfolio — no code, no server to maintain.
peliqan.io →
Zapier — Silverfin MCP Connector
Expose Silverfin actions (get companies, get accounts, get budgets, post comments) as MCP tools via Zapier's hosted MCP gateway. Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, and any MCP client. Requires a Zapier subscription.
zapier.com/mcp/silverfin →
Want to build your own Silverfin MCP server with direct API access? See our technical implementation guide covering OAuth flow, Python code, and per-company rate limiting.
What the Accounting MCP Server Does
Every tool below is inside the claudefinlab-accounting MCP server. No other MCP server is needed for these workflows.
📝 Variance Commentary Generator
Paste your Silverfin P&L actuals vs budget. Claude calls budget_variance_analysis to compute dollar and percentage variances, flag favorable vs unfavorable, and auto-generate management accounts narrative for the top 3 variances — in seconds.
📄 Lease Working Papers (ASC 842 / IFRS 16)
The lease_accounting_asc842 tool generates a full month-by-month ROU asset and lease liability amortization schedule. Paste directly into your Silverfin lease working paper. Supports any lease term, discount rate, and commencement date.
🌍 VAT / GST Compliance (Multi-Jurisdiction)
The vat_gst_compliance tool processes transactions across multiple countries, applies standard and reduced rates, computes input tax credits, and calculates net VAT payable or refundable per jurisdiction — with compliance flags for missing rates.
🔗 Intercompany Elimination
The intercompany_elimination tool matches IC pairs, verifies reciprocal entries, generates DR/CR elimination entries (sales, loans, dividends, management fees), and flags unmatched transactions — ready for group consolidation working papers.
💰 Tax Provision Calculator
Compute current tax expense per jurisdiction, deferred tax assets and liabilities per temporary difference, total tax provision, and effective tax rate. The tax_provision_calculator tool produces a full provision schedule for your year-end working papers.
🏢 Consolidated BS Translation (ASC 830)
The consolidated_bs_translation tool applies current-rate method: assets/liabilities at spot rate, equity at historical rate, income at average rate. Computes the Cumulative Translation Adjustment (CTA) for OCI — essential for multi-currency group accounts.
📉 Bad Debt Provision (AR Aging)
The bad_debt_provision tool takes your AR aging schedule (current, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90, 90+ days), applies loss rates, adds a macro overlay, and generates the allowance for doubtful accounts journal entry — a standard Silverfin audit working paper.
🔬 R&D Tax Credit Estimator
The r_and_d_tax_credit tool calculates qualified research wages, contractor spend (65% cap per IRC §41), and supply costs under regular or ASC method. Critical for UK SME R&D tax credit claims and US federal R&D credit work for accounting firm clients.
💹 Three-Statement Forecast
The three_statement_forecast tool projects income statement, retained earnings linkage, and simplified cash flow statement for up to 20 years. Use Silverfin historical data as the base year for management accounts or client business reviews.
🧾 Invoice Processing (3-Way Match)
The invoice_processing tool matches invoices to purchase orders (vendor, PO number, amount ±5%), detects duplicates, flags missing GL codes, and auto-approves clean matches — reducing AP exception review time in your Silverfin client AP workflows.
📊 Revenue Recognition (ASC 606)
The revenue_recognition_asc606 tool allocates contract revenue across milestones on a percentage-of-completion basis. Ideal for professional services, construction, and SaaS clients managed in Silverfin where multi-element contracts require systematic recognition.
🌿 ESG Carbon Footprint
The esg_carbon_footprint tool computes Scope 1 (direct combustion), Scope 2 (purchased energy), and Scope 3 (spend-based value chain) emissions in tonnes CO2e — with intensity ratios. Increasingly required for Silverfin's advisory clients under CSRD and SEC climate rules.
All 20 Accounting MCP Tools — Full Reference
Every tool in the claudefinlab-accounting MCP server. Silverfin users will most frequently use tools 1–7 for period-end workflows.
1. budget_variance_analysis
Silverfin use: Management accounts commentary, period-end P&L review
Calculates dollar variance, percent variance, favorable/unfavorable flag, and auto-generates CFO-level commentary for the top 3 variances. Input your Silverfin actuals vs budget line by line. Output is a formatted variance table plus narrative commentary suitable for board packs.
Example prompt for Silverfin P&L data:
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| actuals | list of objects | Each: {"account": str, "actual": float, "budget": float}. Use positive numbers for revenue/assets, negative for expenses. |
| period | string | Reporting period label, e.g. "Q3 2026" or "July 2026" |
2. lease_accounting_asc842
Silverfin use: Lease working papers, IFRS 16 / ASC 842 compliance
Computes ROU asset and lease liability amortization schedule per ASC 842 (IFRS 16 equivalent logic). Outputs month-by-month: beginning liability, payment, interest, principal, ending liability, and ROU book value. Paste directly into your Silverfin lease note working paper.
Example prompt:
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| lease_payment | float | Fixed monthly payment ($, £, €) |
| lease_term_months | int | Total lease term in months (e.g. 36, 60, 120) |
| discount_rate_annual_pct | float | Incremental borrowing rate, annual % (e.g. 6.0 for 6%) |
| lease_start_date | string | Commencement date in YYYY-MM-DD format |
3. vat_gst_compliance
Silverfin use: Multi-jurisdiction VAT returns, cross-border EU VAT compliance
Computes VAT/GST per transaction, input tax credits, net VAT payable per country, and flags transactions with missing rates or zero-rated categories. Supports any number of countries with configurable standard, reduced, and zero rates. Ideal for EU and UK accounting firms managing multiple cross-border VAT registrations in Silverfin.
Example prompt (UK + Germany):
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| transactions | list of objects | Each: {"country": str, "amount": float, "transaction_type": "sale"|"purchase", "category": str} |
| vat_rates | list of objects | Each: {"country": str, "standard_rate_pct": float, "reduced_rate_pct": float, "zero_rated_categories": [str]} |
4. intercompany_elimination
Silverfin use: Group consolidation, intercompany reconciliation working papers
Matches intercompany pairs, verifies reciprocal entries, generates elimination journal entries for sales, loans, dividends, and management fees, and flags unmatched transactions. Export your intercompany schedule from Silverfin and Claude produces a complete elimination working paper.
5. tax_provision_calculator
Silverfin use: Year-end tax charge, deferred tax working papers
Computes current tax expense per jurisdiction, deferred tax assets/liabilities per temporary difference, total tax provision, and effective tax rate. Generates a formatted provision schedule with DTA/DTL classification — a standard year-end working paper for any corporate client.
6. consolidated_bs_translation
Silverfin use: Multi-currency group accounts, CTA calculation for OCI
Translates foreign-currency balance sheets per ASC 830 current rate method: assets/liabilities at spot, equity at historical, revenue/expense at average rate. Computes the Cumulative Translation Adjustment (CTA) recognized in Other Comprehensive Income.
7. bad_debt_provision
Silverfin use: Allowance for doubtful accounts, credit risk working papers
Takes AR aging buckets, applies historical loss rates (or standard defaults: current 0.5%, 1-30 days 2%, 31-60 days 5%, 61-90 days 10%, 90+ days 25%), adds a macroeconomic overlay, and generates the required allowance plus the DR Bad Debt Expense / CR Allowance journal entry.
8. three_statement_forecast
Silverfin use: Management accounts forecast, client business review
Projects a simplified three-statement model (Income Statement, Balance Sheet linkage via retained earnings, and Cash Flow) for up to 20 years from Silverfin base-year data. Ideal for client business reviews, bank covenants, and strategic planning packs.
9. working_capital_analysis
Silverfin use: Cash conversion cycle, AR/AP/inventory review for advisory clients
Calculates DSO, DPO, DIO, Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC), and working capital funding gap, plus improvement recommendations. DSO benchmarks: >45 days = elevated; >30 days = above benchmark; <30 days = healthy. CCC <0 = self-financing.
10. depreciation_schedule
Silverfin use: Fixed asset register, tangible asset notes
Generates year-by-year depreciation schedules for straight-line, double-declining balance, MACRS 5-year, and MACRS 7-year methods. Output: beginning book value, annual depreciation, accumulated depreciation, ending book value.
11. revenue_recognition_asc606
Silverfin use: Contract revenue recognition, deferred income working papers
Allocates contract revenue across performance obligation milestones on a percentage-of-completion basis per ASC 606 / IFRS 15. Shows cumulative revenue recognized, period revenue, and remaining deferred revenue.
12. payroll_journal_verification
Silverfin use: Payroll journal entry, payroll reconciliation working paper
Verifies each payroll entry nets correctly (gross = net + all withholdings), generates balanced journal entries (DR Salaries Expense / CR Cash, CR Tax Payables), and flags employees where withholdings exceed gross pay.
13. fx_remeasurement
Silverfin use: Foreign currency working papers, ASC 830 temporal method
Applies current rate to monetary items and historical rate to nonmonetary items per ASC 830 temporal method. Computes reporting-currency amounts and net FX gain/loss recognized in the income statement.
14. segment_margin_analysis
Silverfin use: Multi-entity profitability analysis, segment reporting
Computes gross margin, contribution margin, and EBIT per segment, ranked by profitability. Useful for accounting firms managing multiple client entities in Silverfin who need cross-entity comparative analysis.
15. r_and_d_tax_credit
Silverfin use: UK R&D tax credit claims, US federal R&D credit
Calculates qualified research wages (by employee R&D time %), contractor spend (65% cap per IRC §41), and supply costs under regular (20%) or ASC/simplified (6%) method. Essential for UK accounting firms preparing R&D enhanced expenditure credit (RDEC) claims or SME R&D relief calculations.
16–20. Additional Accounting MCP Tools
16. treasury_cash_positioning
Consolidated cash position across entities and banks, projected net daily flows for next 7 days, shortfall vs target minimum, and sweep recommendations. Ideal for firms managing multi-entity treasury on behalf of Silverfin clients.
17. inventory_valuation
COGS and ending inventory valuation under FIFO, LIFO, or weighted-average cost methods. Provide opening cost layers ordered oldest to newest. Output includes cost-layer consumption detail and ending inventory value.
18. invoice_processing
3-way match (vendor, PO number, amount ±5% tolerance). Detects duplicate invoices, flags missing GL codes, and generates an exception list — reducing manual AP review time for Silverfin client bookkeeping workflows.
19. esg_carbon_footprint
Scope 1 (combustion), Scope 2 (purchased electricity), and Scope 3 (spend-based value chain) CO2e calculations. Output includes tonnes CO2e per scope with % share. Required for CSRD / TCFD disclosures for Silverfin advisory clients.
20. escheatment_tracker
Tracks unclaimed property (checks, credits, deposits), applies state dormancy rules, and flags items past the threshold with action required — file with state unclaimed property authority. Relevant for US-based Silverfin clients.
Testing the Accounting MCP — Eval Cases
Use these eval cases to verify the MCP server is working correctly after setup. Each case has a known expected output you can check against.
Eval 1 — Variance Analysis (basic)
Revenue is £15k below budget (unfavorable 3%), staff costs are £8k above budget (unfavorable 5.8%). Expect 2 unfavorable entries, budget vs actual table, and commentary that staff costs warrant review.
Eval 2 — Lease Schedule (36-month, £8,500/mo, 6% IBR)
Initial PV should be approximately £272,835. Month 1 interest should be approximately £1,364. Month 36 ending liability should be approximately £0. ROU asset at month 36 should be approximately £0.
Eval 3 — VAT compliance (UK 20%, Germany 19%)
UK sale of £50,000: output VAT = £10,000. UK purchase of £12,000: input credit = £2,400. UK net payable = £7,600. Germany sale of €25,000 at 19%: output VAT = €4,750.
Eval 4 — Intercompany elimination (management fee pair)
Sub A charges Parent £45k management fee, Parent records £45k income. Expect: matched pair, DR Management Fee Expense £45k / CR Management Fee Revenue £45k elimination entry, zero unmatched transactions.
Eval 5 — Bad debt provision (standard rates, no macro overlay)
AR aging: current £850k → provision £4,250; 1-30 days £125k → £2,500; 31-60 days £48k → £2,400; 61-90 days £22k → £2,200; 90+ days £18k → £4,500. Total provision = £15,850. Total AR = £1,063,000. Allowance % = 1.49%.
Eval 6 — Tax provision (UK 25%, Ireland 12.5%)
UK: £700k taxable income × 25% = £175k current tax. Ireland: £180k × 12.5% = £22.5k. With a £85k DTL (accelerated allowances at 25%) = £21,250 deferred, and a -£32k DTA (accruals at 25%) = -£8,000. Total provision = £175k + £22.5k + £21.25k - £8k = £210,750.
Eval 7 — Depreciation schedule (straight-line, 10-year)
Asset cost £250,000, salvage £25,000, 10 years. Annual depreciation = £22,500. Year 5 book value = £137,500. Year 10 ending book value = £25,000 (exactly salvage value).
Eval 8 — Revenue recognition (3-milestone, £480k contract)
Design (25%): cumulative revenue = £120,000. Build (65%): cumulative revenue = £312,000, period revenue = £192,000. Go-live (100%): cumulative = £480,000, period = £168,000. Remaining deferred = £0.
Eval 9 — Working capital analysis (healthy vs stressed)
Healthy: AR=£285k, AP=£142k, Inventory=£95k, daily revenue=£8,500, daily COGS=£3,800. Expect DSO≈33.5 days (slightly above benchmark), DPO≈37.4 days (normal range), DIO≈25 days (healthy), CCC≈21 days. Funding gap = CCC × daily COGS ≈ £79,800.
Eval 10 — R&D tax credit (UK RDEC-style, regular method)
3 employees totaling £249k salary, 62% average R&D time → qualified wages ≈ £154,350. Contractor £45k × 65% = £29,250. Supplies £12,000. Total QREs ≈ £195,600. Regular method credit (20%) ≈ £39,120.