AI bookkeeper: an AI agent for Xero and QuickBooks
An AI bookkeeper is an AI agent that keeps your books ready in Xero or QuickBooks. A Monmo agent codes transactions, matches bank lines, enters bills, chases overdue invoices and builds month-end reports, and asks before the ledger changes or anything is sent. It does not file taxes or give accounting advice: a qualified person decides the treatment and signs off.
Updated 2026-11-13 · Free to start. Paid plans from $15 a month.
The job description, line by line
Each line is a duty that appears in typical job descriptions for this role. Beside it is how the agent handles that line and how far it goes on its own.
- Does itResearch, reading, drafting and building. Nothing leaves your business.
- Does it, asks firstThe last step sends, posts, pays or changes a record, so it shows you a card first.
- Prepares it, you decideThe line needs your judgement. The agent brings the facts and a recommendation.
- Stays with youCalls, meetings in person, signatures and relationships.
| # | In the job description | How the agent does it | How far it goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Record daily transactions and code each one to the correct account. | Each morning it reads the new bank feed lines in Xero or QuickBooks and suggests an account and a tax code for each, based on how you coded similar lines before. Unsure ones are marked. Entries post when you approve the batch. | Does it, asks first |
| 02 | Reconcile bank and card statements against the books and investigate any differences. | Compares every bank, card and Stripe payout line with the invoices, bills and receipts in Xero, proposes the matches and traces each gap to its cause: a duplicate, a missing receipt, a wrong amount. Nothing is marked reconciled until you approve. | Does it, asks first |
| 03 | Enter supplier bills, match them to orders and approvals, and schedule payments. | Finds supplier invoices in Gmail, reads the amount, tax and due date, and checks each against the purchase order and who approved it. It prepares the bills in QuickBooks and a weekly payment list. You approve both and release the payments. | Does it, asks first |
| 04 | Issue customer invoices, record payments received and chase overdue accounts. | Drafts the month's invoices in Xero from your orders or timesheets and matches payments as they land. Anything 7, 14 or 30 days overdue gets a reminder written in your tone. Invoices and reminders are sent once you allow them. | Does it, asks first |
| 05 | Prepare payroll figures or run payroll and keep payroll records up to date. | Gathers hours, leave and pay changes from your timesheet in Google Sheets, works out gross pay for each person and lists what differs from last month. You check the figures and run payroll yourself, or pass them to your payroll provider. | Prepares it, you decide |
| 06 | Process staff expense claims and reimbursements and file the receipts. | Reads each claim with its receipts and checks amounts, dates and your expense policy, flagging a missing receipt or a claim over the limit. Approved claims are entered in QuickBooks, receipts are filed in Google Drive, and reimbursement waits for your go-ahead. | Does it, asks first |
| 07 | Maintain the general ledger and bring the books to trial balance at month end. | On the third working day it runs the trial balance in Xero, follows anything that does not agree back to its entry, and drafts the accruals and corrections as journals. A journal is posted only when you or your accountant approve it. | Does it, asks first |
| 08 | Produce reports such as profit and loss, balance sheet and aged receivables and payables. | After the month closes it pulls profit and loss, balance sheet and aged receivables and payables from QuickBooks into one Google Sheets workbook, with last month and last year beside each figure and a half-page note on what moved. | Does it |
| 09 | Keep financial records organised and support accountants and auditors at year end. | Files every invoice, receipt and statement in Google Drive by year, month and supplier as it works. At year end it assembles the schedules your accountant requests and pairs each document they ask for with its ledger entry. | Does it |
| 10 | Decide how to treat unusual transactions and check entries comply with accounting rules. | Accounting treatment is not its decision. An unusual item in Xero, such as an asset purchase, a foreign invoice or a refund across periods, is held back with its documents, how similar items were handled and a question for your accountant. | Prepares it, you decide |
| 11 | Prepare and lodge sales tax, VAT or GST returns and other statutory filings. | It does not lodge returns or give tax advice. Before each filing date it reconciles the tax accounts and builds a workpaper in Google Sheets showing how every figure was reached, with open questions for the qualified person who files. | Stays with you |
| 12 | Prepare bank deposits and handle cash and cheques. | Cash and cheques are physical, so they stay with you. Send a photo of the deposit slip and it prepares the entry in QuickBooks, then watches the bank feed and tells you if the money has not arrived after three days. | Stays with you |
8 of 12 lines handled by the agent, some after your approval
Where the duties come from. The twelve lines are the duties that appear most often in public job descriptions for bookkeepers and accounts clerks, reworded, and checked against the O*NET task list for bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks. Checked against O*NET OnLine: 43-3031.00 Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
A week with your AI bookkeeper
Codes yesterday's bank lines and puts the batch on one card, with the lines it is unsure of marked.
Lists invoices 7, 14 and 30 days overdue and drafts a reminder for each customer.
Prepares the week's supplier bills from the inbox and the payment list for Friday.
Shows the cash position: bank balance, money due in and bills due out over the next two weeks.
Runs the trial balance, drafts the month-end journals and builds the report pack.
Builds the tax workpaper and the list of questions for the person who files.
What you give it on day one
- Xero or QuickBooks, connected with a login that has only the permissions you want it to have
- Bank feeds switched on in your accounting software. It does not need your bank login
- The mailbox where supplier bills and receipts arrive
- Your chart of accounts and tax codes, and last year's ledger to learn your coding from
- The rules: payment terms, approval limits, and when to chase a late payer
- Your accountant's month-end and year-end checklists
What stays with you
- Lodging tax returns and other statutory filings. A qualified person files and signs.
- Accounting treatment and advice. It asks your accountant and does not decide.
- Releasing payments and running payroll. It prepares the figures; you authorise.
- Cash, cheques and paperwork nobody has scanned or photographed.
- Sign-off on the accounts.
Hire one in three steps
- 01
Write the role
Create an agent, name it, and brief it like a new bookkeeper: your business, your year end, who approves what, and the entries that always need a second look. Paste your month-end checklist if you have one.
- 02
Give it access
Connect Xero or QuickBooks and the mailbox where bills arrive, with your own accounts, and choose that this agent may use them. It reads last year's ledger first, to learn how you code.
- 03
Set the first routine
Ask it to code last week's bank lines and show you the batch. Correct what it got wrong, then agree the routine: coding each weekday at 8:00, overdue invoices on Monday, month end on the third working day.
First things to ask
- Code this week's bank lines in Xero the way we coded them last year. Show me the batch and mark anything you are unsure of.
- List every invoice more than 14 days overdue and draft a reminder for each customer. Ask before sending.
- Find the supplier bills emailed to us this week, check each against its purchase order and prepare them in QuickBooks.
- On the third working day of each month, run the trial balance and build the report pack for my accountant.
Watch it work
A sample replay with example data, sped up. Pause it, scrub through it, or take the mouse yourself.
On screen
Xero
Gmail
Google Sheets
Google Drive
Pick a job. Watch it get done.
- Why
- Your weekday bookkeeping routine.
- Where
- Fieldwork in Xero · business account
- What to expect
- Marks 18 lines reconciled. The 2 odd lines are left for you, and no reminder is sent.
Your team. Connected to everything.
Cash and receivables — week 7+Sample replays with fictional data, sped up. Pause one, scrub through it, or take the mouse yourself.
Questions people ask
What is an AI bookkeeper?
An AI bookkeeper is an AI agent that does a bookkeeper's routine work in your accounting software: coding transactions, matching bank lines, entering bills, chasing overdue invoices and building month-end reports. A Monmo agent works in Xero or QuickBooks with your own login, and asks before the ledger changes or anything is sent.
Can an AI agent replace a bookkeeper?
It takes over the keying, matching, chasing and report building. It does not decide accounting treatment, lodge returns, sign off accounts or handle cash. You still need a bookkeeper or accountant to review its work, answer its questions and sign off the month. Their time goes on judgement instead of data entry.
Does it work with Xero and QuickBooks?
Yes, with both. You connect your own Xero or QuickBooks login, and the agent has the permissions that login has. It works through the connection, or in its own browser when the connection does not cover something. Other accounting apps are in the app directory. Reading needs no approval; posting, sending and paying do.
Can it file my taxes or give tax advice?
No. Lodging a sales tax, VAT or GST return, signing accounts and advising on tax are regulated work for a qualified person. The agent prepares for it: tax accounts reconciled, a workpaper showing how each figure was reached, and the open questions listed. The person who files checks the figures and signs.
Can it pay bills or move money?
Not on its own. It prepares the payment list: supplier, amount, due date and the bill behind each line. You release payments in your bank or accounting software, and it does not need your bank login. If a payment step runs through a connected app, it shows a card first and acts only when you allow it.
How do I know its entries are right?
Review them, especially in the first month. The agent marks every line it is unsure of, lists what it could not match and shows how each figure was reached. It can be wrong. Nothing reaches the ledger until you approve, and a qualified person should review month end as they would for any bookkeeper.