ChatGPT Bookkeeping Plugin: How to Use ChatGPT for Bookkeeping, Step by Step

By Ryland Beard,

Yes, there is a bookkeeping plugin for ChatGPT. It is called Switchbooks, it is listed in the ChatGPT plugin directory, and this guide shows how to use it. But there are really two ways to use ChatGPT for bookkeeping. You can paste a bank statement into the chat and ask for help, which is quick and free and limited. Or you can connect ChatGPT to a real set of books with the plugin, and let it do the actual work: post transactions, match transfers, reconcile, and run your reports.

I ran a bookkeeping firm for eight years before building Switchbooks. I will walk through both ways, say plainly where each one stops, and give you the exact things to type.

Way one: paste a statement

This is where almost everyone starts, and it is fine for a one-off look.

  1. Export last month's transactions from your bank as a CSV, or copy them from the statement.
  2. Paste them into ChatGPT and say: "Categorize these for a [type of business]. Use these categories: [your list]. Give me a table."
  3. Read the table and fix what is wrong. Tell it why, so the next batch is better.
  4. Ask follow-up questions. "What did I spend on software?" "Which vendor grew the most?"
  5. Type the results into your accounting software by hand.

Here is where it stops. ChatGPT can only see the one account you pasted, so the $2,400 you paid to the credit card looks like an expense. It cannot see the card, so it cannot know the money just moved. Your costs double and nobody notices until tax time. It also cannot reconcile, because there is nothing to reconcile against, and next month is a new chat with no memory of what you decided. The long version with real rows is on the Switchbooks blog.

Use way one for a quick look at a month, a cleanup project, or questions about numbers you already have. For the books themselves, use way two.

Way two: the ChatGPT bookkeeping plugin

Switchbooks is listed in the ChatGPT plugin directory as a bookkeeping plugin. Install it and ChatGPT has a real ledger to work in: every account, every category, every rule, and the history behind them. Setup takes about fifteen minutes, and most of that is your bank's login screen.

  1. Create a Switchbooks account. Go to switchbooks.ai and sign up. Ten days free, no card. You can also create the account on the plugin's sign-in page in step three.
  2. Connect your bank and cards in the app. Switchbooks uses Plaid, the same connection most banking apps use. Connect every account the business uses, including each credit card, so transfers have both sides.
  3. Install the plugin. Open Switchbooks in the ChatGPT plugin directory and click Install plugin. You can also open Plugins in the ChatGPT sidebar and search for Switchbooks.
  4. Choose what ChatGPT may do. Sign in to Switchbooks. You will see a box labeled Allow bookkeeping changes. Check it if ChatGPT may post, edit, and reconcile. Leave it unchecked for a read-only connection that can answer questions and run reports but change nothing. Click Allow.
  5. Start a chat. Type @switchbooks and say "List my Switchbooks companies," then "Use [company name]." If you have one company, it is picked for you.
The Switchbooks permission screen when connecting ChatGPT, with the Allow bookkeeping changes box and the Allow button

One note. The listing's description still describes the first version of the plugin, which was read-only. The permission screen you see when connecting is current, and the Allow bookkeeping changes box is where you decide.

What to say, in order

This is the order I would use with a new client, and it works the same with ChatGPT.

  1. Brief it. "We are a landscaping company. The Home Depot charges are materials, the Shell charges are fuel for the trucks, and the Zelle payments to Martinez are contractor labor." It keeps those notes in the books, not in the chat, so they are still there next month.
  2. Let it post. "Post everything in To Review you are sure about, and list what you were unsure about." Answer the questions it comes back with.
  3. Match the transfers. "Match the transfers between checking and the credit card." Now the card payment counts once.
  4. Make rules. "Amazon charges are office supplies unless they are over $200, then equipment. Make that a rule." Rules run on every new row from then on.
  5. Reconcile. "Reconcile Chase checking to the statement ending September 30 with a balance of 12,480.12." You get a preview of what matches and what does not, and it finishes when you say yes.
  6. Run the reports. "Show me last month's profit and loss." "Run the balance sheet as of September 30." "Compare this quarter's expenses with last quarter."
  7. Check its work. "What did you change today?" And if something is wrong: "Undo the last one."
ChatGPT answering a question about last month's expenses from Switchbooks: a table of the top five expense categories with totals, and one sentence on what stands out

That is a real answer on a demo company, asked in ChatGPT with the plugin connected read-only. A few seconds, no export, no spreadsheet.

What ChatGPT can and cannot do with your books

Connected read-only, ChatGPT can search transactions, run a profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, or trial balance for any dates, open the entries behind any number, list your categories, payees, rules, and accounts, and read stored receipts and statements.

With changes allowed, it can also categorize, post, and split the rows in To Review, match transfers, book and edit journal entries, create and merge categories and payees, make rules, reconcile from a preview, attach files, make a new company, and undo its own changes.

A few things stay in the Switchbooks app when you work from ChatGPT: connecting a bank, importing files, and the request link your accountant sends you. And nothing connected to Switchbooks can sign in to your bank, move money, invite or remove people, share a report, or change billing. Those are yours. The full list is on the AI assistants page.

Permission and undo

There are two layers, and both are yours. The first is the Allow bookkeeping changes box when you connect. The second is ChatGPT's own per-plugin setting under Settings, then Plugins, where the default, called Allow low-risk tools, lets reads run and asks before changes. Underneath both, Switchbooks records every change a connected assistant makes. Ask what changed and you get the list in plain words. Ask it to undo one and it reverses that change the same way a person would. Steps that are hard to reverse, like merging two categories, wait for your yes.

What it costs

The plugin is free to install and the connection is included with Switchbooks, which is $25 per month per company with every feature, and a free ten-day trial. The same login works in Claude, Grok Bot, and Cursor, so you can use more than one assistant and the books stay the same.

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Common questions

Can ChatGPT do bookkeeping?

On its own, ChatGPT can categorize a pasted statement and answer questions about it, but it cannot post to a ledger, see both sides of a transfer, reconcile, or remember last month. With the Switchbooks plugin installed, it works in real books and can post, match, book entries, reconcile, and run reports.

How do I connect ChatGPT to my accounting software?

Open the Switchbooks listing in the ChatGPT plugin directory, or open Plugins in the ChatGPT sidebar and search for Switchbooks, and click Install plugin. Sign in to Switchbooks or create an account, tick Allow bookkeeping changes if ChatGPT may post and reconcile, and click Allow. In a chat, type @switchbooks and ask it to list your companies.

Is it safe to connect ChatGPT to my books?

The connection uses OAuth, so ChatGPT never sees your Switchbooks password or your bank login. You choose read-only or allow changes when you connect, every change is recorded in Switchbooks, most can be undone from the chat, and you can remove the plugin under Settings, then Plugins, at any time.

Can ChatGPT reconcile my accounts?

With Allow bookkeeping changes ticked when you connect, yes. Give it the statement ending date and balance, and it shows a preview of what matches and what does not, then finishes the reconciliation when you say yes. A finished reconciliation can be undone.

Does the Switchbooks ChatGPT plugin cost extra?

No. The plugin is free to install and the connection is included with Switchbooks, which is $25 per month per company with a free ten-day trial.

Ryland Beard ran a bookkeeping firm for eight years, grew it to forty people, and is the founder of Switchbooks and Ledge Accounting. Say hello on X.