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The AI bookkeeping skill keeps double-entry books in Beancount from bank statements, invoices, and receipts. It runs in Claude or ChatGPT and needs code execution. A Billpal account is optional: when Billpal is connected, the assistant reads your invoices, receipts, and imported bank statements from Billpal. Prerequisites: the skill ZIP and Claude or ChatGPT in a browser. Download ai-bookkeeping.zip and keep it zipped. Install the ZIP in your Claude or ChatGPT account. A link to the skill in a chat is not enough, because the assistant cannot install a skill from a link. The labels below match the English interfaces of Claude and ChatGPT.

Claude

1

Turn on code execution

Open Settings > Capabilities and turn on Code execution and file creation. On Team and Enterprise plans, an owner turns on Code execution and file creation and Skills under Organization settings > Plugins & skills, in the Policy tab.
2

Upload the skill

Open Customize > Skills, select +, then Create skill, then Upload a skill. Select the ZIP file.
3

Turn on the skill

The skill appears in your skills list. Turn it on if it is off.
If Claude changes its menus, use Anthropic’s instructions: Use skills in Claude.

ChatGPT

1

Open skills

In the sidebar, select Plugins, then open the Skills tab.
2

Upload the skill

Select Create, then Upload from your computer. Select the ZIP file.
If ChatGPT changes its menus or the Skills tab is missing, use OpenAI’s instructions: Skills in ChatGPT.

Start the books

Start a new chat, ask for your bookkeeping for a year, and add your bank statements (CAMT, CSV, MT940, OFX, QFX, or PDF). The skill first asks about your business, for example the country, the legal form, and whether you are registered for VAT. To use your invoices, receipts, and statements from Billpal, connect Billpal first. Statements already in Billpal don’t need to be added to the chat again: see Connect ChatGPT or Connect Claude.

Keep the ledger file

The ledger is a Beancount file. Billpal does not store it. Where the file is kept depends on the assistant:
  • An assistant that reads and writes local files, such as Claude Cowork or Claude Code: the ledger stays in a folder on your computer.
  • A chat connected to Google Drive or Dropbox: if the connection can save files, the assistant saves every new version to a folder there. Some connections can only read files. Then keep the file as described in the next point.
  • A chat without a storage connection: files in a chat exist only for that conversation. Download the newest ledger file when you finish and upload it at the start of the next chat.
Every change creates a new version of the file. The newest one has the highest number, for example 2026-v7.beancount. At the end of a session, the assistant names the file to save. When Billpal is connected, each booking from a Billpal document stores a link to that document. The report shows it next to the booking. The link opens the document in Billpal for anyone who belongs to the workspace. If you belong to several workspaces, Billpal switches to the document’s workspace first.

Hand the books to your accountant

When the books are ready, ask for the report and the newest ledger file. If your accountant works in DATEV, BMD, DVO, QuickBooks Online, or Xero, also ask for an import file. For DATEV, the assistant asks for the consultant number and client number, which your accountant has. If your accountant already imports Billpal’s own DATEV, BMD, or DVO export, give them only one of the two files for the same period. Billpal’s export contains your invoices, the skill’s export your whole ledger. Imported together, costs are booked twice. On accrual books, export your Contacts from Billpal in the same format first: the skill uses the same account numbers. The report also shows the VAT due dates in Austria and Germany, a draft Schedule C for a US sole proprietor or single-member LLC, and what your accountant would ask about: a double charge, a price increase, an expense that may be an asset, or contractors who need a 1099-NEC. The draft is not a filing.

Connect ChatGPT

Add Billpal to ChatGPT so the skill can read your documents.

Connect Claude

Add Billpal to Claude so the skill can read your documents.