Overview

Salesforce Hosted Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a standardized way to connect AI agents directly to your Salesforce data and custom business logic. When configured with Accounting Seed, it gives your accounting team a powerful way to interact with financial data through natural language: asking questions, generating reports, and automating workflows without leaving your preferred tools like Claude or ChatGPT.

This guide walks you through connecting Salesforce Hosted MCP servers to Accounting Seed, enabling both out-of-the-box integrations and custom capabilities tailored to your organization's workflows.

In this article:

• What is Headless and Why It Matters
• Security and Permissions
• Getting Started with Salesforce Hosted MCP
• Activating Standard Salesforce Servers
• How to Configure Salesforce Hosted MCP
• Getting Started with Accounting Seed Tools

What is Headless and Why It Matters

Headless means your accounting data and business logic work independently of any single user interface. Instead of being locked into one application, your financial data becomes accessible through multiple channels: web browsers, mobile apps, AI agents, or integrations with other software your team already uses, all while maintaining the Salesforce security perimeter.

Rather than navigating through multiple screens, you can use your AI tool of choice, ask questions naturally and get immediate insights. “What’s our Q2 revenue by customer” or “Show me unpaid invoices over 60 days” becomes a simple request, processed instantly with the same security and accuracy you expect from Accounting Seed.

Security and Permissions

AI can work with your Accounting Seed and Salesforce data in two broad ways, and they have different security characteristics. Understanding the difference helps you protect your financial information while taking advantage of AI.

AI on the Salesforce platform

• AI that runs inside Salesforce. You feed data into it alongside a prompt, and Salesforce’s trust layer governs how that data is handled.
• Using AI on the Salesforce platform means your data stays within Salesforce’s governance. The trust layer can automatically redact sensitive information before it reaches the AI. This is in your administrator’s control.

Bring your own AI tool via MCP

• MCP connects an external AI such as Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or another tool running outside Salesforce.
• MCP is like a power outlet that your data plugs into. The outlet doesn’t do anything on its own. It simply delivers power in a format any compatible plug understands. You decide what you plug in.
• MCP lets an external AI tool access your data but it does not control what that AI does with the data afterward. Unlike the trust layer, an outside AI may not redact anything, and questions like “Does it train on my data? Retain it? Expose it?” fall outside what MCP governs. Those answers depend on your agreement with the AI provider and your own security policies.

Accounting Seed enforces your accounting-specific user permissions, but which AI you use, and what it does with your data, depends on your agreement with the AI provider. When you connect an external AI, vet it the way you would vet any vendor. We recommend looking for clear commitments that your data won’t be used for training, will stay private, and won’t be retained.

We also recommend configuring Salesforce permissions thoughtfully. Every MCP tool call runs with the same permissions as the user who authorized the connection. Your AI has no more capability than you do. If your profile doesn’t grant access to an action, neither does the AI acting on your behalf. This is a critical security feature: Salesforce MCP extends your accounting data through agents while respecting all of your existing access controls.

Getting Started with Salesforce Hosted MCP

Salesforce provides a collection of pre-built MCP servers that you can use immediately with Accounting Seed. Visit the Salesforce Hosted MCP Servers Guide to explore available options.

Activating Standard Salesforce Servers

The Standard Salesforce Servers are particularly valuable for accounting teams. These servers allow your AI agents to access Salesforce data directly, including Accounts, Opportunities, Contacts, custom objects, and more. With Salesforce Servers configured, agents can:

• Query financial records by any criteria
• Retrieve related data across objects
• Support natural-language searches across your Salesforce org

How to Configure Salesforce Hosted MCP

Before You Begin

The following package versions are required to use Accounting Seed MCP tools (see Product Installation Links for the latest links):

• Financial Suite Spring ’26 Preview (for AcctSeed Package Tools)
• Orders & Inventory Spring ’26 Preview (for Orders & Inventory Tools)
• Accounting Seed Agents Version 0.8 (for AcctSeedAgent Tools)

Step 1: Set Up Your Org and Connect MCP Clients

Follow these links to Salesforce articles with detailed steps:

1. Create an External Client App
2. Log In to Your Org
   1. Note: Skip the following step for now: "After completing these steps, proceed to configure your MCP client." You will do this as part of Step 2.

To read more about the Standard Salesforce Servers, review the Standard MCP Servers Reference article.

Step 2: Configure a Custom Server for Accounting Seed

1. Go to Setup > MCP Servers.
2. Under API Catalog, select MCP Servers.
3. Under the Add MCP Server dropdown, click Create Salesforce MCP Server.
4. Enter a Label, Name, and Description for your Accounting Seed Server.
5. Click Create.
6. Select the Tools tab.
7. Select Add Server Assets, and click Add Tools.
8. Under the Apex Actions list view, add your desired tools -the available tools are outlined below in the Getting Started with Accounting Seed Tools section. Start with the tools most critical to your team’s daily work. You can enable additional tools as use cases emerge.
   1. To add a tool, select the tool and then click the + Add Tool button.
   2. Click Save (bottom right).  The tools added should now be displayed on the Tools tab.

Step 3: Activate MCP Servers

1. Go to Setup > MCP Servers and under API Catalog, select MCP Servers.
2. Activate the Custom MCP Server created in Step 2:
   1. Click the server name and click the Activate button to activate the Server. Server Status shows as Active.
3. Next, activate any other MCP Servers you would like to use. Review the Tools tab for any Standard servers to see the actions you can perform.  For instance you could activate sobject-reads to query on information, and sobject-all to make updates to records. 

Step 4: Connect MCP Clients

Repeat these instructions for any servers (i.e. Salesforce Standard Servers, Custom Accounting Seed Servers) you would like to connect to your AI tool of choice.

• Configure Postman
• Configure Claude
• Configure ChatGPT
• Configure Cursor

Note: On the Salesforce articles linked above, once the Setup Steps section is completed, an Allow Access? security message is displayed.  Review then click Allow to allow access.

Step 5: Test with Sample Prompts

Before rolling out to your team, Test your MCP Client. This validates that permissions, data access, and response quality meet expectations. 

Getting Started with Accounting Seed Tools

Accounting Seed provides a set of purpose-built MCP tools that integrate directly with the platform’s accounting capabilities. Each tool is designed to be used by AI agents accessing your financial data with full context of your chart of accounts, billing structure, and organizational setup.

AcctSeed Package Tools (Requires Financial Suite Spring ’26 Preview)

• Amortize Records (AcctSeed__Amortization)
  • What it does: Automatically calculates and creates amortization schedules for deferred expenses, deferred revenue, or other items that need to be amortized over multiple accounting periods.
  • Use case: An agent can set up amortization for prepaid insurance, SaaS subscriptions, or other items, automatically spreading the cost or revenue across the correct accounting periods.
• Calculate Tax: Source Documents (AcctSeed__TaxServiceInvocable)
  • What it does: Calculates applicable tax amounts for source documents (invoices and bills) based on configured tax rules, rates, and customer/vendor locations.
  • Use case: When creating or reviewing invoices or bills, an agent can automatically calculate the correct sales tax, purchase tax, or other applicable taxes based on the transaction details.
• Run Report (AcctSeed__FinancialReporter)
  • What it does: Executes pre-configured financial reports and returns the results in Accounting Seed.
  • Use case: An agent can run balance sheets, income statements, trial balances, or custom financial reports on demand and provide the results to answer financial questions directly.

AcctSeed Orders & Inventory Package Tools (Requires Orders & Inventory Spring ’26 Preview)

• Inventory Transfer (AcctSeedERP__InventoryTransferAPI)
  • What it does: Facilitates the movement of inventory items between warehouse locations or inventory accounts, updating inventory balances and tracking transfer history for audit and compliance purposes.
  • Use case: An agent can execute inter-warehouse transfers when inventory needs to be consolidated, rebalanced across locations, or moved to support fulfillment. For example, when a project site needs materials, an agent can automatically transfer inventory from the main warehouse and update all related records without manual data entry.

AcctSeedAgent Package Tools (Requires Accounting Seed Agents Version 0.8)

• Add Payables to Payment Proposal (AcctSeedAgent__PaymentProposalService)
  • What it does: Adds payable records (vendor invoices/bills) to an existing payment proposal for batch processing.
  • Use case: An agent can organize which bills to include in a payment proposal, filtering by vendor, amount, or due date before the proposal is submitted for approval.
• Create Payment Proposal (AcctSeedAgent__CreatePaymentProposal)
  • What it does: Creates a new payment proposal record that serves as a container for organizing and scheduling vendor payments.
  • Use case: An agent can initiate a payment proposal for a specific payment date or vendor, which can then be populated with bills and routed through approval workflows.
• Find Duplicate Cash Disbursements (AcctSeedAgent__InvocableDuplicateCashDisbursements)
  • What it does: Identifies potential duplicate cash disbursement records in the system based on vendor, amount, and date similarities.
  • Use case: During month-end close or internal audits, an agent can detect accidental duplicate payments to the same vendor to prevent costly payment errors.
• Find Duplicates of Cash Disbursement (AcctSeedAgent__InvocableFindDuplicateOfCashDisburments)
  • What it does: Searches for other cash disbursements that may be duplicates of a specific disbursement record.
  • Use case: If a suspicious transaction is flagged, an agent can search for similar disbursements to confirm whether a duplicate exists and recommend reversal.
• Find Early Payment Discounts (AcctSeedAgent__InvocableEarlyPayDiscountSearch)
  • What it does: Identifies payables that are eligible for early payment discounts based on vendor terms (e.g., 2/10 net 30).
  • Use case: An agent can surface bills where paying early would save money and recommend them for priority payment to maximize cash discounts.
• Find Payables Due (AcctSeedAgent__InvocablePayablesDueSearch)
  • What it does: Searches for payables that are due or coming due based on their payment terms.
  • Use case: An agent can list all bills due within the next 30 days to inform cash flow planning and payment prioritization.
• Find Potential Duplicate Payables (AcctSeedAgent__InvocableDuplicatePayables)
  • What it does: Detects potential duplicate payable records from the same vendor based on invoice number, amount, and date.
  • Use case: Before posting or paying a bill, an agent can check for duplicates to prevent processing the same invoice twice.
• Get AP Aging Summary by Payee (AcctSeedAgent__InvocableAPAgingSummary)
  • What it does: Generates a summary of accounts payable aged by vendor, showing the age and amount of outstanding bills.
  • Use case: An agent can provide vendor aging reports to answer questions like “What’s our oldest payable to this vendor?” or “How much do we owe vendors 30+ days overdue?”
• Get Vendor Payment Summary (AcctSeedAgent__InvocableVendorPaymentSummary)
  • What it does: Retrieves a summary of payment activity for a specific vendor, including amounts paid, payment dates, and payment patterns.
  • Use case: An agent can answer questions about payment history: “How much have we paid to this vendor this quarter?” or “When was our last payment to them?”
• Post Source Documents (AcctSeedAgent__InvocablePost)
  • What it does: Posts source documents (invoices, bills, expense reports) to the general ledger, converting them from draft to official accounting records.
  • Use case: After approval, an agent can post batches of bills or invoices to officially record them in the accounting system and update account balances.
• Publish Payment Proposal (AcctSeedAgent__InvocablePublishPaymentProposal)
  • What it does: Publishes a payment proposal, making it available for review and approval by the appropriate stakeholders.
  • Use case: Once a payment proposal is ready, an agent can publish it to notify the AP team or approvers that it’s available for action.
• Send Collection Notices (AcctSeedAgent__InvocableSendCollectionNotices)
  • What it does: Sends collection or reminder notices to customers with overdue receivables based on configured collection rules.
  • Use case: An agent can automatically send dunning notices to customers with past-due invoices to encourage prompt payment and reduce AR aging.
• Submit Payment Proposal for Approval (AcctSeedAgent__PaymentProposalSubmission)
  • What it does: Routes a payment proposal through the approval workflow to the appropriate approvers based on amount and company policy.
  • Use case: An agent can submit a completed payment proposal for manager or controller approval, with notifications sent automatically to approvers.
• Unpost Source Documents (AcctSeedAgent__InvocableUnpost)
  • What it does: Reverses the posting of source documents, removing them from the general ledger (typically creating reversal entries to maintain audit trails).
  • Use case: If an invoice or bill is posted in error, an agent can unpost it during the same accounting period to correct the mistake without breaking the audit trail.

Questions? Contact Accounting Seed Support or consult your Accounting Seed Implementation Specialist.

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