How to integrate Quickbooks MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Quickbooks to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Quickbooks agent that can add a new customer with contact details, generate a balance report for customer abc, create a vendor for monthly office supplies through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Quickbooks account through Composio's Quickbooks MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Also integrate Quickbooks with

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Quickbooks
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Quickbooks as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Quickbooks operations

What is OpenAI Agents SDK?

The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight framework for building AI agents that can use tools and maintain conversation state. It provides a simple interface for creating agents with hosted MCP tool support.

Key features include:

  • Hosted MCP Tools: Connect to external services through hosted MCP endpoints
  • SQLite Sessions: Persist conversation history across interactions
  • Simple API: Clean interface with Agent, Runner, and tool configuration
  • Streaming Support: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications

What is the Quickbooks MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Quickbooks MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Quickbooks account. It provides structured and secure access to your accounting data, so your agent can perform actions like managing customers, generating balance reports, creating accounts, and retrieving employee details on your behalf.

  • Customer and vendor management: Quickly create new customers or vendors, or retrieve detailed information about existing ones to streamline your business relationships.
  • Automated account creation and queries: Direct your agent to set up new financial accounts or query existing ones for up-to-date balances and account information.
  • Employee records and management: Seamlessly add new employees or pull employee details to keep your Quickbooks records accurate and current.
  • Financial reporting and insights: Generate customer balance reports or detailed balance breakdowns, giving you instant access to critical financial insights with just a prompt.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Capture ChargeTool to capture funds for an existing charge that was authorized but not captured.
Create AccountCreate a new account in QuickBooks with the given parameters.
Create Bank AccountCreate a new bank account on file for a customer in QuickBooks Payments API.
Create BillCreate a new bill in QuickBooks Online.
Create Bill PaymentCreate a bill payment in QuickBooks to record payment against one or more bills.
Create ClassCreate a new class in QuickBooks Online.
Create Credit MemoTool to create a new credit memo in QuickBooks Online.
Create CustomerCreate a new customer in QuickBooks with the given parameters.
Create DepositCreates a new deposit in QuickBooks Online.
Create eCheck PaymentTool to create an eCheck payment using ACH bank transfer in QuickBooks Payments API.
Create EmployeeCreate a new employee in QuickBooks.
Create EstimateCreates a new estimate in QuickBooks Online.
Create InvoiceCreates a new invoice in QuickBooks for a customer.
Create ItemCreate a new item in QuickBooks Online.
Create Journal EntryTool to create a new journal entry in QuickBooks Online.
Create PaymentCreates a payment record in QuickBooks Online.
Create PurchaseTool to create a new purchase transaction in QuickBooks Online.
Create Purchase OrderCreate a new purchase order in QuickBooks.
Create Refund ReceiptTool to create a new refund receipt in QuickBooks Online.
Create Sales ReceiptTool to create a new sales receipt in QuickBooks Online.
Create Tax AgencyCreate a new tax agency in QuickBooks Online.
Create Tax Code via TaxServiceCreate a new tax code with associated tax rates using the TaxService endpoint.
Create Time ActivityCreate a new time activity record in QuickBooks Online.
Create VendorCreate a new vendor in QuickBooks with the given details.
Create Vendor CreditTool to create a new vendor credit in QuickBooks Online.
Customer Balance DetailGenerate a balance detail report for a customer in QuickBooks with the given customer ID.
Customer Balance ReportGenerate a customer balance report in QuickBooks showing outstanding balances for customers.
Delete Bank AccountTool to delete a bank account on file for a customer in QuickBooks Payments API.
Execute Batch OperationExecute multiple QuickBooks operations in a single request.
Aged Receivables ReportGenerate an aged receivables report showing outstanding customer balances by age.
Get AttachableTool to read details of a specific attachable by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get Balance Sheet ReportGenerate a Balance Sheet report showing company assets, liabilities, and equity at a point in time.
Get Bank AccountTool to retrieve a specific bank account by ID from QuickBooks Payments API.
Get BillTool to fetch a QuickBooks bill by ID.
Get Bill PaymentTool to retrieve details of a specific bill payment by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get Changed EntitiesTool to retrieve entities that changed since a specified timestamp using QuickBooks Change Data Capture (CDC) API.
Get Company InfoTool to read company information from QuickBooks Online.
Get Credit MemoTool to fetch a QuickBooks credit memo by ID.
Get Credit Memo PDFTool to download a QuickBooks credit memo as a PDF file.
Get DepartmentRead details of a specific department by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get DepositTool to read details of a specific deposit by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get EstimateTool to fetch a QuickBooks estimate by ID.
Get Estimate PDFTool to download a QuickBooks estimate as a PDF file.
Get Exchange RateTool to get exchange rate for a specific currency code and date in QuickBooks Online.
Get General Ledger ReportGenerate a General Ledger report showing all transactions with debits, credits, and running balances.
Get Inventory Valuation SummaryGenerate an Inventory Valuation Summary report showing inventory quantities and their current values.
Get Invoice PDFTool to download a QuickBooks invoice as a PDF file.
Get ItemTool to retrieve a specific item by its ID from QuickBooks Online.
Get Journal EntryTool to read details of a specific QuickBooks journal entry by ID.
Get PaymentTool to fetch details of a specific payment by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get Payment MethodRead details of a specific payment method by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get Payment PDFTool to download a QuickBooks payment record as a PDF file.
Get Company PreferencesTool to read company preferences that control application behavior in QuickBooks Online.
Get Profit and Loss Detail ReportGenerate a detailed Profit and Loss report showing company income and expenses with transaction-level details.
Get Profit and Loss ReportGenerate a Profit and Loss report showing company income and expenses over a period.
Get PurchaseTool to fetch details of a specific purchase by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get Purchase OrderTool to fetch a QuickBooks purchase order by ID.
Get Purchase Order PDFTool to download a QuickBooks purchase order as a PDF file.
Get Refund ReceiptTool to fetch a QuickBooks refund receipt by ID.
Get Refund Receipt PDFTool to download a QuickBooks refund receipt as a PDF file.
Get Report - Account ListRetrieve the AccountList report from QuickBooks showing a list of all accounts.
Get Report - Aged Payable DetailGenerate an aged payable detail report showing aging detail for accounts payable.
Get Report - Aged PayablesRetrieve an Aged Payables aging summary report from QuickBooks showing outstanding vendor balances grouped by age.
Get Report - Aged Receivable DetailGenerate an aged receivable detail report showing aging detail for accounts receivable.
Get Report - Cash FlowGenerate a cash flow report in QuickBooks showing cash inflows and outflows categorized by operating, investing, and financing activities.
Get Report - Class SalesGenerate a ClassSales report in QuickBooks showing sales amounts grouped by class.
Get Report - Customer IncomeGenerate a customer income report in QuickBooks showing revenue by customer.
Get Report - Customer SalesGenerate a customer sales report in QuickBooks showing sales transactions and totals for customers.
Get Report - Department SalesGenerate a department sales report in QuickBooks showing sales data broken down by department.
Get Report - Item SalesGenerate an ItemSales report showing sales data for products and services.
Get ReportsRetrieve QuickBooks reports such as TransactionList, BalanceSheet, ProfitAndLoss, and others.
Get Report - Trial BalanceGenerate a Trial Balance report showing account debits, credits, and balances for a specified period.
Get Sales ReceiptTool to fetch a QuickBooks sales receipt by ID.
Get Sales Receipt PDFTool to download a QuickBooks sales receipt as a PDF file.
Get Tax RateTool to read details of a specific tax rate by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get TermRead details of a specific payment term by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get Time ActivityTool to read details of a specific time activity by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Get Transaction List ReportGet the Transaction List report showing all transactions in the company.
Get TransferTool to fetch a QuickBooks transfer by ID.
Get Vendor CreditTool to fetch a QuickBooks vendor credit by ID.
Get Vendor Expenses ReportRetrieve a vendor expenses report from QuickBooks showing expense transactions by vendor.
List CardsTool to retrieve all payment cards on file for a customer in QuickBooks Payments API.
List DepartmentsQuery Department entities in QuickBooks using SQL-like syntax.
List InvoicesTool to list invoices via QuickBooks Query endpoint.
Query Account EntitiesQuery Account entities in QuickBooks using SQL-like syntax.
Query Attachable EntitiesQuery Attachable entities in QuickBooks using SQL-like syntax.
Query QuickBooks EntitiesExecute SQL-like queries on QuickBooks Online entities.
Read AccountRead an account in QuickBooks with the given account ID.
Read ClassRead details of a specific class by ID in QuickBooks Online.
Read CustomerRead a customer in QuickBooks with the given customer ID.
Read EmployeeRead an employee's details in QuickBooks with the given employee ID.
Read InvoiceTool to fetch a QuickBooks invoice by ID or the most recent if no ID provided.
Read VendorRead a vendor in QuickBooks with the given vendor ID.
Send Credit MemoTool to send a credit memo to a specified email address.
Update AttachableTool to update an existing attachable in QuickBooks Online.
Update Company InfoTool to update company information in QuickBooks Online.
Update DepartmentTool to update an existing department in QuickBooks Online.
Update Full InvoiceTool to fully replace an Invoice.
Update Payment MethodTool to update an existing payment method in QuickBooks Online.
Update PreferencesUpdate company preferences in QuickBooks Online.
Update Sparse InvoiceTool to perform a sparse update of an existing invoice.
Update TermTool to update an existing payment term in QuickBooks Online.
Update TransferTool to update an existing transfer in QuickBooks Online.
Vendor Balance DetailGenerate a balance detail report for a vendor in QuickBooks with the given vendor ID.
Vendor Balance ReportRetrieve a vendor balance report from QuickBooks showing outstanding balances for vendors.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and OpenAI API Key
  • Primary know-how of OpenAI Agents SDK
  • A live Quickbooks project
  • Some knowledge of Python or Typescript

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key

Install dependencies

pip install composio_openai_agents openai-agents python-dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your-api-key
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-api-key
USER_ID=composio_user@gmail.com

Create a .env file and add your OpenAI and Composio API keys.

Import dependencies

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession
What's happening:
  • You're importing all necessary libraries.
  • The Composio and OpenAIAgentsProvider classes are imported to connect your OpenAI agent to Composio tools like Quickbooks.

Set up the Composio instance

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())
What's happening:
  • load_dotenv() loads your .env file so OPENAI_API_KEY and COMPOSIO_API_KEY are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.

Create a Tool Router session

# Create a Quickbooks Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["quickbooks"]
)

mcp_url = session.mcp.url

What is happening:

  • You give the Tool Router the user id and the toolkits you want available. Here, it is only quickbooks.
  • The router checks the user's Quickbooks connection and prepares the MCP endpoint.
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that your agent will use to access Quickbooks.
  • This approach keeps things lightweight and lets the agent request Quickbooks tools only when needed during the conversation.

Configure the agent

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access Quickbooks. "
        "Help users perform Quickbooks operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)
What's happening:
  • We're creating an Agent instance with a name, model (gpt-5), and clear instructions about its purpose.
  • The agent's instructions tell it that it can access Quickbooks and help with queries, inserts, updates, authentication, and fetching database information.
  • The tools array includes a HostedMCPTool that connects to the MCP server URL we created earlier.
  • The headers dict includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • require_approval: 'never' means the agent can execute Quickbooks operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.

Start chat loop and handle conversation

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())
What's happening:
  • The program prints a session URL that you visit to authorize Quickbooks.
  • After authorization, the chat begins.
  • Each message you type is processed by the agent using Runner.run().
  • The responses are printed to the console, and conversations are saved locally using SQLite.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Quickbooks and OpenAI Agents SDK:

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())

# Create Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["quickbooks"]
)
mcp_url = session.mcp.url

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access Quickbooks. "
        "Help users perform Quickbooks operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())

Conclusion

This was a starter code for integrating Quickbooks MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK to build a functional AI agent that can interact with Quickbooks.

Key features:

  • Hosted MCP tool integration through Composio's Tool Router
  • SQLite session persistence for conversation history
  • Simple async chat loop for interactive testing
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.

How to build Quickbooks MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Quickbooks MCP?

With a standalone Quickbooks MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Quickbooks tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Quickbooks and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK?

Yes, you can. OpenAI Agents SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Quickbooks tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Quickbooks while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Quickbooks scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Quickbooks data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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Letta
glean
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Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai
Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai

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