How to use AI in finance (without losing financial control)

Before a finance review, you may need to check how much cash is available in each currency, find the status of a payment that hasn't arrived, or update the numbers in a forecast.

The data may already be in your finance systems, but getting it ready for the review can mean opening several accounts, exporting data, cleaning rows, matching records, and updating a workbook.

AI can take on some of that work.

It can retrieve data you're allowed to access, answer a specific question, bring balances into a table, or prepare updated inputs for Excel. You still check the result, decide what it means, and approve or carry out any financial action.

In this guide, we'll show how to use AI to check balances, investigate payments, prepare reconciliation data, and refresh forecast or reporting inputs. We'll also cover the controls that keep review, approval, and financial action with you.

Why use AI to shorten the path from financial data to a decision?

Let’s take a multi-currency cash position review as an example.

You may have to open several accounts, copy each balance into Excel, note when you retrieved it, and check any currency conversions before you can compare the positions. Investigating a payment means locating the right record and status. Refreshing a forecast means retrieving and preparing the latest inputs.

AI can take on part of the work by retrieving the records you ask for and organising them into an answer, table, or workbook input. You check the result and decide what to do.

How to maintain control across every AI-assisted finance workflow

Before you give AI access to finance data, decide what you want it to produce, what it may read or change, who checks the result, and who takes the next action. Make those decisions whether you need an answer, a table, a workbook update, a reporting input, or a payment file.

Define a bounded job and assign an owner

Describe the job clearly enough that another person could tell whether AI completed it. Before the work starts, write down:

• The exact question or working output
• The company, account, currency, and period in scope
• The source system AI should use
• How you will check the result
• Who will handle anything AI cannot resolve

A payment status check may cover one payment identifier and one date range. A reconciliation table needs a defined set of records and checks for mappings, totals, and unmatched items.

A clear brief does not guarantee a correct result. It tells the reviewer exactly what to check and names the person who takes over when AI cannot finish the job.

Limit data access and permitted actions

Give AI access only to the data it needs for the job. If you are checking one EUR wallet, specify the company, wallet, currency, and period rather than opening access more widely. Keep every request inside your existing account permissions.

Also decide which system, if any, AI may change. A read-only connection may retrieve a payment status while a separate tool writes the result to a workbook. Permission to read the payment does not include permission to change the payment or the account.

Access limits reduce what AI can see and do. They do not establish security or compliance by themselves.

Separate preparation from approval and execution

Decide where AI stops before the work begins. AI may retrieve records, organise data, or prepare a file. You still review the result and retain every approval and financial action.

For example, AI can prepare CSV content for a bulk payment. You still put the content into the required template, upload the file, check the payment drafts, resolve any exceptions, and approve and execute the payments.

Human review is necessary, but the review itself does not prove that an output is correct, complete, compliant, or safe. Check what data AI retrieved, what it changed, and what it could not resolve before you rely on the result.

Make outputs traceable, reviewable and exception-aware

Keep enough information with the answer, workbook change, or file for you or another reviewer to reconstruct what happened. Record:

• The source system, company or account, period, and retrieval time
• The prompt or instruction and any material changes to the data
• The person who reviewed the result and any unresolved exceptions
• An approval outcome where approval is relevant

If AI cannot find a payment, the record should show which company, account, period, and payment identifier it checked. If a workbook mapping is uncertain, record the mapping and pause the write until someone resolves it.

Leave the next person with a specific exception to resolve, not a vague note that the output needs more review.

5 practical ways to use AI in your finance workflows

Start with work you repeat and can check against a named source. A suitable first workflow has a clear question, a defined output, and a person ready to handle anything AI cannot resolve.

1. Ask questions of governed financial data and keep answers traceable

When you need one fact, keep the job simple. For example, ask for the current balance of a named EUR wallet and include the company, wallet, and currency in your request. If your permissions allow it, Claude can retrieve the balance from your iBanFirst account through a read-only connection.

Keep the source and retrieval time with the returned balance so you can see exactly what Claude checked. If the answer gives you what you need, no workbook is required.

If the wallet does not appear, check the company, wallet identifier, and account permissions, then assign the missing wallet to the person who can resolve it. You decide how to use the balance in the cash review.

2. Consolidate multi-currency balances into one working view

Use this workflow when you need to compare balances across several accounts or currencies. Ask AI to retrieve the permitted balances and build one working view that preserves each original currency. Include:

• Company and account or wallet
• Original currency and balance
• Source system and retrieval time
• Conversion source and rate status where a converted field is needed

If you need the comparison in Excel, Claude uses two connectors, known as MCPs, for different parts of the job. The iBanFirst Claude MCP retrieves the balances your iBanFirst permissions allow. A separate Excel MCP writes them to the workbook and range you choose.

Before using the view, check for missing accounts, unsupported currencies, old timestamps, and incorrect conversions. If an account is missing or you cannot verify a conversion, pause the comparison and send the exception to the person responsible for the account or rate source. Treat indicative FX rates as inputs for analysis, not rates for execution.

3. Investigate payment statuses and document unresolved exceptions

When a payment has not arrived as expected, start with the company, payment identifier, date range, beneficiary, currency, and expected status. Those details give Claude a specific record to find when you track an international payment.

Ask Claude to return the status of one clear match or a short comparison table when several records look similar. Keep the returned status, source, and retrieval time with the answer.

If no record appears, several records match, or the status is unclear, send the exception to the person responsible for the payment. Claude can retrieve the status, but it cannot change, approve, or execute the payment. You decide what follow-up is required.

4. Prepare reconciliation-ready data for human review

If your reconciliation starts with a large set of financial movements, AI can prepare the records for a payment reconciliation process. Give it the records in scope and the documented mappings or workbook rules it should follow.

AI can then:

• Apply documented mappings to known fields
• Flag possible duplicates for review
• Calculate totals from known columns
• Preserve known formulas and workbook conventions
• Isolate unmatched records and unexplained differences

Choose the workbook and range before a separate Excel MCP writes the prepared data. Then compare the mappings, formulas, duplicates, totals, and unmatched records with the source system.

If a mapping remains uncertain or a total does not match, stop and resolve the exception. AI prepares the records. You complete and sign off the reconciliation.

5. Refresh forecast and reporting inputs from governed source data

Keep your existing cash flow forecasting methods and reporting logic. Ask AI to refresh the source inputs rather than choosing the method or deciding what the forecast means.

Specify the period, company, currency, and data you need. AI can retrieve permitted balances, financial movements, payment data, or indicative rates and prepare an updated input table. Keep the source timestamp and any unresolved exceptions with the table.

If iBanFirst is the source, the connection can retrieve financial movements from the previous 12 months, and any returned FX rates are indicative. Claude retrieves updated iBanFirst data only when you ask it to. A separate Excel MCP writes the data to the named table or workbook range without changing your iBanFirst account.

Before signing off the forecast or report, check the source timestamp, workbook location, existing formulas, and unresolved exceptions. If you cannot verify an input, pause sign-off and send it to the person responsible for the source data.

How iBanFirst supports AI-assisted finance workflows

With the iBanFirst Claude MCP for Excel, Claude can retrieve permitted iBanFirst data to answer questions, prepare data for Excel, and create CSV content for bulk payments. A separate Excel MCP handles workbook writes. You still review the result and carry out every financial action.

Ask Claude questions about permitted iBanFirst data

You can ask Claude for a balance or payment status and keep the answer in the chat. Include the company, account, period, and data type in your question. The iBanFirst Claude MCP retrieves only data allowed by the permissions on your iBanFirst account.

Depending on your permissions, Claude may retrieve:

• Wallets and balances
• Payments, planned payments, and statuses
• Beneficiary information
• Indicative FX rates, trade details, and forward payment contract information
• Financial movements from the previous 12 months

Access to your iBanFirst account remains read-only. Claude can use the retrieved data to answer your question. Treat any indicative FX rate as an input for analysis, not a rate for execution.

Keep the source, retrieval time, and any unresolved exception with the answer. The answer itself is the working output.

Bring iBanFirst data into Excel with the iBanFirst Claude MCP

When you need to compare, calculate, or report on iBanFirst data, you can bring it into Excel. The iBanFirst Claude MCP calls the iBanFirst API to fetch the data your permissions allow. A separate Excel MCP writes retrieved or calculated data into the workbook. You can therefore see which tool read the source and which one changed the workbook.

Before the write, choose the workbook, sheet, and range. If a mapping is uncertain, resolve it first. Claude can then:

• Inspect the workbook structure
• Filter or rename known fields
• Identify possible duplicates
• Calculate and summarise retrieved data
• Prepare a table or chart

When you need updated data, ask Claude to retrieve current iBanFirst data and update the named workbook range through the Excel MCP.

After each write, check the columns, formulas, totals, source timestamps, mappings, calculations, and unresolved exceptions against the source.

The workbook can change while your iBanFirst account remains unchanged.

Prepare bulk payment files while keeping execution with a person

Once you have checked the workbook data or iBanFirst planned operation data, the iBanFirst Claude MCP can turn it into CSV content for a bulk payment file.

iBanPay is the CSV upload feature on the iBanFirst platform for mass payments, and it must be activated before use. To prepare and upload the file:

• Map the content into iBanPay's mandatory template
• Keep the headers unchanged
• Include no more than 50 payment orders
• Save the CSV file
• Upload it through the dashboard

After you upload the file, iBanPay generates payment drafts.

The iBanFirst Claude MCP can't:

• Initiate payments
• Execute FX trades
• Modify your iBanFirst account

Because the CSV cannot trigger a payment, you review and validate each generated draft and retain approval and payment execution in iBanFirst.

Bring governed financial data into your finance workflow with iBanFirst

If you regularly copy iBanFirst balances, payment statuses, or reconciliation data into other tools, connecting the systems can reduce the preparation before review.

That's where iBanFirst comes in.

We're a cross-border payment provider for established international SMEs and mid-market businesses with recurring cross-border activity.

With iBanFirst, you can:

• Connect your finance systems through our integrations and APIs

• Track international payments after approval through our Payment Tracker

• Prepare payment reconciliation with data, exports, and integrations that support matching and review

To bring iBanFirst data into an AI-assisted finance workflow while keeping financial execution in your hands, request an account. 

Questions to settle before you scale an AI-assisted finance workflow

Before you set up or expand the connection, check who can create it, what you need to record, and whether you need access to more than one company.

Who can create the iBanFirst connection token?

Once your iBanFirst contact has activated MCP access, you need a Super Admin profile and must sign in with Administrator rights to create the connection token.

A Claude administrator may also need to add the iBanFirst Claude MCP. Your Claude plan must support custom connectors, and connector availability can depend on your plan and region.

What should you record when AI updates an Excel workbook?

Keep a change record whenever the Excel MCP writes data to your workbook. Record:

• The source system and retrieval time
• The company or account scope and prompt or instruction
• The changed sheet or range
• Any material transformation
• A named reviewer and unresolved exceptions
• An approval outcome where approval is relevant

If a workbook mapping remains unresolved, record the mapping and pause further writes until you have supplied the missing input. The change record gives the next reviewer the context needed to check the update.

Can one connection cover more than one iBanFirst company?

No, each iBanFirst Claude MCP token covers one company. To switch companies, disconnect the iBanFirst Claude MCP and reconnect it with a token generated for the company you want to use.

The limit to one company applies only to the iBanFirst Claude MCP. Other connectors may work differently.