📋 ARS Tax Prep Guide

Two approaches — pick the one that works best for Colleen

Hermes / ARS Agent System Plan — detailed step-by-step with copy-paste prompts
ChatGPT Plan — folder-first workflow with accountant packet structure

📋 ARS Tax Report Guide

Colleen's step-by-step playbook for using Claude Code to prepare the year-end reports Bill's accountant needs — combining QuickBooks Online, Bank of America, and Venmo data into clean summaries.

✅ QuickBooks Online 🏭 Bank of America 💳 Venmo 🤖 Claude Code

🌟 What This Is & How It Works

Your job is simple: gather the financial data, hand it to Claude Code, and let it build the reports your accountant needs. You don't need to be an accountant. You don't need to understand double-entry bookkeeping. You just need to export a few files and type a few prompts.

The Big Picture
QuickBooks Online already has most of the data. Bank of America has the bank/card transactions. Venmo has the payment receipts. Claude Code reads all three, deduplicates overlapping data, categorizes everything by tax category, and produces a clean summary your accountant can use.

What You'll Produce for the Accountant

  • Annual Profit & Loss statement
  • Schedule C expense breakdown
  • Venmo income reconciliation
  • Materials/equipment summary

💡 "Cowork" vs Claude Code — Quick Clarification

The video Bill shared is about Claude Cowork — Anthropic's newer desktop app. You have Claude Code. Both work for this. Claude Code is what's installed; use it.

FeatureClaude Code (you have this)Claude Cowork
InterfaceTerminalDesktop GUI
MCP / QBOFull supportFull support
Works with CSVsYes — reads folder directlyYes
VerdictUse this — already installedOptional later upgrade

🔧 Tools to Install (One-Time Setup)

Claude Code is already installed. You only need the extras below.

Required

🤖 Claude Code
Already installed. Your main AI engine.
📄 ARS-Tax-2024 Folder
Create this folder on your Desktop. All exported files go here.

Strongly Recommended (Free)

📈 CapyParse
Converts Venmo PDF statements to clean CSV. 99%+ accuracy.
capyparse.com
📄 Beancount Skill
Teaches Claude Code structured bookkeeping for consistent output.
npx skills add beancount-accounting

About Daisy (OpenClaw Agent)

Daisy probably doesn't need to get involved. Claude Code alone handles tax report prep. Daisy is there if the technical MCP setup gets complicated or you need a second reviewer on the final packet.

💾 Step 1 — Get Your Data Out

Export from three places. Save everything into your ARS-Tax-2024 folder on the Desktop.

✅ QuickBooks Online — Export Transactions
1
Log into QuickBooks Online

qbo.intuit.com

2
Export Transaction List by Date

Reports → "Transaction List by Date" → Jan 1–Dec 31 → Export to CSV

3
Export Profit & Loss

Reports → "Profit and Loss" → same date range → Export to CSV

4
Save both files

QBO-transactions-2024.csv and QBO-PL-2024.csv

If BofA is synced to QBO, the QBO export may already include your bank/card transactions — it might be all you need.
🏭 Bank of America — Checking + Credit Card
1
Log into BofA Business Online
2
Download checking account as CSV

Click account → Download/Export → CSV → full year

3
Repeat for the credit card
4
Save as

BofA-checking-2024.csv and BofA-creditcard-2024.csv

💳 Venmo — Monthly Statement PDFs
1
Log into venmo.com
2
Download monthly PDFs

Profile → Statements → download each month as PDF

3
Convert PDFs with CapyParse

capyparse.com → upload PDF → download CSV (60 seconds per file)

4
Save as

Venmo-Jan-2024.csv, Venmo-Feb-2024.csv, etc.

🤖 Step 2 — Run Claude Code

1
Open Terminal

Cmd + Space → type Terminal → Enter

2
Navigate to your tax folder
cd ~/Desktop/ARS-Tax-2024
3
Start Claude Code
claude
Pro tip: Claude can see all files in the folder you started it from. As long as you ran cd ~/Desktop/ARS-Tax-2024 first, you don't need to copy-paste any data.

💬 Step 3 — Copy-Paste Prompts

Paste these into Claude Code in order. Press Enter after each one.

Prompt 1 — Start of Session (Always Use First)

Paste into Claude Code →
I need your help preparing financial reports for American Radon Systems (ARS) for tax year [2024]. ARS is a small radon mitigation business in Illinois. Files in this folder: - QBO-transactions-2024.csv — QuickBooks Online transactions - QBO-PL-2024.csv — QuickBooks Profit & Loss - BofA-checking-2024.csv — Bank of America business checking - BofA-creditcard-2024.csv — Bank of America business credit card - Venmo-*.csv — monthly Venmo payment records Please: 1. Read all CSV files in this folder 2. Identify which transactions appear in multiple sources (deduplicate) 3. Tell me the date range covered and any gaps you see 4. Confirm you're ready to build the tax reports

Prompt 2 — Generate Profit & Loss

Paste into Claude Code →
Generate a complete Profit & Loss report for the year. INCOME: - List each income category with total - Total Income: $X EXPENSES (by category): - Materials and supplies: $X - Vehicle / fuel / mileage: $X - Equipment and tools: $X - Advertising and marketing: $X - Subcontractors / labor: $X - Phone and communications: $X - Insurance: $X - Professional services: $X - Bank fees / credit card fees: $X - Venmo processing fees: $X - Other business expenses: $X - Total Expenses: $X NET PROFIT: $X Flag any transactions you could not categorize with confidence.

Prompt 3 — Schedule C Summary

Paste into Claude Code →
Create a Schedule C-ready expense summary. Map each category to its IRS Schedule C line number. Also note: - Large one-time purchases that may be depreciable (over $2,500) - Home office deduction if applicable - Vehicle mileage vs actual expenses - Any 1099 payments to contractors over $600 Output as a clean summary I can email to the accountant.

Prompt 4 — Venmo Check

Paste into Claude Code →
Review the Venmo files: 1. All INCOMING payments received (income) 2. All OUTGOING payments for business (expenses) 3. Transfers between Venmo and bank (NOT income — just transfers) 4. Total net income via Venmo for the year Cross-check: are these already in QBO or BofA? Flag duplicates.

Prompt 5 — Export Final Files

Paste into Claude Code →
Create two output files: 1. ARS-PL-Report-2024.csv — full P&L in spreadsheet format 2. ARS-Accountant-Summary-2024.txt — plain English summary including: - Total revenue - Total expenses by category - Net profit - Flagged items needing accountant attention - Transactions still needing manual review Make both ready to email to the accountant.
Claude will ask clarifying questions. Answer in plain English — it remembers your answers for the rest of the session.

📖 Beancount — The Accountant-Friendly File System (Optional)

Free, open-source system that stores your books as a plain text file. Claude Code reads and writes it perfectly. Makes year-over-year reporting easy. Not required for the CSV approach above — this is the upgrade path.

You don't have to use Beancount. The 5 prompts above work fine without it. Beancount is for ongoing bookkeeping and a cleaner audit trail.

Install Beancount

pip3 install beancount fava

Setup Prompt for Claude Code

One-time setup →
Create a new Beancount file: ARS-Books-2024.beancount Accounts: - Assets: BofA checking, BofA credit card, Venmo - Income: Radon mitigation services, Radon testing, Other - Expenses: Materials, Equipment, Vehicle, Advertising, Phone, Insurance, Professional services, Bank fees, Subcontractors - Equity: Opening balance Import all transactions from my CSV files. Show me the first 10 entries to confirm before importing everything.

View in Browser (Fava)

fava ARS-Books-2024.beancount

Then open http://localhost:5000 — P&L, balance sheet, charts, all built in.

🔗 Advanced: Connect Claude Directly to QuickBooks

Intuit's official plugin lets Claude talk to your QBO account in real time. No CSV exports needed. Takes 20–30 min to set up — worth it for ongoing bookkeeping.

Setup takes about 30 minutes and requires a free Intuit Developer account. The CSV approach works fine if you only need this for tax season.
Step 1 — Intuit Developer Account

developer.intuit.com → Sign In → Create app → QuickBooks Online

Step 2 — Get API Keys

Your app → Keys & OAuth → Copy Client ID and Client Secret

Step 3 — Install MCP Server
git clone https://github.com/intuit/quickbooks-online-mcp-server
cd quickbooks-online-mcp-server
npm install && npm run build
Step 4 — Add to Claude Config

Edit ~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json and add your keys

Step 5 — Restart and Authorize

Claude will prompt you to authorize. Then ask: "Pull my P&L for 2024"

💡 Tips & Troubleshooting

✅ Things That Work Really Well
  • Ask Claude to double-check its own work — say "Review your categorizations — did you make any mistakes?" It catches most errors.
  • Give business context — tell it "ARS does radon mitigation — most expenses are PVC pipe, fans, vehicle/fuel, and contractor labor." Dramatically improves accuracy.
  • Keep the session open — don't close Claude Code until you're done. It remembers everything in the current session.
🚫 Common Mistakes to Avoid
  • Double-counting — if BofA is synced to QBO, tell Claude "treat QBO as the master, use BofA CSV only for transactions not in QBO."
  • Venmo transfers aren't income — moving money from Venmo to your bank is a transfer, not revenue. Tell Claude to filter those out.
  • Personal charges on business card — tell Claude to flag any transactions that look personal for your review.
📌 Quick Reference: The 5-Step Yearly Workflow
1
Export QBO transactions + P&L as CSV
2
Download BofA checking + credit card as CSV
3
Convert Venmo PDFs to CSV via CapyParse
4
Open Claude Code in your tax folder
cd ~/Desktop/ARS-Tax-2024 && claude
5
Paste Prompts 1–5 in order → email results to accountant
American Radon Systems • Tax Prep Workflow

Get the tax packet ready without turning your life into spreadsheet soup.

This page is the simple path: export the right reports from QuickBooks Online, collect Bank of America and Venmo records, let Claude Code organize and check the packet, then send a clean accountant-ready folder. Claude can help prepare reports; the accountant still owns tax judgment and filing.

Start the workflow Copy the Claude Code prompt

The cleanest path for Colleen

1

Create one tax-prep folder

Make a folder named ARS_TAX_PREP_2025 or whatever tax year you are working on. Inside it, create these folders:

01_quickbooks_exports/
02_bank_of_america_statements/
03_credit_card_statements/
04_venmo_payments/
05_receipts_and_invoices/
06_claude_working_files/
07_accountant_packet_final/
2

Export the core QuickBooks reports

From QuickBooks Online, export these to Excel or CSV for the tax year:

  • Profit and Loss
  • Balance Sheet
  • General Ledger
  • Transaction Detail by Account
  • Expenses by Vendor Summary
  • Sales by Customer or income summary, if used
  • 1099 contractor/vendor report, if applicable
3

Add outside-source records

Download Bank of America business checking statements, Bank of America work credit-card statements, and Venmo business/payment exports. QuickBooks may already contain most of this, but outside statements are the reality check.

4

Let Claude Code organize, compare, and flag gaps

Claude should not guess tax treatment. Its job is to sort files, convert messy exports into clean summary tables, compare bank/credit/Venmo activity against QuickBooks, and produce a gap list.

5

Review the exceptions, then send the final packet

Bill/Colleen review uncategorized items, missing receipts, personal-looking charges, Venmo payments, big purchases, loans, owner draws, and anything Claude flags as "needs accountant." Then ZIP 07_accountant_packet_final.

What Claude Code should do

  • Read CSV/XLSX/PDF statement files in the tax folder.
  • Create a file inventory with dates, source, and missing months.
  • Normalize vendor names like Menards, Home Depot, gas stations, suppliers, subscriptions, and insurance.
  • Build summary tables by category, vendor, month, and payment source.
  • Cross-check QuickBooks totals against bank/credit-card/Venmo records.
  • Produce an accountant memo and a "questions to answer" list.

What Claude Code should not do

  • Do not file taxes.
  • Do not invent missing receipts.
  • Do not decide depreciation, Section 179, payroll, owner draws, or tax treatment without accountant review.
  • Do not write changes back into QuickBooks unless Bill explicitly approves.
  • Do not paste bank credentials, tax IDs, or full account numbers into chat prompts.

Tool decision: keep it boring unless boring fails

ToolUse it forRecommendation
QuickBooks Online exportsOfficial source reports for the accountant.Use first
Claude connector for QuickBooksAsking questions, pulling reports, benchmarking.Optional Fine for read-only.
Claude CodeFolder organization, scripts, summaries, reconciliation.Best fit
BeancountPlain-text double-entry ledger and audit trail.Maybe later
Claude Cowork / MCP toolsMore direct app-to-app workflows.Advanced
Daisy / OpenClawSecond-pass review, reminders, checklist enforcement.Helpful

Security rule

Download AI tools only from official sources. Fake Claude/OpenClaw installers have been used to spread malware.

Copy/paste prompt for Claude Code

Use this inside Claude Code while located in the tax-prep folder.

You are helping American Radon Systems prepare an accountant-ready tax packet. You are NOT filing taxes and you are NOT making final tax decisions.

Folder: this current directory is the tax-prep workspace.
Goal: organize QuickBooks Online exports, Bank of America business checking statements, Bank of America work credit-card statements, Venmo payment exports, and receipts into a clean accountant packet.

Rules:
1. Work read-only on original files. Copy/convert outputs into 06_claude_working_files and 07_accountant_packet_final.
2. Do not ask for or store bank passwords, QuickBooks passwords, SSNs, EINs, or full account numbers.
3. Do not write changes back into QuickBooks.
4. Do not invent missing data. If something is missing, create an exception item.
5. Treat anything tax-judgment-related as "ask accountant": depreciation, Section 179, payroll, owner draws, loans, vehicle deductions, home office, meals, gifts, and ambiguous personal/business charges.
6. Use Chicago/Central time in filenames and summaries.

First, inspect the folder tree and create:
- 06_claude_working_files/file_inventory.md
- 06_claude_working_files/missing_months_check.md
- 06_claude_working_files/source_files_table.csv

Then process the files and create:
- 07_accountant_packet_final/README_FOR_ACCOUNTANT.md
- 07_accountant_packet_final/profit_loss_summary.csv
- 07_accountant_packet_final/expense_by_vendor_summary.csv
- 07_accountant_packet_final/monthly_cashflow_summary.csv
- 07_accountant_packet_final/bank_vs_quickbooks_reconciliation.md
- 07_accountant_packet_final/venmo_review.md
- 07_accountant_packet_final/missing_receipts_and_questions.md
- 07_accountant_packet_final/tax_preparer_questions.md

Checks to perform:
- Verify all 12 months are represented for each bank/credit source.
- Compare QuickBooks income/expense totals to bank and credit-card totals.
- Flag duplicate-looking transactions.
- Flag uncategorized expenses.
- Flag large purchases that may be assets instead of ordinary expenses.
- Flag subscriptions, software, insurance, fuel, tools, supplies, repairs, vehicle expenses, meals, and advertising.
- Separate obvious transfers/owner draws from true business expenses.

At the end, give Colleen a plain-English checklist:
- What is complete
- What is missing
- What Bill needs to answer
- What the accountant needs to decide
- What files are ready to send

Optional Beancount path

Beancount can be valuable if you want a clean, reviewable plain-text ledger that Claude can reason over. But for this year, do not make Beancount the bottleneck.

Recommended: first build the accountant packet from QuickBooks exports. Then ask Claude to create a trial Beancount ledger in 06_claude_working_files/beancount_trial/ only if it helps catch errors.
Optional follow-up prompt:
Create a trial Beancount ledger from the cleaned CSV files. Keep it in 06_claude_working_files/beancount_trial only. Do not replace QuickBooks. Use it only as a reconciliation/audit helper.

Daisy / OpenClaw role

Daisy does not need to do the main accounting work. The cleanest role is reviewer and nagger:

  • Check whether all expected output files exist.
  • Review the accountant README for clarity.
  • Ask Colleen for missing months or missing Venmo exports.
  • Remind Bill to answer flagged questions before the packet is sent.
Daisy prompt:
Review the final accountant packet checklist. Do not modify finance files. Report missing files, unclear accountant questions, missing months, and anything that looks risky or unresolved.