Finance & Accounting · Elorus + Claude
Elorus MCP with Claude: Faster Invoicing and Billable Hours for Small Teams
The short answer
Claude works with Elorus through the Model Context Protocol, a secure standard that lets Claude read and act inside the tool with permissions you set. Once connected, Claude can generate invoices, log billable hours, fetch client balances and manage payments from natural-language requests, and people approve consequential actions before they are finalised.
What is Elorus?
Elorus is online invoicing and time-tracking software for freelancers and small businesses. It helps owners and staff bill clients, track work hours and keep an eye on finances in one place. Typical users include independent consultants, agencies, studios and small service firms that need to get paid on time without heavy administration.
How Claude connects to Elorus through MCP
The Model Context Protocol, or MCP, is an open standard that acts like a universal adapter between Claude and other software. It lets Claude use a tool securely, reading information and taking actions, with permissions that the organisation controls. For Elorus, the connection uses the sign-in method the tool supports, an API key, so access is tied to a credential you issue and can revoke.
Once connected, Claude can typically look up clients, fetch outstanding balances, draft and generate invoices from logged hours, log billable time against projects and check payment status. Staff can ask for these things in ordinary sentences rather than navigating several screens. Claude works only with the parts of Elorus the key allows.
Permissions and approvals keep people in charge. We set access to the least privilege needed, so Claude sees only what the workflow requires. Consequential steps, such as issuing an invoice to a client or recording a payment, can be routed to a named person for sign-off before they take effect. Every action is logged so the team can review what happened and when.
What you can automate
Turning logged hours into invoices
At the end of each week, a freelancer asks Claude to gather the billable hours logged for each client and prepare draft invoices. Claude groups the time by project, checks rates against the client record and presents the drafts for review. Once approved, the invoices are generated in Elorus, saving the manual copying that often delays billing by days.
Checking client balances on demand
A finance lead preparing for a client call asks Claude for the current balance, recent payments and any overdue invoices for that account. Claude fetches the figures from Elorus and summarises them in a short note. The team walks into the call with accurate numbers instead of waiting for someone to pull a report.
Logging time from daily notes
Consultants often remember their work at the end of the day rather than as it happens. Claude can help turn a short list of tasks and durations into time entries against the right client and project. The person reviews the entries before they are saved, which improves completeness of billable records without adding extra admin.
Following up on late payments
An operations manager asks Claude each Monday to list invoices past their due date. Claude produces a prioritised list by value and age, and drafts polite reminder messages for the team to send. Recording a payment when money arrives is also handled through the same conversation, with a person confirming the entry.
Preparing month-end summaries
At month end, a studio owner asks Claude to summarise invoices issued, hours billed and payments received across all clients. Claude compiles the figures from Elorus into a clear overview that can be shared with an accountant. This reduces the time spent assembling the same figures by hand each month.
An end-to-end workflow: Weekly billing run for a consultancy
TriggerEvery Friday afternoon, a team member asks Claude to prepare the week's billing.
Claude reads the billable hours logged in Elorus for the week, grouped by client and project.
Claude checks each client's rate and any agreed purchase order references held in the shared finance sheet in Microsoft 365.
Claude drafts an invoice for each client and lists the totals for review in a summary note.
The finance lead approves or amends each draft in Elorus before it is issued.
Claude records the issued invoices and posts a short confirmation to the team's ticket queue for audit.
OutcomeInvoices go out on the same day each week rather than trickling out over several days. Typical teams report fewer billing errors and a faster route to payment, though results vary with each business.
How we set it up
Free automation audit
We review how your team currently invoices, tracks time and follows up on payments, and identify the workflows worth automating with Elorus and Claude.
Secure API key connection
We set up the connection using the API key sign-in method that Elorus supports. Access is limited to the permissions the workflow needs, and the key is stored and rotated under your control.
Workflow design
We design the end-to-end process across Elorus and your other systems, such as Microsoft 365, CRM or accounting tools, and agree which actions need a person's approval.
Testing with real cases
We test the workflow against past invoices, hours and client records to confirm the results match what your team expects before anything goes live.
Launch, monitoring and training
We launch with audit logs and monitoring in place, then train your team on how to make requests, review drafts and approve actions.
Who benefits
- Freelancers and sole traders
- Bill clients faster from logged hours, with less time spent on repetitive admin each week.
- Finance and billing staff
- Check balances, prepare invoices and chase overdue payments through plain-language requests.
- Agency and studio owners
- Get clear month-end summaries of billing and payments without assembling reports by hand.
- IT and operations leaders
- Keep control of access with least-privilege keys, approvals and audit logs across the workflow.
Security and control
- Access is limited to the least privilege needed for each workflow, using a dedicated API key.
- Consequential actions such as issuing invoices or recording payments require named human approval.
- Every action Claude takes is logged so the team can review it later.
- API keys can be rotated or revoked at any time if access needs to change.
- We do not guarantee compliance outcomes; we design controls to suit your own obligations and review them with you.
For teams in the US, UK, India and the Middle East
Organisations in the United States and the United Kingdom can have Claude hosted in their chosen region to match their data handling requirements. Businesses in India must consider the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, when handling client personal data, and we design the workflow accordingly. Companies in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are subject to their own national data protection laws, so hosting region and access controls are selected to meet those requirements. We choose the hosting region with you so that it fits your legal obligations.
Learn more about Claude and MCP
Anthropic's AI model and assistant.
Secure links between Claude and business tools.
How engineers build and change software with Claude.
Hosted agents that run multi-step work.
The open standard Claude uses to connect to tools.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Elorus MCP server do?
The Elorus MCP server acts as a secure bridge between Claude and your Elorus account. It lets Claude read information such as clients, hours and balances, and take permitted actions such as generating invoices or logging time. It uses the API key your team provides, so Claude only works within the access that key grants.
Is connecting Elorus to Claude secure?
Security depends on how the connection is set up. We use an API key with least-privilege permissions, keep it stored under your control, log every action and require approval for consequential steps. Access can be revoked at any time. We cannot guarantee security outcomes, but we design the setup to reduce risk and review it with you.
What can Claude do with Elorus once connected?
Typically, Claude can fetch client balances, generate invoices from logged hours, log billable time, check payment status and help manage payments. You make requests in plain language. Which actions are available depends on the permissions your API key grants, and we set those to match your workflow.
How long does setup take?
Timing depends on how many workflows you want to automate and how complex your existing processes are. A simple connection for one workflow can often be launched within a few weeks, including testing and training. We confirm a realistic timeline during the free automation audit.
What access or plan is needed to connect Elorus?
In general, you need an Elorus account with an API key that you can generate and control. The key should carry only the permissions your workflow requires. We check the access available on your account during the audit and advise on what is needed before setup begins.