MCP is a relatively new technical term related to generative AI (GenAI), but it is one that those in accounting should become familiar with. Sometimes it is likened to the universal serial bus (USB): just as USBs made it easier to plug different devices into your computer or to charge things, MCP makes it easier for today’s GenAI solutions to work with your applications, online services, and your own computer. Since MCP’s introduction in November 2024, it has received enormous attention.
The accounting profession is entering a new era where GenAI doesn’t just assist, it acts. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and others are rapidly evolving from passive assistants to proactive agents that interact with business tools to complete complex workflows autonomously.
While AI agents have shown some ability to interact with applications on their own, Anthropic – the company best known for the Claude GenAI solution – determined that standardizing the instructions for integrating large language models (LLMs) with external data sources and tools would provide a more efficient and scalable way to help any AI understand the functions and capabilities of resources to more efficiently, safely, and effectively create an interoperable agentic AI ecosystem. Thus, MCP was born.
With MCP, agents don’t need special plugins or hardcoded integrations. They can simply query what functions are available and interact with it, similar to how humans open a file or run an application.
Anthropic introduced MCP in November 2024, and vendors, solution providers, and developers began to publish MCP solutions. But interest in MCP really took off in May and June 2025 when Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft announced that native MCP support would become standardized, which was followed by a wave of integrations from cloud platforms, enterprise tools, and AI frameworks.
For CPAs, MCP is quickly becoming something you cannot ignore. It will impact how you manage your firm, advise your clients, deliver assurance, and protect data.
MCP is an open protocol that lets AI agents interact with computer resources (files, databases, apps, even external tools) in a structured, secure, and consistent way. Think of it as a universal translator between AI’s natural language understanding and the functional reality of your business systems.
It works using a client-server model. It’s not quite like the old days of networking, where there was a file server and your computer was the client. Instead, MCP is more like this:
What makes MCP different is that these capabilities are described in human-readable, AI-usable metadata, meaning the agent doesn’t need hardcoded integration. It can discover what your applications (like your accounting software) can do and then starts using them. For example, with Xero accounting software, the MCP exposes more than 40 functions from list-accounts (retrieve a list of accounts) to update-payroll-timesheet-line (to update an existing line on a payroll time sheet).
For accountants, this means reducing the friction of integrating legacy systems, cloud services, and third-party tools into their workflows.
When Microsoft confirmed in May 2025 that Windows 11 would natively support MCP, allowing agents to discover and interact with local apps, services, and files, within just a few weeks the following occurred:
Some might say it is still early. Using the MCP support in Claude Desktop or adding it to ChatGPT with Superassistant requires some technical skills, such as installing and loading Python programs and working with files from repositories like Github. Plus, the Windows 11 launch is still only an “early preview of the MCP platform capabilities to developers in the coming months for the purposes of feedback.”
However, it is the potential benefits of safely streamlining AI access to the tools your practice or business already uses that make MCP so exciting:
With rapid advancement and adoption comes risks but also opportunities to advise clients. Some areas CPAs must keep an eye on include the following:
MCP is just the plumbing. The broader vision is a world of interactive agent ecosystems. MCP is an important player in the new AI agentic “stack.” With the simplification and scalability MCP can bring, we will soon see:
In this world, trust boundaries blur and controls become code. CPAs who specialize in this area can help set boundaries, define acceptable agent behavior, monitor activity, and provide assurance on outcomes.
So, what are your next steps? First, you will want to track the tools your company or practice use or support to monitor whether MCP servers have been published. As they increase, you’ll want to make sure you and your clients have governance policies in place regarding publishing and using MCP, and under which conditions. That will include logging, evaluating, and tracking MCP servers in use. You may want to consider building SOC-style services or MCP audit frameworks.
MCP has moved from obscure innovation to foundational infrastructure in less than six months. By providing a unified interface for AI agents to interact with computer resources, MCP empowers professionals to automate tasks, integrate systems, and work smarter. It will define how AI agents interact with business systems, data, and workflows going forward. For CPAs, that means new efficiencies, new services, and new responsibilities with fewer silos, leading to opportunities to provide trust around autonomous systems.
Whether you create MCP servers, use them, or audit them, you are now part of this ecosystem. CPAs don’t need to write the code, but they do need to understand the impact. MCP is coming to a desktop near you. It’s time to pay attention.
Eric E. Cohen, CPA, is owner and chief AI officer of Cohen Computer Consulting in Mechanicsburg, Pa. He can be reached at eric.e.cohen@computercpa.com.
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Statements of fact and opinion are the authors’ responsibility alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of the PICPA's officers or members. The information contained herein does not constitute accounting, legal, or professional advice. For actionable advice, you must engage or consult with a qualified professional.