About
Applies to: Finaloop Core, InventoryIQ, Margins
Most problems with the Finaloop or Margins MCP (Model Context Protocol, a secure connection between Finaloop or Margins and AI tools such as Claude and ChatGPT) come down to one of four things: your role doesn't have access, your AI tool needs to sign in again, the figure you're comparing came from your sales data rather than your books, or your result hit a row limit. Find your symptom in the Symptoms list and follow the matching fix.
This article covers connecting and signing in, getting answers, working with results too large for one response, and changes that get refused. In Margins (Finaloop's performance analytics product), the sections on ledgers, exports, loans and purchase orders don't apply: the Margins MCP works with your sales, margins, spend, bills and invoices.
Who is this for: the Finaloop MCP is in beta. You can connect it if your Finaloop role is Admin, CFO, Tax CPA / Accountant or Operator / VA - Full access, or with limited access as Operator / VA - Basic access or Inventory IQ Operator. In Margins, every team member can connect. If you haven't connected yet, start with Connect Finaloop to your AI tools.
Symptoms
Connecting and signing in
I see "Your role cannot connect AI tools"
I see "Your Finaloop companies are inactive"
The sign-in window asks me to sign up
I don't see an option to add a custom connector
I have more than one company connected and my AI tool is showing me the wrong one
The MCP worked yesterday and stopped today
Getting answers
I've connected, but I don't know what to ask
My AI tool says it can't find my data, or comes back empty
The numbers don't match what I see in Finaloop
Large results and exports
My results stopped at 1,000 rows
My ledger pull came back in pieces
My export isn't ready, or won't start
My download link stopped working
Making changes
My AI tool asks my permission for every single question
My AI tool won't make a change I asked for
My AI tool says the period is locked
My AI tool won't touch my loans
I get an error message when creating a Purchase Order
1. Connecting and signing in
"Your role cannot connect AI tools"
What you're seeing: you add the connector, start to sign in, and Finaloop shows a dialog titled MCP Connection with the message "Your role cannot connect AI tools" and a Continue button.
Why it happens: in Finaloop the MCP is limited to these roles: Admin, CFO, Tax CPA / Accountant and Operator / VA - Full access (full access), Operator / VA - Basic access (inventory, bills and invoices only) and Inventory IQ Operator (inventory only). In Margins, every team member is an Admin, so you won't see this message there.
How to fix it:
Check your role with the Admin on your Finaloop account. Admins can see everyone's role on the Members page (profile menu at the bottom of the sidebar → Members).
If your role isn't on the list, ask your Admin to change it, or to run the request for you.
Add the connector again once your role is updated.
You'll know it worked when the sign-in window closes on its own and the connector shows as connected.
If instead you see "We couldn't verify your access right now. Please try again later.", Finaloop couldn't check your role at that moment. Wait a few minutes and connect again.
"Your Finaloop companies are inactive"
What you're seeing: sign-in fails with "Your Finaloop companies are inactive: none has an active subscription or trial, or they were archived. Contact Finaloop support to reactivate access."
Why it happens: the MCP only connects to companies with an active subscription or trial. If your trial ended, your subscription lapsed or the company was archived, the connection is refused. In Margins, this only happens if the company was archived.
How to fix it: settle your subscription (see What happens if my subscription invoice isn't paid?) or email [email protected] to reactivate access, then connect again.
"The sign-in window asks me to sign up"
What you're seeing: when you connect, the window opens the Finaloop sign-up page instead of your account.
Why it happens: you weren't logged in to Finaloop in that browser, so Finaloop opens its sign-up page first.
How to fix it: click Log in next to Have an account? and log in with your usual email and password, or Continue with Google. Don't create a new account. The window then returns you to your AI tool.
"I don't see an option to add a custom connector"
What you're seeing: no Add custom connector option in Claude, or no Add custom MCP server option in ChatGPT.
Why it happens: both tools gate custom connectors behind their own plans and settings, not Finaloop's.
How to fix it:
In ChatGPT: custom MCP servers are added on the web from Plugins (chatgpt.com/plugins) → + → Add custom MCP server. Your plan and workspace settings decide whether the option appears; on a work workspace, ask your ChatGPT admin.
In Claude: custom connectors are added under Customize → Connectors → + Add → Add custom connector, on the Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise plans. A Free plan allows one custom connector. On Team and Enterprise plans, an owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.
Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Cursor all support custom connectors, as do command-line tools like Claude Code and Codex. If it's still missing, your AI tool's support team can help.
You'll know you're past this step when the connector appears in your AI tool's list and asks you to sign in.
"I have more than one company connected and my AI tool is showing me the wrong one"
What you're seeing: you have access to more than one company in Finaloop, and the answers are about the wrong one.
Why it happens: your sign-in sets one default company for that connection, and it doesn't follow the company you're looking at in the Finaloop app.
How to fix it:
Ask the AI tool to list the companies you have access to.
Name the company you want in your question, and ask it to use that company's ID.
Optional: to change the default company, remove the connector and sign in again. The company you're signed into becomes the default.
You'll know it worked when a question you can check, like what's my revenue year to date?, returns the right company's numbers.
If you work across several companies daily, say the company name in the first message of each conversation. It costs you a sentence and saves you a wrong answer.
"The MCP worked yesterday and stopped today"
What you're seeing: answers that used to come from your books now don't, with or without an error.
Why it happens: the sign-in behind the connector has expired or been revoked, or the company became inactive (see "Your Finaloop companies are inactive").
How to fix it:
Remove the Finaloop connector in your AI tool.
Add it again with
https://mcp-api.finaloop.com(in Margins,https://mcp.finaloop.com).Sign in with your Finaloop credentials.
Check your Tool permissions, and if your read tools have reverted to asking every time, set them back.
You'll know it worked when Fetch my P&L year-to-date returns your numbers again.
2. Getting answers
"I've connected, but I don't know what to ask"
What you're seeing: the connector is live and you haven't used it.
Why it happens: nothing's wrong. This is the most common state after setup, and a blank prompt box is a hard place to start from.
How to fix it: start with Fetch my P&L year-to-date to confirm it's working (in Margins, Show me net sales for the last 30 days), then pick a question from What you can ask the Finaloop MCP. It's organized by job, so you can jump to sales, margin, spend, or ads and paste a prompt straight in.
"My AI tool says it can't find my data, or comes back empty"
What you're seeing: the tool responds that it has no data, or returns an empty report.
Why it happens: usually the connector is added but not authorized, or the period you asked about genuinely has nothing in it.
How to fix it:
Ask a question you know has an answer: Fetch my P&L year-to-date.
If that returns nothing, remove the connector and add it again, signing in when prompted.
If it returns a P&L but your original question didn't, narrow the question: name the period and the breakdown explicitly.
You'll know the connection itself is fine as soon as the P&L comes back with numbers in it. Anything still missing after that is a question of period or phrasing, not of the connection.
Tip: An empty answer for a recent period often means a sales channel or bank connection hasn't synced. Check the same period in Finaloop first; if it's empty there too, the MCP is reporting your books correctly and nothing is broken on the AI side.
"The numbers don't match what I see in Finaloop"
What you're seeing: a figure from the AI tool differs from the same figure in your reports.
Why it happens:
You got your sales data instead of your books, or the other way around. Revenue lands in your books when an order is fulfilled, so a day with unfulfilled orders shows sales in one and nothing in the other. See What the Finaloop MCP can see and change.
A different date range than the report you're comparing against.
A different time zone.
The accounting method. The MCP answers on your company's own method (cash or accrual) only. If you ask for the other one, it replies that your company "keeps its books on the ... method; figures on another accounting method are not available."
How to fix it:
Ask which numbers it used: Was that from my books or my sales data, and what date range?
Re-ask with both stated: From my books, revenue for August 1 to 31, 2026.
If it still differs, ask which transactions make up that number? and compare that list against the same period in Finaloop.
Usually the source or the period turns out to be different, and re-asking with both stated gives you a figure that matches your report exactly. If the transaction lists match but the totals still don't, send it to us (see Still stuck?).
Important: Before you trust a total, check it wasn't built on a truncated list. See "My results stopped at 1,000 rows".
3. Large results and exports
"My results stopped at 1,000 rows"
What you're seeing: an analytics answer covering fewer rows than you expected.
Why it happens: analytics queries return at most 1,000 rows at a time. The response says so: it comes back marked as truncated, with a hint about narrowing the query, so your AI tool can tell you rather than quietly cutting the list short.
How to fix it, in the order worth trying:
Aggregate instead of listing. Total sales by month is 12 rows where every order is thousands. Most questions don't need the rows at all.
Filter harder. One channel, one product, one month at a time.
Ask for the next page. Your AI tool can fetch the rows after the first 1,000.
Ask for an export. For ledger and report data that genuinely needs every row, ask for it as a file rather than in the chat. See "My export isn't ready, or won't start".
You'll know you're clear of the limit when the answer comes back without the truncation flag, or when you have the export file in hand.
Rephrasing doesn't help. The limit is a row count, not a matter of wording, and a total your AI tool adds up from a truncated list is wrong in a way that's hard to spot. If completeness matters, like a tax total, a filing or a reconciliation, export it.
"My ledger pull came back in pieces"
What you're seeing: ledger transactions arriving 100 at a time, with the AI tool fetching more.
Why it happens: ledger detail is paged at 100 rows per page. This is normal and your AI tool will keep asking for the next page on its own.
How to fix it: just wait, because your AI tool fetches each page for you. For a long period, narrowing the date range or exporting is faster than paging through thousands of rows.
"My export isn't ready, or won't start"
What you're seeing: you asked for a ledger or report export and it isn't there, or the request is refused.
Why it happens: exports run in the background, so they aren't instant. A company can run 2 ledger exports at a time and 1 full general ledger export at a time; another one has to wait for the running one to finish.
How to fix it:
Ask for the status of your exports.
If the limit is reached, wait for one to finish before starting another.
If you only need a summary, ask for the aggregated numbers instead. Those come back in the chat straight away.
You'll know it worked when the export is listed as ready and you're given a download link. Some accounts get the full general ledger by email instead of a link.
"My download link stopped working"
What you're seeing: an export download link that returns an error.
Why it happens: download links expire 10 minutes after they're issued.
How to fix it: ask for the link again. The file itself is still there; only the link expired, and the new one downloads the same export. The link in a conversation from yesterday won't work, so download the file as soon as it's ready.
4. Making changes
"My AI tool asks my permission for every single question"
What you're seeing: an approval prompt before every answer, including simple report pulls.
Why it happens: this is the default, and it's a setting rather than a fault.
How to fix it: in Claude, set Read-only tools to Always allow in the connector's Tool permissions, and leave everything that creates, updates, categorizes, deletes, disconnects or sends on Needs approval. ChatGPT asks you to confirm each change and lets you remember your answer for the rest of that conversation. See What the Finaloop MCP can see and change.
"My AI tool won't make a change I asked for"
What you're seeing: the tool declines, or says it doesn't have permission.
Why it happens: usually the change tools are switched off in your connector settings, the approval prompt appeared and went unanswered, or your role only allows some changes (see "Your role cannot connect AI tools").
How to fix it:
Check the connector's Tool permissions and confirm the tool you need is enabled.
Ask again, and approve the prompt when it appears.
Open the record in Finaloop to confirm the change saved.
You'll know it worked when the change is there in Finaloop.
"My AI tool says the period is locked"
What you're seeing: a change is refused with a message that includes LOCKED_PERIOD.
Why it happens: the change is dated in a closed (locked) period. Nothing was saved, the same as in the app.
How to fix it: use a date in an open period, or ask whoever closes your books to reopen the period first.
"My AI tool won't touch my loans"
What you're seeing: any request to create, change or delete a loan is refused with a message that it "is not available here: loans are created, updated, and deleted in the Finaloop web app."
Why it happens: the MCP can read your loans and their balances, and loan changes stay in the Finaloop app.
How to fix it: manage loans in the Finaloop app.
"I get an error message when creating a Purchase Order"
What you're seeing: an UNSUPPORTED_MANAGEMENT_METHOD error, with a link to the page in Finaloop for InventoryIQ, Finaloop's inventory management product, when you ask the AI tool to create a Purchase Order (PO).
Why it happens: Purchase Orders need unit-level inventory tracking, which comes with InventoryIQ. Without it there's nothing for the PO to track units against.
How to fix it: set up InventoryIQ in the app. Once it's on, ask again and the PO will be created as a draft for you to review in the app, unless you ask the AI tool to publish it. Nothing is wrong with your connection or your prompt.
Still stuck?
If you've re-added the connector and it still won't sign in, or a figure is wrong even though the transactions behind it match, reach out to our Support team through chat or at [email protected] (Margins: [email protected]). Include these five things so the first reply is an answer rather than a question:
Which AI tool and surface you're using (Claude web, desktop, mobile or Claude Code, ChatGPT, Gemini, or another tool)
The exact prompt you sent
The exact error text, copied rather than described
The email address on your Finaloop account and your role
Roughly when it happened, with the date