Karbon and AI.
Its own AI is Karbon AI, which summarises and drafts emails and client briefs, with an AI coworker called Kai in early access. We found no official link to Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini.
Checked 17 October 2026 against 43 sources, each the vendor’s own page. See them all, or what’s changed since.
Karbon Karbon AI built in 
The short version
- Karbon’s built-in AI is called Karbon AI. It summarises emails and client histories, drafts emails and suggests who to assign work to.28
- Karbon AI has been available to all customers since 31 March 2026, at no extra cost for now. It’s switched on for everyone by default, and an admin can turn it off for the whole firm.8215
- Karbon says its AI runs on Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service and isn’t trained on your firm’s data. It processes data only in the region where your Karbon data is stored.2816
- In Triage, AI labels can sort incoming email and, if you set it up, clear, assign or draft replies to emails automatically.19
- Kai, Karbon’s “AI coworker”, and its AI Agents are in early access. Karbon says Kai’s actions wait for your sign-off.34
- We found no official connection between Karbon and Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini.35373942
- Karbon announced a public MCP server in June 2026 so firms can bring Karbon data into other AI tools. Its developer docs list the address but no instructions.532
- For your own tools, the Karbon API comes with the Business and Enterprise plans.132
- Karbon’s AI terms were last updated in September 2023. They don’t mention Kai or AI Agents.7
The plans
Karbon is practice management software for accounting and bookkeeping firms. It brings email, workflow, client records, billing and a client portal together.1
Karbon says it has customers in 34 countries, and its team is based in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK.27
These are the prices on Karbon’s pricing page with Australian dollars selected, as read on 17 October 2026. Prices are per user, per month.1
| Plan | Paid annually (AUD, excl. GST) | Paid monthly (AUD, excl. GST) | What the plan adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | $59 | $79 | Integrated email, collaboration, workflow, time tracking and budgets, billing, payments and engagements. No Karbon API. |
| Business | $89 | $109 | Everything in Team, plus automatic client reminders, task automation, industry integrations and the Karbon API. |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Custom pricing | Everything in Business, plus an enterprise platform, a dedicated Karbon contact, customisation and “Unlimited Usage Limits”. |
Sources for the table:1
- With AUD selected, the page says “All prices exclude GST.”1
- Monthly billing is “only available for teams of 4+”.1
- Karbon says you can pay in Australian dollars, depending on your location.1
- Karbon’s machine-readable copy of its pricing says it was last updated on 30 June 2026.43
- The pricing page doesn’t list AI by plan. Karbon’s AI page says Karbon AI “is currently available to all Karbon customers at no additional cost”.12
- Karbon says it will announce any future AI pricing to customers in advance.2
- Kai and AI Agents are in early access. We didn’t find a price for either.34
- Karbon’s period close product, Aider, is sold through a demo. We didn’t find its price.1214
- Enterprise customers can choose “dedicated data hosting in an Azure local cloud center”.25
What’s built in
Karbon groups its AI on one page, under Karbon AI, Kai, Agentic Workflows and Meeting Intelligence.2
Karbon AI (summaries, drafting and suggestions) Client Summary puts emails, notes, work and billing data into a single client brief. Since March 2026 it draws on more than 100 notes and timeline entries.
- What it does
- Client Summary puts emails, notes, work and billing data into a single client brief. Since March 2026 it draws on more than 100 notes and timeline entries.28
- Work Conversations Summary gives the highlights and recent updates on any work item.2
- Email Summary shortens long email threads and internal discussions.2
- Compose and Refine Emails drafts and improves emails, with options for tone, length and language.2
- Quick Replies offers editable suggested replies. Create Email from Tasks drafts a client email from your progress on tasks.2
- Smart Suggestions suggests colleagues and contacts to assign, based on past work.2
- Time-Tracking flags missed time entries based on the tasks you completed.2
- Where to find it
- Karbon describes these features inside its email, work, client and time tracking areas. The pages we read don’t give menu paths for each one.2
- Karbon’s help centre lists three Karbon AI articles: an overview, a security note and an access note. We read the security and access notes, but couldn’t find a working link to the overview.171516
- Which plans have it
- What happens to your data
- Karbon says “Karbon AI is built on the Azure OpenAI Service.”216
- Karbon says “Karbon does not use your firm’s data to train AI models.”2
- Karbon’s AI terms say Karbon “is not authorized to train the Karbon AI, with or without client/customer data”, and that OpenAI and Azure OpenAI “have represented that neither will use client/customer data to train the AI models”.7
- The same terms say Microsoft will process and store what you submit to Karbon AI, and its output, to monitor for abuse. Authorised Microsoft staff “may review data that has triggered its automated systems.”7
- Since March 2026, Karbon says its AI features “process data exclusively within the region where your Karbon data is stored”, so there are no cross-region transfers.8
- Karbon AI is on for all users by default. Account admins can turn it off for the whole firm in Settings > Karbon AI > Enable Karbon AI.215
- We found no setting to turn it off for one person.215
- In Australia
- The AI page’s example of in-region processing is UK data staying in the UK. It doesn’t name Australia.2
- Karbon’s status page has referred to “the Australian domain”. That suggests Australian firms run on a separate Australian instance. That’s our inference; Karbon’s pages we read don’t say where Australian data is stored.26
- Karbon offers AUD pricing, and its help articles use Australian examples such as ATO notices.119
AI labels and actions in Triage Karbon’s AI Categorization reads emails arriving in Triage and labels them, such as High Priority, Client Query or FYI.
- What it does
- Karbon’s AI Categorization reads emails arriving in Triage and labels them, such as High Priority, Client Query or FYI.19
- You can attach one optional action to each label. When the AI applies the label, the action runs automatically.19
- The actions are Clear, Add to My Week, Add to My Week and Clear, Save for Later, Assign, Assign and Clear, and Draft Reply to All. In Shared Triage, only Clear and the Assign actions are offered.19
- An action only runs if the AI is at least 80% confident the label fits. If an email matches several labels, only the most confident label’s action runs.19
- Assign actions only run when the email is already linked to a contact or work item in Karbon.19
- Draft Reply to All writes a draft using the whole conversation and your composer settings. It won’t overwrite a draft that’s already there.19
- When an action runs, Karbon adds a timestamped entry to the email’s timeline, so you can see what the AI did.19
- Hover over a label to see why the AI applied it.18
- Where to find it
- For your own Triage, click your name in the side menu, then Email Labels.19
- For a Shared Triage, an admin goes to Settings > Shared Triage, selects the Shared Triage, then Email Labels.19
- To add an action, edit a label, turn Action from Off to On, pick the action and click Save. Turn Action back to Off to remove it.19
- You start with five labels and can have up to 25. High Priority is a system label you can rename but can’t delete.19
- Which plans have it
- The help article doesn’t say which plans include AI labels.19
- What happens to your data
- In Australia
- The help article’s own examples include an “ATO Notice” label and emails about STP submissions.19
Kai, the AI coworker (early access) Karbon describes Kai as “The AI coworker that knows your firm and works like part of your team.”
- What it does
- Karbon describes Kai as “The AI coworker that knows your firm and works like part of your team.”3
- Kai answers questions from your live Karbon data and serves up client summaries, work status and items at risk.3
- Karbon says Kai can handle tasks such as “workpaper creation, timesheet review, and work prioritization”.3
- At launch, Karbon said Kai can help you expand and price services and take on repetitive tasks, through a chat interface.5
- Where to find it
- Which plans have it
- What happens to your data
- Karbon says Kai works “within the security and permission settings your firm has established in Karbon”.3
- Karbon says “Every agent action goes through the AI Agent Management System, where you can approve, edit, or reject outputs” and “Nothing executes without your sign-off.”3
- Karbon says your client information, communications and work history “never leave”.3
- The Kai page doesn’t name the AI model Kai uses, or say whether firm data trains it.3
AI Agents and agentic workflows (early access) Karbon names five AI Agents: Bookkeeper, Practice Manager, Tax Preparer, Client Relationship Manager and Fractional CFO.
- What it does
- Karbon names five AI Agents: Bookkeeper, Practice Manager, Tax Preparer, Client Relationship Manager and Fractional CFO.4
- Karbon says the agents can reconcile transactions, draft emails, send client reminders and prepare end-of-month workpapers, following your firm’s playbook.4
- They work inside your existing jobs, checklists and client timelines.4
- Where to find it
- Karbon’s agents page offers a demo booking. It gives no product steps.4
- Which plans have it
- What happens to your data
- Karbon says “You decide what AI Agents can do, when they need approval, and what requires a human touch.”4
- It also says you can “Review their work before it goes out or let them run automatically.”4
- Karbon says firms will later be able to configure each agent’s capabilities.2
- The agents page has no training or retention statement.4
- In Australia
- Karbon’s pages don’t say whether early access includes Australian firms.4
AI in period close (Aider) Karbon bought Aider, founded in New Zealand, in September 2025. Karbon now describes it as a period close automation platform.
- What it does
- Karbon bought Aider, founded in New Zealand, in September 2025. Karbon now describes it as a period close automation platform.1314
- Aider runs close checks on Xero and QuickBooks Online books and syncs progress to Karbon work items.14
- The AI Rule Builder turns a plain-English description of a check into a rule, which you review and adjust before saving.10
- AI Document Validation checks each document a client uploads against what was requested, and asks the client if it doesn’t match.1114
- Where to find it
- Which plans have it
Meeting Intelligence (coming soon) records, transcribes and summarises client meetings, with action items and follow-ups.
- What it does: records, transcribes and summarises client meetings, with action items and follow-ups.2
- Karbon’s launch release describes an AI notetaker app that joins client meetings and puts structured notes into Karbon.5
- Where to find it: not yet available.2
- Which plans have it: not stated.25
- What happens to your data: not stated.5
- In Australia: not stated.5
Connect another AI
A quick word on the jargon. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets an AI assistant use outside tools. An API is the door a product opens so other software can read or change its data. Karbon describes its planned MCP server as connecting Karbon “to external AI tools via an open standard”.5
ChatGPT and Karbon
No official link.
Claude and Karbon
No official link.
Claude and Karbon
Official? No official connection found. Karbon isn’t in Anthropic’s connectors directory as read on 17 October 2026.
- No official connection found. Karbon isn’t in Anthropic’s connectors directory as read on 17 October 2026.35
What Karbon has said Karbon announced a public MCP server on 3 June 2026 that “Connects Karbon to external AI tools via an open standard”. It didn’t name Claude.
What that means for you Anthropic says that if you have a connector’s address, you can add it as a custom connector, whether or not it’s in the directory.
- Anthropic says that if you have a connector’s address, you can add it as a custom connector, whether or not it’s in the directory.36
- Karbon hasn’t published what its server can read or change. It also hasn’t said how you sign in or which plans can use it. So we can’t tell you whether connecting it works, or what it would expose.325
- Anthropic says custom connectors haven’t been reviewed by Anthropic.36
Copilot and Karbon
No official link.
Microsoft Copilot and Karbon
Official? No official connection found. Karbon isn’t on Microsoft’s list of federated Copilot connectors, updated 16 October 2026.
What Karbon does connect to Karbon integrates with Microsoft 365 email, calendars, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams and Microsoft Entra ID. Karbon doesn’t describe any of these as a Copilot connection.
Gemini and Karbon
No official link.
Google Gemini and Karbon
Official? No official connection found. Searching the Google Workspace Marketplace for Karbon on 17 October 2026 returned “No matching results”.
- No official connection found. Searching the Google Workspace Marketplace for Karbon on 17 October 2026 returned “No matching results”.42
Other routes
Developer tools, automation tools and app stores.
Karbon’s MCP server and API (the developer route)
Official? Yes, for the API. Karbon publishes a REST API with a developer centre and guides.
- Yes, for the API. Karbon publishes a REST API with a developer centre and guides.3132
- Karbon’s developer documentation also lists an MCP server address, https://mcp.karbonhq.com. We found no page explaining it.32
- In March 2026 Karbon published an early quick-reference guide, KARBON_API.md, for “developers and AI agents working with the Karbon API”.33
What it can see and do The API covers clients, work items, invoices and payments, custom fields, files, budgets and time, with webhooks for changes.
What you need A Business or Enterprise plan. Firms are limited to one API application per account.
Steps to connect (Karbon's help article, dated 28 April 2026)
-
A drawing from the step’s own words. The real screen may look a little different. -
A drawing from the step’s own words. The real screen may look a little different. -
A drawing from the step’s own words. The real screen may look a little different. -
A drawing from the step’s own words. The real screen may look a little different.
Pictures without a date are drawings from each step’s own words. The real screen may look a little different.
To disconnect To cut off access, go to Settings > Integrations and Tools > API Applications, click Manage, then Rotate next to the Access Key. Karbon says the old key stops working immediately.
Zapier and Karbon
- Karbon lists a Zapier integration that connects your Karbon contacts and organisations with other apps.29
- New or updated contacts and organisations can trigger updates in other apps, and other apps can update them in Karbon.29
- Karbon says you can reach “the full Karbon API through Zapier’s Webhooks by Zapier feature”.29
- Karbon’s Zapier page doesn’t mention AI, plans or setup steps.29
Jobs it’s good for
- Catching up on a long thread. Use Email Summary before you reply.2
- Before a client meeting. Client Summary pulls emails, notes, work and billing into one brief. Check it against the timeline.28
- A client update from your task list. Create Email from Tasks drafts it from your progress. You edit and send.2
- Sorting a busy inbox. Set up AI labels for things like ATO notices or payroll changes. Start without actions until you trust the labels. That’s our advice, based on how the actions work.19
- Missed time. Let Karbon AI flag time entries you forgot, then fix them.2
- Month-end close for Xero or QuickBooks Online clients. Aider runs close checks and flags exceptions. Karbon describes the newest version as live for US customers.1412
- A custom tool, for someone who can code. On Business or Enterprise, use the Karbon API and KARBON_API.md.2033
What to watch for
On for everyone by default
- Karbon AI is enabled for all users by default. Only an account admin can turn it off, and only for the whole firm.215
Email actions can run without you
- A label action fires automatically whenever the AI is at least 80% sure. Clear removes the email from Triage, and Assign routes it to a colleague.19
- Draft Reply to All includes everyone on the original thread. It creates a draft, and the article doesn’t describe it sending anything.19
- Check the email timeline to see what the AI did.19
Terms older than the features
- Karbon’s AI terms were last updated on 27 September 2023. They don’t mention Kai or AI Agents.7
- Those terms list prohibited uses that include “Provide legal or financial advice” and “Implement fully-automated decision making.”7
- The terms provide Karbon AI “AS-IS” and say production use is “AT YOUR SOLE RISK”.7
Microsoft can see some prompts
- Under Karbon’s terms, Microsoft stores what you send to Karbon AI to watch for abuse, and authorised Microsoft staff may review flagged data.7
Where Australian data sits
- Karbon says its AI keeps processing in the region where your Karbon data is stored, but the pages we read don’t say where Australian firms’ data is stored.82
- Karbon’s privacy policy, last updated February 2025, doesn’t mention AI and doesn’t name hosting countries.23
- Karbon’s trust centre asks for a work email before it shows anything, so we couldn’t read it.34
Early access means change
- Kai and AI Agents are early access. Karbon says Kai’s actions need your sign-off, but its agents page also says you can let agents “run automatically”.34
- Karbon said in June 2026 that agentic workflows will let AI “take autonomous action” inside firm workflows.5
No official AI connections yet
- None of Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini has an official Karbon connection we could find.35373942
- Karbon’s MCP server is announced but undocumented. Wait for Karbon’s own instructions before connecting client data to an outside AI. That’s our advice.532
API keys are passwords
- Karbon says to treat the Application ID and Access Key like passwords.20
- One person with those keys can reach whatever the API can reach. That’s our inference from how the keys work.20
Security basics
What’s changing
Karbon’s Kai release says “Many of the features announced are available immediately, while others will roll out over the coming months.” It doesn’t say which.5
- 27 September 2023: Karbon’s AI terms were last updated.7
- 30 September 2025: Karbon announced it had bought Aider. It listed “AI agents that execute tasks and streamline workflows” as coming soon.13
- January 2026: Karbon Practice Intelligence was renamed Karbon Analytics.21
- 11 March 2026: Karbon published KARBON_API.md in early access.33
- 31 March 2026: Karbon AI became available to all customers, with in-region processing.8
- 27 April 2026: Karbon’s rebuilt Aider period close went live for US customers.12
- 3 June 2026: At Karbon Next 2026, Karbon launched Kai in early access and announced an AI notetaker, a public MCP server, embedded AI in Karbon Analytics and agentic period close checks.56
- 29 June 2026: The AI Rule Builder for period close checks was released.10
- 5 August 2026: AI Document Validation went live for US customers.11
- Coming soon: Meeting Intelligence, which records, transcribes and summarises client meetings.2
- Later: settings for each agent’s capabilities.2
What we couldn’t establish
- Karbon’s MCP server. We couldn’t find what it can read or change, how you sign in, which plans can use it, which AI apps it supports, or whether it’s live. Its address gave us a “not found” page.325
- Where Australian firms’ data is stored and processed. Karbon says AI stays in-region but doesn’t name Australia’s region.82
- Karbon’s trust centre. It asks for a work email before showing content.34
- Which AI model Kai, AI Agents and AI labels use, and whether the 2023 AI terms cover them.34719
- Whether the firm-wide switch turns off AI labels and Kai. The help article only names Karbon AI.1519
- Prices and plans for Kai, AI Agents and Aider.3412
- Whether Kai and AI Agents early access is open to Australian firms.34
- Whether Aider’s AI features are offered in Australia. The release notes say US customers.1112
- AI in Karbon Analytics. It was announced in June 2026, but the Analytics help topic has no article about it.521
- Karbon’s help centre search returned no results to us, so we may have missed help articles on Kai, agents or the MCP server.17
- The Karbon AI overview article. The help topic lists it, but we couldn’t open it.17
- Customer numbers. Karbon’s about page says customers in 34 countries. Its June 2026 release says 40.275
- We didn’t rely on third-party claims. Other companies advertise their own Karbon MCP servers and connectors. They aren’t Karbon’s, and we didn’t review them.
Sources
Every line above was read at one of these pages, on the date shown. Vendors change their products and their pages often, so check the page before you rely on a detail.
- 1 Practice Management Plans to Suit Every Accounting Firm (pricing, viewed with AUD selected)
- 2 AI-Powered Practice Management for Accounting Firms (Karbon AI)
- 3 Kai by Karbon: the AI coworker for your firm
- 4 AI Agents (Early Access)
- 5 Karbon launches Kai, the AI coworker that knows your firm
- 6 Special Event: Kai and Practice Management’s AI Evolution
- 7 Karbon AI Supplemental Terms
- 8 Karbon AI is now available to all customers, plus clearer document visibility and greater control
- 9 Karbon release notes (list)
- 10 Automated engagement renewals, AI-assisted period close, and Gusto integration
- 11 End client back-and-forth with Client Questions and AI Document Validation in Aider’s Period Close Automation
- 12 Period close automation powered by Aider, create work from engagements, Gusto integration, and more
- 13 Karbon acquires Aider to deliver the future of AI-powered accounting and bookkeeping
- 14 Aider + Karbon
- 15 How can I get access to Karbon AI?
- 16 How secure is Karbon AI?
- 17 Karbon AI (help topic)
- 18 Anatomy of Triage
- 19 How AI Label Actions Work in Karbon Triage
- 20 Setting Up API Access in Karbon
- 21 Karbon Analytics (help topic)
- 22 Security
- 23 Privacy Policy
- 24 Use of Google API Services
- 25 Karbon for Enterprise
- 26 Some users are experiencing access issues in the Australian domain
- 27 About Karbon
- 28 With Karbon, your firm’s apps connect better (integrations)
- 29 Zapier + Karbon
- 30 Microsoft Teams + Karbon
- 31 Karbon Developer Center
- 32 Karbon API documentation (llms.txt)
- 33 New Developer Quick-Reference Guide (Early Access)
- 34 Karbon Trust Center
- 35 Connectors and plugins (Claude Marketplace)
- 36 Connector verification
- 37 ChatGPT plugin directory: search for “Karbon”
- 38 Plugins: Connect tools and apps to ChatGPT and Codex
- 39 Federated connectors overview
- 40 Partner-built connectors gallery
- 41 Microsoft-built connectors gallery
- 42 Google Workspace Marketplace: search for “karbon”
- 43 Karbon site summary for AI tools (llms-full.txt), pricing section
Want your team shown this on its own Karbon?
We teach on the tools your workplace already uses, with the checks that go with them.