The Claude for Small Business Setup Guide

Run your business on autopilot with 30 ready-to-go AI workflows.

What this actually is

On May 13, 2026, Anthropic launched Claude for Small Business, a plugin that installs inside Claude Cowork (the desktop agent app). It ships with 15 ready-to-run workflows and 15 reusable skills that plug Claude into the tools you already use: QuickBooks, PayPal, HubSpot, Canva, Docusign, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Slack.

Translation: instead of copy-pasting your books, invoices, calendar, and customer notes into ChatGPT every day, Claude reads from your real tools, drafts the work, and waits for your approval before anything sends, posts, or pays.

It's available on paid Claude plans (Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise).

What you need before you start

• A paid Claude plan

• Claude Desktop installed (claude.com/download), latest version

• Claude Cowork enabled on your account

• Admin access to whichever business tools you want connected (QuickBooks, PayPal, etc.)

The 5-step setup

1. Toggle on the Small Business plugin

Open Claude Desktop, switch into Cowork mode, and find the plugin library. Install the Small Business plugin. That single toggle pulls in all 15 workflows, all 15 skills, and the connector list.

2. Connect your tools

Inside the plugin, link the accounts you actually use. You don't need all eight, only what your business runs on.

• QuickBooks for payroll, cash, month-end close

• PayPal for settlements, invoicing, disputes, refunds

• HubSpot for lead triage, customer pulse, campaign tracking

• Canva for campaign assets and on-brand content

• Docusign for contracts out, signed copies filed back

• Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for mail, calendar, drive

• Slack for daily briefs and alerts

Your existing permissions carry over. If a team member can't see something in QuickBooks today, they can't see it through Claude.

3. Run your first workflow: /plan-payroll

Type /plan-payroll in Cowork. Claude pulls your cash position from QuickBooks, reconciles against incoming PayPal settlements, builds a 30-day forecast, ranks every overdue invoice by how the customer historically pays, and drafts the chase emails calibrated to each one (friendly for the on-time payer, firmer for the repeat late one).

You review. You approve. It sends.

4. Close your month: /close-month

Type /close-month. Claude reconciles your books against settlements, flags duplicate refunds, catches the small errors that usually cost you an hour with your accountant, and writes a full Profit and Loss document. Forward the packet straight on.

5. Get a Monday brief: /monday-brief

Type /monday-brief and put it on a schedule (use /schedule inside any task). Every Monday morning a Slack message lands with your cash position, your week's calendar, pipeline movement from HubSpot, and the three things you should actually do today. One page instead of four browser tabs.

The full command list

There are 30 workflows and skills you can invoke. Here's the map:

Finance

• /plan-payroll — 30-day cash forecast + overdue invoice chases

• /close-month — month-end reconciliation + P&L packet for your accountant

• /cash-pulse — daily or weekly cash position check

• /forecast-cash — rolling cash-flow forecast

• /invoice-chase — chase what's overdue, customer by customer

• /tax-prep — pulls together what your accountant needs for tax season

Sales & customers

• /lead-triage — sorts inbound leads, drafts first replies

• /customer-pulse — flags accounts going quiet or at risk

• /deal-recap — summary of where each open deal stands

• /follow-up-draft — drafts the next message in any thread

Marketing

• /run-campaign — finds your weakest revenue month, drafts the offer, builds Canva assets, segments HubSpot, stages the send

• /content-strategy — content calendar tuned to your audience

• /campaign-attribution — what's actually driving revenue

• /launch-product — coordinated launch checklist across tools

Operations

• /monday-brief — weekly Slack brief: cash, calendar, top 3 priorities

• /business-pulse — broader monthly view of how the business is doing

• /inbox-zero — triages mail and drafts replies for approval

• /calendar-clear — defends focus time, reschedules low-priority meetings

HR

• /onboard-employee — generates the full onboarding packet and schedules week 1

• /offboard-employee — checklist + access removal

• /policy-update — drafts and circulates a policy change

Contracts & legal

• /contract-review — reads a contract, flags risk, suggests redlines

• /send-contract — drafts the contract, routes through Docusign, files the signed copy

Customer service

• /ticket-triage — sorts incoming support tickets by urgency

• /refund-decide — recommends approve/deny with reasoning

• /dispute-respond — drafts response to a PayPal dispute

Reusable skills (called by the workflows above, also runnable directly)

• cash-position, invoice-status, reconcile, customer-history, campaign-brief, brand-voice

Three things most people miss

It learns your context. Tell /invoice-chase you chase at 15 days, tell /monday-brief to lead with cash before calendar, and the change saves for next time. Customize once, run forever.

You stay in the loop on anything that sends, posts, or pays. Every workflow waits for your approval at the action step. Drafts queue up; nothing ships without you clicking.

It only sees what your account can see. Claude inherits the permissions on each connected tool. It can't see a payroll line your role doesn't have access to in QuickBooks.

Where to schedule the recurring ones

Inside any Cowork task, type /schedule to put it on a cadence. The ones worth scheduling on day one:

• /monday-brief → every Monday 7am

• /cash-pulse → daily at end of day

• /invoice-chase → every Tuesday

• /close-month → first business day of the month

Scheduled tasks only run while your computer is awake and Claude Desktop is open, so if you shut your laptop on weekends, queue them for Mondays.

What it won't do

• It's not a replacement for QuickBooks, your accountant, or your bookkeeper. It reconciles and drafts. You and your accountant still own the books.

• It doesn't act autonomously. Every sensitive action waits for your approval.

• It's not training on your business data on Team and Enterprise plans.

Getting started checklist

• Install Claude Desktop

• Enable Cowork

• Toggle on the Small Business plugin

• Connect 2-3 tools to start (QuickBooks + PayPal + your inbox is a great starter set)

• Run /plan-payroll once this week

• Schedule /monday-brief to land in Slack every Monday

• Add the rest as you find them useful

Anthropic also has a free AI Fluency course and a 10-city training tour through end of June if you want hands-on time. Worth checking the launch announcement on anthropic.com for dates near you.