Oikos Books — Financial-Advice Disclaimer & Accuracy Responsibility

Purpose of this document

This is the single most important liability shield in the Oikos Books legal pack. Oikos Books is accounting software — a tool that records, organizes, and reports the financial information you enter or connect. It is not a person, not a firm, and not a licensed professional. Nothing it produces is professional advice, and Oikos United LLC does not guarantee that any number it displays is correct, complete, or fit for filing with any tax authority, lender, investor, or regulator.

This document defines that boundary in three places it must appear:

1. In the Terms of Service (canonical legal text — see ToS §"Disclaimers; No Professional Advice; Your Responsibility for Accuracy").

2. In-app, surfaced where a user could reasonably rely on a number (onboarding, reports, tax/sales-tax screens, AI answers, footer).

3. As standalone reference (this document), so every vertical instantiation and every surface uses the same language.

1. Canonical disclaimer text (Terms of Service clause)

No Professional Advice. Oikos Books is a software tool for recording and reporting financial information. It is not tax, accounting, bookkeeping, legal, investment, or financial advice, and it is not a substitute for a qualified professional (such as a CPA, enrolled agent, bookkeeper, tax preparer, attorney, or financial advisor). Oikos United LLC is not a public accounting firm, a tax-preparation service, a registered investment adviser, a broker-dealer, a bank, a lender, or a money transmitter. Any reports, calculations, categorizations, tax or sales-tax figures, projections, summaries, or AI-generated answers the Service produces are provided for your convenience and information only. You should consult a qualified professional before making any financial, tax, accounting, legal, or business decision, and before filing anything with any government authority.

Your Responsibility for Accuracy. You are solely responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and lawfulness of the data you enter into or connect to the Service, and for the accuracy of any books, records, reports, returns, or filings you produce using it. This includes reviewing and verifying every figure before you rely on it, submit it, or share it. Oikos United LLC does not audit, verify, or guarantee your data or your books. The Service may contain errors, may categorize transactions incorrectly, may reflect incomplete or delayed bank data, and may compute tax, sales-tax, or other figures that are wrong for your situation. Automated features — including bank-feed import, auto-categorization rules, and AI-assisted answers — are aids, not authorities; you must review their output. The Service does not guarantee that any figure is calculated in accordance with GAAP, IRS rules, state or local tax law, or any other standard. You remain responsible for maintaining your own records and for compliance with all tax, accounting, and reporting obligations that apply to you.

No Guarantee of Results; Assumption of Risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Oikos United LLC disclaims all liability for any loss, penalty, interest, fine, missed deadline, rejected filing, overpayment, underpayment, lost data, or business decision arising from your use of, or reliance on, the Service or anything it produces. You assume all risk of relying on the Service's output without independent professional verification. This section survives termination and is in addition to, not in place of, the general limitation-of-liability and warranty-disclaimer sections of the Terms.

2. In-app copy (short forms)

These are the plain-language versions to surface inside Oikos Books. Keep them short, honest, and non-alarming. They implement the studio's "plain language, not accountant-speak" mandate.

2a. Onboarding / first-run (one-time, acknowledge to continue)

Oikos Books is a tool, not your accountant.

It helps you keep your books, but it doesn't check them for you. You're responsible for making sure your numbers are right, and it's not tax, accounting, or financial advice. When something matters, check with a pro.

[ ] I understand.

2b. Persistent footer (every screen)

Oikos Books is software, not professional advice. You're responsible for the accuracy of your books. [Learn more]

2c. Reports / financial statements (P&L, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, Cash Flow)

These reports are built from the data you entered and connected. Oikos Books doesn't verify them and doesn't guarantee they follow GAAP or tax rules. Review before you file, share, or rely on them.

2d. Sales tax / tax figures

Sales-tax and tax amounts shown here are estimates based on the rates and settings you provided. They may be wrong for your situation. Verify with your tax authority or a tax professional before filing or remitting.

2e. AI answer (Oikos AI — see also ToS §AI and Privacy Policy)

Oikos AI can be wrong. Its answers are generated automatically and are not professional advice. Double-check anything important before you act on it.

2f. Bank-feed import / auto-categorization

Imported and auto-categorized transactions are suggestions. Review them — bank data can be delayed, duplicated, or miscategorized.

3. Placement checklist (for Dev / Design)

4. Notes / open items for attorney review

1. Confirm entity + governing law. Oikos United LLC state of formation and the governing-law/venue clause (drafted as Commonwealth of Virginia) must be confirmed by counsel.

2. Money-transmitter / MSB posture. The disclaimer states Oikos United LLC is not a money transmitter. This is consistent with the Stripe Connect DIRECT-charge model (subscriber is merchant of record, $0 platform fee — Oikos is never in custody of subscriber funds). Counsel should confirm no state MSB/money-transmitter registration is triggered. See Payments Terms (#2811).

3. Investment-advice / RIA posture. If Oikos Books ever adds forecasting, cash-flow advice, or "recommendations," re-review whether any feature crosses into regulated investment/financial advice. The current disclaimer is written to keep the product firmly on the tool side of that line.

4. Sales-tax accuracy. If Books later integrates a real-time tax-rate engine (e.g., a TaxJar/Avalara-style provider), the "estimates based on rates you provided" language must be revised to reflect the provider and its own disclaimers.

5. Standard-of-care disclaimer vs. marketing. Ensure marketing copy ("better, easier, more powerful than QuickBooks") never promises accuracy or compliance in a way that undercuts this disclaimer.