# Set up a company in Canada with Ekwo OS Ekwo OS is open source software for keeping double-entry books in a database you own. This page is generated from the Canada pack, version 0.1.0; every code on it is read from the pack. The Canada pack is **community**: contributed, and reviewed by nobody. > Ekwo is software, not an accountant and not tax advice: a pack is a reading of the rules at the date of its version, and it can be wrong for your situation. Have a qualified professional in Canada check your set-up and your first declarations. See [what Ekwo is, and what it is not](https://ekwo.ai/disclaimer/). ## 1. What you need - A [Supabase](https://supabase.com) project of your own. The free plan is enough to start; Ekwo does not create it, pay for it or have access to it. - From its dashboard: the connection string (Connect → **Session pooler**), the Project URL and the `service_role` key (Project Settings → API). The key is used once, to create your first administrator, and is written nowhere. The anon (publishable) key, on the same page, is what you sign in with afterwards. - Node 20 or later on your machine. Nothing else: no Supabase CLI, no Docker, no clone. ## 2. Install One command. It asks for the rest as it goes. ```sh npx ekwo-os init --country CA ``` - One chart of accounts: Canadian reference chart of accounts, 162 accounts. - The books can be kept in `en`, `fr`; the installer asks. Without a terminal, pass `--language `. - The Goods and Services Tax / Harmonized Sales Tax Return (GST34) is filed on one of these cadences: `month`, `quarter`, `year`. The default is `quarter`. Pass `--vat-period ` to set yours. - A financial year follows the calendar unless you pass `--fiscal-year-start YYYY-MM-DD`. The same, with no question asked — every value your own: ```sh npx ekwo-os init \ --country CA \ --language en \ --db-url "postgresql://postgres.:@:5432/postgres" \ --supabase-url "https://.supabase.co" \ --service-role-key "$SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY" \ --org "Your Organisation" --company "Your Company" \ --admin-email "you@example.com" \ --yes ``` ## 3. Before you go live Four settings of your project no installer can reach: turn off self sign-up, keep two administrators, keep the `service_role` key off every other machine, and read the disclaimer. `init` prints them; [the installation guide](https://ekwo.ai/docs/install/#before-you-go-live-four-things-on-your-project) explains each. ## 4. A first invoice Sign in as the administrator you just created, pick the company, and write a draft. `--dry-run` shows the entry the database would write, and writes nothing; `post` books it. ```sh ekwo login --supabase-url https://.supabase.co --anon-key --email you@example.com ekwo use "Your Company" ekwo contact add "First Customer" --country CA --ref customer-1 ekwo doc new --contact "First Customer" --ref invoice-1 --line "name=Consulting,price=1000.00,account=4000,tax=CA-ON-S-13" ekwo post invoice-1 --dry-run ekwo post invoice-1 ``` A line names its account and its tax by code, never by rate. `4000` is the account the pack names for sales; the chart may carry a closer one for what you sell — services, a reduced rate — and `list_accounts` lists them. What the invoice says about your company — its address, its VAT number — comes from the company’s profile, which the MCP tool `update_company_profile` fills; `ekwo init` sets only the name. The domestic sale taxes the pack carries today. Which one a sale carries is a question about that sale, for you or your accountant: the list is the pack’s, not advice. | Tax code | Name | Rate | |---|---|---| | `CA-ON-S-13` | Sale in Ontario — HST 13 % | 13 % | | `CA-NS-S-14` | Sale in Nova Scotia — HST 14 % | 14 % | | `CA-NB-S-15` | Sale in New Brunswick — HST 15 % | 15 % | | `CA-NL-S-15` | Sale in Newfoundland and Labrador — HST 15 % | 15 % | | `CA-PE-S-15` | Sale in Prince Edward Island — HST 15 % | 15 % | | `CA-AB-S-5` | Sale in Alberta — GST 5 % | 5 % | | `CA-NT-S-5` | Sale in Northwest Territories — GST 5 % | 5 % | | `CA-NU-S-5` | Sale in Nunavut — GST 5 % | 5 % | | `CA-YT-S-5` | Sale in Yukon — GST 5 % | 5 % | | `CA-QC-S-14975` | Sale in Québec — GST 5 % and Québec sales tax (QST), 14.975 % in all (CA-QC) | 14.975 % | | `CA-BC-S-12` | Sale in British Columbia — GST 5 % and provincial sales tax (PST), 12 % in all (CA-BC) | 12 % | | `CA-SK-S-11` | Sale in Saskatchewan — GST 5 % and provincial sales tax (PST), 11 % in all (CA-SK) | 11 % | | `CA-MB-S-12` | Sale in Manitoba — GST 5 % and retail sales tax (RST), 12 % in all (CA-MB) | 12 % | | `CA-S-Z-GROCERIES` | Zero-rated sale — basic groceries | 0 % | ## 5. With an AI agent The MCP server lets an agent keep the books as you, under your own row level security, and never with the `service_role` key. [Configuring it](https://ekwo.ai/docs/mcp/), and [what an agent must and must not do](https://ekwo.ai/docs/agents/). ## What the Canada pack carries - Charts of accounts: Canadian reference chart of accounts (162). - 37 taxes, at 0 %, 5 %, 11 %, 12 %, 13 %, 14 %, 14.975 %, 15 %. - The Goods and Services Tax / Harmonized Sales Tax Return (GST34) (`CA-GST34`), 18 boxes, filed month, quarter, year. - Financial statements: Balance sheet — ASPE, short form, Income statement — ASPE, short form. ## What it does not do - No library of this repository writes the file of the CA-GST34 yet: the return is computed and frozen here, and typed on the administration’s portal. - No library of this repository reads a `bai2` bank statement yet. - No library of this repository reads a `ofx` bank statement yet. - No library of this repository reads a `csv` bank statement yet. - Nothing is sent to an administration, a Peppol network or a bank by the open source software: transmission is yours, or an operator’s you appoint. - What the pack leaves out on purpose is in [its README](https://github.com/Ekwo-ai/ekwo-os/tree/main/packs/ca).