# Set up a company in South Africa 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 South Africa pack, version 0.1.0; every code on it is read from the pack.

The South Africa 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 South Africa 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 ZA
```

- One chart of accounts: South Africa reference chart of accounts, 156 accounts.
- The books are kept in `en`.
- The Value-Added Tax return (VAT201) is filed on one of these cadences: `month`, `bimonth`. Pass `--vat-period <cadence>` 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 ZA \
  --vat-period <month|bimonth> \
  --db-url "postgresql://postgres.<ref>:<password>@<pooler host>:5432/postgres" \
  --supabase-url "https://<ref>.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://<ref>.supabase.co --anon-key <publishable key> --email you@example.com
ekwo use "Your Company"
ekwo contact add "First Customer" --country ZA --ref customer-1
ekwo doc new --contact "First Customer" --ref invoice-1 --line "name=Consulting,price=1000.00,account=4000,tax=ZA-S-VAT"
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 |
|---|---|---|
| `ZA-S-VAT` | Sale, standard rate 15 % | 15 % |
| `ZA-S-VAT-CASH` | Sale, standard rate 15 %, vendor on the payments basis | 15 % |
| `ZA-S-VAT-CAP` | Sale of capital goods or services, standard rate 15 % | 15 % |
| `ZA-S-ZERO` | Sale, zero-rated, domestic | 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 South Africa pack carries

- Charts of accounts: South Africa reference chart of accounts (156).
- 18 taxes, at 0 %, 15 %.
- The Value-Added Tax return (VAT201) (`ZA-VAT201`), 25 boxes, filed month, bimonth.
- Financial statements: Statement of financial position — IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard, Section 4, Statement of comprehensive income — IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard, Section 5, expenses by nature.

## What it does not do

- No library of this repository writes the file of the ZA-VAT201 yet: the return is computed and frozen here, and typed on the administration’s portal.
- 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/za).