Oikos Books — Terms of Service

Effective date: July 5, 2026 · Last updated: July 5, 2026 · Contact: [email protected]

This is a binding contract. By downloading, accessing, or using Oikos Books you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy (incorporated by reference). Section 12 (Limitation of Liability) limits our liability, and Section 18 requires most disputes to go to binding arbitration on an individual basis and waives class actions. You may opt out of arbitration under §18.7. Read those sections carefully.

1. Who we are; definitions

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 and able to form a binding contract. The Service is a business product, not directed to children.

3. The two ways to use Oikos Books

We may update or change the Service; we will not intentionally disable the core local functionality of a desktop version you already installed.

4. Your account (cloud)

You are responsible for your credentials and all activity under your account. Keep your password confidential and notify us of unauthorized use. You may invite others (e.g., your accountant); you are responsible for the access you grant.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to: use the Service unlawfully or to store data you have no right to; launder money, evade taxes, or commit fraud; reverse-engineer or extract source code (except as law allows) or resell the Service as a competing hosted service without permission; probe or breach security or overload the Service; upload malware; or infringe others' rights. We may suspend or terminate for violations. You remain responsible for your own books' accuracy and legality (§9).

6. Subscription, billing, cancellation, and auto-renewal

7. Getting paid online — Stripe Connect; PCI

8. Oikos AI

9. No professional advice; your responsibility for accuracy

No Professional Advice. Oikos Books is a software tool. It is not tax, accounting, bookkeeping, legal, investment, or financial advice, and Oikos is not an accounting firm, tax-preparation service, registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, bank, lender, or money transmitter. Reports, calculations, categorizations, tax/sales-tax figures, projections, and AI answers are for your convenience only.

Your Responsibility for Accuracy. You are solely responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and lawfulness of Your Data and any books, reports, returns, or filings you produce. Review and verify every figure before relying on, submitting, or sharing it. We do not audit, verify, or guarantee your books, and the Service does not guarantee any figure conforms to GAAP, IRS rules, or state/local tax law. Automated features (bank import, auto-categorization, AI) are aids, not authorities.

Assumption of Risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim liability for any penalty, interest, fine, missed deadline, rejected filing, over/underpayment, lost data, or decision arising from your reliance on the Service or its output. Survives termination.

10. Data, backups, and your responsibility to keep copies

On desktop, you are responsible for backing up your own data. On cloud, we maintain reasonable backups but you remain responsible for exporting and keeping your own copies; we are not liable for loss you could have mitigated with your own exports. You can export at any time.

11. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement. We do not warrant the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that data (including bank-feed data) will be accurate, complete, or timely. Some jurisdictions limit these exclusions.

12. Limitation of liability

(a) Exclusion of certain damages. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OIKOS AND ITS OWNERS, PERSONNEL, AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.

(b) General cap. OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (i) the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or (ii) US$100 (for the free desktop app where no fees were paid, US$100).

(c) Data-incident sub-cap. For claims arising from a security incident or unauthorized access to Your Data, the cap in (b) is replaced by the greater of the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim or US$1,000.

(d) Carve-outs (no cap/exclusion applies). Nothing in this Section limits liability for: (i) a party's indemnification obligations under §14; (ii) breach of confidentiality; (iii) a party's gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud; (iv) amounts owed for the Service; or (v) liability that cannot be limited or excluded by applicable law.

(e) Essential purpose / allocation. These limits apply even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose and reflect the agreed allocation of risk; they are a material basis of the bargain. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so parts may not apply to you.

13. Intellectual property

The Service, software, and related IP are owned by Oikos and its licensors. You own Your Data. You grant us only the limited license needed to host, process, back up, and display Your Data to operate the Service for you (and to use the sub-processors in the Privacy Policy). We claim no ownership of Your Data and use it only to provide the Service.

14. Indemnification

(a) By Oikos (IP). Oikos will defend you against third-party claims that the Service, as provided by us and used in accordance with these Terms, infringes that third party's US intellectual-property rights, and will pay damages/costs finally awarded (or a settlement we approve). If the Service is or may be enjoined, Oikos may, at its option, procure the right to continue, modify the Service to be non-infringing, or terminate and refund prepaid unused fees. This does not apply to claims arising from Your Data, your combinations with non-Oikos products, or your modifications/misuse.

(b) By you. You will defend and indemnify Oikos against third-party claims arising from Your Data, your use of the Service in violation of these Terms or law, or your business/financial decisions.

(c) Procedure. The indemnified party gives prompt notice, tenders control of the defense (with counsel of the indemnifying party's choice), and reasonably cooperates; no settlement imposing liability on the other party without its consent.

15. Third-party services

The Service integrates third parties (Stripe, Plaid, Anthropic, Supabase, Render, Cloudflare) with their own terms (e.g., Stripe's Connected Account Agreement, Plaid's end-user policy). We are not responsible for third-party services or their acts/omissions.

16. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Service and cancel per §6. We may suspend or terminate for breach, non-payment, or legal/security reasons. On termination of a cloud account, we handle Your Data per the Privacy Policy's retention section; export your data first. Sections that by nature survive (IP, disclaimers, liability, indemnity, arbitration, governing law) survive.

17. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to conflicts rules, and the federal Arbitration Act governs §18. Subject to §18, courts located in the Commonwealth of Virginia have jurisdiction. Consumer note: if you use the Service as a consumer, mandatory consumer-protection rights and non-waivable laws of your home jurisdiction still apply and are not waived by this Section.

18. Binding arbitration; class-action waiver

18.1 Agreement to arbitrate. Except as in §18.6, you and Oikos agree that any dispute relating to the Service or these Terms will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules (or Commercial Rules for business users), seated in the Commonwealth of Virginia (with remote/telephonic hearings available), under the Federal Arbitration Act.

18.2 Class-action waiver. Disputes will be arbitrated only on an individual basis; no class, collective, consolidated, or representative actions. The arbitrator may not consolidate claims without all parties' consent.

18.3 Mass-arbitration / batching. If 25+ similar demands are filed by or with coordinated counsel, the parties will use a batch/bellwether process under the arbitration administrator's mass-arbitration rules and fee schedules then in effect to control costs.

18.4 Delegation. The arbitrator decides arbitrability, except that a court decides the enforceability of §18.2.

18.5 Jury/consolidation waiver (fallback). If arbitration is held unenforceable, the parties waive jury trial and any class/representative claim to the extent permitted by law.

18.6 Carve-outs. Either party may bring small-claims actions and seek injunctive/IP relief in court.

18.7 Opt-out. You may opt out of §18 by written notice to [email protected] within 30 days of first accepting these Terms; opting out does not affect the rest of the Terms.

19. Changes to these Terms

We may modify these Terms; for material changes we provide notice (email or in-app) and update the "Last updated" date. Continued use after the effective date is acceptance. If you don't agree, stop using and cancel.

20. Electronic records and signatures (E-SIGN/UETA)

You consent to receive these Terms, policies, disclosures, and notices electronically, and agree that your electronic acceptance (e.g., clicking "I agree," subscribing, or using the Service) has the same effect as a handwritten signature under the federal E-SIGN Act and UETA. You may withdraw consent for future electronic records by contacting us, understanding some features require electronic delivery.

21. Miscellaneous

Entire agreement (these Terms + Privacy Policy + DPA where applicable); severability with reformation; no waiver; you may not assign without consent (we may assign in a merger/asset sale); force majeure; notices.