# Compliance: Know the rules that apply to you.
> Ask any rules question and get an answer with official sources. Guides, deadlines and rule changes for your company, in one place.
[Get started](https://app.getoatmilk.com/sign-up) · [Sign in](https://app.getoatmilk.com/sign-in) · [Docs](https://getoatmilk.com/docs.md) · [llms.txt](https://getoatmilk.com/llms.txt)
## How it works
1. Tell Oatmilk about your company
2. See the rules and dates that apply
3. Ask anything, with sources
## What it does
- **Ask anything, get the source.** Ask a question in plain words. The answer cites the official government pages it read.
- **Guides on seven topics.** Hiring and job postings, contractors, NDAs and agreements, employment standards, payroll, privacy and business taxes.
- **Official pages checked monthly.** About 60 hand-checked official pages are watched every month, and only the pages that changed are read again.
- **Every deadline, with its source.** T2, instalments, GST/HST, payroll remittances and T4/T4A slips, worked out from your company profile, each with its CRA page.
- **Nothing changes without you.** Rule changes and suggested settings wait in Open items until an admin accepts them.
- **Answers become checklist items.** One tap adds an answer's next step to the checklist, with a due date and its source.
## What Compliance does for a business
Compliance is one place to understand the rules a small company meets when it hires, works with contractors, signs agreements, pays people, keeps personal information and files taxes. It answers three questions:
- **Which rules apply to us?** Guides in the library, and rules matched to your company's facts.
- **What is due, and when?** A checklist and calendar of deadlines built from your company profile.
- **What does this mean for us?** Ask a question in plain words and get an answer that cites official government pages.
It has four pages: **Ask** (chat), **Library** (guides and best practices), **Open items** (updates for an admin to review) and **Checklist** with **Calendar** (deadlines).
## Ask
Ask is an AI assistant for rules questions. For each question it:
1. Searches the library and official government sources. Search first shortlists up to 20 matches by their words, then Jev, Oatmilk's decision model, judges which ones are really relevant.
2. Reads the official pages.
3. Answers in plain words, with numbered citations to those pages.
4. Can add the next step to your checklist, with a due date and its source.
It cites only official government pages as the rule. It runs as the person asking, with their permissions, and confirms before it changes anything unless the person just asked for exactly that change. It is not a lawyer or an accountant.
## The library and research
The library holds guides and best practices on seven topics:
1. Hiring and job postings
2. Contractors
3. NDAs and agreements
4. Employment standards
5. Payroll and tax slips
6. Privacy
7. Business taxes
Each guide shows a summary, key points, what it means for you and its official sources with the date they were checked. Type to search; a guide opens with **Ask about this**.
A research assistant keeps it current. It watches about 60 hand-checked official pages every month and reads again only the pages that changed. What it finds becomes suggestions and rules to review, never a silent change.
## Open items: nothing changes until an admin accepts
Everything research finds waits in **Open items** with what it is, its topic, when it starts and its official source:
- **Your settings**: a rule suggests a different value for one of your settings. Accept it, or keep yours.
- **Rules to review**: a rule with no setting behind it. Add it to the checklist, or dismiss it.
Nothing in your company changes until an admin accepts. When Oatmilk needs a fact it doesn't have, such as how many people you employ, it asks once instead of guessing, so only the rules that apply are shown.
## Checklist and calendar
Deadlines are built from your company profile:
- T2 return (the company's income tax return)
- T2 balance due
- Tax instalments
- GST/HST returns (sales tax)
- Payroll remittances
- T4 and T4A slips
They run from 90 days back to 15 months ahead, and each one links to its CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) source. When a fact is missing, such as how often you file GST/HST, it becomes a setup task: Oatmilk never guesses a date. Reminder emails group what's coming together.
## What you control
- Admins accept or dismiss every suggested change and rule.
- You decide what goes on the checklist, and mark items done.
- Your company profile drives which deadlines and rules apply; change a fact and the list follows.
## What it isn't
Compliance is not a lawyer or an accountant. It helps you know the rules that apply to you, never miss a deadline and find the official page behind each answer. For a big decision, check with a professional. Oatmilk never files a tax return or pays tax for you.
## More from Oatmilk
- [Classifier](https://getoatmilk.com/classifier.md): Each bank and card line runs through rules, memory, receipts and Jev. Oatmilk sorts it only when it's sure, and asks you one question when it isn't.
- [Evidence matching](https://getoatmilk.com/evidence.md): Oatmilk reads receipts from your company's inboxes and matches each one to its charge. It asks you when it isn't sure and keeps the original.
- [Bookkeeping](https://getoatmilk.com/bookkeeping.md): Bank, card, Wise and Stripe charges come in and get sorted. Oatmilk asks you only when it isn't sure.
- [Invoices](https://getoatmilk.com/invoices.md): Make an invoice in a minute, send it, and see when it's opened and paid.
- [Agreements](https://getoatmilk.com/agreements.md): Write an agreement, send it to sign on any device, and keep every signed copy with a full record.
- [Contractors](https://getoatmilk.com/contractors.md): Contractors send hours from their own portal. You approve with a tap, pay with Wise and get tax slips at year-end.
- [Tax](https://getoatmilk.com/tax.md): Year-end for Canadian companies, one plain question at a time. T2, GST/HST and T4A work, ready for your accountant.
- [Ask AI](https://getoatmilk.com/ask-ai.md): Ask a question about your company and get a straight answer. Ask AI reads your books and asks before it changes anything.
- [Accountants](https://getoatmilk.com/accountants.md): Invite your accountant to see the books and help with year-end. You pick what they can do and when it ends, and every action is on the record.
- [Run it locally](https://getoatmilk.com/local.md): Run Oatmilk on your own computer with the CLI and the web portal, or choose where each part runs: this computer, the cloud, or off.
- [Local models](https://getoatmilk.com/local-models.md): Run Ask AI, the classifiers and document reading on Ollama, LM Studio or any OpenAI-compatible server. Mix local and cloud by role.
- [CLI](https://getoatmilk.com/cli.md): Oatmilk in your terminal: every page one keypress away, Ask AI built in, and themes that work in light and dark terminals.
- [AI connectors](https://getoatmilk.com/mcp.md): Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Codex and more to Oatmilk. Your AI can do what you can do, and nothing more.
Human version: https://getoatmilk.com/stay-compliant