Terms of Service

By accessing or using AskAccountant (the "Platform"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy, and any additional policies or notices presented at the point of use.

If you do not agree, you must not use the Platform. If you use the Platform on behalf of a business or organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity to these Terms.

• "Platform" means the AskAccountant website, applications, consultation rooms, messaging tools, and related services operated by AskAccountant.
• "Client" means a user who searches for, books, or engages accounting professionals through the Platform.
• "Accountant" or "Professional" means an independent user who lists services, accepts bookings, submits proposals, or delivers work through the Platform. Accountants are not employees or agents of AskAccountant.
• "Consultation" or "Booking" means a scheduled session booked and paid through the Platform, typically conducted via the integrated video consultation room powered by Daily.co.
• "Service Request" or "Engagement" means a scoped work arrangement initiated through the Platform, which may include proposals, milestones, invoices, documents, completion acceptance, a dispute window, and payout processing.
• "Platform Fee" means the service fee charged to Accountants on confirmed, paid transactions processed through the Platform, as disclosed at listing, booking, or invoice time.
• "Payment Processor" means PayMongo or another payment provider we use to collect client payments through Platform checkout.
• "Calendar Integration" means an optional connection between the Platform and a third-party calendar provider, currently Google Calendar, used for conflict checking, availability synchronization, and exporting AskAccountant booking events.

AskAccountant is a technology marketplace and intermediary. We provide tools for discovery, booking, communication, document sharing, invoicing, payment tracking, dispute handling, and payout administration.

AskAccountant is not a licensed accounting firm, law firm, tax agency, or employer of the professionals listed on the Platform. We do not provide accounting, tax, audit, legal, or financial advice.

Any professional advice is provided solely by the independent Accountant you choose to engage. The professional relationship is between the Client and the Accountant, not between either party and AskAccountant.

You must provide accurate, current, and complete registration information and keep your account credentials secure. You are responsible for all activity under your account.

Clients and Accountants must complete onboarding steps before using core Platform features. Accountants must submit listings for review before they can be published and booked by Clients.

Email-and-password accounts must verify the registered email address before sign-in. If Google sign-in is enabled, you may create or access an AskAccountant account using your Google Account. New accounts are assigned the role selected during registration. Accountant accounts must still complete the applicable onboarding, profile, credential, and listing-review requirements before using restricted professional features or publishing a listing.

Google sign-in is an optional authentication method. Your use of Google services is governed by Google's applicable terms and privacy policy. Removing AskAccountant's access through your Google Account may prevent future Google sign-in but does not automatically delete your AskAccountant account or records. Account closure and deletion remain subject to these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

Accountants must maintain truthful profile information, including credentials, rates, availability, and service descriptions. Clients must provide accurate contact and billing information required to complete bookings and engagements.

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into binding contracts under Philippine law. AskAccountant may refuse, suspend, or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or applicable law.

Accountants control their public listings, including services offered, pricing, availability, and professional background information. AskAccountant may review, approve, publish, reject, suspend, or remove listings at its discretion.

Verification badges, license checks, and credential reviews indicate that specified information was submitted and reviewed according to Platform procedures at a point in time. Verification does not guarantee future performance, availability, regulatory standing, or suitability for a particular matter.

CPA-only or restricted service categories may require additional verification before a listing or service can be published.

Clients book consultations by selecting an available slot on a published Accountant listing and paying the rate displayed on the profile. Booking times are interpreted in Philippine Standard Time (Asia/Manila) unless otherwise stated in the product interface.

A minimum booking fee may apply. Platform and Accountant booking rules — such as advance notice, maximum booking horizon, same-day booking restrictions, reschedule limits, cancellation cutoffs, join-window timing, and attendance grace periods — are shown in the booking flow and may be configured by AskAccountant or overridden by the Accountant where permitted.

Consultations are conducted through the Platform's integrated video consultation room. Attendance, lateness, partial attendance, no-show, rescheduling, and cancellation outcomes may affect eligibility for refunds, payout entitlement, or dispute review according to the policies shown before booking and the records available in the Platform.

Selecting a consultation creates a temporary invoice but does not create a booking. The invoice normally reserves the slot for up to 30 minutes. If the consultation starts in less than 30 minutes, the invoice does not reserve the slot and payment must be confirmed before the start time while the slot remains available. A booking record is created only after successful payment confirmation. If payment is cancelled, fails, or is not completed within the applicable checkout window, the temporary invoice is deleted and any temporary hold is released.

A consultation provides professional guidance based on information disclosed during the session. Unless the parties enter into a separate written engagement through the Platform or otherwise, a consultation does not by itself create an ongoing retainer, representation, or full professional engagement.

• Clients should raise booking-related concerns through the Platform while the booking remains eligible for review.
• Accountants may raise booking disputes for eligible completed bookings or certain no-show outcomes, subject to Platform rules and administrator review.
• No-show, refund, and reschedule requests may require supporting information, counterparty acceptance where applicable, and administrator review.
• For completed paid consultations, Accountant payout entitlement may be recorded after session completion and attendance evaluation. Consultation bookings do not use the same timed dispute window that applies to Service Request completions.

The Calendar Integration is optional. By connecting a third-party calendar account, you authorize AskAccountant and the calendar provider to exchange the account, calendar, authorization, event scheduling, and booking information described in our Privacy Policy and in the provider's permission screen.

The current Google Calendar integration requests permission that allows the Platform to view calendars and events and to create, update, or cancel events. AskAccountant uses that permission to list your calendars, read limited event scheduling metadata from calendars you select for conflict checking, and write AskAccountant booking events to the writable calendar you select.

AskAccountant booking events exported to your calendar may include the consultation label, the other participant's display name, booking reference, scheduled start and end time, booking status, and a link to the applicable Platform booking page. Anyone who can view the destination calendar may be able to see that information, subject to your calendar sharing settings.

You are responsible for selecting the correct calendars, maintaining appropriate calendar sharing and privacy settings, reviewing exported events, and ensuring that information in your calendar account is accurate. Do not connect an account or calendar that you are not authorized to access or manage.

You may change calendar selections, disconnect the integration through Platform settings, or revoke access through your provider account. Disconnecting or revoking access stops future synchronization but may not remove AskAccountant booking events already created in the external calendar. You are responsible for deleting any remaining events directly from the provider calendar if desired.

• Calendar availability is an operational aid and is not a guarantee that a user will attend, that every conflict will be detected, or that every booking change will synchronize immediately.
• Synchronization may be delayed or fail because of expired authorization, provider outages, rate limits, webhook delays, network conditions, deleted calendars, changed permissions, user edits, or events marked free, transparent, declined, or otherwise unavailable to the Platform.
• You must review booking details in AskAccountant as the authoritative Platform record. If an external calendar event conflicts with the booking record, the booking status and schedule shown in AskAccountant control for purposes of these Terms.
• AskAccountant may pause synchronization, require reconnection, or disable the Calendar Integration when necessary for security, maintenance, provider-policy compliance, or reliable Platform operation.
• Your use of Google Calendar or another calendar provider is also governed by that provider's terms, privacy policy, availability, and account controls. AskAccountant is not responsible for the provider's services or independent handling of your data.

Beyond consultations, Clients and Accountants may use Service Requests to define scoped work, exchange proposals, track progress, share documents, issue invoices, and record completion.

Payment terms may include milestones, down payments, balances due on completion, or other structures displayed on the relevant invoice or engagement record.

When an Accountant marks work complete and the Client accepts completion, the Platform may activate a dispute window before payout entitlement is released to the Accountant. The default dispute window is seven (7) days unless a different period is configured in Platform settings and shown in the engagement interface.

• Clients may raise a service-request dispute only during an active dispute window, for eligible reasons such as incomplete work, quality issues, missing deliverables, or scope disagreement.
• Clients may voluntarily waive the dispute window if they confirm they are satisfied with the delivered work. Waiving the dispute window releases payout entitlement for that engagement according to Platform rules and may be irreversible for that transaction.
• If no dispute is raised and the dispute window expires according to Platform settings, payout entitlement may be granted automatically unless another hold applies.

Payments for bookings and invoices must be made through the Platform checkout unless explicitly permitted otherwise by AskAccountant in writing. The Platform currently uses PayMongo to process client payments. Supported methods may include GCash, Maya, card, bank transfer options, QR Ph, and other channels enabled in checkout at the time of payment.

Payment channel or processing fees charged by the payment provider may be passed through to the Client at checkout when that setting is enabled. The amount shown at checkout is the amount the Client is asked to pay.

Accountants are charged a Platform Fee on confirmed, paid transactions processed through the Platform. The current default Platform Fee is 10%, but the fee in effect for a transaction is the fee disclosed or snapshotted at the time of calculation. Clients generally pay the rate shown by the Accountant; the Platform Fee is deducted from the Accountant side unless otherwise stated.

AskAccountant records payout entitlement in Platform ledger accounts after eligible bookings or Service Requests reach the appropriate completion stage. Actual remittance to Accountants is processed through administrator-managed payout batches on a schedule, subject to minimum payout thresholds, open disputes, verification review, and other holds.

Payout entitlement may be placed on hold while a dispute is open, during an active Service Request dispute window, or while required verification, compliance, or finance review is pending.

Refunds, cancellation charges, and dispute outcomes may be subject to separate refund and cancellation charge settings. Financial records may store fee and charge snapshots for auditability.

• AskAccountant is not a bank, escrow agent, or trust company. Payment processing and payout administration are provided as platform services subject to these Terms and applicable law.
• Accountants are responsible for their own tax, regulatory, and professional obligations arising from income earned through the Platform.
• Attempting to circumvent Platform payments, fees, or payout controls is prohibited and may result in account suspension.

AskAccountant provides an internal dispute process for eligible booking and service-request transactions that were initiated, documented, and paid through the Platform.

Booking disputes and Service Request disputes follow different rules. For paid consultation bookings, disputes may generally be raised after the booking is completed or in certain eligible no-show situations, subject to the categories and controls shown in the interface. Booking disputes do not use the timed post-completion dispute window that applies to Service Requests.

For Service Requests, after the Client accepts completion and payment is settled, a dispute window begins. During that window, the Client may raise a dispute, waive the window early, or allow the window to expire so payout entitlement can be granted according to Platform settings.

Disputes may be raised by Clients or Accountants depending on transaction type, status, and current Platform settings. Dispute categories may include refund requests, service quality concerns, no-show claims, payment issues, incomplete work, missing deliverables, scope disagreement, and other categories presented in the interface.

When a dispute is opened, AskAccountant or its administrators may review messages, booking records, attendance data, invoices, documents, payment records, and other Platform evidence. Outcomes may include full or partial refund, payout release, payout denial, cancellation of the dispute, or other resolutions supported by the Platform.

You agree to cooperate in good faith, provide accurate information, and respond within reasonable timeframes while a Platform dispute is under review.

If a Client and an Accountant disagree about work, payment, advice, deliverables, confidentiality, or any other matter that is not fully captured in an eligible Platform transaction, or if the disagreement continues after a Platform dispute is closed, the parties must resolve that disagreement directly between themselves.

This includes disagreements arising from communications, payments, or services arranged outside the Platform; verbal arrangements not reflected in Platform records; continued work after a consultation without a documented Service Request or invoice; or expectations that go beyond the scope shown in the booking, proposal, or invoice.

AskAccountant is not a mediator, arbitrator, regulator, or guarantor for off-platform arrangements. We do not owe a duty to investigate, adjudicate, or remedy disputes that are outside the scope of Platform records and eligible dispute workflows.

• To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release AskAccountant and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, and affiliates from claims, losses, damages, demands, and expenses arising out of or related to off-platform dealings between users.
• You waive any right to hold AskAccountant responsible for the quality, legality, completeness, or outcome of professional services except to the extent directly caused by AskAccountant's own gross negligence or willful misconduct in operating the Platform itself.
• When you waive a dispute window or accept completion on a Service Request, you acknowledge that this action relates to the Platform transaction shown in your account and does not prevent either party from pursuing separate legal remedies against the other for matters outside Platform scope, at their own cost and risk.
• For ongoing or complex engagements, the parties are strongly encouraged to use Platform Service Requests and invoices and, where appropriate, execute a separate written engagement letter defining scope, deliverables, fees, timelines, and confidentiality obligations.

Clients may leave reviews for eligible completed engagements according to Platform rules. Reviews must be honest, relevant, and based on actual experience.

AskAccountant may remove or moderate reviews that are fraudulent, abusive, retaliatory, unrelated to the service, or otherwise violate Platform policies.

Accountants may not offer incentives for positive reviews or attempt to manipulate ratings.

The Platform provides messaging, document sharing, and consultation tools to support booked services and documented engagements.

Users should use Platform communication channels for booking-related and engagement-related correspondence so that records remain available for support and dispute review.

You must not share personal contact information with another user through Platform messages, consultation chat, uploaded documents, profile fields outside approved contact flows, or any other Platform channel. This includes phone numbers, mobile numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, social media handles, messaging app usernames or links (such as WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, or Messenger), QR codes, or other details intended to communicate outside the Platform.

Attempts to bypass these restrictions — including obfuscated contact details, spelled-out numbers, embedded contact information in attachments, or instructions to reach you off-platform — are treated the same as direct sharing.

The Platform uses automated systems to detect likely contact-sharing and off-platform solicitation in messages and consultation chat. Messages that appear to violate these rules may be blocked from delivery to the other party, shown only to the sender, and logged for administrator review.

Consultation sessions and uploaded documents may be accessed by Platform administrators only when reasonably necessary for support, fraud prevention, compliance, or dispute resolution. Additional confidentiality obligations between Client and Accountant may apply under professional standards, separate agreements, or applicable law.

• Keep booking-related and engagement-related communication on the Platform unless AskAccountant explicitly permits otherwise in writing.
• Do not ask another user to call, text, email, or message you outside the Platform before an eligible transaction is completed through Platform tools.
• Do not use Platform messaging to solicit off-platform payment, work, or continued engagement that circumvents Platform fees, records, or dispute protections.
• Repeated or deliberate attempts to share contact information may result in message restrictions, account warnings, suspension, or termination.

• Misrepresenting credentials, licenses, experience, or identity.
• Circumventing Platform payments, fees, or payout controls.
• Sharing personal contact information (including phone numbers, email addresses, messaging app handles, or other off-platform contact details) with another user through Platform messages, consultation chat, documents, or other Platform channels, or attempting to bypass contact-sharing restrictions.
• Harassment, discrimination, threats, or abusive behavior toward other users or staff.
• Uploading malware, unlawful content, or documents you do not have the right to share.
• Scraping, reverse engineering, or interfering with Platform security or operations.
• Submitting false disputes, fake reviews, or fraudulent refund or no-show claims.
• Using the Platform for unlawful purposes or in violation of BIR, SEC, BOA, or other applicable professional or regulatory requirements.

Information on the Platform is provided for general marketplace purposes. It is not a substitute for professional advice tailored to your circumstances.

Accountants are solely responsible for the services they provide, including compliance with applicable professional standards, licensing requirements, and laws. Clients remain responsible for the accuracy of information they provide and for decisions made based on professional advice received.

AskAccountant does not guarantee any particular tax outcome, filing result, audit result, business registration result, or financial result.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, AskAccountant is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, business interruption, or reputational harm arising from use of the Platform.

AskAccountant is not liable for the acts, omissions, advice, or deliverables of any Accountant or Client.

Where liability cannot be excluded, AskAccountant's total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Platform or these Terms is limited to the greater of (a) the Platform fees paid by you to AskAccountant in the twelve (12) months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) PHP 5,000.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless AskAccountant and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your use of the Platform, your services or content, your breach of these Terms, your violation of law, or your dispute with another user to the extent not caused by AskAccountant's own gross negligence or willful misconduct.

AskAccountant may suspend or terminate access to the Platform at any time for violations of these Terms, suspected fraud, risk to users, legal requirements, or operational reasons.

You may request account closure from your settings page or by contacting support. Closure or deletion requests do not eliminate payment obligations for completed or in-progress transactions that were validly incurred before closure, nor do they prevent AskAccountant from retaining records required by law or legitimate business purposes.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

You agree that courts located in Metro Manila, Philippines shall have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform, except where mandatory consumer protection law provides otherwise.

AskAccountant may update these Terms from time to time. When changes are material, we may notify registered users by email or in-app notice.

Continued use of the Platform after the effective date of updated Terms constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

For questions about these Terms, contact us at support@askaccountant.ph. For privacy-related requests, refer to our Privacy Policy.