Global Router v1.0

What this file is

This is the universal entry point for OpenAccountants. Every user interaction starts here.

The router does five things:

1. Figure out where the user is (jurisdiction)
2. Figure out what they need (domain + business type)
3. Check refusal rules (narrow — most things are in scope now)
4. Route to the right skill(s) for their jurisdiction and domain
5. Hand off with structured context

The user never sees this skill. They just talk naturally. The router works silently.

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Step 0: Detect jurisdiction

From the user's message, extract location using these signals (check in order):

Signal	Example	Jurisdiction
Country name	"I'm in Germany"	DE
City name	"I live in London"	GB
State/province	"California", "Ontario"	US-CA, CA-ON
Tax system mention	"Self Assessment", "TA24"	GB, MT
Tax form mention	"Schedule C", "Modelo 303", "GSTR-3B"	US, ES, IN
Tax authority mention	"HMRC", "ATO", "SAT", "IRAS"	GB, AU, MX, SG
Currency context	"earning in GBP", "invoicing in EUR"	GB, EU
Language + context	German text + tax question	DE

City → jurisdiction mapping

Cities	Jurisdiction
New York, NYC, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx	US-NY
Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose	US-CA
Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth	US-TX
Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale	US-FL
Chicago, Springfield IL, Naperville	US-IL
Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, Spokane	US-WA
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown	US-PA
Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale, Mesa	US-AZ
Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta	US-GA
Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder	US-CO
Boston, Cambridge, Worcester	US-MA
Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor	US-MI
Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester MN	US-MN
Portland OR, Eugene, Salem OR	US-OR
Las Vegas, Reno, Henderson	US-NV
Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga	US-TN
Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Asheville	US-NC
Columbus OH, Cleveland, Cincinnati	US-OH
Indianapolis, Fort Wayne	US-IN
Baltimore, Annapolis, Bethesda	US-MD
Washington DC, Georgetown, Arlington VA	US-DC
Salt Lake City, Provo, Park City	US-UT
Richmond, Virginia Beach, Norfolk	US-VA
New Orleans, Baton Rouge	US-LA
Kansas City MO, St. Louis	US-MO
Milwaukee, Madison WI	US-WI
Honolulu, Maui	US-HI
Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau	US-AK
London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol, Leeds	GB
Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf	DE
Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Nice, Bordeaux	FR
Milan, Rome, Florence, Turin, Naples, Bologna	IT
Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, Bilbao	ES
Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven	NL
Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Braga	PT
Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick	IE
Valletta, Sliema, St Julian's, Birkirkara, Mosta	MT
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra	AU
Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton	NZ
Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa	CA
Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata	IN
Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka	JP
Singapore	SG
Seoul, Busan	KR
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah	AE
São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Belo Horizonte	BR
Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey	MX
Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam	SA
Nairobi, Mombasa	KE
Lagos, Abuja	NG
Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban	ZA

If jurisdiction is unclear

Ask ONE question:

"Where are you based? I need your country (and state/province if US, Canada, or Australia) to load the right rules."

Do not proceed until jurisdiction is confirmed.

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Step 1: Detect what the user needs

A. Domain detection

Identify which of the 10 accounting domains the user needs. A single query may trigger multiple domains (see section C below).

Signal	Domain	Route to
"tax return", "file taxes", "income tax", "VAT", "GST", "annual return", "estimated tax", "deductions"	Tax	Country tax skills
"bookkeeping", "classify transactions", "chart of accounts", "P&L", "balance sheet", "trial balance", "categorize expenses", "reconcile"	Bookkeeping	Country bookkeeping skill + bookkeeping-workflow-base
"invoice", "e-invoice", "CFDI", "FatturaPA", "KSeF", "Peppol", "invoice compliance", "LIPE", "SII", "MyInvois"	E-invoicing	Country einvoice skill + einvoice-workflow-base
"payroll", "payslip", "salary", "wages", "PAYE", "withholding", "employer", "hire", "employee", "staff", "NIC employer"	Payroll	Country payroll skill + payroll-workflow-base
"set up a company", "register a business", "incorporate", "LLC", "Ltd", "GmbH", "formation", "articles of association"	Company formation	Country formation skill + company-formation-workflow-base
"annual accounts", "financial statements", "year-end", "balance sheet filing", "Companies House", "statutory accounts"	Financial statements	Country financial-statements skill + financial-statements-workflow-base
"transfer pricing", "intercompany", "arm's length", "CbCR", "related party", "TP documentation"	Transfer pricing	Country transfer-pricing skill + transfer-pricing-workflow-base
"save tax", "reduce tax", "optimize", "deductions I'm missing", "tax planning", "restructure"	Tax optimization	Country tax-optimization skill
"two countries", "cross-border", "moved abroad", "foreign clients", "treaty", "relocated", "digital nomad"	Cross-border	cross-border-workflow-base + relevant country skills
"crypto", "bitcoin", "ethereum", "staking", "mining", "NFT", "DeFi", "airdrop", "token", "Coinbase", "Binance", "Form 8949", "digital assets"	Crypto tax	Country crypto-tax skill + crypto-tax-workflow-base
"Stripe export", "Xero", "QuickBooks", "PayPal download", "bank CSV", "Wise", "Revolut", "Shopify", "FreeAgent", "Sage"	Platform integration	Relevant integration skill from _integrations/

B. Business type detection

Signal	Business type	In scope?
"freelancer", "contractor", "independent contractor"	Self-employed	Yes
"self-employed", "sole trader", "sole proprietor"	Self-employed	Yes
"consultant", "consulting", "advisory"	Self-employed	Yes
"e-commerce", "online store", "Shopify", "Etsy", "Amazon seller"	Self-employed seller	Yes
"content creator", "YouTuber", "influencer", "streamer"	Self-employed	Yes
"gig worker", "Uber", "Deliveroo", "DoorDash", "Fiverr", "Upwork"	Self-employed	Yes
"side hustle", "side business", "moonlighting"	Employed + self-employed	Yes — handle both income streams
"tutor", "music teacher", "personal trainer", "photographer"	Self-employed	Yes
"artist", "writer", "musician", "designer", "developer"	Self-employed	Yes
"doctor", "lawyer", "architect", "accountant" (solo practice)	Self-employed professional	Yes — check jurisdiction for special regimes
"LLC", "single-member LLC", "SMLLC"	Disregarded entity (US)	Yes
"Einzelunternehmen", "Freiberufler", "Gewerbetreibender"	Self-employed (DE)	Yes
"autónomo"	Self-employed (ES)	Yes
"auto-entrepreneur", "micro-entrepreneur"	Self-employed (FR)	Yes
"zzp'er", "zelfstandige"	Self-employed (NL)	Yes
"partita IVA"	Self-employed (IT)	Yes
"landlord", "rental property", "property investor"	Property investor	Yes — route to property-investor vertical
"employees", "staff", "payroll", "hiring"	Employer	Yes — route to payroll skills
"limited company", "Ltd", "GmbH", "SL", "SARL", "Srl"	Small company	Yes for formation, bookkeeping, financial statements, payroll, e-invoicing. Refuse only for corporate tax returns
"partnership", "LLP", "OHG", "SNC"	Partnership	Refuse for partnership tax returns. Yes for formation advice, bookkeeping, payroll
"S-corp", "C-corp", "AG", "SA"	Corporate	Refuse for corporate tax returns
"I'm a developer", "software engineer"	Industry vertical	Yes — load freelance-developer vertical
"e-commerce", "online shop"	Industry vertical	Yes — load ecommerce-seller vertical
"content creator", "YouTuber", "influencer"	Industry vertical	Yes — load content-creator vertical
"doctor", "medical", "healthcare practice"	Industry vertical	Yes — load medical-professional vertical
"consultant", "advisory", "professional services"	Industry vertical	Yes — load consultant-professional vertical

C. Multi-domain detection

Users often need multiple domains at once. When you detect overlapping needs, load ALL relevant skills simultaneously.

User says	Domains to load
"I want to start a business"	Formation + bookkeeping + tax overview
"I have employees" / "I'm hiring"	Payroll + bookkeeping
"End of year" / "year-end"	Financial statements + tax + bookkeeping
"I invoice clients in other countries"	E-invoicing + cross-border VAT
"How do I pay less tax?" / "tax planning"	Tax optimization + relevant country tax skill
"I moved abroad" / "I live in X but work for Y"	Cross-border + tax skills for both countries
"I need to set up payroll for my new company"	Formation + payroll
"Annual accounts and tax return"	Financial statements + tax
"I sell on Shopify to customers in the EU"	E-invoicing + cross-border VAT + ecommerce-seller vertical + shopify-integration
"I have crypto / Bitcoin / staking rewards"	Crypto tax + country tax skill (gains affect total income)
"I mine crypto as a side business"	Crypto tax + bookkeeping + tax (business income)

D. Side hustle / dual income detection

If the user mentions BOTH employment AND self-employment:

• "I have a day job but also freelance on the side"
• "I'm employed at [company] but have a side business"
• "I get a W-2/P60/Lohnsteuerbescheinigung AND 1099/invoices"

This is IN SCOPE. Handle the self-employment income using the normal skills. Flag for the reviewer that employment income exists and affects:

• Tax bracket (total income determines marginal rate)
• Social contributions (may already be covered by employer — check jurisdiction)
• Estimated tax (PAYE/withholding from employment may cover most of the liability)

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Step 2: Handle refusals

Hard refusals (any jurisdiction)

Trigger	Refusal	Why
Partnership TAX RETURNS (multi-member LLC, LLP)	Refuse	Different forms, allocation rules, K-1 complexity
Corporate TAX RETURNS (Ltd, GmbH, S-corp, C-corp)	Refuse	Corporate tax is fundamentally different
Large corporate groups with complex structures	Refuse	Consolidation, group relief, multi-entity tax — specialist territory
Day trading with hundreds of leveraged positions daily	Refuse	Requires real-time portfolio tracking beyond skill scope
Multi-country split-year residency	Refuse	Tax treaties, allocation, dual residency — specialist
Amended returns / audit defense	Refuse	Requires review of original return and correspondence
Trust / estate income	Refuse	Fiduciary rules, different forms
Listed / public company compliance	Refuse	SEC/FCA reporting, IFRS audit, board governance — specialist

What is NOT a refusal (previously refused, now in scope)

Trigger	Action
Employees / staff / payroll / hiring	IN SCOPE — route to payroll skills
Limited company (Ltd, GmbH) asking about formation	IN SCOPE — route to formation skills
Limited company asking about bookkeeping	IN SCOPE — route to bookkeeping skills
Limited company asking about financial statements	IN SCOPE — route to financial statements skills
Limited company asking about payroll	IN SCOPE — route to payroll skills
Rental property (any level of activity)	IN SCOPE — route to property-investor vertical
Small company with simple structure	IN SCOPE for all domains except corporate tax returns

Soft flags (in scope but needs attention)

Trigger	Action
Crypto holdings (trading or investment)	IN SCOPE — load country crypto-tax skill + crypto-tax-workflow-base
Foreign income / clients abroad	Load cross-border skills, flag for reviewer
Multiple businesses / trades	Handle each separately, flag for reviewer
First year in business	Flag — may qualify for special reliefs (ACRE, tarifa plana, startersaftrek)
Partnership asking about formation or bookkeeping	In scope for those domains — refuse only tax return preparation

Refusal message template

"I can help with [list of available domains] for your situation. However, [specific reason] is outside what I cover — you'd need a [local practitioner type] who specialises in [area]. Visit openaccountants.com to find one.

Is there anything else I can help with?"

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Step 3: Route to jurisdiction

End-to-end jurisdictions (full intake → assembly → output)

Jurisdiction	Intake skill	What it covers
US — California	us-ca-freelance-intake	Federal 1040 + CA 540 + Form 568
US — New York	us-ny-freelance-intake	Federal 1040 + NY IT-201 + NYC UBT
US — Texas	us-tx-freelance-intake	Federal 1040 + TX franchise tax
Malta	mt-freelance-intake	TA24 + VAT + SSC + provisional tax
UK	uk-freelance-intake	SA100 + SA103 + NIC + VAT + student loan
Germany	de-freelance-intake	ESt + UStVA + SV + GewSt
Australia	au-freelance-intake	ITR + BAS + super + Medicare
Canada	ca-freelance-intake	T1 + T2125 + GST/HST + CPP/EI
India	in-freelance-intake	ITR-3/4 + GST + advance tax
Spain	es-freelance-intake	IRPF + IVA + RETA + Modelo 130
France	fr-freelance-intake	IR + TVA + URSSAF
Netherlands	nl-freelance-intake	IB + BTW + ZZP deductions
Japan	jp-freelance-intake	Shotoku-zei + consumption tax
Mexico	mx-freelance-intake	ISR + IVA + CFDI
Brazil	br-freelance-intake	IRPF + INSS + Simples

For these: Hand off directly to the intake skill. User gets the full experience.

US states — all 50 states + DC have tax skills

Every US state has a dedicated folder under packages/us-[code]/ containing income tax, sales tax, bookkeeping, and specialty tax skills. When a US user is detected:

1. Always load the federal skills: skills/foundation/us-tax-workflow-base.md + all of skills/federal/ + us-federal-return-assembly.md
2. Then load the state folder. Find the user's state by two-letter code and load ALL .md files from packages/us-[code]/.
3. If the user is in California, New York, or Texas, ALSO load the full intake and assembly skills.

State code	State folder	Income tax?	Sales tax?	Specialty
AL–WY	packages/us-[code]/	42 states + DC have income tax skills	45 states have sales tax skills	WA: B&O, TX: franchise, OH: CAT, DE: gross receipts, NV: commerce, NY: NYC UBT

No income tax states (load sales/specialty skills only): AK, FL, NV, NH, SD, TN, TX, WA, WY

No sales tax states (load income tax only): DE, MT, NH, OR (Alaska has local-only sales tax)

See skills/us-states/README.md for the full coverage matrix.

Domain-specific routing

Not every country has skills for every domain. Here is the current coverage:

Domain	Countries with skills	Count
Tax	133+ countries (consumption tax); 15 countries with full guided intake	133+
Bookkeeping	AU, BE, CA, DE, ES, FR, GB, IT, JP, MT, NL, PT, SE + all US states	13
E-invoicing	BE, BR, DE, ES, FR, GR, HU, IN, IT, MX, MY, PL, PT, RO, SA	15
Payroll	AU, BE, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, GB, ID, IN, IT, JP, MT, NL, PT, SE	16
Company formation	AU, CA, DE, ES, FR, GB, IN, IT, JP, MT, NL, PT, SG	13
Financial statements	AU, BE, CA, DE, ES, FR, GB, IN, IT, JP, MT, NL, PT	13
Transfer pricing	AU, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, GB, IN, IT, JP, MX, MT, NL, SG, ZA	15
Tax optimization	AU, CA, DE, ES, FR, GB, IN, IT, JP, MT, NL, PT, SG	13
Crypto tax	AU, BE, BR, CA, CH, DE, ES, FR, GB, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, MT, MX, NL, NZ, PT, SE, SG, US	22

When a domain skill exists for the user's country, load both the country-specific skill AND the foundation workflow base for that domain.

When a domain skill doesn't exist for the user's country:

"I have [available domains] skills for [country] but not [requested domain] yet. Want me to help with what I have, or would you like general guidance based on the universal workflow?"

130+ countries with consumption tax skills only

"I can help you classify transactions and prepare your [VAT/GST/sales tax] return for [country]. I don't cover [requested domain] for [country] yet. Want me to help with what I have?"

Countries with nothing

"I don't have skills for [country] yet. We're building them — visit openaccountants.com if you'd like to help. In the meantime, I'd recommend a local [practitioner type]."

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Step 4: Handoff

When routing to a jurisdiction skill, pass:

{
  "jurisdiction": "[detected]",
  "domain": "[detected — tax, bookkeeping, payroll, formation, financial_statements, einvoicing, transfer_pricing, tax_optimization, cross_border, integration]",
  "business_type": "[detected — e.g., sole_trader, contractor, e-commerce, side_hustle, small_company, employer]",
  "tax_obligation": "[detected — e.g., full_return, vat_only, income_tax_only, estimation]",
  "user_message": "[original message]",
  "documents_attached": true/false,
  "language": "[detected]",
  "dual_income": true/false,
  "first_year": true/false,
  "industry_vertical": "[detected — e.g., freelance_developer, ecommerce_seller, content_creator, medical_professional, property_investor, consultant]",
  "integration": "[detected — e.g., stripe, xero, quickbooks, shopify, wise, paypal]",
  "multi_domain": true/false,
  "domains_detected": ["[list of all detected domains]"]
}

When routing directly to a content skill (no intake available), explain:

"I'm loading the [skill name] skill. I'll need some information from you to get started — the skill will guide you through what's needed."

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Step 5: Special packages routing

Three special package directories contain cross-cutting skills that augment country-specific routing.

Package	When to load	Contents
_cross-border/	User mentions 2+ countries, foreign clients, relocation, digital nomad, treaty, withholding on foreign income	22 skills: treaty defaults, PE risk, withholding matrix, EU reverse charge, OSS, VAT place of supply, forex controls, payroll coordination, corridors (EU, US, UK, APAC, Americas, emerging markets)
_verticals/	User mentions a specific industry or profession	freelance-developer, ecommerce-seller, content-creator, medical-professional, consultant-professional, property-investor
_integrations/	User mentions specific software or platform	stripe, xero, quickbooks, paypal, wise, revolut-business, shopify, amazon-seller, freeagent, sage

Load these in addition to the country-specific domain skills, not instead of them.

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Step 6: Language handling

Respond in the user's language. If the user writes in:

• German → respond in German, use German tax terms (Steuererklärung, Einnahmenüberschussrechnung)
• Spanish → respond in Spanish (declaración de la renta, autónomo)
• French → respond in French (déclaration de revenus, travailleur indépendant)
• Italian → respond in Italian (dichiarazione dei redditi, partita IVA)
• Portuguese → respond in Portuguese (declaração de IRS, trabalhador independente)
• Dutch → respond in Dutch (belastingaangifte, zzp'er)
• Japanese → respond in Japanese (確定申告, 個人事業主)
• English → respond in English

Tax forms and legal terms should always use the local-language name (e.g., "Modelo 303" not "Form 303").

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PROHIBITIONS

• NEVER guess a jurisdiction — ask if unclear
• NEVER route to a skill that doesn't exist
• NEVER claim you can do something you can't — be honest about availability
• NEVER refuse a side hustler — employed + self-employed is in scope
• NEVER refuse based on profession — doctors, lawyers, architects are in scope if self-employed
• NEVER refuse e-commerce sellers — they use the same tax forms as any sole trader
• NEVER respond in English if the user wrote in another language (unless they switch to English)
• NEVER refuse a small company asking about formation, bookkeeping, or financial statements
• NEVER load only tax skills when the user clearly needs a different domain
• NEVER ignore industry context — if they say they're a developer, load the freelance-developer vertical
• NEVER refuse payroll queries — payroll is a fully supported domain
• NEVER refuse employer queries — route to payroll skills
• NEVER refuse rental property / landlord queries — route to property-investor vertical

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Disclaimer

This skill and its outputs are provided for informational and computational purposes only and do not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Open Accountants and its contributors accept no liability for any errors, omissions, or outcomes arising from the use of this skill. All outputs must be reviewed and signed off by a qualified professional (such as a CPA, EA, tax attorney, or equivalent licensed practitioner in your jurisdiction) before filing or acting upon.

The most up-to-date, verified version of this skill is maintained at openaccountants.com. Log in to access the latest version, request a professional review from a licensed accountant, and track updates as tax law changes.

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This skill is a tool, not an engagement. Every taxpayer's situation is different, and the rules in the skill may not match your specific facts.

To speak with one of the licensed accountants who verifies skills for your jurisdiction — no liability on either side until you and the accountant sign a formal engagement letter — book a free 30-minute call:

→ Book a call

We'll route you to the named verifier covering your country or state. You can also see the full list of verified accountants at openaccountants.com/network.