Private instance
Your own instance, your own database, your own keys.
Some organisations cannot put client records into a shared service, and no amount of reassurance changes that. For those, we set up and run a dedicated SimpleLoonie instance against infrastructure you own.
What is a SimpleLoonie private instance?
A SimpleLoonie private instance is a dedicated deployment we set up and operate for one organisation. It runs against a PostgreSQL database you own, stores receipts in object storage you control, and processes documents through your own AI provider key, so extraction happens under your agreement with that provider rather than ours. Sign-in is restricted to your organisation and there are no monthly scan limits.
- What it is
- A dedicated deployment, run for you
- Database
- PostgreSQL you own
- Receipt storage
- Any S3-compatible bucket you control
- AI processing
- Your own provider key or endpoint
- Sign-in
- Restricted to your organisation
- Scan limits
- None
Who is a private instance for?
Mostly for organisations holding records that are not their own. A bookkeeping practice has its clients' receipts. A law firm has its clients' disbursements. A clinic's administrator has invoices tied to patients. In each case the obligation sits in a contract or a professional rule, and it is not satisfied by a vendor promising to be careful.
- Accounting and bookkeeping firms processing receipts on behalf of many clients, where an engagement letter governs where records may be held.
- Professional services under confidentiality obligations — legal, advisory, anything with a regulator's rules attached.
- Regulated sectors — financial services, healthcare administration, public-sector suppliers — where a procurement process will ask exactly which companies touch the data and in which countries.
- Organisations with an existing AI provider agreement, which want extraction to run on their own tier and under their own terms.
- High-volume businesses that have simply outgrown the shared plans and would rather pay for capacity than per scan.
What do you actually control?
The three things a reviewer will ask about, and one they usually forget to.
- The databaseA PostgreSQL instance in an account you own, in a region you chose. Every transaction, extracted field, category and business detail lives there. You can back it up, audit it and take it with you.
- The receipt filesObject storage you control — any S3-compatible bucket, including one inside your own network. The original images and PDFs stay there for the full six-year retention period the CRA expects.
- The AI providerYour API key with OpenAI, Google Gemini or Mistral, or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint you operate. Receipts are read under your agreement with that provider, on whatever data-handling tier you hold. This is the hop most residency claims quietly leave out.
- Who can sign inThe one people forget. Sign-in runs through WorkOS and can be restricted to your organisation's directory, so access follows your joiners-and-leavers process rather than a list of email addresses someone maintains by hand.
How is this different from the shared plans?
| Shared service | Private instance | |
|---|---|---|
| Tenancy | Shared with other customers | Yours alone |
| Where it runs | Google Cloud, United States | The region you specify |
| Database | Ours | Yours |
| Receipt storage | Cloudflare R2, ours | An S3-compatible bucket you control |
| Who reads the receipts | Our provider accounts, or your key | Your provider key or endpoint |
| Sign-in | Email or Google | Restricted to your organisation's directory |
| Receipt limits | 15, 200 or 500 a month by plan | None |
| Contract | Standard terms of service | Agreed in writing per engagement |
| Price | CA$0 / CA$15 / CA$39 a month | Quoted per engagement |
| Canadian tax handling | Included | Identical |
The shared service is described honestly on the pricing page and in the privacy policy, provider by provider. If reading that is what brought you here, this page is the answer to it.
How does it get set up?
- Tell us what you have to satisfyWhere records are allowed to live, which provider agreements you already hold, how many receipts a month, and any obligation in a client contract or professional rule we need to design around.
- We agree the shape and the commercials in writingRegion, database, storage, AI provider, sign-in, support and contract terms are settled before anything is built, so there is nothing to discover later.
- You provision the accounts you want to ownA PostgreSQL database, an S3-compatible bucket, and an API key with OpenAI, Google or Mistral — or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint you operate. Anything you would rather not run, we provision instead.
- We deploy and connect the instanceThe application is deployed to the region you specified and pointed at your database, your bucket and your key. Sign-in is wired to your organisation's directory through WorkOS.
- We hand over and keep it runningYou get the instance, your people sign in, and we handle upgrades. Your data stays in the accounts you own throughout, including if you later stop working with us.
What we are not claiming
Enterprise pages tend to list certifications in a row of logos and leave you to assume the rest. We would rather you knew what to ask, because a procurement reviewer is going to ask anyway.
- This page asserts no security certification. If your process requires one, raise it in the first conversation — it changes what we can commit to, and finding that out at contract stage wastes everyone's time.
- Support terms, uptime commitments and response times are part of the agreement, not a number on a marketing page.
- SimpleLoonie records the tax printed on a receipt. It does not file returns, prepare statements, or give tax advice — a private instance changes none of that.
- Where the AI step happens depends on the provider and endpoint you choose. We will tell you what each option means for residency; we will not pretend the choice does not matter.
Talk to us about a deployment
Individuals and companies alike — send what you need and a person will reply. The more concrete you are about the constraint you are working to, the more useful the first answer will be. You can also email info@shinobimedia.ca directly.
Frequently asked questions
What is a SimpleLoonie private instance?
A dedicated deployment of SimpleLoonie for a single organisation, set up and operated by us, running against a PostgreSQL database you own, object storage you control, and your own AI provider key. It is not shared with other customers and it has no monthly scan limits.
Can receipts be processed under our own AI provider account?
Yes, and this is usually the reason people ask. You supply an API key for OpenAI, Google Gemini or Mistral, or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint you operate, and extraction runs under your agreement with that provider on whatever data-handling tier you hold — not under ours.
Can our data stay in a specific country or region?
Yes. The instance is deployed to the region you specify and connected to a database and storage bucket in that region. Where the AI step happens depends on the provider and endpoint you choose, which is part of what we agree before anything is built rather than something you find out afterwards.
Who owns the database and the receipt files?
You do, when you provision them. The database and the object storage sit in accounts you control, so the records remain yours throughout and stay with you if you later stop working with us. If you would rather we provisioned them, we can, and the arrangement is set out in the agreement.
Is a private instance the same software as the shared service?
Yes. The same AI extraction, the same GST, HST, PST and QST separation by province, the same transaction-date currency conversion, the same invoice generator and the same exports. What changes is where it runs, whose accounts it runs against, and that the monthly limits do not apply.
Who is this for?
Organisations that cannot use a shared service as-is: accounting and bookkeeping firms holding client records, professional services with confidentiality obligations, businesses in regulated sectors, and anyone whose contracts specify where data may be processed. Also businesses whose volume has simply outgrown the shared plans.
Can an individual or a small firm get one, or is it enterprise only?
Anyone can ask. It is a deployment rather than a licence tier, so the question is whether a dedicated instance is the right answer for you or whether the shared plans already are — and we will say so if it is the latter rather than sell you infrastructure you do not need.
How much does a private instance cost?
It is quoted per engagement, because the work and the running costs depend on the region, whose accounts hold the database and storage, your volume, and what the agreement has to cover. Tell us roughly what you need and you will get a number, not a discovery process.
Can we sign a data processing agreement or add our own contract terms?
Contract terms are agreed in writing as part of the engagement, and that is the point at which to raise a data processing agreement, security review, audit rights or anything your procurement process requires. Ask early — those requirements usually change the design, not just the paperwork.
How do we start?
Send an enquiry from this page with roughly how many receipts a month you handle, where the data has to live, and any obligation we should design around. A person reads it and replies. If the shared service would serve you better, we will tell you that instead.