AI Advisor
Operational guide to the AI Cooperative Advisor: what it can see, how credits work, prompt templates, and sample governance and tax questions.
The AI Cooperative Advisor
Operating a cooperative requires navigating complex legal codes, tax regulations, and democratic processes. The AI Advisor (shown as AI Copilot in the sidebar) is a chat assistant powered by Google Gemini. Each question is answered with a snapshot of your workspace's own records, so it can discuss your actual members, proposals, and deadlines rather than generic examples.
1. Core Capabilities
The advisor assists steering committees, board directors, and general members across three areas:
- Your Co-op's Records: Answers questions about your member register and classes, open proposals, compliance deadlines, projects and budgets, share trades, patronage distributions, and governing documents.
- Drafting Help: Suggests language for membership agreements, bylaws amendments, board charters, and dispute resolution guidelines.
- Tax & Governance Explanations: Explains Subchapter T concepts such as qualified vs. non-qualified allocations and Form 1099-PATR reporting, and suggests processes for quorum, board elections, committees, and proxy voting.
The advisor only sees what the person asking is allowed to see. For example, capital balances are hidden from members without finance access, and document text is hidden from members without legal access.
2. Credits
AI usage is metered in platform credits; it is not unlimited. Each advisor question uses 1 credit from the asking member's personal quota. Administrators delegate credits to members from the cooperative's credit pool in the Platform Credit Hub, and the pool is refilled by your plan's included credits or by purchasing credit packs on the Billing & Credits page.
Important Legal Disclaimer
The AI Advisor provides education and draft language to help speed up your work. It does not provide official legal counsel or tax advice, and it can make mistakes. Always have a qualified cooperative attorney or accountant review drafts before you file or adopt them.
3. Prompt Guides & Copyable Queries
Get the best results by using specific, structured prompts. Here are copyable templates you can use:
Bylaws Drafting Prompt:
"Draft a section for a Wisconsin worker-cooperative bylaw regarding member termination. Include provisions for how a member is suspended, the process for the board to review the case, how the member can appeal to the membership body, and a 5-year payout schedule to return their capital ledger balance."
Tax Compliance Query:
"Explain IRS qualified patronage dividends vs. non-qualified patronage dividends. Under what conditions is it tax-advantageous for a startup worker co-op to issue non-qualified dividends, and how do we record the subsequent equity redemption in the general ledger?"
Governance Process Query:
"We are a consumer cooperative with 1,000 members. Quorum is currently set at 20% in our bylaws, but we struggle to meet it at annual meetings. What are democratic strategies for adjusting quorum levels, and what bylaws amendments should we present to the membership to allow proxy voting or online ballots?"
Workspace Data Query:
"Which governance proposals are open right now, and which compliance deadlines are due in the next 60 days?"