Home Finances

The Finances section is built around one question: what did I actually spend on this home last year?It pulls together expenses you log manually and, on the Home plan, transactions imported directly from your bank.

The main areas are:

• Spending summary — annual total broken down by category
• Expense log — every individual expense with receipt attachments
• Cost basis tracker — purchase price plus capital improvements, for when you sell
• Energy credits worksheet — qualified purchases toward IRS Form 5695
• Connected accounts — bank and credit card auto-import (Home plan)

Go to Finances → Expense Log to add, review, and manage your home expenses. Manual logging is available on all plans.

For each expense, record:

• Description — what it was for
• Amount and date
• Category — see the full category list below
• Receipt — attach a photo or PDF
• Notes — anything useful for tax time

You can filter by year and category to see totals for a specific period. Each category shows a running total in the sidebar.

Categories are grouped by how they're used at tax time:

Go to Finances to see your spending summary for the current year. It aggregates everything: manually logged expenses, items you've purchased, completed work orders, and maintenance costs.

The summary includes:

• Total home spend for the year with a breakdown by category
• A bar chart showing your largest spending areas
• A separate table for medical, charitable, and childcare totals — the numbers your accountant needs

Switch between years using the year selector at the top of the page.

Go to Finances → Cost Basis to track your adjusted cost basis — the number used to calculate capital gains when you sell your home.

Your adjusted basis starts with your original purchase price and increases with each capital improvement. Common examples: adding a bedroom, replacing a roof, installing a new HVAC system, finishing a basement. Routine repairs (painting, fixing a leaky faucet) do not count.

To set it up:

1. Enter your original purchase price on your first visit
2. Add capital improvements using the + Add Improvement button
3. Keen Owner shows you a running total and flags any expenses in your log categorized as Capital Improvement that haven't been added yet

The adjusted basis shown is informational. Consult your accountant or tax advisor for the figure used in your actual return.

Go to Finances → Energy Credits to see your estimated residential energy tax credits for the year (IRS Form 5695).

To track a qualifying purchase, open the item in your inventory, go to the Purchase tab, and turn on Energy credit eligible. Select the category that applies:

• Heat pump & heat pump water heater — 30% credit, up to $2,000/year
• Building envelope — insulation, windows, doors, skylights — 30%, up to $1,200/year
• Energy audit — 30%, up to $150/year
• Clean energy — solar panels, solar water heating, battery storage — 30%, no annual cap
• EV charger — 30%, up to $1,000/year

The worksheet calculates 30% of your qualifying costs and flags when you've reached a category's annual cap. These are estimates — verify with your tax preparer before filing.

Go to Finances → Connected Accounts and click + Connect an account. Keen Owner uses Plaid to securely connect to thousands of banks and credit unions. Your bank login credentials are entered directly with your bank — Keen Owner never sees them.

Once connected, Keen Owner:

• Imports transactions automatically when new ones are available
• Flags transactions likely related to your home based on category and merchant
• Pre-fills the expense category where it can (e.g., utility payments, home improvement stores)
• Adds flagged transactions to your expense log for your review

You can review, edit, or dismiss any imported transaction. Only home-related transactions appear in your spending summary — personal spending stays in the transactions list and can be ignored.

Syncing transactions

New transactions are synced automatically via webhook when your bank reports them (usually within 1–3 business days of the transaction). You can also sync manually at any time using the Sync button on the connected account.

If your account shows "Needs attention"

This means your bank requires you to log in again — usually after a password change or when consent expires. Click Reconnect on the account card to re-authenticate. Your existing transaction history is preserved.

Disconnecting an account

Click the disconnect icon on any account card. This removes Keen Owner's access from your bank's side and deletes the transaction history from your account. Your manually-logged expenses are not affected.

Privacy & security

• Keen Owner requests read-only access to transaction data — we cannot move money
• Access tokens are encrypted before storage using AES-256-GCM encryption
• Keen Owner never sells or shares your financial data
• You can disconnect any account at any time

• Log expenses as they happen — reconstructing a year of spending in April is painful
• Attach receipt photos for any expense over $75, especially capital improvements
• Mark energy-efficient purchases as eligible immediately after installation — the IRS requires the item to be "placed in service" in the tax year you claim the credit
• Review your cost basis before listing your home for sale, not after — it directly affects your taxable gain
• The medical, charitable, and childcare totals on your spending summary are a starting point — your accountant will confirm what's deductible in your situation