In this section, you will learn more about the Deductions tab, where you can add, view, and manage your expenses in one place.
Year
When you click on the year, you can switch between your deductions for the current year and prior years going back to 2022. If you have been tracking expenses with Keeper in previous years, those expenses will remain available in the Deductions tab and can be viewed or edited at any time.
If you recently signed up and connected your bank accounts for expense tracking, keep in mind that Keeper can typically access up to 18 months of transaction history, although this depends on your bank’s policy. Some banks may only provide a few months of data.
In these cases, you may not see expenses from prior years scanned automatically, but no worries. You can still manually add expenses or upload bank statements for those years. We will cover those options in more detail later.
Navigation: Deductions -> Year
Manually adding an expense
The "+" sign in the top-right corner is where you can manually add a business expense.
All you need is:
- The name of the purchase
- Amount spent
- Category
- Date
You can also attach a photo of your receipt if you prefer.
Don't forget to hit Save so the expense gets added to your deduction spreadsheet!
Navigation: Deductions -> Plus sign
Manually adding expenses in bulk
If you have a large number of expenses to add, you can upload them using a PDF, XLSX, or CSV file. To do this, go to the Deductions tab, select the + sign in the top-right corner, and then select Upload expenses.
This is especially helpful if you have a bank account or card that isn’t currently supported by the app. Simply upload a spreadsheet or bank statement from that account, and Keeper will automatically add the expenses to your Deductions tab once the upload is complete.
💡Tip: If your expenses didn’t upload successfully, try saving your file in CSV format with only these three columns: Date, Expense Name, and Amount. Avoid including any other information so the app can correctly process your expenses. If you’re still having trouble, don’t worry—reach out to us, and we’ll be happy to help!
Navigation: Deductions -> Plus sign -> Upload expenses
Deleting a manually-added expense
If you need to remove a manually added expense, go to the Deductions tab, find the expense you want to delete, and select Delete at the bottom of the page.
📝 Please note that only manually added expenses can be deleted. Expenses tracked from a linked bank account or added through an upload cannot be deleted. If you need to exclude those expenses from your deductions, you can mark them as Personal instead.
Navigation: Deductions -> Select manually added expense -> Delete
Three-dot Menu
The three-dot menu next to the "+" sign in the app offers five handy tools:
- Rules
- Financial accounts
- Book a tax pro call
- Tax estimate
- Export deductions spreadsheet
Let’s explore these features in more detail.
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot menu
Creating rules for recurring expenses
The Rules feature helps you automatically categorize recurring expenses so you won’t need to update them manually. Whether it’s a monthly utility bill or a personal subscription like Netflix, creating a rule means these expenses will be consistently marked according to your preferences.
To manage your rules, open the three-dot menu in the Deductions tab and select Rules. This brings up a window where you can create new rules or review and update any existing ones.
When creating a rule, all you need to enter are:
- Merchant name
- Deduction status
- Category
Here are some types of rules you can create for managing your expenses:
- Deduction: Set up rules for recurring deductions such as utilities, subscription services, and insurance. This way, you won't need to manually add them each month.
- Personal: Create rules for personal transactions to ensure they aren't mistakenly categorized as deductions. This is ideal for expenses like grocery store purchases or non-work-related streaming services.
- Ask Me: For expenses that might qualify as deductions only in specific situations, create a rule and select Ask Me for the status. This means these expenses won’t be automatically categorized. Instead, you can review them in the app and decide if they qualify as deductions. If you prefer to manually categorize certain expenses, you can set up rules for those and choose Ask Me as well.
You can also choose to apply the rule to past purchases. By selecting this option, all expenses with the exact merchant name will be automatically updated according to the rule you’ve set.
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot menu -> Rules
Linking your accounts
By selecting the Financial accounts option from the three-dot menu, you'll be directed to the Linked accounts section in the Settings tab. Here, you can link your bank accounts or cards, allowing us to scan and track your expenses while identifying potential deductions.
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot menu -> Financial accounts
Booking a tax pro call
Selecting this option from the three-dot menu will take you to the Tax Pro section of the app, where you can schedule a 30-minute consultation with one of our tax experts.
For a detailed overview of how the consultation works and what to expect, check out our Tax Pro Consultation article!
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot menu -> Book a tax pro call
Estimating your tax bill or refund
Curious about how much you might owe in taxes or whether you’ll get a refund for the current year? The Tax Estimate feature provides a quick calculation, giving you a rough idea of your potential tax bill or refund. You can access this by selecting the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the Deductions page.
Keep in mind that while the estimate provides a helpful ballpark figure, it doesn’t take into account other sources of income, credits, or deductions that will be factored in during the actual filing process. Think of it as a useful guide, but not a final calculation. Your actual tax bill or refund may vary once you complete your filing with us and submit your return for review.
Navigation: Deductions -> Three-dot menu -> Tax estimate
Understanding your tax profile
Your tax profile, accessible through Tax Estimate, includes important details about your income, work, and some of the credits or deductions used to calculate your tax estimate.
You can also update the percentage of your vehicle, public transport, and phone expenses used for business. Additionally, you can enter the size of your home and home office to calculate the business-use percentage applied to the deductible portion of your home expenses. If you travel for work or have meals with clients, you can indicate that information here as well.
Below, we’ll explain each section of your tax profile in more detail.
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot menu -> Tax Estimate
Household Details and Income
In this section, you can update your:
- State of residence
- Tax filing status
- Dependents (if any)
- Expected annual W-2 employee income
- Expected annual freelancing/business income
Freelancing Details
Here, you can add or edit the type of 1099 work or business you do by selecting Manage Jobs under Freelancing Details.
If you don’t see an exact match, simply type in your job or business name. You can then select it as an option and add it to your freelancing details.
As you continue to use Keeper, it will learn from your spending habits, helping to categorize your expenses and suggest possible deductions based on your work.
Next, you’ll find toggle switches and sliders for common deductions such as business meals, travel expenses, vehicle use, phone-related costs, public transportation, and home office expenses. The information you provide here helps Keeper calculate potential savings and determine which expenses are deductible.
Use the toggle switches to indicate, for example, if you have business meals with clients or colleagues, or if you travel for work.
Below, adjust the sliders to reflect the percentage of time you use your vehicle, phone, or public transportation for 1099 work or business purposes. For instance, if you drive six hours per week and three of those hours are work-related, set the slider to 50%. You can update these percentages anytime. If you have a home office, you can also enter your home and office size to calculate your home business use percentage.
📝 If a deduction doesn’t apply to you, simply set the percentage to zero. For example, if you don’t use your car for business, set the driving slider to zero.
💡Tip: For a better understanding of which expenses qualify for these deductions, we recommend checking out our helpful articles on our website at https://www.keepertax.com/free-resources.
Taxes Paid, Credits, and Deductions
In the final section of your tax profile, you can enter details about the federal and state income taxes withheld from your W-2, or any quarterly tax payments you’ve made. You’ll also have the option to indicate if you qualify for any of the following credits or deductions: student tuition payments, mortgage interest, or traditional IRA contributions.
Exporting your deductions
One of the helpful features we offer is the ability to export your deductions. If you're on an active subscription plan (at least the monthly plan), you can easily download a copy of your deductions whenever you need it.
If you'd like a copy of your deductions to print or use elsewhere, simply export them as a spreadsheet. To do this, tap the three-dot menu and select Export deductions spreadsheet. Just make sure to choose the correct year in the top-left corner of the Deductions tab before exporting.
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot menu -> Export deductions spreadsheet
Total Deductions
The total deductions shown reflect the full amount of your eligible business expenses. This includes only legitimate business costs and accounts for accurate business use percentages.
This amount reduces your gross self-employment income, which lowers your taxable income and, ultimately, helps reduce the taxes you owe.
Navigation: Deductions
View business expenses by category
When you tap on your total deductions amount, a pop-up window will appear with a breakdown of your total deductions by category. This is where you can view, manage, and edit expenses by category.
By tapping on the chevron symbol in a specific category, you’ll see all the added deductions. Reviewing these sections is a great way to stay organized and ensure all your deductions are tracked.
From here, you can also select See impact on total tax refund to access the Tax Estimate feature.
Navigation: Deductions -> Total Deductions
Search expenses by name
The magnifying glass icon 🔍 will let you search your transactions by name. (e.g. Amazon)
Navigation: Deductions -> Magnifying glass icon
Sorting expenses
Below the total deductions amount, you can see a list of all your expenses that you can filter by:
- Status
- Category
- Account
- Amount
- Most recent or highest amount
Navigation: Deductions
Filtering expenses by transaction status
If you tap on Status, you’ll be able to filter your transactions by:
- Deductions
- Personal
- Ask Me
Navigation: Deductions -> Status
Ask Me expense category
Under Ask Me, you'll see a list of business expenses for you to go through if there are expenses that haven't been categorized. With a tap of a button, you can mark each expense as either a deduction or not. Checking this area of the app frequently to correctly mark each expense is a great habit to develop.
More deductions equal more tax savings!
Navigation: Deductions -> Status -> Ask Me
Ask feature
Not sure whether an expense can be deducted? Don't worry; we got you covered!
You'll notice that your uncategorized or unreviewed expenses (transactions with a 💡lightbulb icon) have an "Ask" option under them. This feature allows you to instantly ask if that specific expense can be deducted. Simply tap on that button and it will take you to the Ask tab where our AI Assistant answers your question in seconds! Moreover, if the AI assistant determines that a human response is needed, it will alert one of our staff members to provide an answer instead.
Navigation: Deductions -> Select the uncategorized expense -> Ask
Editing an expense
Tapping on any expense in the Deductions tab opens up a list of tools to help you micro-manage the transactions that are added to your list of deductions.
You can tap on a specific purchase to:
- Create/View rule
- Add receipt photo
- Add a note
- Edit the amount spent
- Edit the category
-
Mark the purchase as a deduction or personal
Navigation: Deductions -> Select an expense
Add a receipt photo
In the Deductions tab, you can easily attach a photo of your receipt by tapping on an expense and selecting Add receipt photo.
Navigation: Deduction -> Select an expense -> Add receipt photo (optional)
Add a note
You can also add a note to your expenses. This is helpful if you'd like to add extra documentation for your transactions, especially business meals, such as who you're with or what the meeting was about.
Navigation: Deductions -> Select an expense -> Note (optional)
Split Amounts
If a purchase includes both personal and business items (for example, buying business supplies along with personal goods), you can adjust the business use percentage to accurately claim only the portion related to your business.
Navigation: Deductions -> Select an expense -> Split expense
Smart Split
Smart Split is an accounting method that divides your expenses across your freelance or business jobs based on your reported income and industry benchmarks. When you file, Keeper will automatically assign expenses to the correct Schedule C income source using this method.
However, if you'd rather allocate expenses manually by income source, you can do that in the Deductions section of the app. Just select the expense, choose the Split Expense option, and then click Overwrite Smart Split. From there, you’ll be able to assign the expense to specific income sources yourself.
Navigation: Deductions -> Select an expense -> Split expense -> Overwrite smart-split
Bulk edit
The bulk edit feature allows you to make changes for multiple transactions at once. Simply press an expense and hold it for a few seconds until you see the multi-edit mode. You can then select the expenses you'd like to edit.
Navigation: Deductions tab -> Press and hold an expense
After selecting the expenses, tap on Edit. This will pull up a screen where you can bulk change the expenses by the following:
- Add a note
- Change expense categories
- Mark as tax deductions
- Mark as personal
Add a note lets you add the same note for all expenses selected.
Mark as tax deductions will add the expenses to your deductions, and
Mark as personal lets you mark the expenses as personal.
Navigation: Deductions -> Press and hold an expense -> Edit
By selecting change expense categories, you can edit the category of the expenses with just one tap. Here, you can see all the categories you can choose from. Kindly note that you can only select one category for all the expenses you have selected.
Navigation: Deductions tab -> Press and hold an expense -> Edit -> Change expense categories