Question 1

I only have 3 doors. Is this overkill?

Accepted Answer

No. Starter covers up to 3 rentals at no cost, and Pro is built for any number. The sweet spot is the door range where a spreadsheet starts becoming a job by itself, usually around the third or fourth property.

Question 2

I have 30+ doors. Is this still enough for me?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Pro covers any number of properties. Net Operating Income (NOI), Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR), and cap rate per property, plus Plaid bank and mortgage sync and the CPA tax export, are designed to scale to portfolios in the 30+ door range. Keystone IQ sits between lightweight investor ledger apps on one end and full property-manager platforms on the other. We sit closer to the investor side of that spectrum.

Question 3

I use a property manager who sends me a monthly owner packet. Will that work?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Owner packets are the hardest document type we handle, and we built a dedicated AI processor for them. Drop the PDF into Keystone IQ and the transactions in the packet (rent, repairs, property-management fee, reserves) are extracted as line items on the right property. Each line is tagged with the packet it came from, and anything uncertain is flagged in Review, so you can check the numbers before relying on them downstream.

Question 4

I self-manage. Do I need this?

Accepted Answer

If you're entering rent receipts, late fees, and repair invoices by hand into a spreadsheet, yes. Self-managers get the most out of Rent Roll: it shows Expected, Received, and Outstanding for the month at a glance, and you mark each payment received in one click. No property manager means the PM-fee math is skipped.

Question 5

Does it work for short-term rentals / Airbnb?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Short-term rentals are first-class. Toggle a property to short-term and you get a reservations table (Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com CSV import; direct bookings entered manually), per-night metrics (Average Daily Rate, Revenue Per Available Night, Occupancy, Average Length of Stay) on the dashboard, a personal-use day tracker that warns you as you approach the IRS limit, a draft tax-form view per property, and the matching tax export at year end. Long-term rental features (lease tracking, Rent Roll) automatically hide on short-term properties so you don't see 'lease expiring' alerts on your Airbnb.

Question 6

Can it handle a mix of long-term and short-term rentals?

Accepted Answer

Yes, that's exactly what the per-property toggle is built for. Set each property to long-term, short-term, or mixed-use. The dashboard aggregates both rental types. The tax export drafts entries for the appropriate tax form per property, with mortgage interest split correctly. One ledger for both rental types, with no double-tooling. Always confirm final tax-form selection with your CPA.

Question 7

How is this different from a short-term rental channel manager?

Accepted Answer

They're complementary, not competing. Channel managers run your bookings: guest messaging, multi-platform calendar sync, dynamic pricing. We run your books: the ledger, the per-property metrics, the personal-use day tracker, the year-end tax export. Investors with mixed portfolios typically keep their channel manager and use Keystone IQ for the financial and tax side.

Question 8

Will it work for my LLC structure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each property tags to an entity, and Schedule E / Form 8825 / Schedule C exports split by entity. A Consolidated rollup sums any properties you've grouped together; the typical pattern is one LLC = one group.

Question 9

What happens when I drop in a PDF?

Accepted Answer

The AI reads the document, pulls out vendor, date, amount, and category, matches it to the right property, and writes the rows to your ledger. Mortgage statements split into Interest and Principal automatically. Owner packets are expanded line by line. Every row lands in your ledger tagged with its source document, so you can spot-check, edit, or remove anything, and any row the AI isn't sure about is flagged in Review for you to confirm before you rely on the numbers downstream.

Question 10

Does it read scanned receipts and phone photos, or only clean PDFs?

Accepted Answer

Both. Scanned PDFs, phone photos of receipts, and clean digital invoices all work. Messy scans are slower but supported.

Question 11

What does Plaid actually connect to, and what can it see?

Accepted Answer

On Pro, Plaid links your bank accounts (for transaction import) and your mortgage servicer (for live loan balances and amortization). Access is read-only, so Plaid cannot move money. Revoke any connection from Settings whenever you want.

Question 12

How is mortgage principal vs. interest tracked?

Accepted Answer

You can upload monthly statements (on every plan), or connect your servicer via Plaid (Pro). Either way, every payment splits into Interest and Principal, and equity builds correctly on the dashboard from each property's amortization schedule.

Question 13

How long does setup take?

Accepted Answer

Add a property, drop in a few PDFs, see your numbers. There's no chart of accounts to configure; real estate categories are built in.

Question 14

Is there a mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Keystone IQ is on the App Store for iPhone and on Google Play for Android. It uses the same account and the same numbers as the web app.

Question 15

What is the Weekly Recap?

Accepted Answer

A short recap of your week on the dashboard: who paid rent, money in and out, and what is coming up. It's on every plan. Pro adds your Health score to it, and an optional Monday email.

Question 16

How does Keystone IQ find money?

Accepted Answer

On Pro, the Portfolio Health page reads your own ledger and leases and lists what it finds in three groups: Raise your score, Money you could keep, and Worth a look. Money you could keep covers things like rent below the nearby median, bills that crept up, and lease charges nobody billed. Each one shows its math, and the dollar figure is an estimate per year, not a promise. Forecast based on current data. Future results may differ.

Question 17

You hold my bank balances and my tenants’ info. What happens if you get hacked?

Accepted Answer

Every query is scoped to your organization's ID, so your rows are unreachable from another customer's session. Everything is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS. We host on Google Cloud Platform. You also hold real controls yourself: opt-in two-factor authentication (authenticator app + recovery codes) on sign-in, and biometric app lock (Face ID / Touch ID / fingerprint) so a lost or unlocked device isn't an open portfolio. The full picture lives on the Trust & Security page.

Question 18

Will my documents be used to train AI?

Accepted Answer

No, and the answer has two parts. The AI extraction runs on Google's Gemini on Vertex AI, Google Cloud's enterprise tier for businesses. Google's published terms for it commit “not to use customer data to train or fine-tune any of Google's generative artificial intelligence models…without customer's prior permission or instruction.” On our side, the original file is kept encrypted and tied to your account, and it's deleted when your account is. On Pro, you can open it from your Document Vault. It's never used to train any model.

Question 19

Where is the data hosted?

Accepted Answer

Google Cloud Platform, US region.

Question 20

I already use a free rental-tracking app. Why switch?

Accepted Answer

Free tools are where a lot of investors start, and they're good at holding a bank feed. The trade is usually manual work: on most free tiers you still categorize transactions yourself, and investor metrics like Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) aren't typically included. Keystone IQ is built around AI document extraction (it reads your owner packets, mortgage statements, and receipts) and ships those metrics out of the box. Features and pricing across this category change frequently; verify the current state on any provider's website before deciding.

Question 21

I use general accounting software. How is this different?

Accepted Answer

General business accounting software isn't structured for real estate. Investors typically adapt it using classes, sub-accounts, or a custom chart of accounts. But real-estate concepts (properties, tenants, leases, NOI, DSCR, cap rate) aren't built in out of the box, and that setup work falls on you. Keystone IQ ships real-estate-native: properties, leases, NOI, DSCR, owner-packet parsing, and a CPA-ready Schedule E / Form 8825 / Schedule C export are there on day one. Capabilities change; verify the current state on any provider's website if you're undecided.

Question 22

I keep everything in a spreadsheet that works fine.

Accepted Answer

If your spreadsheet still works for you, you probably don't need this yet. If reconciling each month is starting to feel like a job, the 14-day free trial will tell you fast.

Question 23

Do I have to re-enter my entire history?

Accepted Answer

No. Most people start with the current month and let the AI catch up from there as PDFs arrive. If you want a clean YTD picture for tax export (Pro), drop in this year's owner packets and mortgage statements for the AI to read, and import your bank export as a CSV.

Question 24

I have a CPA. Does this replace them?

Accepted Answer

No. Keystone IQ is a software tool for record-keeping and portfolio analytics, not a tax, accounting, or legal advisory service. What it does is make the prep cleaner: the export (Pro) generates a Schedule E, Form 8825, or Schedule C draft with line items categorized into the relevant tax lines, plus an Excel workbook your CPA can audit and adjust. They review, verify, and sign off; you keep the professional relationship. Always consult a licensed CPA or qualified tax professional for actual filings and financial decisions.

Question 25

Do I need a credit card to start?

Accepted Answer

No. Every account starts with 14 days of Pro, free, and Starter stays free after that. No card required.

Question 26

What happens after the trial ends?

Accepted Answer

Your account moves to Starter, free for up to 3 rentals, and your data stays. Upgrade to Pro anytime to keep bank sync and the Portfolio Health page.

Question 27

Can I move between Starter and Pro?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Upgrade to Pro anytime and it applies right away. If you cancel Pro, it runs to the end of the period you paid for, then your account moves to Starter. Your data stays either way.

Question 28

Monthly or annual?

Accepted Answer

Both. Pro is $144/year, 20% less than paying monthly. Switch between billing cycles whenever.

Question 29

Are there limits on the AI?

Accepted Answer

AI reading of invoices, receipts, mortgage statements and owner packets is included on every plan. Starter reads up to 10 documents a month, and the count resets on the 1st. Pro has no monthly cap. Every plan has a daily fair-use limit that keeps the service fast for everyone and sits far above normal use. Ask AI has a daily question limit on every plan, and the app tells you when you reach it. Anything the AI is unsure about lands in Review for you to check.

Question 30

Is $14.99 an intro price that jumps later?

Accepted Answer

No, $14.99/mo is our standard Pro price, not a teaser rate that spikes after a few months. Annual billing ($144/year) is our standard discount, and it's a real one. A limited-time offer, when we run one, is marked clearly as one.

Question 31

Can I cancel anytime?

Accepted Answer

Yes. One click from Settings → Billing. No contract, no cancellation call, no “are you sure” loop.

Question 32

What happens to my data if I cancel?

Accepted Answer

Nothing is deleted. Your account moves to Starter and you can export everything anytime: a full CSV of your ledger, and every document already in the Vault. We only delete an account when you ask (with a 30-day hold), or after 12 months with no sign-in, with an email 60 days before.

Question 33

How do I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

Sign in, go to Settings, and select Delete Account. If you can't sign in, email support@keystoneiq.app from the address on the account and we'll process the deletion for you.

Question 34

What if Keystone IQ shuts down?

Accepted Answer

Your data exports as a CSV at any time, on any plan. Whatever happens to us, you walk away with a clean ledger, and with the CPA tax package if you are on Pro.

Question 35

What if the AI gets a number wrong?

Accepted Answer

The AI is not infallible. Every extracted transaction is tagged with its source document, so you can spot-check, edit, or remove any row, and anything the AI isn't sure about is flagged in Review. As with any record-keeping software, you (or your CPA) should review the numbers before relying on them for tax filings or financial decisions.

Questions, answered.

Is this for me?