QuickBooks Year-End Tip – Tracking 1099 & W-9 Information

Every vendor record in QuickBooks provides you with a place to indicate if a Vendor is eligible for a 1099 and a spot for you to enter the Vendors tax ID number and I highly recommend that you utilize this functionality along with the ability to attach a completed W-9 to the Vendor record.

You can enter this information by going to the Vendor Center, selecting and editing a Vendor record.   Exactly where you enter this information will depend on what “year” version of QuickBooks you are using, I’ve included a couple of examples below to help point you in the right direction.

Really want to stay organized?  Add a Custom Field to Vendor records indicating if a completed W-9 is on file for that Vendor or not —- here’s how:

•  From the Vendor Center –> Edit a Vendor -> go to the Additional Info tab -> click the Define Fields button

• The Set up Custom Fields for Names window will appear.  In the Label column –> type in W-9 on File? and place a checkmark in the Vend column (see below).  Click OK

• QuickBooks will display an message window indicating that you have activated custom fields for this list.  Click OK to dismiss this window.

• When you return to the Vendor record you’ll now see that the W-9 on file? field is available (see below).  Use this field consistently to enter
  • Yes – meaning yes a W-9 is on file for this vendor
  • Need – meaning you need to get a W-9 from this vendor
  • N/A – meaning that a W-9 is not applicable for this vendor

You can now create, utilize, and memorize a Vendor W-9 Information Report.  To create the report:

• From the Reports menu –> List –> Vendor Phone List
• Click the Customize Report button (upper left corner) –> on the Display tab -> click into the Columns box and check the following options:
  • (left margin)
  • Vendor
  • Main Phone
  • Main Email
  • Bill from
  • Vendor Type
  • Tax ID
  • Eligible for 1099
  • W-9 on File?
• Click on the Header/Footer tab –> in the Report Title field; type in Vendor W-9 Information and click Ok.

You now have a report that you can use to review and manage the information that you have on file about your vendors and to assign a valid Vendor Type, review Tax ID’s, review if a vendor is eligible for a 1099 and indicate if a W-9 is on file.  I highly recommend that you memorize this report and review it every 6 months to keep this required information up to date.

If you want to take your data information management to the next level – scan Vendor W-9’s, turn them into pdf’s and attach it to the Vendor record using the Attach function.

On Tuesday November 26th, look for an article that will help you perform a 1099 self audit for your year end tasks.

Looking for other articles and tip on our site that relate to 1099’s – click here to view our Search results.

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