1099 preparation & filing services.

1099 preparation is the year-end work that reports what your business paid to contractors and certain vendors. It runs end to end: identifying which vendors are 1099-reportable (generally unincorporated contractors paid $600 or more for services), collecting a Form W-9 from each so you have their legal name, entity type, and taxpayer ID, tracking reportable payments through the year so the amounts are accurate, preparing the 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC from clean books, and filing the returns — the contractor copy and the IRS e-file — by the deadline.

Here is the line that gets blurred most often, so it’s worth stating plainly: a 1099 is an information return. It reports payments your business made — and that work belongs to bookkeeping and Certified ProAdvisor scope, so we prepare and can file it. It is not your business or personal income-tax return. The return itself — the 1040, 1120-S, 1065, the deductions, the tax planning — is your CPA’s or EA’s work. We prepare the 1099s, keep the books they rely on, and coordinate with your tax pro; we don’t file your income-tax return.

Part 01 · Identifying 1099-reportable vendors

Not every vendor gets a 1099. The first task is sorting which payees are reportable — generally unincorporated contractors and certain vendors paid $600 or more for services — from those that aren’t, such as most corporations and payments made by card (which the processor reports). Getting this list right is the foundation everything else builds on.

Part 02 · Collecting a W-9 from each

Every reportable payee needs a Form W-9 on file — their legal name, entity type, and taxpayer ID — before a correct 1099 can be issued. We identify who’s missing one and help you collect it, ideally before you pay a new contractor rather than scrambling in January.

Part 03 · Tracking reportable payments through the year

The 1099 amount has to match what you actually paid for services, with non-reportable amounts (reimbursements, card payments, payments to corporations) excluded. That accuracy comes from clean, reconciled books where vendor payments are categorized correctly all year — not reconstructed from memory in a hurry.

Part 04 · Preparing the 1099-NEC / 1099-MISC

From clean books, we prepare each contractor’s 1099-NEC (or 1099-MISC where it applies), with the correct amounts, the right form, and the payee details from the W-9. Borderline payments — is this rent, legal, or nonemployee compensation? — are confirmed with your CPA or EA before filing.

Part 05 · Filing and e-filing the returns

Each contractor gets their copy and the IRS gets the filing — typically e-filed — by the deadline. We prepare and can file the returns, or coordinate filing alongside your tax pro, so the information returns are in on time and match the books they came from.

Where we stop · Where this stops: it’s not your income-tax return

1099 preparation reports payments your business made; it is not the preparation of your business or personal income-tax return. That return — and any tax-planning, deductions, or filing of the 1040/1120-S/1065 — is your CPA’s or EA’s work. We prepare the 1099s, keep the books they rely on, and coordinate with your tax pro.

You paid contractors but have no W-9s

You used freelancers or contractors through the year and never collected W-9s — so in January you don’t have the names, entity types, or taxpayer IDs needed to file. That gap is exactly what 1099 preparation closes, ideally before the deadline pressure hits.

Vendor payments aren’t cleanly tracked

Service payments, reimbursements, and card payments are mixed together, or vendors aren’t consistently categorized — so you can’t tell what’s reportable. The 1099 amounts can only be right if the books behind them are clean and reconciled first.

You’re not sure who’s reportable

You’re unsure which vendors need a 1099, which form applies, or whether a payment counts — corporation versus individual, card versus check, services versus reimbursement. Sorting the reportable list correctly is where 1099 preparation starts.

Accurate 1099s aren’t a January scramble — they’re the product of clean books kept all year. A Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor with active Online and Desktop certifications sorts the reportable payees, collects the W-9s, reconciles each payee’s reportable total against the books, prepares the 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC, and files on time — confirming any borderline payment with your CPA or EA first. Independent firm — not Intuit, and not a tax-return service; your income-tax return stays with your CPA or EA, and we coordinate with them.

1099 vs. W-2

Before the form comes the classification: whether a worker is an independent contractor (W-9, then a 1099) or an employee (W-4, then a W-2). The plain-language glossary entry on the distinction that decides which form a worker even gets.

Bookkeeping

Accurate 1099s come from clean books — vendor payments tracked and reconciled all year, not reconstructed in January. Ongoing bookkeeping keeps the records that 1099 preparation reads from.

Payroll management

Employees get a W-2 through payroll, not a 1099. If a worker is really an employee, payroll — not a 1099 — is the right path, and managed payroll handles the W-2 side.