Vendors
A vendor is a contact you buy from. Vendors live in Contacts (sidebar or Lists → Contacts) with the type Vendor, alongside customers, employees, and other contacts. This page covers what's specific to vendors: 1099 setup, tax IDs, and the reports that use them.
For bills, Pay Bill, and A/P aging, see Accounts Payable.
Vendor fields
Vendors have the same basic fields as customers — company and person names, display name, email, phone, mobile, website, default account, notes, and an active flag. The default account is the suggested expense account on new bill lines.
Tick 1099 Eligible and the 1099 section opens:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Tax ID Type | SSN, EIN, or SIN |
| Tax ID (SSN/EIN) | Stored encrypted in the company file |
| Legal Name (W-9 line 1) | The name the IRS has on file, if different from the display name |
| Federal Tax Classification | From the vendor's W-9 |
| Default 1099 Box | Leave blank to use the account or company default |
| W-9 on file / W-9 Received Date | Track which vendors have sent a W-9 |
| Exempt from 1099 reporting / Exemption Reason | For vendors you pay but don't report |
| Subject to backup withholding | For vendors who haven't given a valid tax ID |
1099 setup
If you pay an unincorporated contractor at least the reporting threshold in a calendar year — $600 for 2025 payments, $2,000 from 2026 — you generally owe them and the IRS a Form 1099-NEC. Rules of thumb for who to mark 1099 Eligible:
| Vendor | 1099? |
|---|---|
| Sole proprietor or freelancer | Yes |
| Single-member LLC | Yes |
| Multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership | Yes |
| Corporation, or an LLC taxed as one | Usually no |
| Attorney, in any structure | Yes |
| Foreign vendor with no US presence | No — they use the W-8 forms |
Ask for a W-9 when you onboard a vendor. It gives you their tax classification and tax ID; enter both on the contact. Your accountant has the final word on edge cases.
Most contractor pay goes on 1099-NEC, box 1. Rent, royalties, and other payments go in 1099-MISC boxes; set the vendor's Default 1099 Box, or set the default on the account you post those payments to.
The 1099 Report (Vendors → 1099 Report) totals payments to eligible vendors by box. Card and payment-processor payments are left out automatically, since the processor reports them on a 1099-K. The report flags vendors with a missing or badly formatted tax ID. Export a CSV for your filing service or save recipient PDFs (Copy B). Solid Accounting doesn't e-file 1099s; file through IRIS or a filing service.
Tax IDs
Tax IDs are encrypted inside the company file. Contact lists and the 1099 Report show only the last four digits. Seeing the full number needs permission to edit contacts, and each time someone views it is recorded in the Audit Trail; use Users & Roles to limit who has that permission. 1099 filing exports still include the full tax IDs, and those exports are recorded too.
Reports that use vendors
- A/P Aging — what you owe each vendor, by how overdue it is.
- 1099 Report — year-end totals by vendor and box.
- Income Statement and other financial reports — drill down to a vendor's transactions.
Inactive vendors
Mark a vendor inactive when you've stopped using them. They drop out of bill and check pickers, but their bills, payments, and 1099 history stay. A vendor you made inactive mid-year still appears on that year's 1099 Report if you paid them. Vendors with transactions can't be deleted — make them inactive instead.
Common gotchas
1099-eligible vendor with no tax ID. The 1099 Report flags it. Chase W-9s in November, not late January.
1099 totals don't match your Schedule C expenses. That's expected. Schedule C counts everything you spent; the 1099 Report counts only payments to eligible vendors, excluding card payments.
A contact is both a customer and a vendor. Each contact has one type. Create a separate contact for each role.