Free 1099 Contractor Payment Tracker (Excel with Formulas, Fillable PDF, Word)

What is on the 1099 contractor payment tracker

Legal name and TIN

As written on the contractor's W-9: the individual's name for a sole proprietor (with the business name on the second line), the entity name for an LLC or partnership. The IRS matches name and TIN; a mismatch triggers a notice and possible backup withholding. Record only the last four digits here; keep the W-9 itself securely.

Entity type

From W-9 box 3. Individuals, sole proprietors, partnerships and LLCs taxed as either get a 1099-NEC. C and S corporations do not, except for legal services and medical payments.

W-9 received

Date you got the signed form. Ask for it before the first payment: the contractor has every incentive to provide it then and little afterwards.

Payment method

Card, PayPal, Venmo business, Stripe and similar are reported by the processor on Form 1099-K and must be excluded from your 1099-NEC to avoid double reporting. Check, cash, ACH, wire and bank-to-bank apps (Zelle) are yours to report.

Reportable amount

Fees for services. Exclude reimbursed expenses billed separately with receipts, and exclude the cost of goods when the contractor sold you a product as well as a service.

Reporting threshold

Total reportable payments to a contractor in the calendar year at or above the threshold require a 1099-NEC: $2,000 for payments made in 2026 and later (indexed for inflation after 2026, under the 2025 tax law), $600 for 2025 and earlier years. Below it, no form is required but the expense is still deductible with your records.

Date sent

Copy B must reach the contractor and Copy A the IRS by January 31 (no automatic extension for 1099-NEC). Keep proof of mailing or the e-file confirmation.

Who gets a 1099-NEC

Any individual, sole proprietor, partnership, LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship or partnership, or estate that you paid at or above the reporting threshold during the calendar year ($2,000 for payments made in 2026 onward, $600 for 2025 and earlier) for services in the course of your trade or business, by check, cash or bank transfer. That includes freelancers, consultants, subcontractors, cleaners, landscapers, bookkeepers, designers, photographers and the person who fixed your website. Attorneys get one regardless of their entity type when paid for legal services. Medical and health care providers get one regardless of entity type. Exclusions: corporations (other than those two), payments made by card or through a third-party payment network (the processor files 1099-K), payments for goods only, payments to employees (W-2), and personal payments not connected to your business. Rent paid to an individual landlord goes on 1099-MISC instead.

The W-9 habit

Everything about January depends on having a W-9 on file for each contractor. The form gives you the legal name, the entity type, the address and the TIN, and the contractor certifies they aren't subject to backup withholding. Make it part of onboarding: no W-9, no first payment. If a contractor refuses or provides no TIN, you are required to withhold 24% of each payment as backup withholding and remit it to the IRS which is more work for you and a strong incentive for them. Store W-9s securely (they contain SSNs) and separately from this tracker, which carries only the last four digits.

How to use the sheets through the year

1. When you engage a contractor, add them to the contractor list and obtain the W-9. Mark whether a 1099 will be required based on entity type and how you'll pay.
2. Each time you pay, log it: date, contractor, invoice, amount, method, and 1 or 0 in the reportable column. Excel keeps the running reportable total.
3. In early January, total each contractor from the log onto the year-end summary. Excel calculates the box 1 amount and flags contractors at or over the threshold you entered.
4. Order forms or set up e-filing (required if you file 10 or more information returns of any type), prepare the 1099-NECs, send Copy B to contractors and file Copy A by January 31.
5. Tick the checklist, record the date sent, and keep copies for four years.

Penalties for missing or late 1099s

The IRS penalty per form depends on how late it's: roughly $60 if filed within 30 days of the deadline, $130 if by August 1, and $330 after that or if not filed at all, with higher amounts for intentional disregard and annual caps that depend on business size (figures are inflation-adjusted each year). The same scale applies separately to the copy owed to the contractor, so one missed contractor can cost two penalties. A reasonable-cause defence requires showing you acted responsibly which is what a tracker like this demonstrates.

Editing the Excel versions

In Excel the payment log totals paid and reportable amounts, and the year-end summary calculates the 1099-NEC box 1 figure and the threshold flag for each contractor and totals the columns. Add rows inside the tables and the totals follow. Pay contractors from the contractor or freelance invoice they send, record the expense in the business expense tracker as well, and put the January deadline on the tax document checklist.

Questions

Do I send a 1099 to a contractor I paid through PayPal or by credit card?

No. Payments made by credit or debit card or through a third-party payment network (PayPal, Venmo business accounts, Stripe, Square) are reported by the processor on Form 1099-K. Including them on your 1099-NEC double-reports the contractor's income. Bank transfers such as ACH, wire and Zelle aren't third-party networks and are reportable by you.

Do LLCs get a 1099-NEC?

Depends on how the LLC is taxed, which W-9 box 3 tells you. A single-member LLC (disregarded) or an LLC taxed as a partnership gets one. An LLC that has elected to be taxed as a C or S corporation does not, unless the payment is for legal or medical services.

What if I do not have a W-9 and the contractor will not respond?

Document your requests (dates, method). File the 1099-NEC anyway with the name and address you have and the TIN field blank, and begin 24% backup withholding on any further payments. The IRS may assess a penalty for the missing TIN but your documented requests support a reasonable-cause waiver.

Is the threshold per payment or per year?

Per year, in total, per contractor. For payments made in 2026 and later the threshold is $2,000 (raised from $600 by the 2025 tax law, and indexed for inflation after 2026); for 2025 and earlier it was $600. Twenty monthly payments of $100 in 2026 total $2,000 and require a 1099-NEC. Check the IRS instructions for the year you're filing.

When is the 1099-NEC due?

January 31 for both the contractor copy and the IRS copy, whether paper or electronic. There's no automatic extension for the NEC. If January 31 falls on a weekend, the due date is the next business day.