4. The Case of the Manual Entry

PREVIOUSLY: THE CASE OF THE IMPORTED VENDOR INFORMATION

It all started when Walter answered the phone.
On the other end, his grandmother was playing damsel in distress.
She had heard so much from Walter about Tax1099, and she had decided it could be the solution to her filing season. His grandmother was always hunting for the newest and best in technology.
After co-founding a dog walking service, her compliance situation had gotten out of hand.
Filling out 1099 forms one by one was not an option. She needed to import her data.
And Tax1099 was just the one for the job. Read what Walter learned about importing here.

THIS WEEK:

Walter wasn’t the kind that was easy to rattle. But when his grandmother disapprovingly suggested that he wasn’t prepared for tax season … well … that was enough to make his blood run cold. 

Walter poured a steaming cup of liquid strength, added cream and sugar, and skulked to his office.

Running Bread, Bagel, & Butter bakery wasn’t always the piece of cake Walter had expected. Sometimes it was pretty crummy.

Especially when it came to preparing for tax season. Walter had tangled with the IRS before, and he wasn’t eager to mix with them again.

Luckily, he thought, settling into his chair, he had found Tax1099. It was good to have a man on the inside – an IRS approved solution.

Turning to his computer, Walter navigated to Tax1099.com. 

Walter entered his login credentials, and punched, “Login.”

He was in.

It was time to put Tax1099 to the test. Was it really going to be a fast, secure, and accurate way to create vendor forms? Time would tell. 

Walter clicked on “Forms” on the left side of his screen. 

Then he spotted it: “New Form.”

On the following screen, he selected the tax year he would be filing for: 2017.
He also selected the form he would like to file for his chalk-artist contractor, Ernest “The Chalk” Johnson: the 1099-MISC.

The next screen showed the skeleton of a 1099-MISC form.

Walter had to stop and give himself some credit. He had prepared for tax season, to some extent. He had worked hard to gather Ernest’s W-9 information through an e-solicitation.
Walter rubbed his hands together gleefully. E-soliciting a W-9 through Tax1099 was paying off. All the Payer information was already in the system, Walter only had to select it. Ernest’s vendor information was also available.

In the tax season to come, Walter wouldn’t have to manually enter Payer and Vendor information. He would select the Payer and Vendor. Then, he would select the tax year and enter the amount paid. Walter would also enter state information – but he’d get to that later. 
Walter saw a blue “Add Payer” box to the right of the Payer box. There was an “Add Recipient” option next to the Recipient box, too.

“Ah,” he thought, “if I need to create a form for another recipient, that’s how I could do it.”

Walter was now completely at ease. Until he caught sight of a box on the form: “Account Number.”

He broke into a cold sweat. Account Number? What was his account number?
In a panic, Walter opened a chat box with Tax1099. 

“Hello,” he feverishly typed, “What is my account number on the 1099-MISC form?”
A representative was not long in answering, “That is a number we use to track the form to the IRS. You don’t need to bother with that number, it’s just an identifier for your form.”

“Oh,” Walter sighed. “Thank you very much!”

There was a knock on the office door. 

“Come in,” Walter called. 

It was his grandmother. 

“Grandmom,” Walter exclaimed, “I’ve tested manual entry in Tax1099. I am prepared for season!” 

“That’s nice dear,” his grandmother shrugged, “Here, have an oatmeal cookie.” 

RECAP:

Because Walter only has a few forms to file, manual entry is the best way to create forms. Walter had e-solicited Ernest’s W-9, so the information was already in the system. Tax1099 came down on Walter’s side once again. For once, Walter stood a chance against IRS penalties. 

NEXT WEEK: 

Business was picking up at Walter’s Bread, Bagel, & Butter bakery. Walter’s filing system had been napkins and rickety old cabinets. Now, he had to take a big step – Excel spreadsheets. He wondered if Tax1099 would import from an Excel spreadsheet.
Tax1099 was fully integrated with accounting software products, such as QuickBooks Desktop & Online, Bill.com, and Xero …  surely there was an Excel import option.
He would find out.