The key to managing 1099s for roofing subcontractors is staying organized throughout the year. Most of the work happens upfront when you bring on a new sub, not during a January scramble.

Get a W-9 from every subcontractor before you pay them the first time. Not after the job. Not when you’re doing year-end paperwork. Before the first check goes out. The W-9 gives you their legal name, address, and tax ID number. Without it, you’re chasing people down in January who may have moved, changed phone numbers, or simply stopped responding.

Store W-9s digitally in a folder organized by year. Paper copies get lost in trucks and job trailers. Digital copies are searchable and survive the chaos of roofing season. When you need to verify a TIN or address, you can find it in seconds instead of digging through filing cabinets.

Track payments by subcontractor as you make them. Your accounting software should do this automatically if it’s set up correctly. Every check or transfer to a sub needs to hit a vendor record so you have a running total. If you’re paying subs in cash without recording it properly, you’re creating problems for yourself and potentially misreporting income.

The $600 threshold is what triggers the requirement. Any subcontractor you pay $600 or more during the calendar year gets a 1099-NEC. This includes payments for labor and materials the sub provided. If a crew does one small repair for $400, no 1099 required. If they do multiple jobs totaling $650 across the year, they get a 1099.

The deadline is January 31 for both the copy to the subcontractor and the filing with the IRS. This is not a soft deadline. Late filing triggers penalties that increase the longer you wait. File by January 31 and you’re fine. Miss it and you’re paying $60 or more per form depending on how late.

Run a vendor payment report quarterly and verify it looks correct. Catch the sub you paid three times under slightly different name variations before it becomes a year-end problem. Roofing companies that work with the same crews repeatedly sometimes create duplicate vendor records without realizing it.

Common mistakes that create headaches include paying a sub multiple times without recording it under one vendor name, not getting W-9s until January when people don’t respond, missing payments made through Venmo or Zelle, and using incorrect TINs because nobody verified the W-9 when it came in.

File electronically. The IRS requires e-filing if you’re submitting 10 or more 1099s. E-filing confirms receipt immediately and reduces errors from manual data entry. Most construction and roofing companies end up over that threshold once they count all their subs for the year.

If tracking all this feels like too much while you’re running crews across Hancock County job sites, that’s normal. Many roofing contractors hand off 1099 management along with their monthly bookkeeping. A Findlay bookkeeper who understands construction can keep records organized throughout the year so January filing becomes a simple verification step instead of a frantic search for missing information.

The system doesn’t need to be complicated. Collect W-9s before paying anyone new, track every payment by vendor, and review quarterly. Do that and 1099 season takes a few hours instead of a few weeks.