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About this spreadsheet

For any small business that pays contractors, freelancers or a landlord. Log each 2026 payment once and the workbook shows which payees likely need a 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC at the new $2,000 threshold, leaves out card and PayPal payments, and flags missing W-9s. A checklist, letters, a filing calendar and a CPA handoff list take you through the rest of the year-end close.

For payments made in 2026 the 1099 threshold rose from $600 to $2,000, payments by card or through apps like PayPal are reported by the processor instead of by you, and corporations are exempt except for legal and medical services. The Year-End Tracker applies all of that from one log of the year's payments: one row per payee with the amount that counts toward each form, the result (Likely 1099-NEC, Likely 1099-MISC, Review or None) and, for anyone who gets no form, the reason in plain words. Payees with no W-9, and payees you paid before their W-9 arrived, are flagged for your preparer.

Around the workbook: a year-end close checklist, a W-9 request letter and a second request, a 1099 decision worksheet for the payees you are unsure about, a filing calendar with the federal dates for tax year 2026, a CPA handoff cover sheet with a document list, and a page of questions for your preparer. The federal values are printed with their IRS sources as checked in November 2026; your state's filing rules go in a register you fill in once. It is a tracker and an organizer, not tax advice, and it never asks for a taxpayer identification number.

Highlights

  • Updated for 2026 payments: the $2,000 threshold, the end of the IRS FIRE system, and the 2027 amount
  • Card and PayPal payments left out for you; corporations exempt except legal and medical services
  • W-9 request letters, plus a flag for anyone you paid before their W-9 arrived
  • Year-end checklist, filing calendar and a CPA handoff list in one pack

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