1099 Software- Top Five Features of a Good 1099 Software

1099 Software - Top Five Features of a Good 1099 Software

1099 reporting software solutions are becoming more popular by the day. An increasing number of businesses (small and large), accountants, bookkeepers and payroll service providers are using 1099 software solutions to automate the process of reporting 1099 income and printing 1099 forms. Here is a list of the top five features required for a good 1099 software:

Support for the major types of 1099 forms:

1099-MISC: Miscellaneous Income. This is the most common 1099 form and is mostly used to report wages paid to independent contractors. Other examples of payments reported on a 1099-MISC form include: rents, royalties, prizes, awards, legal services and medical services. 1099-DIV: Used for reporting Dividends and Distributions. 1099-INT: Used for reporting Interest Income. 1099-R: For reporting distributions from pensions, annuities, retirement plans, IRAs, or insurance contracts.

Printing:

Support for printing on ordinary blank paper or on pre-printed laser forms using an Inkjet printer or a laser one. Ability to print on pressure seal forms. Ability to adjust the top, bottom, left and right margins for the data being printed.

Importing 1099 Data

This is a very fundamental feature and is especially needed when a large number of forms need to be reported. Basic support should include the ability to import from a CSV (comma separated value) file. Most of the major accounting software applications such as Intuit QuickBooks, Sage MAS90, Sage Peachtree and Microsoft Great Plains are capable of exporting to excel spread sheet and delimited text files. The 1099 software should be capable of importing the both the filer's and recipients' information, this includes (but not limited to): payer's name, payer's address, payer's federal identification, recipient's identification number, recipient's name. The import function should also allow the user to import different amounts such as rents, royalties, fishing boat proceeds, medical and health care payments, non-employee compensation, crop insurance proceeds, excess golden parachute payments and gross proceeds paid to an attorney.

Electronic Filing:

IRS regulations provide that any person, including a corporation, partnership, individual, estate, and trust, who is required to file 250 or
more information returns must file such returns electronically. The 250 or more requirement applies separately for each type of return and separately to each type of corrected return. Even though filers may submit up to 249 information returns on paper, IRS encourages filers to
transmit those information returns electronically. This is why it's essential for any serious 1099 software to support the ability to create 1099 E-File submissions. Transmitters are required to submit Form 4419, Application for Filing Information Returns Electronically, to request authorization to file information returns with the IRS. A single Form 4419 should be filed no matter how many types of returns the transmitter will be submitting electronically. For example, if a transmitter plans to file Forms 1099-INT, one Form 4419 should be submitted. If, at a later date, another type of 1099 form will be filed, the transmitter should not submit a new Form 4419.

Exporting Data:

The ability to export 1099 forms data is a fundamental feature in any powerful 1099 software. In many cases, the user would input the data into the 1099 filing software, clean it up, review it and then export to excel for example to use it inside another software or inside excel  itself to do further processing. Some user might export the recipient list to create printing labels. This is a summarized list of the main features of a good 1099 filing software that will make 1099 reporting easier during the tax season. For more information about 1099 forms and 1099 filing visit the website below: www.realtaxtools.com