The 1099 Contractor Balance Detail Report in QuickBooks Online

The 1099 Contractor Balance Detail report lists the vendors you have flagged as 1099 contractors and, for each one, the transactions you recorded with them and the balance those transactions net to. It is a vendor balance detail narrowed to your 1099 contractors, so it gives you a per-contractor view of activity and open balances at the same time you are preparing 1099s.

What the 1099 Contractor Balance Detail shows

For each vendor marked to track for 1099s, the report lists the transactions with that contractor, showing the type, date, and amount, and a running balance that ends in the net amount you owe them, or the amount a credit leaves in your favor. Because it is scoped to contractors flagged for 1099 tracking, it also works as a quick check that your 1099 contractor list is complete and that the balances with those vendors are what you expect.

It is a balance report, stated over the date range you set. It reflects the transactions with each contractor in that range and the balance they net to. At 1099 time you would typically run it for the tax year alongside the 1099 Transaction Detail Report.

One distinction matters: the balance here is not the amount that goes on a 1099. The figures that feed the forms come from the 1099 Transaction Detail Report, which totals the qualifying payments and leaves out credit-card and third-party-network payments. This report is about your transactions and open balances with the 1099 vendors, which is a separate view.

Why a CPA or auditor asks for it

At 1099 time your accountant wants the full population of 1099 contractors and the activity behind each, not just the box totals. This report puts the by-contractor transaction detail and the open balances in one place, which helps confirm the contractor list is complete, catch a vendor who should have been flagged, and reconcile what you still owe each contractor before year end. In due diligence or an audit, it shows who your 1099 contractors are and the recorded dealings with them. It reads alongside the Vendor Balance Summary for your payables as a whole and the 1099 Transaction Detail Report for the amounts that land on the forms.

How to run and export the 1099 Contractor Balance Detail in QuickBooks Online

1. Go to the Reports menu and type "1099 Contractor Balance Detail" into the report search box, then open it.
2. Set the report period, either the tax year or a range that matches what you are reviewing.
3. Confirm your contractors are flagged to track for 1099s, so the report includes them.
4. Run the report and review the transactions and balance for each contractor.
5. Use the export control at the top of the report to export it to Excel or PDF. The file downloads to your computer.

Keeping the 1099 Contractor Balance Detail after you cancel

You can include this report in your Books Backup archive on request, and you can also export it yourself before you cancel. The per-contractor transaction detail disappears with the company, so it is worth saving with your 1099 records: a cancelled paid QuickBooks Online company stays read-only for 12 months and is then permanently deleted, a trial only 90 days, and the IRS generally expects business records to be kept for at least three years, and longer in some cases. Once the company is deleted, you cannot recover the transactions behind each contractor's balance from QuickBooks Online unless you saved them separately.

Frequently asked questions

Is the balance on this report the amount that goes on the 1099?

No. The 1099 box amounts come from the 1099 Transaction Detail Report, which totals the qualifying payments for the year and leaves out credit-card and third-party-network payments. This report shows the transactions and the balance you owe each 1099 contractor, which is a different figure.

Which vendors appear on it?

Only vendors you have marked to track for 1099s. If a contractor is missing, check whether the vendor is marked to track payments for 1099s and whether your report settings are right, and ask your CPA if you are unsure whether a vendor should be tracked or reported.

Why keep it after I file my 1099s?

Your filed forms are summaries, and this report is part of the record behind them and of your dealings with each contractor. Once the QuickBooks company is deleted, you cannot recover that per-contractor detail from QuickBooks Online unless you saved it separately, so keep it with the year's 1099 records.