Filing 1099s for Your Clients in 2027: IRIS, TCCs, and Pricing

A bookkeeper or accountant can file every client's 1099s through IRIS with one TCC: apply once, choose the Transmitter role, and use that code for every client. FIRE closes on November 19, 2026, so a FIRE TCC won't file a single 2026 form. If you don't have an IRIS transmitter TCC yet, apply this month; the IRS says to allow up to 45 days. The forms are due February 1, 2027.

The filing itself is the easy part. The hard part is the three weeks before it: W-9s missing across a dozen clients, owners who haven't looked at the list, and payments that only show up in the bank. Here is how IRIS works for a firm, and how to make January shorter.

IRIS for a firm: Issuer or Transmitter

When you apply for an IRIS TCC, you pick one role. You can't pick both on one application.

The IRS encourages transmitters who file for several businesses to submit one application, choose the Transmitter role, and use that TCC for all of them. A few details that matter when you have a client list:

• One CSV, several clients. A transmitter's CSV file can contain multiple issuers. Each file has to be one tax year and one form type, so clients' 1099-NECs go in one file and their 1099-MISCs in another.
• Upload limits. Up to 100 forms per submission; CSV files hold up to 250 records.
• Saved issuers. The portal's Issuer Management screen saves up to 25 frequent issuers for keyed entry. That limits saved profiles, not the number of clients you can file for.
• Recipient copies are still yours. IRIS generates PDF copies for each contractor, but it doesn't email or mail them. For a firm with 15 clients, that can be a few hundred envelopes or emails.
• The application needs an EIN and a responsible official who signs with a PIN. Authorized delegates can be added.

The IRS's IRIS publications don't require a separate client authorization form to transmit 1099s. Cover 1099 filing in your engagement letter, and get each owner's sign-off on the amounts before you file, because the owner is the one whose name is on the form.

The January crunch

Every firm that files 1099s knows the shape of January:

1. Find out who was paid. Some clients keep the books with you all year; others send a spreadsheet in January. Payments by check, ACH, cash, and Zelle count toward the $2,000 line. Card and PayPal payments are on the processor's 1099-K and come out.
2. Chase W-9s. Across a dozen clients, that is dozens of contractors, many of whom stopped answering email in October. The W-9 guide has the request emails.
3. Total and check. Who crossed $2,000 for 2026, which box, and whether any December checks cleared in January. The 2026 threshold guide covers the rules that changed.
4. Get the owner's sign-off. Usually by email, usually late.
5. File and send copies. By February 1.

Steps 2 and 4 are where the days go. Anything that starts the W-9 chase in November and makes the owner's sign-off one click saves more time than a cheaper per-form price.

How Poof files for a firm

Poof files 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC with the IRS under its own TCC, so neither you nor your clients apply for one.

• Every client on one page. Each client's forms, the W-9s still missing, and whether the owner has signed.
• W-9s for every contractor. One click emails each contractor a W-9 link, with a link to text for anyone without an email. Poof reminds the rest every 5 days, up to 3 times, and lists who's still missing from December 1.
• "Send for signature." Poof emails the owner a one-use link. They read the forms and sign with their name, title, and "I agree", with no login. That signature approves the forms and authorizes Poof to file them.
• Poof files and sends the copies. After the year ends, Poof files with the IRS, emails each contractor who agreed to it their copy, and mails the rest first-class. The owner gets the IRS receipt by email, or exactly what to fix.
• Tax IDs checked before filing. Poof checks each tax ID's format. If you want the IRS to confirm names and numbers match, its TIN Matching program through e-Services is free.

What it costs a firm:

All of it is paid in one checkout for every client. A firm filing 60 forms across 12 clients, none with 3 or fewer, pays for the forms past each client's first 3: 60 − 36 = 24 forms, all at $2.49, which is $59.76, plus postage for any paper copies.

Poof files with the IRS only. If a client's state wants its own copy, plan for that separately.

The rest of the year

Filing season is a good time to look at how clients' books get to you the other eleven months. Every client company is free on Poof, with the books, the reports, and the close checklist a firm signs off on. Poof Agent, which does the overnight sorting and reads the receipts, is $29 a month for each client you switch it on for, billed to the firm. Clients you file 1099s for this January can stay on the free plan with nothing else to pay.

Start with the list. The free 1099 vendor tracker totals each contractor by how they were paid and flags who crosses $2,000, and how to file 1099s online compares the filing options and prices for a single business.

*General information, not tax advice; your CPA has the final word.*

*Written by Austin Semple, a former controller: two years in audit, seven running the books for small businesses, and the founder of Poof. Poof puts every client's 1099s, missing W-9s, and owner signatures on one page, and files them with the IRS under its own filer code. File your 1099s with Poof: the first 3 forms each year are free.*