Managing Payees and Vendors

What Are Payees?

Payees (also called vendors) are the people and organizations your church pays money to. This includes utility companies, suppliers, contractors, missionaries, denominational offices, and anyone else who receives payments from the church.

Maintaining a payee directory in TimelyChurch helps you:

• Select payees quickly when recording transactions or bills.
• Track total spending per vendor over time.
• Identify 1099-reportable vendors at tax time.
• Keep contact information and addresses in one place.

Payee Types

TimelyChurch provides several payee types to help organize your vendor directory:

Finding the Payees Page

The Payees & Vendors page lives inside the Accounting module, in the dropdown at the end of the Accounting tab bar:

• In Full Accounting mode the dropdown is labeled Setup ▾.
• In Simple Checkbook mode the same dropdown is labeled More ▾.

Open Setup ▾ (or More ▾) and choose Payees. The Payees & Vendors entry is available in both accounting modes.

Adding a New Payee

1. Open the Accounting module and go to Setup ▾ (or More ▾ in Simple Checkbook mode) > Payees.
2. Click New Payee.
3. Fill in the details:
   • Name (required) -- The payee's name as it should appear on checks and reports.
   • Type -- Select the payee type from the dropdown.
   • Contact Email -- Email address for the payee.
   • Contact Phone -- Phone number.
   • Address -- Mailing address (important for 1099 vendors).
   • Tax ID / EIN -- The vendor's EIN or SSN (important for 1099 vendors).
   • 1099 Vendor -- Check this box if this vendor requires a 1099 at year-end.
   • Notes -- Any internal notes about this vendor.
4. Click Add Payee.

Inline Payee Quick-Create

When recording a transaction you can add a missing payee on the fly without leaving the form. The payee field is a search box labeled Search or add payee.... Start typing the payee's name -- if it does not match an existing payee, an Add "..." as new payee button appears in the dropdown. Click it and the new payee is created and immediately selected in the form so you can keep working.

The quick-create only captures the payee's name. The new payee is saved to your directory, so you can edit it later on the Payees page to add the type, address, Tax ID, or 1099 status.

Editing a Payee

1. Find the payee in the list, open its actions menu (the ⋮ button on the right of the row), and choose Edit.
2. Update any fields.
3. Click Save Changes.

Searching and Filtering Payees

The Payees page provides:

• Search -- Type a name, email, or phone number to find a specific payee.
• Type filter -- Filter by payee type (Vendor, Contractor, Utility, etc.).
• Show Archived -- Toggle to include archived payees in the list.

The list is paginated (25 per page) and sorted alphabetically by name.

Archiving a Payee

If you no longer do business with a vendor but want to preserve the transaction history:

1. Open the payee's actions menu (the ⋮ button) and choose Archive.
2. The payee will be hidden from dropdown lists and the active payee directory.
3. All associated transaction history is preserved.

To view archived payees, toggle Show Archived on the Payees page. You can restore an archived payee at any time.

Deleting a Payee

You can only delete a payee that has no transactions. If the payee has associated transactions, archive it instead.

1. Open the payee's actions menu (the ⋮ button) and choose Delete.
2. Confirm the deletion.

Merging Payees

If you have duplicate payee records (e.g., "City Electric" and "City Electric Co."), you can merge them:

1. Open the actions menu (the ⋮ button) on the payee you want to remove (the source) and choose Merge Into....
2. Select the payee you want to keep (the target).
3. Click Merge Payee to confirm.

All transactions from the source payee will be reassigned to the target payee, and the source payee will be deleted.

1099 Vendor Tracking

Churches are required to file IRS Form 1099-NEC for independent contractors and certain vendors paid $600 or more in a calendar year. TimelyChurch helps you track this automatically.

Setting Up a 1099 Vendor

1. When adding or editing a payee, check the 1099 Vendor box.
2. Enter the vendor's Tax ID / EIN (EIN or SSN). This is required for 1099 filing.
3. Enter the vendor's Address (required for 1099 forms).

Running the 1099 Report

At year-end (or anytime during the year to check progress):

1. In the Accounting module, open the Reports tab and go to the 1099 Vendor Report.
2. Select the tax year, then click Update.
3. The report shows:
   • All vendors marked as 1099 vendors.
   • Total payments made to each vendor during the year.
   • Whether the vendor meets the $600 threshold requiring a 1099.
   • A flag for any vendor missing a Tax ID.

Click Download PDF to save the report for your records or to share with your accountant.

Tip: Check the 1099 report periodically throughout the year, not just at year-end. If a contractor is approaching the $600 threshold, make sure their Tax ID and address are on file before you need to file the 1099.

Important: TimelyChurch tracks the data needed for 1099 reporting but does not file the forms electronically with the IRS. You will need to use the report data to file 1099 forms through your accountant, tax preparer, or an IRS-approved e-filing service.