1099-MISC Prep Fees?

So...for the 2018 tax year I offered complimentary Form 1099-MISC preparation for most clients. For the 2019 tax year, I am projecting enough 1099-MISC filings that I can no longer offer complimentary 1099-MISCs but will prepare them for a fee.

For those who are brave, what do you charge for preparation and efile of a 1099-MISC?

I was thinking something along the lines of $25 per 1099 if information is delivered by January 7th, $30 per 1099 if information is delivered by January 15th, and maybe $40 per 1099 if information is delivered after that...

That structure incentivizes clients (hopefully) to help me file their 1099s well before the deadline and before the ramp up to spring busy season.

My 1099 software and efile provider also offers to mail the 1099 to the recipient for a fee, and I'll offer this in addition to the prices above at cost of course.

I realize this is market specific, just hoping to get some pings on the radar here.

Pricing based on delivery date seems like a hassle.

We bill based on time.

If client delivers all info to us we charge approx $75 for the 1st one then it increases marginally from there. I would guess no more than $10-$15 per.

If client delivers QB to us and says go find the info, that is a different story.

We really don’t want to do 1099s but we want to serve our clients if they need help.

Thanks for your input Wiles. What I'm doing is trying to avoid a log jam around the 31st, but I do like your method of decreasing cost per 1099 for the client. Makes sense as it's more efficient to crank them out back to back than to just do one or two.

Perhaps I'll just offer a regular pricing structure, and offer a discount, say 25%, if I get everything I need by January 15th.

I'm going to require clients use an excel template I've developed to provide me with the required data. Should make things more efficient and minimize back-and-forth for things like addresses, missing tax IDs, etc. I might even be able to import into the software from the excel file, haven't looked at that yet...

This is my first year with a full-time business. I have had a couple of clients walk in with very late Forms 1099-MISC to do. I prepared what I think was a pretty tight engagement letter that basically said I was transcribing their information.

For the upcoming season, I will prepare Forms 1099-MISC at a modest price for monthly bookkeeping clients and charge a less modest price to those who are not. This reflects the time I must necessarily spend preparing those forms when I could be doing high-value business tax returns. I market myself as fixed-price. I give a quote and stick to it.

Here in NC, there are business personal property returns to do. I will charge $50 to monthly bookkeeping clients and $250 to all others. This reflects the time I must necessarily spend doing a diligent job.

For 2020, I will be charging $15 per 1099 plus a batch fee of $25 for the preparation of the 1099s. If I have to do any serious hide-and-seek playing that will be billed hourly. This does not apply to clients who are quoted an "all-in" price which includes 1099 preparation.

My $25 set fee goes up if it's at the last minute.

I offered complimentary 1099-Misc (no more than 5 per EIN) to my business clients because I don't want them to walk to my competition for that. I only have a handful that are more than 5 and I charge them a setup fee ($25 to $50), plus $5 per 1099-Misc. Again I have a very strict requirement (by 2nd week of Jan), that all info must be received by me. I start bothering them right after Christmas to get their books ready.

$35 minimum for 1
$22 ea for 2-14
$15 ea if 15 or more
We use the FIRE system and import from our 1099 program (1099-ETC).