Buildium 1099 Totals Don’t Match Vendor Payments: What to Check

1099 totals in Buildium usually don’t match vendor payments because the 1099 report counts only eligible payments (by payment method, date, and vendor tax setup) while the vendor ledger shows all payments, including non-1099 items like credit card, reimbursements, or payments outside the tax year. To fix it, confirm the vendor’s 1099 settings, the payment methods included, the date basis (cash vs accrual), and whether any payments were coded to non-1099 accounts or paid through a third party. If everything looks correct, the “mismatch” is often expected and the right next step is documenting why those payments are excluded rather than forcing totals to match.

 

What to check in Buildium (in the order that usually finds the issue)

 

• Tax year and date type: Make sure the report is run for the correct calendar year. 1099s are typically cash-basis (counts when money left your account), not when a bill was created.
• Vendor is marked as 1099-eligible: In the vendor profile, confirm the vendor is set up for 1099s and has the correct Taxpayer type and TIN (SSN/EIN). If not marked eligible, payments won’t appear on the 1099 totals.
• Payment method exclusions: Payments made by credit card or through many third-party processors are often excluded from 1099 totals because the processor issues the tax form (common reason totals look “low”). Compare vendor payments and flag any paid by card.
• Who was paid: If checks/ACH were issued to a different payee name, or payments were split across duplicate vendor records, the 1099 total may sit under another vendor profile.
• Account/category mapping: Some expense accounts may be set as non-1099. If bills are coded to a non-1099 category, they may not count even though the vendor was paid.
• Credits, voids, and refunds: Voided checks, refunded payments, or vendor credits can reduce the 1099 total while the “payments” view still shows the original activity unless filtered correctly.
• Owner reimbursements vs vendor payments: Reimbursements to owners/board members are not vendor 1099 payments unless they are set up as vendors and paid as such.

 

How to validate quickly (no guessing)

 

• Pull a list of the vendor’s payments for the year and filter by payment method. Separate check/ACH from credit card/third-party.
• Confirm each counted payment is posted (not voided) and the payment date is inside the tax year.
• Search for duplicate vendors with similar names and compare totals.

 

If everything is correct but totals still don’t match

 

• The mismatch may be normal: vendor payment totals include items that are not legally 1099-reportable (especially credit card payments). The correct action is to keep a note showing which payments were excluded and why.
• If the vendor insists: provide a breakdown by payment method and date, and explain that only eligible payments are included in the 1099 total.

 

When to contact support or get advanced help

 

• If payments are check/ACH, in the correct year, vendor is 1099-eligible, and they still don’t appear on the 1099 report, contact Buildium support with payment IDs, vendor ID, and the report settings used.
• If you’re unsure what is legally reportable, ask a tax professional; Buildium can show data, but it can’t decide tax rules for your situation.