Onboarding vendors: W‑9, insurance and expectations

A new vendor is easy to start using and hard to sort out later. Collect the paperwork before the first job, agree in writing on how you work together, and keep both current. This guide covers each part in the order a new vendor goes through it.

1. Collect a W-9 before the first payment

The W-9 gives you the vendor's legal name, business type and taxpayer ID number. Your accountant needs it to send 1099s to the vendors you pay during the year. Asking for it after the job, when the vendor already has your money, takes much longer.

Check that the name on the W-9 matches the name on the invoice and on the insurance certificate.

2. Get a certificate of insurance

Ask for a certificate of insurance sent by the vendor's insurance agent, usually on an ACORD 25 form, rather than a photo of last year's. Check:

• General liability coverage at or above the minimum you set
• Workers' compensation if they have employees, or a signed exemption where your state allows one
• Commercial auto coverage if they drive to your properties for work
• Your company named as additional insured, if you require it
• The policy dates, and the day it expires

Your insurance agent can tell you which minimums make sense for your properties and state.

3. Check licenses for the trades that need them

Plumbers, electricians and HVAC technicians need a license in many states, and some cities add their own. Look up the license number on your state licensing board's site and keep its expiration date next to the insurance one.

4. Agree on expectations in writing

Most vendor problems start with something nobody said out loud. Put these in a one-page agreement or your vendor terms:

• How you send jobs, and how fast they answer a job offer
• Whether they take emergencies at night and on weekends, and at what rate
• Who books the visit with the tenant, and how much notice tenants get
• What done means: a note on what they did and a photo of the fix
• Your spend limit per job, and when to ask before going over it
• How long their work is under warranty, and how callbacks work
• Where invoices go, and what each one shows: address, unit and work order number

5. Keep it current

Insurance renews once a year, often on a different date for each vendor. Keep every expiration date where you will see it, and ask for the new certificate 30 days before the old one ends. Hold new jobs for a vendor whose certificate has run out until the new one arrives.

Ask for a new W-9 when a vendor changes its business name or structure. Review the expectations once a year with your regular vendors, and again after any job that went badly. The vendor management guide turns that review into a simple scorecard.

To see how vendors get job offers, nudges and bookings by text or in the vendor app, read Vendors.

Two federal rules belong in every vendor file. The IRS expects you to collect a W-9 from independent contractors and to file Form 1099-NEC for those you pay at or above the reporting threshold. For homes built before 1978, the EPA requires anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces to be a lead-safe certified firm. See lead paint rules for rental repairs.