If you've already paid a domestic contractor outside of Gusto, you can still add the payment to Gusto for reporting purposes—this helps ensure the total amount on the contractor's Form 1099 NEC is accurate.

To adjust or cancel a previously processed-in-Gusto contractor payment, click the Cancel or adjust a contractor payment processed by Gusto dropdown below. To process a new payment, check out the information in the Pay a domestic contractor dropdown.

For each month a historical payment is entered in, you'll be charged your standard monthly contractor fee.

Adding historical payments for a previous year

The deadline to enter historical contractor payments for the previous year is in early January. Gusto will send a notification as the end of the calendar year approaches letting you know what the final deadline is to run any and all previous payrolls (this includes historical contractor payments).

• If you're entering multiple historical payments at the end of the year, you can enter all payments in the same month–this way you'll only pay one month's fee per contractor for all of their historical payments.

• If you're adding a payment for a previous year and a Form 1099 NEC has already been filed, you'll need to generate a corrected Form 1099-NEC.

• If Gusto did not handle your tax filings for the previous year, you'll need to generate and file a new Form 1099 outside of Gusto.

Add a historical contractor payment

First, add the domestic contractor in Gusto, then follow the steps below—if the contractor has been dismissed you'll need to rehire them first. The payment(s) will be added for reporting purposes only.

1. Click the Payroll section and select Pay contractors.

2. Click the pay date and select the actual date you paid your contractor–a message prompting you to further indicate this is a "historical payment" will appear.

   • If you're adding a payment for a previous year and a Form 1099 has already been filed (or the deadline for changes has passed), you'll need to generate a corrected Form 1099-NEC.

3. Next to the contractor's name, under the "Total amount" column, click Enter Payment.

4. Under the "Payment method" column, the default payment method for that contractor will appear—click that payment method (typically Check or Direct Deposit) until it updates to Historical Payment.

5. Enter the number of worked hours, wages, or other additional earnings that were paid.

6. Click Memo to leave a small message and let your contractor(s) know what the specific payment is for.

7. Click Continue.

8. Review the summary and click Submit payments if everything looks right.

View or adjust a historical contractor payment

1. Click the Payroll section and select Payroll history.

2. Click the Contractor payment history tab.

If you need to cancel or adjust a payment, click View details.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this document is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or tax advice. It is not intended to be a substitute for obtaining accounting or other financial advice from an appropriate financial adviser or for the purpose of avoiding U.S. Federal, state or local tax payments and penalties.