Requesting Payment Information from Payees

This article covers how to request payment information from a new payee in Relay, how new payees can submit their information to a Relay user, and how to access this information once submitted.

Sections included in this article

1. Requesting payment information from payees created in Relay
2. Requesting payment information from payees synced from Xero or QuickBooks Online
3. Requesting payment information from a payee from the Payments page:
4. Responding to a request for payment information
5. Downloading W9 forms requested from payees
6. Things to Know

Requesting payment information from payees created in Relay

1. Initiate the creation of a New Payee. There are three ways to create payees:

• • From the Payee screen. Visit Payments > Manage > Payee > New Payee.

  • From a transaction screen. Visit Payments > New Payment. Select any payment method (ACH, Domestic Wire, International Wire, Check), then click +New payee above the payee list.

  • From importing existing payees from Xero or QuickBooks Online by integrating with our Bill Pay feature. More information on this is found in the next section of this article.

           All payees require an email in Relay to request payment information.              

           See a full walkthrough of adding and deleting payees here.

2. Enter the payee’s Name, Email, and the Account Classification.

3. Check the box “Request payment information from this payee.” This will replace the banking information form fields with three new input fields: 

• • Phone number [optional]: Submit the payee’s phone number to send them a notification that their payment information is requested.

  • Note: Add a note for the payee, e.g. “Please provide your banking information to receive payment from my company.”

  • W-9 form required: Check this box if you need a W-9 from this payee.

4. Click Save to save the payee in your Relay account. The payee will receive an email (and optional text message) requesting their payment information.

5. You can immediately submit payments to your new payee, even if their information is still pending. However, the transaction will not be initiated until the payee has submitted their payment information. Visit Payments > New Payment to initiate a payment.

Relevant articles on making payments:

• How to make an ACH payment
• How to send a Domestic Wire
• How to make a payment via check

Requesting payment information from payees synced from Xero or QuickBooks Online

When a bill is synced from Xero or Quickbooks Online to Relay, a payee will automatically be created if it is the first time a bill was synced for that payee name. The steps below outline how to request payment information from payees synced from Xero or QBO.

Click here for more information on syncing bills from Xero and QBO.

To request payment information from the Payee page for payees synced from QuickBooks Online or Zero:

1. Go to Payments > Manage > Payee > then click on the name of the payee to which the bill is associated. The only information synced from this payee will be name and email address, if there is an email associated with this payee in Xero or QBO.

2. The payee will appear in the right side-panel. Click Edit.

3. Enter the Name, Email, and Account Classification for this payee.

4. Select the Payment Type you would like to associate to this Payee. When you request payment information, Relay will request the information required for the selected payment type, specifically.

5. After selecting Payment Type, you will have the option to check a box labeled “Request payment information from [Payee Name].” Checking this box will replace the banking information form fields with three new input fields: 

• • Phone number [optional]: Submit the payee’s phone number to send them a notification that their payment information is requested.
  • Note: Add a note for the payee, e.g. “Please provide your banking information to receive payment from my company.”
  • W-9 form required: Check this box if you need a W-9 from this payee.

6. Click Save to save the updated payee information to your Relay account. The payee will receive an email (and optional text message) requesting their payment information.

Note: Any information added to payees synced from Xero and QBO will not update in Xero or QBO. This information is only stored in Relay.

7. You can immediately submit payments to your updated payee, even if their information is still pending. However, the transaction will not be initiated until the payee has submitted their payment information. Visit Payments > New Payment to initiate a payment.

Requesting payment information from a payee from the Payments page:

Payees synced from Xero and QBO will also appear in Payments once a bill has synced.

1. Initiate a payment. You can do this either:
2. Directly from Payments. Go to Payments > New Payment > Select payment method (ACH, International Wire, Domestic Wire, Check)
3. From Bill Pay. Go to Payments > Unpaid Bills, then click Initiate Transaction on a bill. Select whether you would like to pay by ACH, International Wire, Domestic Wire, Check.
4. Select the payee from the list of payees.
5. If an email for the payee did not sync from Xero or QBO, you will need to add an email before requesting payment information. This article can help you navigate how to edit a payee.
6.  Click the box labeled “Request payment information from [payee name].” Checking this box will replace the banking information form fields with three new inputs fields: 

• • Phone number [optional]: Submit the payee’s phone number to send them a notification that their payment information is requested.
  • Note: Add a note for the payee, e.g. “Please provide your banking information to receive payment from my company.”
  • W-9 form required: Check this box if you need a W-9 from this payee.

4. Fill in the rest of your payment details, then click Next. Clicking Next will send a notification to the payee requesting their payment information. Once they have submitted their information, the payment will automatically be initiated.

Responding to a request for payment information

Users in Relay can request payees to submit their own banking information to the Relay system. This saves communication time when payment information is missing and ensures efficient payment to the payee. The following steps outline how payees can respond to a “request for payment” notice from a Relay user.

1. Payees will receive an email with the subject line “[Relay User’s Name] from [Relay User’s Company] wants to send you money.” Click Receive Payment within the email to submit your payment information.

2. A new page will open confirming the request details. Click Get Started to continue.

3. Confirm your identity. Request a verification code to be sent by email or phone, then input your confirmation code to continue.

4. Input the requested banking information. If the Relay user requires a W-9, you will need to click Upload and upload your W-9 to the bottom of the form to continue. Accepted formats for upload are JPEG, PNG, or PDF. Click Next to complete your submission.

Once your banking information has been submitted, any pending transactions will automatically be initiated. Future payments to this payee account will not require payees to submit their information again.

Downloading W-9 forms submitted from payees - Running W9 Reports

Download all payee W-9 data into one .CSV file for easy import into Track1099, Tax1099, QBO, and Xero.

This makes it much easier for small businesses and their accountants/bookkeepers to move their contractor payee information collected using a W-9 form into the software they're using to issue 1099s.

Key W-9 data will be extracted out of PDFs and available to download into .CSV file. From there, upload the .CSV file into 1099, Xero, and QBO so that 1099 forms can be populated for all contractor payees at once, saving you tons of time.

In addition to the .CSV file, you can download a zip file which includes all source W-9 PDF files for easy attachment to files to QBO or Xero vendor records.

Relay will extract the following data from W-9s:

• Payee name 
• Federal ID type (EIN, SSN, ITIN, AITN)
• Address
• Email address
• Sum of payments made through Relay to a payee within the selected tax year
• Entity type
• Exempt payee code
• Exemption from FATCA reporting 

Only the following user types can download W-9 data:

• Accountants and bookkeepers with super admin or admin permissions
• Business users with super admin or admin permissions

The following instructions outline how Accountants and Bookkeepers can run W-9 reports for their clients:

1. Once signed into your account, you can download W-9 reports for your client in the following ways:

• If you want to run W-9 reports for all your client accounts, click on the Run W9 Report button on the top right corner of the client portal screen. 

• Once initiated, you will need to click on confirm and a zip file will be downloaded onto your computer. This file will contain multiple .csv files for each of your clients.

• If you want to download W-9 reports for just one of your clients, look for the particular client in your client portal and click on the three vertical dots beside their organization name.

• Click on the Run W9 Report button.

• Confirm to successfully download the W9 forms for that client and one .csv file will be downloaded on your computer.

Accountants and Bookkeepers are also able to download W-9 reports for individual clients by following the alternate instructions provided below. 

Business owners will need to follow the below provided instructions as well, in order to download W-9 Reports for their business:

• Sign-in to your Relay account on the Relay website.
• Open your required client or business account profile.
• Select the Payments option from the left-side panel on the screen.

• On the payments screen, click on the manage button at the top.

• On the next page, Select the Payee option. This will bring you to the main payee page where you will see the Run W9 Report option on the top right corner. Click on this button. 

• Click on confirm and a .csv file will download on your computer.

Things to Know

More information on W-9 forms: Business owners must collect a W-9 tax form from every contractor that they pay in order to file their taxes. Relay enables collecting W-9s before any payment is made to a contractor with just one click!

Contractors can download a fillable W-9 form from the IRS website linked here.

Why isn't the "requesting payment information" option showing up for me? It could be that there is no email listed for your payee. To learn how to edit your payee to add an email before requesting information, click here.

If you have collected a W9 from a payee in the last couple of days, you may have to wait 2-3 business days for the extracted data to appear in your W9 report. You can see when the W9 data was last updated at the time of running the report.