We have an employee who also cleans the office. She is paid a separate, set amount for cleaning. Should this be included in her payroll checks, or paid separately through A/P and receive a 1099 at year end, along with her W-2?

I'm assuming that this employee is paid hourly and her job description for which she is paid hourly does not include cleaning she should receive a 1099 because it is a set amount of $ that she is paid not a set amount of hours. However you could list it on her payroll check as something like a bonus or even just as CLEANING $50. Or whatever and just add her total hourly wages with it and take the taxes out right then so you don't give yourself extra paperwork to do. I would check with my accountant to make sure that whichever way you decide to do it it won't be a problem at the end for the year her/him.

I'm assuming that this employee is paid hourly and her job description for which she is paid hourly does not include cleaning she should receive a 1099 because it is a set amount of $ that she is paid not a set amount of hours.

Whether it happens to be in the job description, and whether she's paid hourly or just for the job do not compromise the IRS's requirements for whether someone is an employee or a contractor. There are a lot of things to consider that are not even mentioned in the original post and they can get quite picky about it.


However you could list it on her payroll check as something like a bonus or even just as CLEANING $50. Or whatever and just add her total hourly wages with it and take the taxes out right then so you don't give yourself extra paperwork to do.

Add it to the check and take the taxes out with it?? You just said she should receive a 1099. Contractors receiving 1099's don't have taxes taken out! You just contradicted yourself. If you add it to the check and take taxes out, you're no longer distinguishing a W-2 from a 1099! And if it were treated as contract work, then adding it to the check and not keeping it separated would make the paperwork more difficult, not easier. Do you know what these forms are? Have you ever done any kind of payroll before?

(I'm not implying it should be treated as contract work, only that you're totally contradicting your own prior statement.)

It's a little on the irrelevant side at this point since the post is 4 months old, but I'm thinking you're kind of not knowing what you're talking about here.