Guide
2026-10-22
Send the W-9 before the invoice can get stuck
US companies often cannot pay a new freelancer until vendor setup is done. A W-9 sent after delivery sits in a queue for weeks.
A new US client can love the work and still be unable to pay you. Their accounts team will not add a vendor without a Form W-9, and many also want an ACH authorization or a voided check. That packet is a queue. Ten business days is ordinary. Three weeks happens when the approver is out.
If the first time they see your W-9 is attached to the final invoice, the net-30 clock they care about has not started. Their clock starts at vendor setup. Yours started when you emailed the PDF.
Send the packet with the yes, not with the last file
The day they accept the estimate, send three things: the W-9, the payment method you want (ACH details, or Zelle if they actually pay that way), and the deposit invoice. Ask who the vendor form goes to. It is rarely the person who hired you.
Name on the W-9, name on the bank account, and name on the invoice have to match. “Alex Chen Studio LLC” on the invoice and “Alex Chen” on the W-9 is enough for setup to stall while someone asks which legal entity they are paying.
A certificate of insurance, if they asked for one in the contract, belongs in this same email. Waiting until they request it in week six adds another week you could have overlapped with the work.
How you know setup is finished
Ask for a vendor number or a confirmation that the deposit invoice is in the system. “We’ll get you in the system” is not that. A vendor ID, or a screenshot of the bill in their portal, is.
Do not start a multi-week project on a handshake if the deposit cannot be paid until setup is done. Either start and keep the first milestone inside the setup window, or wait for the vendor ID. The painful version is finishing the job and discovering the W-9 was never forwarded by the person who hired you.
What to chase, if it stalls
Chase the missing form, not the tone of a late invoice. “Vendor setup for INV-12 is waiting on the W-9 I sent March 3 to dana@client.com. Who should I resend it to so the 31 March run can include the $1,500 deposit?”
In JobPay, keep that deposit as its own due. Snooze it only after you have a date from accounts. Mark it paid when the deposit clears, not when they say the vendor record was created.
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