Simplifying 1099 filing for businesses

Designed end-to-end 1099 e-filing

ROLE

Product Designer

Credits

Found

CONTRIBUTION

Product Design, Product strategy, Desktop Design

OVERVIEW

Filing 1099s is a critical part of paying contractors for business owners. For this table stakes feature that we need to have to help convert those users to Found, I designed the full lifecycle of the product, from year-round W-9 collection to IRS filing.

THE CHALLENGE

Found had been helping users automate contractor payments — but the last piece was still missing. Users still had to file 1099s manually, risking IRS penalties for late or inaccurate submissions. Completing the loop meant adding filing. The design challenge was twofold: getting users to complete the pre-work of collecting tax information from contractors before the filing window opened, and making the actual filing process feel completable despite its compliance complexity.

SOLUTION

Designing the full year, not just the filing moment

The 1099 filing deadline is January 31 — but the real work starts in December. Without a contractor's W-9, there's no 1099 to file. I designed proactive communications through inbox and email to prompt users to collect missing tax information before the filing window opened. By the time January arrived, users who had done the pre-work could file without scrambling.

IRS filing, simplified

The actual filing flow distilled a complex IRS process into four steps: review total payments, review contractor information, choose how to file, and confirm. Users who selected e-file with Found were done in minutes — no manual form submission, no IRS portal. The system handled the rest.

OUTCOME

This was an extremely complex project distilled into a simple flow that users can easily complete. A big unlock for our customers.

— Camille Vergara, PM

The feature scaled from 1,200 filings in its first year to 2,300 the next — a 94% year-over-year increase. Zero blocking issues surfaced at launch, reflecting the thoroughness of testing and cross-functional collaboration throughout.

Simplifying 1099 filing for businesses

Designed end-to-end 1099 e-filing

ROLE

Product Designer

Credits

Found

CONTRIBUTION

Product Design, Product strategy, Desktop Design

OVERVIEW

Filing 1099s is a critical part of paying contractors for business owners. For this table stakes feature that we need to have to help convert those users to Found, I designed the full lifecycle of the product, from year-round W-9 collection to IRS filing.

THE CHALLENGE

Found had been helping users automate contractor payments — but the last piece was still missing. Users still had to file 1099s manually, risking IRS penalties for late or inaccurate submissions. Completing the loop meant adding filing. The design challenge was twofold: getting users to complete the pre-work of collecting tax information from contractors before the filing window opened, and making the actual filing process feel completable despite its compliance complexity.

SOLUTION

Designing the full year, not just the filing moment

The 1099 filing deadline is January 31 — but the real work starts in December. Without a contractor's W-9, there's no 1099 to file. I designed proactive communications through inbox and email to prompt users to collect missing tax information before the filing window opened. By the time January arrived, users who had done the pre-work could file without scrambling.

IRS filing, simplified

The actual filing flow distilled a complex IRS process into four steps: review total payments, review contractor information, choose how to file, and confirm. Users who selected e-file with Found were done in minutes — no manual form submission, no IRS portal. The system handled the rest.

OUTCOME

This was an extremely complex project distilled into a simple flow that users can easily complete. A big unlock for our customers.

— Camille Vergara, PM

The feature scaled from 1,200 filings in its first year to 2,300 the next — a 94% year-over-year increase. Zero blocking issues surfaced at launch, reflecting the thoroughness of testing and cross-functional collaboration throughout.

Simplifying 1099 filing for businesses

Designed end-to-end 1099 e-filing

ROLE

Product Designer

Credits

Found

CONTRIBUTION

Product Design, Product strategy, Desktop Design

OVERVIEW

Filing 1099s is a critical part of paying contractors for business owners. For this table stakes feature that we need to have to help convert those users to Found, I designed the full lifecycle of the product, from year-round W-9 collection to IRS filing.

THE CHALLENGE

Found had been helping users automate contractor payments — but the last piece was still missing. Users still had to file 1099s manually, risking IRS penalties for late or inaccurate submissions. Completing the loop meant adding filing. The design challenge was twofold: getting users to complete the pre-work of collecting tax information from contractors before the filing window opened, and making the actual filing process feel completable despite its compliance complexity.

SOLUTION

Designing the full year, not just the filing moment

The 1099 filing deadline is January 31 — but the real work starts in December. Without a contractor's W-9, there's no 1099 to file. I designed proactive communications through inbox and email to prompt users to collect missing tax information before the filing window opened. By the time January arrived, users who had done the pre-work could file without scrambling.

IRS filing, simplified

The actual filing flow distilled a complex IRS process into four steps: review total payments, review contractor information, choose how to file, and confirm. Users who selected e-file with Found were done in minutes — no manual form submission, no IRS portal. The system handled the rest.

OUTCOME

This was an extremely complex project distilled into a simple flow that users can easily complete. A big unlock for our customers.

— Camille Vergara, PM

The feature scaled from 1,200 filings in its first year to 2,300 the next — a 94% year-over-year increase. Zero blocking issues surfaced at launch, reflecting the thoroughness of testing and cross-functional collaboration throughout.