W9 Policies

A W-9 form is essential for us to process payments efficiently and remain compliant with federal regulations. Submitting a W-9 at the right time helps avoid unnecessary delays with your group’s financial requests.

You must provide a W-9 whenever we issue a check on your VSOs behalf to pay a company or individual for goods or services. This includes:

• Service Payments

• (and Advanced Payments if you are planning on using it for a service)

Without a valid W-9 in these cases, your request may be delayed until the documentation is received.

Another instance is gifts over $100: If you are giving gifts (e.g prizes, swag, and awards) with a value of more than $100, each recipient is required to submit a W-9. This ensures proper IRS reporting of taxable income.

• When you create a Service or Invoice Payment request, you’ll be asked to enter your vendor’s information and email.

• Once your request is processed, the vendor will automatically receive an email with instructions to submit their W-9 directly.

  • This is the preferred method of collection.

• If the vendor does not receive the email, contact banking@sse.stanford.edu to have it resent.

• If the vendor still cannot locate the email, they may provide a PDF version of their completed W-9, which you can upload alongside your other documentation.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) apps such as Venmo, Zelle, or Apple Cash are not allowed for any services from people. Please do not use P2P apps to process group-related transactions. For more information, please see our Invoice Payments & Service Payments page.