This article walks through how to use the Guide Payments export in Brindlechute to prepare 1099s for your guides, and explains the fields and payment statuses you’ll see in the export. This is intended to help you (or your accountant) organize accurate, accountant‑ready data.
Important note: Brindlechute does not issue 1099s to your guides. You, as the outfitter, are responsible for determining 1099 eligibility and filing based on guidance from your accountant or tax advisor.
Step 1: Download your Guide Payments export
Log into your Brindlechute account.
Navigate to Payments → Guide Payments.
Download the Guide Payments export for the relevant tax year.
This export contains a row for each guide payment recorded in Brindlechute, including both automatic payments and manual (offline) payments that were logged for record‑keeping.
Step 2: Use the 1099 spreadsheet template (recommended)
We recommend using the provided spreadsheet template to make the data easier to review and share with your accountant.
Open the template and make a copy.
Open your copied spreadsheet and start with the first tab, “How to use.”
Follow Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3 in the template to:
Import your Guide Payments export
Review and clean the data
Organize it into a clear, accountant‑friendly format
You can also choose to share the raw export directly with your accountant, if they prefer.
Understanding payment statuses
Each payment in the export has a Status that reflects where it is in the payment lifecycle
Draft
A payment that may be made in the future
It was not set up or executed
Typically not included in 1099 totals
Pending
A manual payment that was sent or logged
The guide has not yet accepted the payment
Once accepted, the status moves to Paid
Paid
An automatic payment that successfully reached the guide’s bank account, or
A manual payment where the guide acknowledged receipt
These payments are typically what you’ll review when preparing 1099s
Your accountant can help determine whether pending payments should be included, depending on timing and tax guidance.
Understanding payment methods
The Payment Method field indicates how the payment was made:
Automatic — Brindlechute was instructed to automatically send a direct deposit to the guide.
Manual — Payment occurred outside of Brindlechute (for example, check or cash), but was logged in Brindlechute for reporting and record‑keeping.
Both methods may be relevant for 1099 reporting.
Field definitions in the export
Every column in the Guide Payments export is defined in What's Inside the Guide Payment Report, including the client count columns, which answer three different questions and will not always match.
For 1099 purposes, the columns you're most likely to need are Guide (the payee), Total payout (what the guide was paid), Payment status, Payment method, and Est. arrival date.
Sharing with your accountant
You can share either:
The raw Guide Payments export, or
The completed spreadsheet template after reviewing and organizing the data
The goal is to give your accountant clear visibility into:
Who was paid
How much was paid
When payments occurred
Whether payments were automatic or manual
Questions or edge cases
If something in your export looks unclear (for example, draft or pending payments, or mixed payment methods), we recommend reviewing it with your accountant.
If you have questions about where to find the export or how fields are generated in Brindlechute, feel free to reach out to our team — we’re happy to help.