A service that delivers the outcome: completed W‑9s.
Verified vendor W‑9s, posted to your books.
Paperhound chases every vendor, verifies each W‑9 and posts it to your books. You pay only for complete W‑9s.
For bookkeepers, accountants and finance teams · Pay only for completed W‑9s
Illustration with made-up vendor names and data, showing the kind of status and record you see.
The problem
W‑9s are easy to ask for and hard to finish.
Vendors do not respond
The request sits in their inbox while your team sends reminders by hand.
Mismatches surface late
The name and tax ID on the form do not match, and you find out at the worst time.
The work lands on your team
Someone reads every form, chases every vendor and keys the result into the vendor master.
Service
Hire the outcome, not another tool.
With software you run, your team owns the process. With Paperhound, the work is done for you, and AI agents do it behind the scenes.
Software you run
- Your team sets it up and runs it
- You configure workflows
- You watch for exceptions
- Your team owns getting the work finished
Paperhound service
- Handled end to end
- No setup project
- Paperhound verifies each form and follows up with the vendor on any mismatch, so you do not have to
- You pay only for completed W‑9s
How it works
From vendor list to finished forms, in three steps.
Paperhound builds the AI agents that chase and orchestrate every vendor. You do not need to manage or worry about any of it.
- 1
Connect your books
Paperhound’s agents find the vendors you paid this year and which of them have no current W‑9 on file.
- 2
The agents collect
The agents email each vendor at regular intervals. If a vendor has not responded after three follow-up emails, Paperhound can call, with prior authorization. You can see the status of every vendor at any time.
- 3
Verify and post
The agents verify the tax ID and name, resolve any mismatch directly with the vendor, and post the completed form into your books, or into a spreadsheet if you prefer.
QuickBooks Online
Xero
Sage Intacct
Fusion
Zoho
Pricing
Pay per completed W‑9.
A W‑9 counts as completed when it is verified and posted into your books. A vendor who never responds costs you nothing.
Fit
Built for bookkeepers and finance teams.
Bookkeepers and accounting firms
Take vendor W‑9 follow-ups off your team's client-work checklist. Paperhound chases vendors, verifies each form and handles the updates to the books. Your team can see every vendor's status and pays only for completed W‑9s.
In-house finance teams
Get the W‑9 chase off your team's plate. Paperhound follows up with vendors, verifies each form and posts it to your books. You can see what's complete and what's outstanding, without learning or running another tool.
Not a fit if
- You want software to run yourself.
- You already have a verified W‑9 on file for every vendor.
About
Meet the founder.
Paperhound is founded by Sankar Rao Amburkar, who has spent about 15 years building B2B SaaS products, especially in finance and procurement.
He has built AI-native harnesses, intake agents and procure-to-pay agents for enterprise workflows. His experience spans intake to pay: how a purchase request comes in, moves through approvals, gets paid and is recorded in the books. Paperhound brings that hands-on understanding of procurement and accounts payable to vendor W‑9 collection.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a completed W-9?
The form is collected from the vendor, the tax ID and name are verified, and the form is posted into your books. Anything short of that costs you nothing.
When do I pay?
Each engagement runs for a period Paperhound and you agree upfront. At the end, Paperhound raises one invoice for the W-9s completed in that period. You pay only for completed W-9s. A W-9 counts as complete once it is verified against IRS records and posted to your books.
Is this software we have to learn?
No. Paperhound is a service. Paperhound reads your vendor list, then completes each W-9 the way you choose: through API access you authorize, where the agents update the vendor record themselves, or through a spreadsheet you update. AI agents run the work and deliver the finished W-9s. You do not configure anything.
How do you contact my vendors?
Paperhound emails the vendor on a regular schedule and reminds them to send the W-9, explaining that future payments may be held without it. Phone calls are optional. If a vendor has not responded after three follow-up emails, Paperhound can call them, but only with your prior authorization. You can turn calling off entirely.
What if a vendor never responds?
The agent keeps following up by email on a regular schedule. If a vendor has not responded after three follow-up emails, Paperhound can call them, but only with your prior authorization. You see the status of every vendor. You pay only when the W-9 is completed.
How can I see the progress?
Paperhound provides a tool where you can log in to see each vendor's status. You can also access it from your preferred AI chatbot if it supports MCP. A shared spreadsheet is another option. Each route lets you see which W-9s are complete and which are still outstanding.
How long does it take?
It depends on how quickly each vendor responds. Some W-9s are completed within a couple of hours, others take up to a week. Paperhound keeps following up with each vendor until the W-9 is complete.
What does "verified" mean?
Every W-9 is checked against IRS records through a verification vendor. Paperhound confirms that the tax ID exists, that it is valid, and that the name on the form matches the name the IRS has on file. If anything does not match, Paperhound goes back to the vendor to fix it before the W-9 counts as complete.
Who is responsible for the work?
A person is. Paperhound's AI agents do the chasing and checking, and Sankar Amburkar, the founder, oversees the work and is accountable for every engagement.
Does Paperhound connect directly to my accounting system?
Yes, if you allow it. Every system Paperhound supports offers an API, and Paperhound connects to it once you give access. If you would rather not, Paperhound and you exchange the vendor list and the finished W-9s by spreadsheet instead. The result is the same either way. You choose how much access to give.
Which accounting systems do you work with?
QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Oracle Fusion, Zoho and Workday.
When should we start?
W-9s are easiest to collect before January. Starting in the fall leaves time for follow-ups and for fixing mismatches.
Is there a minimum number of vendors?
No. Paperhound works with any vendor volume, from a handful of vendors to thousands.
Does Paperhound file 1099s?
Paperhound collects and verifies W-9s. It does not file 1099s.
Blog
From the Paperhound blog.
Short, practical notes on collecting, verifying and keeping vendor W‑9s current.
What changed in 2026 for W‑9s and 1099 reporting
A new Form W‑9 revision is still in draft, but the reporting floor for most vendor payments moved from $600 to $2,000, indexed from 2027. What it means for vendor W‑9 collection.
When you need a new W‑9, even if you already have one
A signed W‑9 does not expire, but it does go stale. Six situations that call for a fresh form - from an IRS mismatch notice with a 30-business-day clock to a vendor quietly changing banks.
Why vendors don't send their W‑9 on time
The W‑9 request is two minutes of work for you and a chore for the vendor. Why W‑9s arrive late, and what actually gets them back faster.
Get your W‑9s off your plate.
Get in touch and Paperhound will walk you through getting started.
Get in touch