How to Fill a W-9 Form Using PDF.co and Zapier

5 Minutes Read

The W9 form is a tax form used in the United States by businesses or organizations that need to request information from a person or entity (such as an independent contractor or freelancer) they are paying for services rendered. The form requests information such as the person’s name, address, taxpayer identification number (TIN), and whether they are subject to backup withholding.

The purpose of the form is to provide the business or organization with the information they need to accurately report the payments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and issue the appropriate tax forms at year-end (such as the 1099-MISC form for non-employees who received payments of $600 or more during the year). The person or entity who receives the form (the payee) must complete and return it to the business or organization requesting it, typically before any payments are made.

This tutorial shows you how to automatically fill a W-9 PDF when a new row is added to Google Sheets. PDF.co fills the form fields, and Google Drive stores the completed document.

What You’ll Need

A PDF.co account
A Zapier account
A Google Sheets spreadsheet
A fillable W-9 PDF template
A Google Drive folder for completed forms

Use sample information while testing, and restrict access to folders containing completed W-9 forms.

IN THIS TUTORIAL

Prepare the Google Sheet

Identify the W-9 Form Field Names

Set Up the Google Sheets Trigger

Fill the W-9 with PDF.co

Save the Completed W-9

Publish the Zap

Step 1: Prepare the Google Sheet

Create a spreadsheet containing the information that will be added to the W-9 form. Your columns might include:

Name
Business Name
Federal Tax Classification
Address
City, State, and ZIP Code
Taxpayer Identification Number
Output File Name

Add a row containing test data so Zapier can configure the workflow.

Step 2: Identify the W-9 Form Field Names

PDF.co needs the exact internal names of the fillable fields in your W-9 template.

Create a temporary PDF.co action in Zapier.
Select Get PDF Information.
Select Add a new account, sign in to PDF.co, and authorize Zapier.
Enter the direct URL of the fillable W-9 PDF.
Enable Extract Fillable Fields.
Test the action and record the field names returned by PDF.co.

The names must be entered exactly as they appear in the result. Once you have recorded them, you can remove the temporary action.

Step 3: Set Up the Google Sheets Trigger

Create a new Zap.
Select Google Sheets as the trigger app.
Choose New Spreadsheet Row as the trigger event.
Connect your Google account.
Select the spreadsheet and worksheet containing the W-9 data.
Test the trigger and confirm that Zapier retrieves your sample row.

Step 4: Fill the W-9 with PDF.co

Add an action and select PDF.co.
Choose PDF Filler as the action event.
Select Add a new account, sign in to PDF.co, and authorize Zapier.
In Source File URL, enter the direct URL of your fillable W-9 template.
Under Fillable Form Fields, add an entry for each field you want to complete.

For every entry, configure:

Page: Enter the page index containing the field. Use 0 for the first page.
Field Name: Enter the exact internal field name returned by the PDF information step.
Value: Map the corresponding value from Google Sheets.

For example, map the spreadsheet’s Name column to the W-9 field used for the taxpayer’s name.

Add the remaining W-9 fields.
Set File Name to a descriptive value, such as W9-Name.pdf.
Test the action.

PDF.co will return a URL for the completed PDF. Open it and verify that the values appear in the correct fields.

The PDF Filler action fills existing interactive form fields. Any required signature should be collected using an appropriate signing process.

Step 5: Save the Completed W-9

Add another action and select Google Drive.
Choose Upload File.
Select the destination folder.
Map the PDF.co output URL to the file input.
Map or enter the output filename.
Test the action and confirm that the completed W-9 appears in Google Drive.

Step 6: Publish the Zap

Review the completed workflow:

Google Sheets detects a new row.
PDF.co fills the W-9 template with the row’s data.
Google Drive saves the completed PDF.

Publish the Zap when the test succeeds. Each new spreadsheet row will now generate and store a completed W-9 form automatically.

In this tutorial, you learned how to fill a W9 Form using PDF.co and Zapier. You also learned how to use the Get PDF Info to fill out the fillable fields.