One of the common areas of concern that I have seen voiced related to routine Form 1099 maintenance is the problem of having to move the RDL output boxes around and testing your alignment by sending off a test print, only to find out that you aren’t quite on the mark - and so you have to keep adjusting and printing, adjusting and printing, until you get it right.
One idea you may want to consider is creating a background image on your RDL based off a screen capture of the released and downloadable Form 1099 from the IRS.gov website.
This way, you are merely aligning your output boxes directly to the background image - and - you don’t need to load 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC template forms into the printer tray down the hall and hope nobody sends a print job over to it by the time you test your alignment changes again.
Additionally, you can print to any printer on your domain and you don’t have to worry about how the different print drivers will interpret and produce the output from one printer to another. The output is already aligned against your Form 1099 background.
In this scaled down example, I’ve set up all 5 copies of the 1099-MISC (I’ve also performed this measure for the 1099-NEC) as one RDL (SSRS report):
Notice, too, that I’ve included USPS recipient mail address and company return address outputs on Copy 2 and Copy B (recipient copies) of the RDL that are in precise alignment with our company’s windowed envelopes.
Your “mail stuffers” will also thank you when they realize you’ve made their jobs easier by providing a dotted line guide for them to fold the top of the printed Form 1099 down upon - then turn the form over to “S-fold” the bottom of the form back to the crease.
Just an idea that you can try, if you prefer, for next year.
[I didn’t create this in the “Experts Corner” because I’m not an expert and didn’t exactly know where to post this]
