How to Collect W-9s and Insurance Certificates in Muin, Step by Step

Before you pay a contractor you need their W-9, and before they start work you need their certificate of insurance. Document Capture asks for both with one link, reads what comes back, checks it against your rules, and waits for you to approve it.

What it costs

Plan	Documents a month	Price
Free	25	$0
Starter	200	$29 a month
Pro	1,000	$79 a month

Every plan starts with a 30-day trial. No card.

Step 1: Start the trial

In Muin, open Products in the menu, then Explore products, and click Start 30-day trial on Document Capture. Then open Products, then Document Capture. This is its Product Home.

Step 2: Press Run setup

One click turns on the four readers (W-9, certificate of insurance, invoice and receipt), sets the coverage a certificate is checked against from your industry, and turns on your own forwarding address. For a contractor that means general liability $1,000,000 a claim and $2,000,000 in total, workers compensation, auto liability, your organization named as additional insured, and a waiver of subrogation. You can change any of these.

Step 3: Ask for the documents

Under Ask someone for a W-9 or certificate, type the contractor’s name and email, keep W-9 and Certificate of insurance ticked, and click Create request link. Muin emails them the link and shows it to you as well. They open it, pick the document type and upload the file. They do not need an account.

Step 4: Let Muin read and check them

Each upload is read in a minute or two. Muin checks:

• the W-9 has a valid taxpayer ID and is signed,
• the certificate meets each limit you require, names you as additional insured, shows the waiver of subrogation, and has not expired.

The taxpayer ID only ever shows its last four digits.

Step 5: Approve

Each document shows what it says and whether it passed. Click Approve on the ones that did. A certificate keeps its expiry date, so you can see when to ask for the next one. A document that fails a check shows why (“Coverage ended on 2026-06-30”, “No taxpayer ID number (SSN or EIN) was found on this form”) and cannot be approved; the request stays open until a good one arrives.

Step 6: Export, or send to QuickBooks

Under Export, download a spreadsheet of every W-9, certificate, invoice or receipt. If QuickBooks is connected, approving an invoice sends it there as a bill.

Also: forward invoices and receipts

Your forwarding address is an email address you forward invoices, receipts, W-9s and insurance certificates to. It is on the Product Home with a Copy button. Forward the email with the document attached and it is read like an upload.

Full help: Document Capture.