VA Form 10091: Filing the FSC Vendor File Request, Step by Step

VA Form 10091, the FSC Vendor File Request, is the document you use to set up or update a payment account with the Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center so the VA can pay you electronically for benefits, reimbursements, goods, or services. Submit it online through the Customer Engagement Portal at cep.fsc.va.gov or by fax to 512-460-5221. Normal processing takes 15 to 30 business days.¹

Who Files It

Anyone expecting a VA payment who does not already have a payment account on file needs to complete this form. Current recipients also use it to update an existing account after switching banks, changing a business name, or moving.²

Box 6 asks you to select a single vendor-type code. Pick the one that fits:

C – Commercial: businesses providing equipment, supplies, or goods to the VA.
C – Medical Provider: community care physicians, hospitals, and clinics billing the VA for veteran treatment.
I – Individual: people receiving non-benefit payments such as travel reimbursements.
I – Caregiver: participants in VA caregiver support programs receiving stipends.
I – Honorarium: speakers, consultants, and others receiving one-time honoraria.
V – Veteran: veterans receiving certain direct payments outside the standard compensation system.
F – Federal Agency: other government entities receiving interagency transfers.
O – Foreign: vendors located outside the United States.
U – Utility: utility companies billing the VA.
A – Agent Cashier: VA agent cashiers handling local disbursements.

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Gather everything before opening the form. You will need your nine-digit tax identifier, your legal name exactly as it appears with the IRS, a current address, an email and phone number for a point of contact, and a check or bank statement showing your bank’s routing number and account number. Hunting down a routing number halfway through is where most errors happen.

Filling In the Key Boxes

Identification

Box 11 is your nine-digit tax ID. Individuals use their Social Security Number. Businesses use their Employer Identification Number. Individuals who file taxes but are not eligible for an SSN use their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.¹

Box 14 is your legal name as it appears on file with the IRS. For a business, that is the name on your EIN confirmation letter, not a trade name or DBA. A mismatch between Box 14 and your tax records will delay processing.³

If your business qualifies as a small business, check Box 13.¹

Address and Contact

Box 18 is the current address tied to the payee or vendor name in Box 14. If you are updating an existing account and changing address, Box 19 asks for your previous address so the FSC can find your record.¹

Boxes 16 and 17 capture the email address and phone number of a point of contact. This is the person the FSC will call if something on the form does not match during processing, so choose someone who can actually answer questions about the account.³

Banking Information

Federal law requires the VA to pay almost everyone electronically. Title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 208, mandates electronic funds transfer for federal payments with narrow exceptions.⁴ The banking section is not optional.

Box 21 is your bank’s nine-digit ABA routing number, found in the lower-left corner of a personal check. The form warns against using a routing number from a deposit slip, because deposit slips sometimes carry a different internal routing number that will cause the payment to be rejected.¹

Enter your checking or savings account number next. If you do not have checks, your bank can provide the routing and account numbers, and they also appear on bank statements and in most online banking portals. Verify every digit. One wrong number means the transfer fails and you resubmit the form.

Foreign Vendors

If you selected “O – Foreign” in Box 6, the form requires two additional items: a completed IRS Form W-8BEN and a foreign identification number. The standard routing-number fields are built for U.S. banks, and the form does not spell out SWIFT or BIC procedures. Foreign vendors unsure how to provide banking details should call the FSC help desk at 877-353-9791 before submitting.¹

Sign It, or It Goes Nowhere

The FSC will not process the form without a signature in Section IV. The signer must be the actual payee or vendor named in Box 14, or someone designated and authorized in writing to represent them. If a business manager or power-of-attorney agent signs, written authorization needs to be on file.¹

Signing certifies that the information is accurate. The form references 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which makes it a federal crime to knowingly submit false or fictitious information to the federal government. The penalty is a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.⁵

Where to Send It

You have two accepted channels:

Online through the Customer Engagement Portal at cep.fsc.va.gov. You need an ID.me account to log in; if you do not have one, create it at ID.me first, since identity verification itself takes a few minutes.²
By fax to 512-460-5221 after printing and completing the PDF.³

Do not send the completed form by regular email. It contains Social Security Numbers, tax IDs, and bank account details, and standard email is not a secure channel. The portal and fax line are the only accepted routes.

What Happens After You Submit

Processing takes 15 to 30 business days from receipt.¹ The FSC verifies your tax identifier, banking details, and vendor classification during that window. If something is missing or does not match, the FSC contacts the person listed in Boxes 16 and 17.

Once your vendor file is active, scheduled payments flow automatically by electronic transfer. You do not resubmit the form for each payment. But if you change banks, move, or your business changes its legal name, file a new Form 10091 right away. Payments to a stale account will fail, and correcting the record puts you back into another 15-to-30-day cycle.

For questions about a pending submission or an existing vendor record, the FSC help desk is at 877-353-9791, Monday through Friday, 7:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Central Time.

Tax Reporting

Registering in the vendor file connects your tax identifier to the VA’s reporting system. For payments made on or after January 1, 2026, the federal reporting threshold for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC increases from $600 to $2,000, and starting in 2027 that threshold adjusts annually for inflation.⁶ If the VA pays you $2,000 or more in a calendar year for reportable categories, expect a 1099. The name and tax ID on your 10091 are what the VA uses to generate it, which is another reason to make sure Box 14 and Box 11 match your IRS records exactly.

1
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Form 10091 – FSC Vendor File Request
2
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center. VA Form 10091 FSC Vendor File Request – Payment Account Setup and Updates
3
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Form 10091 FSC Vendor File Request Instructions
4
eCFR. 31 CFR 208.3 – Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally
6
Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Publication 1099