June 17, 2025

How Referee Assignors Can Manage Taxes Efficiently

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Assignors handle more than just game schedules. They're often the middle point for payments, communication, and—perhaps most overlooked—tax-related responsibilities for dozens or even hundreds of referees.

And for many assignors, tax season brings an unnecessary amount of manual work. From collecting W-9s to issuing 1099s, reconciling payments, and fielding last-minute questions, it’s a major lift that repeats year after year.

That’s why more assignors are turning to Refr Sports—a platform designed not just to streamline scheduling, but also to eliminate the administrative drain of tax season.

The Real Administrative Burden

If you're managing even a modest-sized roster, the hours add up fast:

  • Collecting and tracking W-9s
  • Managing referee payment records
  • Preparing exportable summaries for 1099 generation
  • Responding to payment or earnings questions from officials
  • Coordinating documents with accountants or bookkeepers

All of this compounds when you work with multiple leagues, sports, or events. And without a centralized system in place, you’re often left rebuilding records from emails, spreadsheets, and memory.

Refr Tracks It All from Day One

Refr helps assignors stay tax-ready—not just in January, but throughout the year. With every game assigned and every official paid, the platform automatically builds a trackable history tied to each referee’s profile.

That includes:

  • Game-level payment data
  • Match confirmation logs
  • Clean reports for exporting totals by official or timeframe

When tax time comes, you’re not starting from scratch. You’re simply filtering, exporting, and handing off.

W-9 Collection, Simplified

One of the most tedious parts of referee tax management is collecting W-9 forms and keeping track of which officials have submitted what.

Refr solves that by allowing assignors to:

  • Collect W-9s directly in-platform
  • Store them securely within each official’s profile
  • Avoid the need to chase missing paperwork weeks after the season wraps

This isn’t a workaround—it’s a fully integrated system that makes sure every part of tax compliance is accounted for before it becomes a problem.

Referees Get Their Own Visibility

A big part of the admin load during tax season comes from repeated questions: “How much did I make?” “Do you have my form?” “Can you resend my totals?”

Refr eliminates this friction by giving officials their own access to:

  • Game-by-game payment history
  • Season-long summaries
  • Personal tax documents (if shared)

This gives officials what they need—without needing you to stop and answer every time.

Exportable Reports Built for Bookkeepers

Whether you manage payments directly or pass information to a league administrator, Refr makes it easy to provide what’s needed without backtracking.

With Refr’s reporting tools, assignors can:

  • Export match payment records by official, date range, or competition
  • Filter by assignment status or match type
  • Hand over clean, organized summaries to accountants or tax platforms

The end result? A faster, cleaner tax season—with fewer questions, fewer errors, and significantly less time spent.

Final Thoughts

Referee assignors are already wearing a dozen hats. Refr Sports lightens the load—automating key pieces of the tax process while keeping everything clean and transparent from start to finish.

From W-9 collection to year-end reporting, Refr helps assignors manage taxes efficiently, accurately, and without all the follow-up.

And when you're not buried in paperwork, you can focus on what actually matters: building better officiating crews and running better games.

TestimonialS

Why Assignors Choose Refr Sports

"Referees get paid directly through the platform"
"Referees get paid directly through the platform, relieving me and my sports organizations of the burden of handling payments and tax forms. Once they use it and see how it works, they're so happy and relieved."
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Christine Francis
Kansas City Soccer Assignor
"Their customer support is outstanding"
“Refr Sports' customer service and app differentiate them from the rest! All of our emails, phone calls, and requests were answered very quickly. Their customer support is outstanding.”
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Kelli Linnerooth
Minneapolis Baseball Sports Organization Head
"Genuine interest in serving the officiating community"
“After researching many different official’s platforms, we decided to work with Refr Sports because of their genuine interest in serving the sports and officiating community."
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Jessie Ward
Spokane Sports
"It just works"
"Refr Sports has made things so much easier. The payment process is streamlined, everything is trackable, and officials love the app. Once the word got out, we doubled the number of officials signing up to use the platform. It just works."
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Dennis Barela
Behind the Flag | Dream Big Officials
"Helped me schedule my entire season in less than 2 hours "
“The system helped me upload and schedule my entire season in less than 2 hours time! The fee we pay is more than worth it. Switching to Refr has made a night-and-day difference for our organization.”
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Megan Jacobson
Catholic Athletic Association
"They’ve been hands-on and supportive from the beginning"
"My league is small, but Refr and their team have given me plenty of attention in helping me get started and feel confident using the system. They’ve been hands-on and supportive from the beginning, and the platform continues to run smoothly."
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Steve Gatesman
Arkansas Soccer Assignor
"It makes getting paid super convenient"
"I love tracking my earnings through the mobile app. It makes getting paid super convenient. The new mapping feature has also been a big help!"
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Dawson Weleski
Baseball Umpire
"It has eliminated time spent on taxes"
"The billing process has made my officials extremely happy due to the consistency and ability to track it on their phones. It has also saved me a ton of time on the invoicing side and eliminated my time spent on taxes"
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Joe Kulas
MinnDak Officials
"I’m telling every assignor I know"
"Refr is something you really need to look into. It’s so much easier than the alternatives, and everyone appreciates what you’re doing with payment automation."
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Ian Carlson
Iowa Hockey State Supervisor