Campaign Finance

• Much of the numerical information on the cover page is auto-calculated when data is entered in the tabs based on your entries in the various schedules.

• Cells located Under the Summary of Monetary Receipts and Disbursements (located within cells C21 to D39) that contain "-" on the cover page indicate that they will be auto-calculated and should not be manipulated or changed, otherwise you will lose the ability to auto-calculate.
• It is therefore recommended that committees complete the schedules tabs first before completing the cover page.

• Select YES or NO to the question "Is this report an amendment?"
• In cell B7 enter the official name of your campaign committee.
• In cells B8 enter the mailing address, B9 enter the email, and D9 enter the phone number where you can be reached.
• Click on the appropriate filing period report by clicking on the square next to corresponding reporting period. Remember that you should only report financial activity that occured within that reporting period.  The contribution limits site provides details on reporting periods.
• In cell F12 enter the report year.
• If this is your final report due to the fact that you are terminating your committee, select YES under "Is this a Termination Report?" otherwise select NO. 
• In cell C18 enter the Beginning Cash On-Hand total of this reporting period. This amount should be the same as the ending cash balance on your previously submitted report. If this is the first report you have filed with this campaign committee, enter 0.
• Once you've completed the cover sheet information, you can now move to the other tabs where schedules are located and enter information there.
• When you are finished with all the entries, confirm that the amount in cell C31 (Ending Cash On-Hand) matches the cash balance in your campaign account at the end of the reporting period. 
  • If it does not, go back to your schedules and double-check that your entries are correct.
• You will need to determine and enter the amounts in the Year-to-Date (YTD) cells located in column D cells D21-D23, D27-D28, and D38-D39. If you have filed a report earlier this calendar year, consult the totals for the YTD of the previous report, add them to the totals for this period.
• In cell A45, type or e-sign the name of the treasurer or the candidate, whomever will be signing the report.

• This tab is for Monetary Contributions from Individuals, Including Personal Loans to the campaign committee.

• Special note on UNITEMIZED contributions: Committess must itemize each anonymous contribution of $10 or less as a separate transaction. Committees may not report an aggregate total of anonymous contribution of $10 or less. If an anonymous contribution exceeds $10, the entire donation must be donated to charity, not just the amount in excess of $10.

• DATE: use the format MM/DD/YY. Enter the date each contribution was received.

• NAME: Enter the first and last name of each individual who contributed to the campaign committee. For anonymous contributions (allowed is only less than $10), enter anonymous.

• ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP: Enter the full address of each individual contributor. For STATE enter using capital letters only the two-letter abbreviation. For the ZIP entry, only include the first five digits (do not enter zip+four).

• OCCUPATION: You must record the occupation of any contributors of more than $200 (within the calendar year). You can enter occupation for smaller contributors as well.

• AMOUNT: Simply enter the amount. The spreadsheet will add the $ sign and the comma. The data you enter here, is being summed in the cover page.

• Contributions and loans from individuals on Schedule 1-A include any cash, personal or individual loans, purchase of tickets to fundraising events, memberships, gifts, advances, in-kind contributions, and all other personal contributions from an individual including the candidate.

• An in-kind contribution is any goods, property, or services provided to the committee free or for less than the fair market value.

• In-kind contributions from individuals must also be reported as in-kind expenditures on Schedule 2-A to avoid distortion of the cash balance.

• Contributions from individuals transferred through conduits are reported on Schedule 1-A under the individual contributor’s name with the name of the conduit listed. These contributions are subject to itemization on the same basis as other individual contributions

• Any individual loans, either from the candidate or from another individual, must be reported on Schedule 1-A and on Schedule 3-B, Additional Disclosure, Loans, until paid in full. Loans from individuals are subject to individual contribution limits (see Campaign Finance Overview). 

• Do not report contributions from political action committees, political party committees, or other candidate committees on Schedule 1-A. These contributions must be reported on Schedule 1-B.

• This tab is for Monetary Contributions from Committees (Transfers-In). 

• DATE: use the format MM/DD/YY.

• COMMITTE NAME: Enter the official name of the committee for every contribution in this schedule.

• ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP: Enter the official address of the committee contributor. For ST enter only the capitalized two-letter abbreviation for the State, and ZIP enter only the first five digits.

• AMOUNT: Simply enter the amount. The spreadsheet will add the $ sign and the comma. The information entered will be tracked on the cover page.

• Contributions From Committees (Transfers-In) consist of any funds received from a political party committee, political action committee, candidate committee or a legislative campaign committee.

• In-kind contributions from a committee must also be reported as an in-kind offset in Schedule 2-A to avoid distortion of the cash balance.

• Contributions received from sole-proprietorships, partnerships, or qualifying LLCs, must be reported as individual contributions in Schedule 1-A. Contributions may not be accepted from corporations, cooperatives, associations, unions, or tribes.

• This tab is for Other Income and Commercial Loans. Typically this schedule is only filled out by candidates who receive interest on their campaign accounts and/or have a loan on behalf of the committee.

• DATE: use the format MM/DD/YY.

• NAME: Enter the name of the contributor who provided your committee the other income.

• ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP: Enter the address of the source of other income. For state, enter the capitalized two-letter abbreviation. For ZIP enter the first five digits.

• REASON: Provide a short description explaining the other income. For example, if you are reporting bank interest, enter Bank Interest Income.

• AMOUNT: Simply enter the amount. The spreadsheet will add the $ sign and the comma.

This tab is for Gross Monetary Expeditures, not including contributions you make from your campaign committee to other committees (those go in SCH 2-B).

• DATE: use the format MM/DD/YY

• NAME: Enter the full name of the business or individual to whom payment was made

• ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP: For State, enter capitalized the two-letter abbreviation. For the ZIP entry, only include the first five digits (do not enter zip+four).

• PURPOSE: enter the specific purpose of the expenditure.

• COMMENTS: add any pertinent comments, if applicable.

• AMOUNT: Simply enter the amount. The spreadsheet will add the $ and sum on the cover page.

• In-kind contributions reported in Schedule 1-A or 1-B, must also be reported as in-kind offsets in Schedule 2-A.

• Expenditures for general services, such as consulting, data processing, or reimbursement, should be broken down into the specific services rendered, e.g., salary, travel, data entry, polling.

• All expenditures must be made from the campaign depository and must be used for political purposes only.

This tab is for Monetary Contributions to Committees (Transfers-Out)

• DATE: use the format MM/DD/YY

• COMMITTEE NAME: Enter the official committee name who received a contribution from your committee.

• ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP: For State, enter capitalized the two-letter abbreviation. For the ZIP entry, only include the first five digits (do not enter zip+four).

• COMMENTS: add any pertinent comments, if applicable.

• AMOUNT: Simply enter the amount. The spreadsheet will add the $ and sum on the cover page.

• Contributions to Committees (Transfers-Out) consist of any funds contributed to a political party committee, political action committee, political group (referenda), candidate committee, or legislative campaign committee.

This tab is for Incurred Obligations Excluding Loans (Unpaid Bills).

• DATE: use the format MM/DD/YY

• NAME: Enter the full name of the business or individual to whom payment was made

• ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP: For State, enter capitalized the two-letter abbreviation. For the ZIP entry, only include the first five digits (do not enter zip+four).

• PURPOSE: enter the specific purpose of the expenditure.

• OUTSTANDING BALANCE, BEGINNING OF PERIOD: Enter the amount at the beginning of the reporting period.

• NEW OBLIGATION THIS PERIOD: Enter the amount of any new obligation during the reporting period.

• OUTSTANDING BALANCE, CLOSE OF PERIOD: Enter the balance at the end of the reporting period.

• The balance of all incurred obligations should be reported from the time incurred until paid in full.

• Each obligation must be carried forward on subsequent reports until the obligation has been reduced to zero.

• When a payment is made on an obligation, the transaction should be reported as a payment on Schedule 3-A and as an expenditure on Schedule 2-A.

This tab is for reporting any Loans (Personal, Committee, and/or Commercial).

• DATE: use the format MM/DD/YY

• NAME: Enter the full name of the lender or individual which provided the loan to your committee.

• ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP: For State, enter capitalized the two-letter abbreviation. For the ZIP entry, only include the first five digits (do not enter zip+four).

• DATE: use the format MM/DD/YY

• NAME: Enter the full name of the business or individual to whom payment was made

• ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP: For State, enter capitalized the two-letter abbreviation. For the ZIP entry, only include the first five digits (do not enter zip+four).

• GUARANTOR (IF ANY): enter the name of the guarantor, if applicable.

• OUTSTANDING BALANCE, BEGINNING OF PERIOD: Enter the amount at the beginning of the reporting period.

• NEW LOAN AMOUNT THIS PERIOD: Enter the amount of any new loan during the reporting period.

• OUTSTANDING BALANCE, CLOSE OF PERIOD: Enter the balance at the end of the reporting period.

• A loan guarantee is considered a contribution from the guarantor until the loan is repaid.

• When a payment which reduces the unpaid balance of the loan is made to the lending institution, the amount assigned to each guarantor is reduced in equal shares, unless a different share is specified in the loan instrument.

• The outstanding amount of a loan or loan guarantee plus the total contributions to the campaign by the guarantor may not exceed the individual contribution limit.

• Any reductions in loans which are not offset by expenditures in Schedule 2-A must be explained (e.g., candidate forgives self loans).

• Once you've completed all of your entries, it is now time to double-check your work.

  • Many times errors are due to errors with arithmetic. Carefully review your entries at least twice before submitting your report. Errors must be corrected with an amended report.
  • Be sure you have everything entered correctly. It is a good idea to confirm that the entries on the cover page accurately reflect the income and expenses on the various schedules. Double-checking your entries is critical. Whether you submit your paperwork in person, online, and whether or not you use the Excel template, PDF template, or a handwritten template, it is critical that you check to ensure totals are adding up correctly.

• You can email the entire file to [email protected] by the due date. PLEASE NOTE: We require legible reports and photos of reports are not acceptable.

• If you are planning to hand-deliver or send via regular mail, be sure you select Print Entire Workbook to capture all of the schedules and the cover page.  PLEASE NOTE: If you move margins, or change cell sizes, this may impact the ability for your report to print correctly.

• If you decide to send scanned copies of your report, be sure that they are legible and scanned appropriately in .pdf format.  Photos of documents are not acceptable.

• If sending by email, the report must contain an electronic signature and must be received by 11:59 PM on the required due date. To send by email: [email protected].