Disclosure Reports -- State and Federal
The system includes disclosure reports for both state and federal campaigns. When you go to Reports->Disclosure Reports, you can choose from Federal or State. If you choose State, the disclosure report entry screen for the state entered in the Committee Setup section of the program will be displayed.
Balancing your disclosure report
Most reporting authorities, including the FEC, require that your beginning and ending cash balances match the amounts that are actually in your cash accounts. (In fact, the failure to match these two figures is the number one reason for most audits.)
1. Check to ensure everything is in the proper Schedule, Form or Line Number. Go to Tools->Utilities->Reassign Form, Schedule or FEC Line. Most importantly, this will ensure that everything is itemized correctly. While the system applies the appropriate itemization category when the transaction is first entered and saved, sometimes the correct itemization is missed when the data arrive by other means such as bulk importing. For federal committees, the Transaction Dates should be from the beginning of the cycle (the day after the last general election) to the closing date of the current report. In most cases you can leave the Election Cycle blank. For most filers (including federal) the Calculation Method should be B.
2. Run a Daily Cash Report for the period of your disclosure report. Go to Reports->Financial Reports->Daily Cash Report. The first step would be to make sure that the receipts a in your system match your deposit slips. Run a Summary report first and then print the detail of any day that doesn't match up.
3. Run a Summary by Form or Schedule. Go to Reports->Special Reports->Form, Schedule Line Number and run this report for the same period in Summary form. It will add up all receipts and disbursements according to the reporting schedule or FEC Line Number. To review or scan individual transactions, run the report in Detail form.
4. Print the report's cover page.
5. Run a Transaction Report for the period of your report. Go to Accounting->Reports->Transactions. Uncheck the Summary box to get a list of all transactions.
6. Use these four reports to look for inconsistencies. If you're not balancing, you should find it in these four reports. Please do not call for support without running these reports first, because they will be the first things we request when you ask us for assistance.
7. Make sure everything is marked correctly. The Summary by Form or Schedule helps you find "stray" items, such as those that are marked incorrectly or with missing information. If you're having trouble with items being recorded as a negative on your disclosure report, (i.e. a $100 disbursement recorded as -$100), keep in mind that the program for FEC forms 3 and 3X, and for most similar state forms, will mark as a negative disbursements with a Line Number intended for receipts, or receipts with a Line Number intended for disbursements. So if you enter a $100 disbursement and record it under Line 15 ("Other Receipts" for candidates or "Offsets to Expenditures" for PACs), then it will show up on your disclosure report as a negative receipt.
8. Check individual items. If you know of a particular item that's not showing up on the report, look it up and make sure of the following: Is it properly marked as Check, Cash, Debit or Credit? Is it marked as a Political Contribution? Is the Form or Schedule properly marked? Is the date correct?
Do not "jury-rig" your report by entering "adjustment" entries to make totals come out correctly. You must enter every contribution and receipt for the periods accounted on your disclosure report. If not, then you'll run the risk of an audit if these entries show up on an amended report for an earlier period. This is particularly important if you're reporting aggregate contributions for each contributor. Audits occur because of questions raised by sloppy reports. Take the time to do it right and you'll spare yourself – and your candidate – a bucketful of humiliation.