How Do I Enter Transactions by the Candidate Supporting Their Own Campaign Committee?

How do I enter transactions by the Candidate supporting their own Campaign Committee?

Candidates often lend support through financial transactions to benefit the campaign Committee beyond direct Monetary Contributions issued from personal funds. How these transactions are described and recorded in your database depends on how the funds are employed and whether or not repayment is handled. This help file will cover these cases.

It is vital to remember that you are recording the transaction from the committee’s point of view. It can be tricky to differentiate between the Candidate and the Committee, but when entering these transactions, we treat the Candidate as holding the same role any other Individual would have.

Inkind (Candidate pays an expense and does not intend to receive a reimbursement)

When a Candidate pays for goods or services to benefit the Campaign Committee without expectation of repayment, this is an Inkind Contribution received by the Committee.

Add a new transaction. Make sure the following details are complete:

  • Select the Candidate’s Individual record for the transaction Entity

  • Click Specify Split and select the vendor record in the Entity field

  • Amount should match the amount of the main transaction

Accrued Expense (Candidate advances personal funds toward campaign expenses)

During a campaign, the Candidate sometimes uses their personal funds or personal credit to pay a vendor for a Committee expense and is later reimbursed by the Committee. This is called an Advance of Personal Funds.

Adding the Reimbursable transactions are created as expense transactions with Splits. You record a Reimbursement if the Candidate spends money on office supplies at a store with the expectation of reimbursement by the Committee. 

  1. Navigate to the Candidate record of the individual who paid for the expenses (i.e., the person the committee is writing the check to)

  2. In the Transactions section, click to add a transaction and select Accrued Expense as the Type

  3. Add the details of the transaction in the appropriate fields

  4. Just under the Tags dropdown, click the Specify Splits button

  5. In the Entity field, enter the vendor or store where the money was spent, as well as the Amount and any other relevant details

If the candidate spends money at multiple vendors by one individual, click Add Another to add another Split to the reimbursement. Otherwise, click the Add Transaction button to add the Reimbursement.

Rules differ depending on whether the expense is for Travel or Non-Travel. This help file will cover Non-Travel expenses.

If the Advance is Made and Reimbursed in the Same Period:

  1. Enter the reimbursement amount to the Candidate as an Expense, with the vendors paid entered as Splits

  2. If the advance was not and will not be fully reimbursed, create the difference as an Accrued Expense Balance Reduction with the Tag: Forgiven

If the Advance is Made But Not Reimbursed in the Same Period:

  1. Enter the reimbursable amount to the individual as an Accrued Expense, with the vendors paid as splits

  2. When reimbursement is issued to the individual, record this as an Accrued Expense Payment


Loan

To record a Loan Received, fill the Entity field with the Candidate’s Individual information. Other fields will populate, though not all fields are required. Be sure to fill out the fields that are applicable to keep your information correct.