How Do I Add ActBlue Fees?

Since ActBlue fees are not included as part of the import, you may need to add the fee expense transaction manually. You can do this one of two ways. For these two examples, we’ll say the total of the ActBlue contributions is $1,000 with a $50 fee.

Option A

Reduce the main contribution amount by the fee total. For this example, since the main contribution amount is $1,000, you receive a check for $950 because of the Conduit (Earmark) Processing fee.

1. Add the ActBlue transaction for $950.
2. List the splits for the individual donors.

Option B

1. Add a contribution to ActBlue with splits. This can be done manually, through a Quick Import, or by using the Record ActBlue Conduit Check option on the Record Deposit screen.
2. Deposit the ActBlue transaction.
3. After the deposit has been created, click the Add Deducted Fees button at the bottom of the screen.
4. Select New Expense.
5. Add an expense to ActBlue Technical Services and include that in the deposit batch. Add an organization record for ActBlue Technical Services if necessary.

Option B is recommended because it more accurately describes what actually happened. However, most filing agencies don’t seem to mind if you use option A, and people like it because it’s less work.

A note about how these appear on your Compliance reports:

Using option A, the transaction will be imported to entity ‘Actblue’ and appear this way on reports.

Using option B, the transaction will appear associated with entity ‘ActBlue Technical Services’.  

Filing agencies do not have a preference which way ActBlue appears. The only matter of concern is making sure that all of your transactions are associated with the same entity, to ensure that aggregates are correctly calculated for itemization and thresholds.