How Do I Add New Transactions?
Keeping track of your financial status is an important part of any campaign. That’s why it’s essential to know which transaction to enter into ISP and how to add them.
There are two ways you can add a transaction to the system.
Entity Record
Both Individual and Organization records contain a Transactions section. Click the add icon (green plus sign) in the top right corner of the Transactions section header to add a new transaction.
Accounting Tab
Under the Accounting tab, select Add Transaction.
To start, click the Type drop-down menu to see your list of transaction types to choose from. We’ve also given each transaction type its own color.
There are many transaction types to choose from, whether it’s a Loan or Inkind. However, two of the more common transaction types used are Expenses and Monetary Contributions, including contributions to other committees. Within these transactions are places for Splits/Memos and also for transaction Tags.
Date
This field will automatically populate with the current date. If the transaction occurred on a different date, you can either manually type in the date of the transaction or use the calendar option to the right of the field to select a date.
Account
This field determines which account the funds are either going to (Receipt) or being removed from (Disbursement). If the transaction is a receipt and it has not yet been deposited into an actual account, select Undeposited and it will be placed in a pool of other transactions where you can then deposit them – either per transaction or in batches.
Please be aware that Accounts are also tied to the filing committee used for compliance reporting. This can also have an effect on other fields:
Election
This field is very important, as it has an effect on aggregate thresholds and compliance reporting. When adding a transaction, if you receive a warning that the transaction would cross the aggregate threshold, please check this field and ensure the correct election is selected.
Reporting Code (Expenses only)
The list of options here will be determined by the Account (and filing committee) selected above. Each filing agency has their own set of Reporting Codes and these can play a large part in determining which line of the report the transaction will pull to.
Compliance Note
This field allows you the ability to provide further details about the transaction to the filing agency. Not all transactions require a Compliance Note, as it can depend on the filing agency’s guidelines, but the following transaction types generally require this: Expenses, Accrued Expenses, Non-Monetary Expenses, and Inkind Contributions. If you are unsure if this is required, please consult your filing agency’s guidebook or contact them for further direction.
Budget Category
These are used to help you track transactions and sort transactions. If you do not see one that applies, select Uncategorized or a temporary placeholder until you can create one that is more applicable and return to the transaction to use the intended Budget Category.
There are various other fields that will appear depending on the transaction type. One transaction type, the Internal Transfer, has fewer fields than other transaction types but does have fields others don’t: the To Account and From Account fields. The Internal Transfer allows you to track any funds that were moved between accounts found in your database.
When you are ready to add the transaction to the system, click the Add Transaction button. Clicking the Save & New button will add the transaction and clear out most fields for you to add another transaction, if you have more to add.
Some fields are what we call sticky fields, meaning the next time you return to add a transaction, the same information will appear. This includes the Transaction Type, Account, Election, and Budget Category.
If the transaction is over any set transaction limits, you will receive an alert at the top of the screen.
If you are unsure about how to add a specific transaction type not discussed above, visit our help file on unusual transactions and how to create those in ISP.
