Author: Benjamin Katz

  • Entering Contribution Refunds on a Pro Rata Basis

    First, export a list of donations via a Financial Transactions Report.

    1. On the Financial Reports page, click on the Report field drop-down menu
    2. From this menu, select Transactions
    3. Under the Display section header, click in the Columns box
    4. Make sure to include Date, Amount, Name Parts, and Reportable Address columns. These columns will help with matching the contributions to their refunds later.
    5. Click on the Generate button
    6. Click on the white Print | Export button
    7. Export to Excel

    You can use this generated list to work from and figure out the refund amount needed.

    Second, select the Quick Import format for Other Transactions.

    1. From the Dashboard, navigate to Tools and then Quick Imports
    2. On the Quick Import page, click on the Format field drop-down menu
    3. From this menu, select Other Transactions
    4. Scroll to the bottom-right of the screen and click on Download Template

    Third, copy and paste your data into the Other Transactions template. You can add a compliance note as well, which may be required. Make sure to indicate “Check” in the Transaction Method column of the template. This should bring all of the Refunded Contributions back in as checks, and thus, they can be printed as checks.

    Fourth,

    1. From the Dashboard, navigate to Tools and then Quick Imports
    2. On the Quick Import page, click on the Format field drop-down menu
    3. From this menu, select Other Transactions
    4. Click on the Transaction Type drop-down menu
    5. From this menu, select Refunded Contribution
    6. Select your File (i.e., your completed Other Transactions template)
    7. Click on the Upload File button

    This will create the Refunded Contributions in bulk. However, the refunded contributions will not be linked to the originals, which should be acceptable in most situations.

  • Previously Generated Reports

    Previously Generated Reports

    You can access your entire history of generated Compliance reports to review, regenerate or submit reports when you are ready.

    The Generated Reports page shows compliance reports that have been generated over time. Using the three filter tabs at the top of the page, you can see three different views of your report history: all reports that have been generated, reports that have been saved for filing but haven’t been filed yet, and view reports that have been marked as filed. Please be sure to mark any filed reports as filed.

    The hot dog menu to the right provides options to assist you in interacting with the report and providing information should you need support about the report.

    Hot Dog Menu Options in Previously Generated Reports:

    – Adjust & Regenerate – Repopulates the report generator with identical parameters, so that you can run the same report again or change them as needed.
    – Download (Options can include PDF, e-filing, Excel)
    – View Parameters – view options selected on Compliance Report Generator to create the report
    – Copy Parameters – useful when alerting ISP Support to a problem, to easily paste selected options into an email or document

    If you are in the process of generating a report, you will see an item in the Previously Generated history that shows you the current progress of the report as it’s generating.

    Can I delete reports from Previously Generated?

    Reports cannot be deleted from your report generation history. We don’t allow this because the report history is a system log and critical to some functions of your ISP account. We made this feature available to clients because of the frequency with which access to report history was requested.  
    If a filed report that was not marked as filed were to be mistakenly deleted, you would not be able to amend that report later. Furthermore, if you generate a new version of an older report and have differences without the old one to compare it to, it would be challenging to find the cause.

  • 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.
  • About the FL DS-DE 48

    Applies To: Florida

    The Florida DS-DE 48 Report allows Elected Officials to report transfers out of campaign accounts into a special Office Account to pay for specific items or activities for a given reporting period. The information on this report must be hand entered into the state’s system.

    Schedule Groups

    • Disbursements: Use this schedule group for any transfers from your Office Account. 
    • Receipts: Use this schedule group for any remaining funds from the previous campaign that will be transferred into your Office Account. 

    To file your report, you must generate and download the PDF to hand enter the data into the Office Accounts portal account.

    For further reading, please check out the Office Accounts User Guide and the FL State Campaign Finance Manual.


  • About the Maricopa County CFR

    Applies To: Arizona

    Applies to: Maricopa County, Arizona

    The Maricopa County CFR is used to report Expenses. Currently this report only supports the following schedule at this time:

    SchB1: Disbursements for Operating Expenses

    To File Your Report to Maricopa County:

    1. Download the PDF file
    2. Email the downloaded PDF to: campfin@risc.maricopa.gov

  • How to Find the Entity ID Number for a Record?

    For a variety of reasons, you may need to find the Entity ID associated with records in your ISP account.  The Entity ID is a unique identifier for each Individual, Organization or Other Entity in your database.

    The Entity ID can be located in the following ways.

    1. Generate a Financial Transaction Report, and include the column Entity ID in your export format. (More information on including columns is here.)

    2. Generate an export using Advanced Search or Quick Lists. Using the export format Donor Summary, or Detailed Fundraising Export will automatically include the ID column.  If you are using a custom export format created within your ISP account, make sure that it includes this column (see above).

  • When Are the Denver Filing Deadlines?

    Applies To: Colorado

    Applies To: Denver

    Below are deadlines for Denver, Colorado compliance report filing.

    The Filing Deadline information provided here is offered only as a
    reference aide. The provided deadline information may contain
    inaccuracies and may not include all special elections or deadlines. For
    agency specific details please visit the Denver Campaign Finance website .

    • 12/05/25  Post-Election Report
    • 01/31/2025: Semi-Annual Report/Year-End Report
    You’re able to add Filing Deadlines found in ISP to your own digital calendar with our Calendar Feed tool.
    To see more information about Alabama compliance report filing with ISP, please visit our Alabama Filing and FAQ Resources page.

  • How to Set up a Non-committee Filer

    Applies To: Federal Election Commission

    What is a Non-Committee Filer?

    Individuals, groups, corporations, and labor organizations that are not registered as political committees are sometimes subject to filing requirements. These are called non-committee filers.

    How do I set up my ISP account for a Non-Committee Filer?

    1. In the filer’s Organization record, set the Organization Type to Other.
    2. Navigate to Reports, and then Compliance. At the bottom of the page, click on Related Pages, then Manage Filers. 
    3. Add your organization as a filer and enter the Filer ID. Or, if it’s already indicated as your filer, ensure the Filer ID is there.
  • How to Set a Major Donor Filer

    Applies To: California
    The CA-461, 461-Reverse, and 497 all have use cases that apply to Major Donors. They can request that you file these reports on their behalf after they’ve reached the threshold to qualify as a Major Donor. Any record type (individual, organization, or political committee) can be set as a Major Donor filer.
    1. Ensure the Major Donor has an entity record in ISP.
    2. Go to Reports > Compliance > Related Pages > Manage Filers.
    3. Click on Add Filer, select the Entity & Click Add Filer.
    4. Click on the Entity Name from the Filers List, and add the Major Donor Filer ID there.

    We use this two-step process to add a Filer ID on purpose to ensure that the filer is added purposefully and intentionally.

  • About the NC Form 2210 Report

    Applies To: North Carolina

    The NC Form 2210A/B/C is for Committees not registered in North Carolina (such as a Federal PAC, or Individual) that makes Independent Expenditures (IEs) for Candidates or Ballot Issues in North Carolina.

    There are three forms associated with the Form 2210:

    Form 2210-A (Cover Page)

    The information on this page is populated based on the information associated with the Filer Record.

    • If the filer is an individual, the Individual box will check under Entity Type
    • If the filer is a business, type Non-Profit, the Nonprofit Organization box will check
    • Otherwise, the Other Organization box will check

    Custodian of Records information will pull from the entity linked as Recordkeeper/Recordkeeper Of relationship to the Filer Entity Record.

    If the Paper Only box is checked, the Date Filed field on the Cover Page will not populate.

    Versions:

    • Standard: itemizes ALL contributions, expenses and IEs if more than $100 in aggregate in the period
    • 48 Hour Report: itemizes contributions of more than $1000 in aggregate in the period and IEs if more than $5000 in aggregate in the period

    Form 2210-B (Donations for Independent Expenditures)

    Transaction Type: Monetary Contribution

    Form 2210-C (Incurred Costs for Independent Expenditures)

    Transaction Types: Expense (on the Standard version of the report), Support/Oppose Memo with either tag IE to Support or IE to Oppose associated with either an Expense or Accrued Expense Payment (on all versions of the report)

    Please ensure transactions intended to be Independent Expenditures have a Support/Oppose Memo to the appropriate Candidate or Ballot Issue (rather than the Candidate or Ballot Committee)

    There are two versions of the report:

    • 48 Hour Report: This version must be filed before an election but after the period covered by the last report due before that election.
      This version:
      • itemizes contributions of more than $1000 in aggregate in the period
      • itemizes expenses and/or IEs if more than $5000 in aggregate in the period
    • Standard: This version must be filed on the same schedule as political committees until the end of the election.
      This version:
      • itemizes ALL contributions
      • itemizes expenses and/or IEs if more than $100 in aggregate in the period

    You must email the downloaded .csb file to: Campaign.Reporting@ncsbe.gov

    48 Hour Reports may be filed via fax or email to the relevant non-State Board

    48 Hour Reports filing with the State Board of Elections may be sent by fax to:
    (919) 715-0135
    or email to:
    Campaign.Reporting@ncsbe.gov