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72.1. How Do I E-File My Montana Report?
E-Filing Your Montana Report
Aristotle currently offers complete and "ready to file" e-files for the Montana State Report as well as the Montana Candidate State Report!
How Do I Download the E-File?
Unfortunately, the state does not currently allow third-party vendors to e-file directly into their system from other software products. That said, all you need to do is download the e-file output and then upload it into the state's system! The easiest way to do this is right click on the link for the e-file output, select "Save As", give it a suitable file name while leaving the file extension as it is, and save the file.
How Do I Upload the E-File I Just Downloaded?
Montana's efiling system is a bulk transaction upload, with three efiles in .csv format: one for Schedule A transactions, one for Schedule B transactions, and one for Schedule C transactions. This means that the electronic format generally only has transaction information: summary totals, committee information, and other details are calculated/stored within the state's system. Generally after uploading the bulk transaction files the report still needs to be "built" within the efiling system. Once the transactions are in the efiling system, they can be fairly easily edited or removed if necessary.
Before you're given the ability to file ANY reports, your committee will first need be registered with the Montana Campaign Electronic Reporting System (CERS). The CERS program can be accessed via their online portal once a committee has registered. Access to the online portal is available on Montana's Commissioner of Political Practices website, under the Campaign Finance Disclosure section:
https://politicalpractices.mt.gov/campaignfinance
General Warnings
We advise clients to never open the efile output before uploading unless it's strictly necessary. Often times various programs like Excel, Notepad, etc, will auto-format files in ways that renders them non-compliant with state requirements. For example, Excel will drop the leading zeros on values in cells, which can be problematic when dealing with NE zip codes.
Some states have invented file extensions for their efiles that need to be preserved, or they use older file extensions than what is generally used and can be overwritten. For example, many states have the file extension .csv for their efiles, which Excel will try to override when saving since it's generally not used. Please ensure to keep the file extension as it is so the state's system will accept the file.