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105.1. How Do I E-File My Wisconsin Report?

E-Filing Your Wisconsin State Report

Unfortunately, the state of Wisconsin does not allow for compliance reports to be filed directly through third-party software like Campaign Manager - reports must be filed through the state's Campaign Finance Information System (CFIS). Despite having to go outside CM to file a report, the process of doing so is still a fairly simple task. In order to file a state report for Wisconsin, two steps must be taken:

1. Generate a list of transactions in Campaign Manager to upload to the Wisconsin CFIS.

2. Log into the CFIS and submit the report.

 

Uploading Transactions from Campaign Manager into the WI CFIS

1. Login to the CFIS. On the left sidebar, under Step 1: Enter Transactions in the left-hand menu, select "Upload Transactions from Spreadsheet".

2. Click to download a copy of the Receipts and Expenses templates available under "Download Templates". Templates are available in the legacy Microsoft Excel (Excel 2003 and below) format as well as the current format (Excel 2007 and above). 

3. In the Additional Information section at the bottom of the screen, you may click to download Committee IDs, Local Candidate IDs, Unregistered IDs, and Expense Type Codes. CFIS automatically populates address information for transactions with a Committee ID, a Local ID, or an Unregistered ID, saving you data entry time.

4. Enter contributions your committee has received in the Receipts spreadsheet and all spending activity
in the Expenses spreadsheet.

 

5. Once you have logged your transactions in your spreadsheets and saved those files, you are ready to upload. Return to the Upload Transactions screen. Choose the Filing Period Name for the transactions you are uploading, indicate in Transaction Type whether you are uploading receipts or expenses, and then choose the file you would like to upload.

6. Click Upload.

7. Your upload will now process. You can see the status in the Upload Status box.

8. Click Check Status to refresh the page. Processing may take a few minutes.

9. Once processed, the status of your upload will show Processed-No Errors for transactions that uploaded successfully or Processed-Errors for transactions the system was unable to process.

10. In this example, 38 of the 49 transactions were successfully uploaded. 11 transactions have errors that need to be addressed. To review and correct the errors, click the File Name in the row that has Processed-Errors in the Status column. This will download a spreadsheet where you can correct errors.

11. The final column of the spreadsheet lists the error that prevented the system from accepting the transaction in that row. Correct the errors in this document, save it, and re-upload the document following the directions in this chapter. See the following error index below for help in correcting common errors.

 

Filing a Full Report

After you have uploaded or entered your transactions in CFIS as described above, follow these steps to file your report:

1. Click File Report/Edit Pending Transactions under Step 2: File Your Report from the left-hand menu.

2. In the top row, choose the Filing Period Name for the report you would like to file. If you are looking to file a 72-hour report, you can enter more search criteria to find just the transactions you need to file.

3. Press Search.

4. You should now see a full listing of transactions that met your search terms.

5. Prior to filing your report, you should preview the report to confirm that your totals are correct. Click Preview Finance Report at the bottom of the screen.

6. Enter the first date of the filing period in the Start Date field and the balance you started the period with in the Beginning Balance field.

7. Press Submit.

8. Press View/Print to open a PDF preview of your finance report. Confirm that the amounts listed on the cover page are accurate.

9. If the amounts listed on your report are accurate, click File All to State. If there are errors, click Back and correct your report before filing.

10. At the bottom of the page, enter the first date of the filing period in the Start Date field. Then enter the Beginning Balance and Ending Balance for the report. CFIS will not automatically calculate these balances for you. These balances should come from your bank statement (adjusted for items that have been reported but not yet cleared the bank) and should reconcile with the transactions you have reported.

11. Complete your Authorization information to electronically sign your report. If you have forgotten your PIN, review What is my committee's PIN? on page 29.

12. Click Submit.

13. Your report is now filed! You will receive a PDF copy of the report via email. To confirm the accuracy of your report, click View/Print and confirm that your report balances. Cash Balance Beginning of Report plus Total Receipts minus Total Disbursements should equal Cash Balance End of Report. If the report doesn't balance, please review your records for unreported activity.