Home → Campaign Manager → FEC Form 3 Compliance → Form 3 - Generating and Filing in Campaign Manager
22.23. Form 3 - Generating and Filing in Campaign Manager
Generating and Filing the Form 3
1. Process to generate FEC Form 3
To file an FEC Form 3 Report of Receipts and Disbursements For An Authorized Committee go to Compliance > Government Reports.
Here you can open, download, edit, delete or e-file a previously generated report (see 1d below), and create or file a new report (see 1a below).
1a. How to get to parameters
To generate a new form with new criteria, under the File New Report menu bar for FEC reports, scroll down to FEC Form 3. Click on this hyperlink which will take you to a page that lists all of the previous FEC form 3 reports that users within your database have generated.
Select the appropriate Filing Committee. Select the box next to the appropriate account. Then, to the right of this Filing Committee box, click the blue "Start Blank Form +" window.
Once a filing committee and account are selected, you may click "Start Blank Form."
1b. Definition of each parameter field in 'Form Information' tab
To set the parameters for the form, go to the Form Information tab (default).
1b.i. Basic
Under "Schedule," select the reporting period for which you are filing.
The current period will be either Primary, General, Special, Runoff, Convention, or Termination.
Select the period "Termination" when running the last report. This will create an FEC Termination report for the dataset.
Note: If you are generating a Termination report that is amending a previously filed report, please be aware that the Termination box on the cover page of the .pdf version of the report will not be checked. This is due to how the FEC's Print Engine handles this type of situation. However, the report will be marked as a Termination (TER) report in the .fec file version, so it will still be acceptable for filing.
Select the Election State
Election Date will be the actual date of the current election for which you are reporting
Report Start: this date will be the first date of the reporting period. For instance, 01/01/2015.
Report End: this date will be the last date of the reporting period. For instance, 01/31/2015.
1b.ii. Amend a Previous Report:
Check the "Amend" box if this is an amendment to a previously filed report.
Amended Schedule ID: Enter this number as "FEC-..." do not enter FEC as lower case. This number can be found by searching for your committee/candidate on the fec.gov website here: http://fec.gov/finance/disclosure/candcmte_info.shtml. This number will consist of one letter and 8 numbers (example: C12345678).
Amendment Number: this is to keep track of how many times you have amended this report. For instance, say that you have already filed an original filing. Therefore, this amendment number will be 1.
1b.iii. Itemization Threshold:
Start Amount: suggested start amount would be $200.01. Anything above $200.00 is required by the FEC to be reported. Anything below, is not required by the FEC to be itemized.
End Amount: suggested end amount: $99999.
Start Date: Please enter the date which is one date after the previous election date. For example, is the previous election was on 11/04/2014, than please enter 11/05/2014.
1b.iv. Other:
Cash On Hand at Beginning of Period: enter the cash on hand at the beginning of this reporting period. This value should match the reported value of line 27 (cash on hand at close of reporting period) from your previous report, if any.
Auto Generate Line 11a: this allows the CM7 system to pull the totals from the previous cycle, based on what information has been entered in the database.
11ai Cycle Total Before This Period: this allows the user to manually enter the 11ai total into the report.
11aii Cycle Total Before This Period: this allows the user to manually enter the 11aii total into the report.
1b.v. Sorting:
Natural Order: sorts randomly.
Name: Sorting by Name will cause MEMO transactions to not appear directly below its parent.
Receipt Date: Sorting by Date will cause MEMO transactions to not appear directly below its parent.
1c. Definition of each parameter field in 'Report Options' tab
Next to the Form Information tab, click the Report Options tab.
Here you may enter a report text which will be recorded on an extra page of the report (page 5--in between period summary and itemized receipts).
You may also select any of the following options: Fill in Empty Occupation with 'Information Requested,' Fill in Empty Employer with 'Information Request,' Change of Address, or Ignore Election Code on Line 17.
Now, you can click "Generate Report." Within a few seconds, your report should generate and bring you to a page where you can rename your report for future reference (first type in new name, then click "Rename Report to save), or view your report in PDF or electronic format, or as a validation file. You can also e-file on this page.
1d. Explanation of the 'Previous Reports' section
Go to Compliance > Government Reports > here there is a box title "Previous Reports." In this window, you can open, download, edit, delete, or e-file the report.
Open: opens criteria of report, allowing the user to update any important information and regenerate the report.
Download: a drop-down menu allows the user to download the report into a printable PDF, Electronic Format, or in Validation Text.
Edit: here you can edit the Name of the report, the Filed Date, and the Confirmation ID. Then slick Save to apply changes, or Cancel to discard changes.
Delete: this allows the user to delete this generated report. Please note that once a report is deleted, it cannot be retrieved, even on Support's end.
E-File The Report: selecting this option will bring the user to the window that allows the user to enter in the required information to upload the report to the FEC (see 12.d).
2. Process to file FEC Form 3
To e-file FEC Form 3, you will need your Committee ID and FEC Password. Aristotle does not store your password. Hence, if lost, contact your FEC analyst or go to the FEC's website to apply for a new password.
2a. What happens after clicking generate (PDF, validation and .fec file provided)
After clicking generate, the Campaign Manager system will pull the required records in accordance with the specified dates to create a draft of the FEC Form 3 for you to inspect before actually filing.
"Click here to view your file in PDF format" will download a PDF of your report.
"Click here to view your validation file" will download a validation text of your report into Notepad (which will feature the report without the designed formatting) or another default program.
"Click here to view your file in electronic format" will download an electronic format of your report. This is the format that you want to submit to the FEC.
2b. How to check for validation errors/warnings
Be sure to enter the correct Committee ID, Password, Email, Connection Type and Amendment. If any of this crucial information is incorrect, a warning pop-up will appear giving you the reason as to why your report is not able to upload. Note that while an error must be fixed before filing, a warning should be fixed for best results. The FEC will accept filings with warnings although they may follow up with an RFAI.
2c. Common validation errors/warnings and how to fix (missing address, employer, etc.)
Is the Committee set-up correctly?
Make sure that the candidate's committee is entered into the database. Additionally, the contributions should be associated with the committee (organization), and not with the candidate (individual).
Is the Candidate set-up correctly?
Check that the candidate record is in your database, via Add/Search Individual > select record > Basic Information > is the Candidate option under Candidate Info marked? And if so, is information in Jurisdiction, Office, District Code, and Candidate ID filled out properly?
Is the Candidate associated with the Contribution?
The candidate's name should be associated with the expense via Support/Oppose icons. To check this:
Locate the expense in your database > click pencil icon to edit expense > scroll down to the bottom of pop-up expense-entry window to the thumbs up and thumbs down icons > click the appropriate icon >Type the candidate name that the committee supports or opposes by typing the candidate name and clicking Find > search results will appear, select the appropriate candidate > click Save.
2d. How to fill out fields and successfully file report
To successfully file the report, fill in your Committee ID, FEC Password, Email, Fax (optional), and Connection (the default is TCP/IP). If this is an amendment enter the number of the original report you are amending in the Amendment field using the format FEC-1001234.
Then click "Upload FEC File." Shortly, you will receive an email from the FEC notifying you that the report was successfully filed!