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Which Transaction Type Should I Choose?
Transaction Types
At first, it may be hard to figure out which financial transaction you need. Below are some condensed definitions of the different types of financial transactions in our system.
RECEIPTS
Contribution (Monetary)
A donation received from an individual or organization in a monetary form, including checks, cash, credit cards and electronic transfers. Monetary Contributions are added as undeposited funds.
In-Kind Contribution
A donation received from an individual or organization in a non-monetary form. This would include donations of computers, office furniture and other material goods. In most jurisdictions, personal donations of time are not considered in-kind donations and do not need to be tracked or reported.
Misc. Income
Miscellaneous income is any income that is not a contribution, most commonly bank interest. Like contributions, misc. income is added as undeposited funds.
Memo Contribution
A contribution transaction with a $0 cash impact. Used for memo purposes on campaign statements. This rarely used transaction is most commonly used for reporting donations that are exempt from limits (such as legal services in some jurisdictions).
Reportable Pledge (Accrued Contribution)
An on-going, legally-binding, contribution. Additionally, these rare transactions are reported to various governing agencies, such as the FEC.
Loan Received
A loan received. In most jurisdictions, the loan must be made by the candidate or a financial institution and personally guaranteed by the candidate.
DISBURSEMENTS
Expense
Any expenditure of funds, including such things as operating expenses, voter contact, charitable donations and contributions made to other campaigns.
Unpaid Bill (Accrued Expense)
Any debt owed to a vendor that has not yet been paid.
In-kind Expenditure Made
Used for reporting a donation of goods or services to another political committee, e.g., the donation of a computer or office equipment. This should not be used if there was an expenditure to pay for the donation, instead an expense should be entered with the supported candidate specified.
Loan Made
A cash loan made to another entity. This rare financial transaction most often takes the form of a loan made to another political committee.
OTHER TRANSACTIONS
Internal Transfer
A transfer from one account to another, for example from a checking to saving account.
Contribution to Third Party (Non-Reportable Memo)
This non-reportable transaction is for tracking donations made to other candidates. For example, you may want to track donations made to your competitor.
REVERSALS
Essentially negatives versions of the transaction types. Should be used carefully and jurisdictions reporting requirements should be carefully reviewed. Unless there is a specific line for reversals on your compliance report, they will show up as a negative on the same line as the main transaction.
Reversed Expense
A negative expense (an addition to your cash-on-hand), e.g., a refund from an overpayment would generally be a reversed expenditure. However, some jurisdictions prefer these to be reported as misc. income.
Reversed Unpaid Bill
Generally used for forgiven debts.
Reversed Monetary Contribution Received
A refunded contribution.
Reversed In-Kind Contribution Received
Rare. Used if an in-kind is returned.
Reversed Miscellaneous Income
Extremely rare. Anything that might be this could probably also be reported as an expense.
Reversed In-kind Expenditure Made
Used if your in-kind contribution made is returned/refused.
SPECIAL LOAN RELATED
Loan Repayment
The repayment of a loan received or made.
Loan Interest
A loan interest payment made. Should be entered as it is paid (or payment is received).
Third party repayment
3rd party repayment is for the rare situations when another party repays the loan rather than the original recipient.
Forgiven
The forgiving of a loan by the lender.
SUB-TRANSACTIONS
Sub-Vendors or Partners are sub-itemizations of expenses and contributions respectively. They in no way impact cash but rather are essentially used to provided detailed memos.
Sub-Vendors
Most commonly used for payments to credit cards. The credit card company would be the vendor and each individual transaction would be entered as a subvendor itemization. Subvendors are also often used for reimbursements. Note: In some jurisdictions, credit cards should be treated as a separate account rather than a vendor.
Partners/Splits
Generally used for a payment from a law firm or other partnership. The donation would be entered as from the partnership and each partner's share would be itemized as a partner sub-itemization. Note: Contributions from partnerships are not allowed in all jurisdictions.