Campaign Finance Compliance Reporting
All Federal and most State PACs have to file periodic campaign finance compliance reports outlining their PAC activity for a specified period in time. If you have a Federal PAC or State PAC then you have filed a PAC compliance report or two. PASS’ PAC reporting services take the worry out of PAC reporting because a PASS Compliance Manager reviews your PAC activity to determine which PAC reports must be filed. PASS provides FEC reporting and state campaign finance compliance reporting services. If you do not have a good handle on the campaign finance reports your PAC is required to file, the filing dates, and filing requirements, PASS’ PAC reporting services are the solution. PASS’ proprietary epacReportScheduleManager keeps track of both required and triggered PAC reports and your Compliance Manager prepares the reports for you to review. With your approval, your Compliance Manager files the report so you never have to worry about missing a campaign finance report due date.
Campaign finance compliance reporting requires that you keeping track of money into your PAC and money going out of your PAC. Simple, isn’t it? While it may seem cut and dry, there are many things that go into the flow of money into and out of a PAC and how you report it to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and state election law agencies. Add to that, you can give out of your Federal PAC in some states but others require that a completely separate state PAC be formed with a separate bank account. Some states will allow Treasury dollars to be used to make contributions and you may or may not have to report those contributions. Keeping track of how to make political contributions and what, if anything, you have to report can be incredibly stressful.
The compliance experts at PASS can help you navigate the complex waters of compliance reporting for your PAC. Our State Law Coordinator researches the rules in all 50 states and stays in contact with election law officials on a continual basis to give our clients the most up-to-date information on campaign finance compliance and compliance reporting rules. Our Compliance Services Team keeps track of your PAC and Corporate reporting obligations. Your Compliance Manager will monitor the PAC activity on a daily basis to ensure there are no reports due. When there are reports due, your Compliance Manager prepares the report, sends the report to you for review, and then your Compliance Manager electronically files the report with the appropriate election law agency using PASS’ proprietary epacInfo software.
The Federal Election Commission allows PACs to choose a monthly or quarterly filing schedule. Less reporting seems like less work, but in reality filers choosing the quarterly filing schedule have to watch out for pre-primary reports. These are reports that you may have to file, outside of the quarterly schedule, depending on when you make contributions to primary elections. If your PAC regularly contributes to primary elections and you are a quarterly filer, you may want to change to a monthly filer in the election years. How about contributions from your Federal PAC to non-Federal candidates? Do you know which states you can use your federal PAC to make contributions to non-Federal candidate? Do you know if that state accepts your FEC report or if you have to file additional reports with the Secretary of State in that state? If you are using your Federal PAC, can you give to state and local candidates or does the state limit contributions to the state legislature only?
State reporting can be much trickier because of 50 sets of contribution limits and 50 different sets of compliance report filing requirements. Some states require no reporting while others require your PAC to file reports on a regular schedule AND late contribution reports which are based on the timing of your contributions relative to the election date.
PASS’ report preparation and filing service means someone else is keeping track of your reporting obligations and preparing the reports for you. With the campaign finance compliance experts at PASS on your team you never have to worry about not including the correct information in the report or, worse, missing a filing deadline.
Contributing to a candidate or committee generally dictates the filing of a campaign finance compliance report. Want to make a contribution to a candidate but aren’t sure of the rules related to giving and what reporting obligations you may incur? Your PASS Compliance Manager is a phone call away. We have all the information you will need to decide whether or not to become involved in non-federal elections. If you decide you want to give in a particular state, your Compliance Manger can prepare the registration statement for you and file it with the state. You will have all of the information needed to make an informed decision on whether or not to give out of your PAC or Treasury funds to a state candidate.
PASS Offers Campaign Finance Compliance Reporting and Related Services:
- A dedicated campaign finance Compliance Manager
- Review of all PAC disbursements to ensure compliance
- Federal PAC report preparation and filing
- State PAC report preparation and filing
- Corporate Campaign Finance report preparation and filing
- Day-to-day PAC administrative services
- Secure On-line access to PAC data
- Peace of Mind
