Operating expenditures file description
The operating expenditures file contains information about disbursements disclosed on FEC reports, including operating expenditures reported on:
- Form 3, Line 17 for House and Senate committees
- Form 3P, Line 23 for Presidential committees
- Form 3X, Lines 21(a)(i), 21(a)(ii), and 21(b) for PAC and Party committees
For electronic filing committees, operating expenditures are available from the 2004 election cycle to the present.
For paper filing committees, operating expenditures are available starting October 2005 through the present.
The file contains information about the committee making the disbursement, the report where the operating expenditure is disclosed, the entity receiving the disbursement, the disbursement’s date, amount, purpose, and additional information about the operating expenditure (if provided).The end-of-line (EOL) marker is line feed '\n' (LF, 0x0A, 10 in decimal).
Operating expenditures file format
| Column name | Field name | Position | Null | Data type | Description | Example data |
| CMTE_ID | Filer identification number | 1 | N | VARCHAR2 (9) | Identification number of committee filing report. A 9-character alpha-numeric code assigned to a committee by the Federal Election Commission | C00100005 |
| AMNDT_IND | Amendment indicator | 2 | Y | VARCHAR2 (1) | Indicates if the report being filed is new (N), an amendment (A) to a previous report, or a termination (T) report. | A |
| RPT_YR | Report year | 3 | Y | Number(4) | 2018 | |
| RPT_TP | Report type | 4 | Y | VARCHAR2 (3) | Indicates the type of report filed. List of report type codes | 12G |
| IMAGE_NUM | Image number | 5 | Y | VARCHAR2 (11) or VARCHAR2(18) | 11-digit Image Number Format YYOORRRFFFF YY - scanning year OO - office (01 - House, 02 - Senate, 03 - FEC Paper, 90-99 - FEC Electronic) RRR - reel number FFFF- frame number 18-digit Image Number Format (June 29, 2015) YYYYMMDDSSPPPPPPPP YYYY - scanning year MM - scanning month DD - scanning day SS - source (02 - Senate, 03 - FEC Paper, 90-99 - FEC Electronic) PPPPPPPP - page (reset to zero every year on January 1) |
201810170912341234 |
| LINE_NUM | Line number | 6 | Y | Indicates FEC form line number | 17 | |
| FORM_TP_CD | Form type | 7 | Y | VARCHAR2 (8) | Indicates FEC Form | 3 |
| SCHED_TP_CD | Schedule type | 8 | Y | VARCHAR2 (8) | Schedule B - Itemized disbursements | SB |
| NAME | Contributor/Lender/Transfer Name | 9 | Y | VARCHAR2 (200) | XYZ Printing | |
| CITY | City | 10 | Y | VARCHAR2 (30) | Alexandria | |
| STATE | State | 11 | Y | VARCHAR2 (2) | VA | |
| ZIP_CODE | ZIP code | 12 | Y | VARCHAR2 (9) | 22201 | |
| TRANSACTION_DT | Transaction date (MMDDYYYY) | 13 | Y | DATE | 05112018 | |
| TRANSACTION_AMT | Transaction amount | 14 | Y | NUMBER (14,2) | 512.34 | |
| TRANSACTION_PGI | Primary general indicator | 15 | Y | VARCHAR2 (5) | P2018 | |
| PURPOSE | Purpose | 16 | Y | VARCHAR2 (100) | Printing yard signs | |
| CATEGORY | Disbursement category code | 17 | Y | VARCHAR2 (3) | 001-012 and 101-107 | 006 |
| CATEGORY_DESC | Disbursement Category Code Description | 18 | Y | VARCHAR2 (40) | List of Disbursement Category Codes and their meaning | Campaign materials |
| MEMO_CD | Memo code | 19 | Y | VARCHAR2 (1) | 'X' indicates that the amount is NOT to be included in the itemization total. | X |
| MEMO_TEXT | Memo text | 20 | Y | VARCHAR2 (100) | A description of the activity. Memo Text is available on itemized amounts on Schedule B. These transactions are included in the itemization total. | Credit card payment – AmEx 5/1/18 |
| ENTITY_TP | Entity type | 21 | Y | VARCHAR2 (3) | ONLY VALID FOR ELECTRONIC FILINGS received after April 2002.
CAN = Candidate CCM = Candidate committee COM = Committee IND = Individual (a person) ORG = Organization (not a committee and not a person) PAC = Political action committee PTY = Party organization |
ORG |
| SUB_ID | FEC record number | 22 | N | NUMBER (19) | Unique row ID | 1234567891234567891 |
| FILE_NUM | File number/report ID | 23 | Y | NUMBER (7) | Unique report id | 1197685 |
| TRAN_ID | Transaction ID | 24 | VARCHAR2 (32) | ONLY VALID FOR ELECTRONIC FILINGS. A unique identifier associated with each itemization or transaction appearing in an FEC electronic file. A transaction ID is unique for a specific committee for a specific report. In other words, if committee, C1, files a Q3 New with transaction SA123 and then files 3 amendments to the Q3 transaction SA123 will be identified by transaction ID SA123 in all 4 filings. | SB17.4326 | |
| BACK_REF_TRAN_ID | Back reference transaction ID | 25 | Y | VARCHAR2 (32) | ONLY VALID FOR ELECTRONIC FILINGS. Used to associate one transaction with another transaction in the same report (using file number, transaction ID and back reference transaction ID). For example, a credit card payment and the subitemization of specific purchases. The back reference transaction ID of the specific purchases will equal the transaction ID of the payment to the credit card company. | SB17.8690 |