Quarterly reports
All registered candidate committees must disclose the money they raise and spend. These “receipts” and “disbursements” are reported quarterly by House and Senate candidate committees.
All principal campaign committees of current and former presidential candidates must file either quarterly or monthly reports during non-election years. During election years, presidential campaign committees file quarterly except for those committees that have, as of January 1, received or anticipate receiving $100,000 or more in contributions or have made or anticipate making $100,000 or more in expenditures. (Such campaigns must file monthly.) During nonelection years, a principal campaign committee of a candidate for president may change its filing frequency between monthly or quarterly.
Electronic filing is mandatory for quarterly filing committees if they receive contributions or make expenditures in excess of $50,000 in the current calendar year, or have reason to expect to do so.
Forms to use
House and Senate committees report on Form 3.
Presidential committees report on Form 3P.
First report
When a committee files its first report, it must include all “receipts" and "disbursements" that occurred before registration. This includes any receipts and disbursements made during the “testing the waters” (or exploratory) period. The coverage period of the first report should be adjusted to date back to the beginning of the committee’s financial activity.
| Report type | Dates covered | Due |
|---|---|---|
|
April Quarterly (Form 3, 3Z, 3P, 3Z-P, 3L) |
January 1 through March 31 | April 15 |
|
July Quarterly (Form 3, 3Z, 3P, 3Z-P, 3L) |
April 1 through June 30 | July 15 |
|
October Quarterly (Form 3, 3Z, 3P, 3Z-P, 3L) |
July 1 through September 30 | October 15 |
|
Year-End (Form 3, 3Z, 3P, 3Z-P, 3L) |
October 1 through December 31 of nonelection year; Close of books of last report filed (October quarterly or Post-general) through December 31 of election year | January 31 of following year |
The Commission can waive a quarterly report if a pre-election report is due between the fifth and 15th day after the close of a calendar quarter. If the Commission waives a report, the FEC will publicize it.
The fourth-quarter report—due on January 31 of the following year—is also called the Year-End report. In election years, committees of candidates in the general election must also file a pre-general and a post-general report.
Also, authorized campaign committees must continue to file quarterly reports even if their candidate is no longer active (for example, if the candidate retires, withdraws, loses the primary or otherwise drops out of the race before the general election). Generally, committees must continue to file reports until the committee completes the termination process.