Campaign Finance Reports filed in Philadelphia are required by law to be filed with the City electronically. (Paper copies of the reports must also be filed with the City Commissioners? office.)

Three electronic filing methods are available: 1) Submission of reports online via Campaign Finance Smart Client; 2) Creation of text files in specified format which are then delivered to the Records Department on CD or by e-mail; 3) Manual entry of records to Campaign Finance database.

Following are the required steps for filing your reports.

STEP 1: REQUEST A CAMPAIGN FINANCE USER ID AND PASSWORD

No matter which method of electronic submission a filer chooses, the filer must first register with the Records Department and receive a Filer ID and password. Obtain the Campaign Finance Online Registration Form, with instructions. Complete the form and return it to the Records Department prior to filing.

STEP 2: SELECT A FILING METHOD AND FILE REQUIRED REPORTS

Available Methods:
1) Campaign Finance Smart Client
The Smart Client is the preferred method for ease of filing and maintaining candidate and committee records. The Campaign Finance Smart Client is a software application created specifically for use by campaign finance filers in Philadelphia for submitting required reports of contributions and expenditures to the City?s system, and for maintaining those records from cycle to cycle and year to year. The software is free of charge to download and use. Philadelphia candidates, committees and/or their designated representatives are strongly encouraged to obtain the software and use it for maintaining their records and filing their reports since it offers many advantages over other methods.

2) Text files
Required reports may be submitted as text files in acceptable formats. Every submission must include five required files: receipt.txt, contrib.txt, expense.txt, debt.txt and filer.txt. These txt files can be generated by the file from scratch or by using Other State Certified Programs.

Once the text files are created, they must be delivered to the Records Department on CD or by e-mail to campaign.finance@phila.gov.

3) Manual direct data entry
Filers may enter their records for each cycle by keying the records into the Campaign Finance system. Access to the system is by Filer ID and password (see above).

Campaign Finance system instructions are also available.

STEP 3: COMPLETE AND SUBMIT A CAMPAIGN FINANCE AFFIDAVIT

No matter which electronic filing method is used for submitting required reports, to be completed each filing must be accompanied by a signed affidavit on paper. Print the form, complete it, sign it and return it to the Records Department.