In campaign finance, your records are your defense. When the Federal Election Commission has a question — or opens an audit — the committees that come through cleanly are the ones with organized records and bank statements that reconcile to the penny. The ones that struggle are the ones improvising under pressure.

At 9Seven Consulting, we’ve filed more than 4,000 FEC reports and reconciled over 7,500 bank statements. Founder Thomas Datwyler has spent 15+ years building recordkeeping systems for campaigns, PACs, and party committees nationwide. Below, 9seven FEC breaks down the recordkeeping and bank reconciliation practices that keep your finances clean, auditable, and stress-free.

Under federal law, a committee’s treasurer is personally responsible for maintaining its financial records — and the FEC requires that records of receipts and disbursements be kept for three years from the filing date of the report to which they relate. You can review the full requirements on the FEC’s keeping records guidance.

What Records You’re Required to Keep

On the receipts side, committees must maintain a record of every contribution, including the contributor’s name and address — and, for anyone giving more than $200 in an election cycle, their occupation and employer. The FEC’s recording receipts page lays out the specifics. A record of a contribution by check should also include an image of the instrument and enough detail to tie it to a specific bank deposit—for example, a batch number.

On the disbursements side, every single payment over $200 must be supported by a receipt, invoice, canceled check, or record of electronic transfer. See the FEC’s recording disbursements page for the documentation rules. If you don’t receive that documentation, you must make at least one written effort per transaction to obtain a duplicate in order to demonstrate “best efforts.”

That “best efforts” standard also governs missing contributor information: if a donor over $200 doesn’t supply their occupation and employer, you must make a documented follow-up request within 30 days. The FEC’s best efforts guidance explains exactly what qualifies.

Donation Tracking: Catch Problems Before the FEC Does

Clean recordkeeping starts the moment money comes in. The committees that avoid violations are the ones tracking each contribution against the rules in real time — not at deadline. That means watching three things on every donation:

• Contribution limits. Track each donor’s cumulative giving against the per-election limit so you catch an over-the-limit contribution before it’s deposited and reported.
• Source restrictions. Screen for prohibited sources — corporate, foreign-national, and anonymous contributions over the cash limit — at intake, not after the fact.
• Refund and redesignation needs. Flag excessive or impermissible contributions early so you can refund, redesignate, or reattribute within the required windows.

And never commingle. Committee receipts must go into the dedicated campaign depository, never a personal account. Funds should be deposited promptly — contributions forwarded to the treasurer are generally expected to be deposited within 10 days.

Bank Reconciliation: The Core of an Audit-Ready Committee

Reconciliation is the process of matching your internal accounting records against your bank statement so the two agree exactly. It’s where errors, missing transactions, and timing differences surface. Done monthly, it’s quick and painless. Skipped, it’s how committees end up filing reports that don’t match reality — a documented audit and enforcement trigger.

Here’s the monthly reconciliation workflow we use at 9Seven Consulting:

1. Gather the statement and your ledger. Pull the full bank statement for the period and your internal transaction records side by side.
2. Match every transaction. Tie each deposit and disbursement on the statement to a recorded entry. Confirm contribution deposits trace back to specific donors via your batch records.
3. Investigate every difference. Outstanding checks, deposits in transit, bank fees, and returned items all create gaps—identify each one rather than forcing a balance.
4. Confirm supporting documentation. Verify that every disbursement over $200 has its receipt, invoice, or canceled check attached.
5. Reconcile to your FEC figures. Your bank balance, your ledger, and your committee’s cash-on-hand figure should all agree before any report is filed.
6. Document and date it. Save the completed reconciliation. A reconciliation you can produce on demand is exactly what an auditor wants to see.

Common Recordkeeping and Reconciliation Mistakes

• Filing before reconciling. Submitting a report that hasn’t been matched to the bank statement is the most common cause of inaccurate filings.
• Commingling funds. Running committee money through a personal account destroys the clean audit trail and invites scrutiny.
• Missing disbursement backup. Paying vendors without retaining the invoice or canceled check leaves expenditures undocumented.
• Incomplete donor records. Skipping the 30-day best-efforts follow-up for occupation and employer data is a frequent source of FEC requests for additional information.
• Letting reconciliations pile up. Three months of unreconciled statements at deadline is how small errors become big ones.

Build a System, Not a Scramble

Spreadsheets can work for a small committee, but as contribution volume grows, dedicated FEC-compliant software paired with disciplined monthly reconciliation is what keeps records clean and audit-ready. The goal is the same regardless of tools: every dollar in and out is documented, categorized, and traceable to your bank account at all times.

It also keeps you ahead of your filing calendar. When records are continuously reconciled, hitting each FEC deadline becomes routine. (For the current schedule, see the FEC’s dates and deadlines page.)

Let Us Keep Your Finances Clean & Auditable

From vendor payments to receipts, every dollar should be documented — giving you full transparency and peace of mind. If you’d rather not carry the burden of monthly reconciliation and recordkeeping yourself, that’s exactly what we do. 9Seven Consulting, led by founder Thomas Datwyler, provides contribution tracking, bank reconciliation, expenditure documentation, and full FEC compliance for federal and state committees nationwide.

Contact us for a free consultation and keep your committee audit-ready all cycle long.

FAQ

 How long do I have to keep campaign finance records?

The treasurer must keep records of receipts and disbursements for three years from the filing date of the report to which they relate, per the FEC’s recordkeeping requirements.

What documentation do I need for expenditures?

For every disbursement over $200, keep a receipt, invoice, canceled check, or record of electronic transfer. If you can’t obtain it, make at least one written effort per transaction to demonstrate “best efforts.”

How often should I reconcile my committee’s bank account?

Monthly. Reconciling every account every month catches errors early and means your reports are already proven by the time a filing deadline arrives.

What is “best efforts” for contributor information?

It’s the standard for collecting required donor data. For contributions over $200, you must request name, address, occupation, and employer, and make a documented follow-up within 30 days if it’s missing. See the FEC’s best efforts guidance.