Use the "Accrued Expenses" function of Campaign Craftware to:

• enter bills received during this reporting period which will still be outstanding and unpaid at the end of the period; and
• pay bills that were entered as accrued expenses in a past reporting period.

An example of an accrued expense is a bill received from Ajax Printing before the end of a reporting period that is still unpaid at the end of the period. Use the Accrued Expenses menu to record the bill amount as a New Payable. Then, when you pay the bill in a subsequent period, record the payment as a New Payment in the Accrued Expenses menu.

Accrued Expense Menu

A debt forgiveness occurs when a vendor for which you have an accrued expense agrees to "write off" all or part of the debt owed by the campaign. This constitutes a non-monetary contribution that must be reported as such. Craftware automatically categorizes this transaction as a non-monetary contribution and includes it in the regular campaign disclosure reports on the appropriate schedules.

Selecting New Debt Forgiveness from the Accrued Expense Menu displays the following data entry screen:



Debt Forgiveness Data Entry Screen

Enter the date for the debt forgiveness and the amount. Press CTRL-W to proceed. The Accrued Expense Menu will now show the forgiven debt:



Accrued Expense Menu

1. New Third Party Payment

The payment of an accrued expense by a third party is called a "third party payment" and is classified as a contribution. Craftware both records the third party payment as a contribution made by the third party, and adjusts the accrued expense accordingly.

NOTE: A payment by a third party of a current (not accrued) expense is an in-kind, or non-monetary, contribution. See Chapter 3.



Accrued Expense Menu

Selecting New Third Party Payment from the Accrued Expense Menu displays the contributor pick list:



Contributor Pick List

Select the contributor making the third party payment and a data entry screen similar to the following displays:



Third Party Payment Data Entry Screen

Enter the third party payment date and amount. If limits are in effect, Craftware will calculate the amount this contributor may contribute and display that amount. Press CTRL-W to proceed. The Accrued Expense Menu now shows the third party payment made:



Accrued Expense Menu

2. Edit/Delete Prior Transaction

If you make an error on any accrued expense transaction, you may edit or delete the record by highlighting the transaction on the Accrued Expense Menu. Press ENTER to edit the transaction, or press F9 to delete it.

If you pressed F9, you’ll be asked to verify that you wish to delete the transaction. Type "Y" to delete.

If you’ve chosen to edit a transaction, make changes as required, then press CTRL-W to save changes and proceed.

1. Credit Card Payments

Use this function to manage credit card accounts and to make credit card account payments.

This section describes setting up a new credit card account and entering typical transactions.

If no credit card accounts have been entered into Craftware, selecting "Credit Card Payments" from the Expenditures Menu displays the following message:

Press a key and the credit card data entry screen displays. Enter the requested account information and press CTRL-W to proceed. The following is an example of a completed credit card data entry screen:

Otherwise, choose an existing credit card account from the pick list and press ENTER to proceed, or F2 to edit the account information. If the appropriate credit card account has not yet been entered into Craftware, press F10 to add the new account.

A list of the selected account’s transactions appears:

You may:

• add a new transaction by pressing F10,
• edit an existing transaction by highlighting the transaction and pressing ENTER, or
• delete an existing transaction by highlighting the transaction and pressing F9.

When you press F10 to add a new transaction, the credit card menu displays the current credit card account balance and offers three transaction choices:

Choose one of these options based on the following guidelines:

Bill & Check: When the bill is received and paid in the same reporting period (similar to a direct payment), use this option to record: date and amount of net new charges; and the payment date, check number and check amount. This is the most frequently used credit card function.

Bill Only: choose this option to record:

• a credit card statement received during this reporting period that will be paid in a future period (similar to an accrued expense), OR
• any credit card statement with a credit balance (enter credit balance as a negative amount).

Check Only: choose this option to record the payment during this reporting period of a credit card statement that was received in a previous reporting period (similar to payment of an accrued expense). However, use Bill and Check to record payments such as this if the next bill has arrived and you wish to enter both this payment and the new bill at the same time.

Details of each of these options are outlined below.

1. Bill Only

Select "Bill Only" to enter an unpaid credit card bill at the end of a reporting period. This operation is similar to entering an accrued expense.

The following is an example of the Bill Only data entry screen after entering an end of reporting period credit card balance:

Enter the bill date and amount of net new charges. When entering a bill, enter only the new charges less credits (returned purchases for example) plus interest and fees. If the credit card has a credit balance, enter the amount as a negative number.

Press CTRL-W to proceed, and the following displays:

A number of operations may be performed at the Bill Only data entry screen:

• To add a payee, press F10.
• To edit payee information, highlight the payee and press ENTER.
• To delete a credit card payee, highlight the payee and press F9.
• To edit bill and/or check data, press F2.

To save the record and return to the Expenditures Menu, press F4.

The credit card transactions list will look like this next time:

For any payee receiving a total of $100 or more, you must enter the date and amount of the charge, and list the payee. In the above example, no payee received $100 or more, so it was not necessary to list payees. If you will not be entering any further travel information at this time, press F4 to save the data.

If your election authority requires that you identify travel expenses, a message will alert you that the F6 Travel function is available. In California, for example, all travel expenses must be itemized and specially noted using the F6 Travel function. In addition, you must specify the purpose of all travel outside of California.

Enter the travel-related credit card charge, then press F6 to display the Travel itemization form. Craftware allows you to group together travel expenses for a given trip. A pick list of previously entered trips is displayed, showing trip date, destination and traveler. Select a trip and press ENTER, or press F10 to add a new trip. If you have not yet entered any travel expenses into the credit card function, the following message appears:

Press any key, and the traveler pick list appears:

Select the traveler from the pick list, or press F10 to add a new one. After you have noted the traveler, the Trip Information data entry screen appears:

Fill in the trip start and end dates and destination. California committees must record the purpose of any travel outside of California. Press CTRL-W to save. Then press F4 to save the credit card record.

1. Check Only

To make a payment on a credit card bill already recorded under Bill Only, and before receiving the next statement, select "Check Only" from the Credit Card menu:



Credit Card Menu

Select "Check Only", and the following data entry screen displays. Enter the date, check number and amount. The following is an example:



Check Only Data Entry Screen

NOTE: The check number defaults to the next in order. You may override the default by typing over it.

Press CTRL-W to proceed. The payee list will not appear since the "Check Only" function is used only for existing payees.

After performing the operations discussed so far, the next time you access that credit card account, the following would display:



Credit Card Transaction List

NOTE: If the "Bill Only" for 12/31/93 and the "Check Only" on 1/4/94 displayed above had been mistakenly entered together as a "Bill & Check", then accrued expenses for the period ending 12/31/93 would be understated and the disclosure report generated by Craftware would be inaccurate.

2. Bill & Check

You’ll probably use the "Bill & Check" feature of the credit card module most often, that is, when a credit card bill is received and you pay any portion in the same reporting period.

Select "Bill and Check" and the following data entry screen is displayed:

Enter the bill date and the amount of new charges, and the check date, number and amount.

To add a payee (from the credit card statement) press F10. The pick list of payee names appears. Select a payee, enter the date of the expenditure and the expenditure code list appears:

The expenditure code list will differ slightly, depending on your committee type. Refer to the addendum specific to your election jurisdiction for details. Type in the expenditure code, or cycle through the list with the SPACEBAR. Press ENTER to select expenditure code. Type in the expenditure amount and description. The following is an example of a completed screen:

Press CTRL-W to proceed. The screen now appears as follows:

In the above example, it is assumed that the remaining $115 ($515 Net New Charges less the $400 expenditure to Hotel De Marcos) consists of expenditures under $100 each.

After all of the preceding example operations, the next time this credit card account is selected, the following screen displays:

1. Direct Payments

DO use the Direct Payments function to enter payments made on operating expenses incurred during the current reporting period.

DO NOT use the Direct Payments function to record:

• Payments made on unpaid bills incurred in a prior reporting period, bills already reported as accrued expenses, for example. You must use the "Accrued Expenses" function discussed in Section 4.2.1
• Payments made on credit cards. Instead, you must use the "Credit Card Payments" function described in Section 4.2.2.

Select "Direct Payments" from the Expenditures menu and the pick list of vendor names is displayed:

Press F10 if you need to add a new vendor.

If you select a vendor with no transactions, a message to that effect is displayed.

Highlight the desired vendor and press ENTER. The following Direct Payment Data Entry Screen is displayed:

Enter the date, check number, expenditure code and amount.

Selecting a vendor with existing disbursement transactions displays a list of those past vendor transactions:

To edit an existing record, highlight it and press ENTER, or press F10 to add a new transaction. In either case, a screen with vendor information, check date and check number is displayed. If adding a new transaction, the date is the current date (the default date in your computer) and the check number is one greater than the last highest check number. You may edit any of the information in an existing transaction by typing over it.

1. Give to Other Campaigns

A contribution of campaign funds or assets to another campaign falls in one of several categories, depending on source of funds and type of contribution:

• Monetary contributions

• Independent expenditure (see definition below)

A candidate controlled committee may also make contributions from the candidate’s personal funds:

• Monetary and non-monetary
• Independent expenditure

An "independent expenditure" is:

A payment that is made to or at the behest of the affected candidate or committee is a "contribution".

Select "Give to Other Campaigns" from the Expenditures menu, and a pick list of recipient committees, PAC’s, other controlled committees and political parties in your database is displayed:

If the pick list does not include your contribution recipient, press F10 to add and a pick list of recipient committee types appropriate to your committee will be displayed. Refer to the addendum specific to your election jurisdiction for details. For example, a California committee will see the following pick list:

Select the appropriate recipient committee type for this entry, press ENTER and the following menu is displayed:

Choose from the contribution source and type categories outlined above. Any type of campaign may contribute from campaign funds; however, Craftware allows only candidate controlled committees to contribute from candidate’s personal funds. Use the arrow keys to select contribution type. As each contribution type is highlighted, its description is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Press ENTER and a data entry screen appropriate to the recipient committee type and contribution will be displayed.

If the pick list of recipient committees and political parties in your database contains the committee to which you are giving, select it by highlighting it and pressing ENTER.

If your committee has made contributions prior to this one, a list of those past transactions is displayed:

To edit an existing transaction, select it and press ENTER. The recipient’s data screen and contribution are displayed.

To add a new contribution to the selected committee, press F10 and the contribution type menu is displayed. Select the category for this contribution and a data entry screen with information about the recipient is displayed.

The F4 Notes feature is available so that you may make free form notes about any of these transactions.

If Monetary Contributions is selected, the monetary contribution screen is displayed. Enter the check date (default is your computer’s current system date), the check number (defaults to next in sequence), description, if any, and amount. The following is an example:

If Non-Monetary Contributions is selected, the question is displayed: "Is a check being written to a Third Party?"

Answer "Y" or "N". If No, the following type of screen displays:

If a check is being written to a third party (that is, you answered Yes above), you’ll be asked if this is an accrued expense, then the following screen type displays:

Note that for this type of contribution, it is mandatory to name the "Payee". To insert the payee’s name, press F5 and the Pick List of payee names displays existing vendors:

Select the payee to whom you are writing the check. Then enter the check date, number, description and amount. The following is an example of a completed non-monetary third party payee screen:

If Independent Expenditures is selected, the following screen is displayed:

Contributions of this type require you to name the payee, as with the "non-monetary contribution – third party payee". Press F5 for the payee pick list and make the selection.

Fill in the remaining information about the contribution: check date and number (next in sequence), description and amount.

When making an independent expenditure, a field called "Action" will appear. Indicate whether your independent expenditure was in support "S" or opposition "O" to the recipient committee. Use the SPACEBAR to toggle between S and O.

1. Petty Cash

Craftware handles your campaign petty cash funds in a manner that accommodates the disclosure rule procedures and minimizes the chances of a disclosure rule violation. Refer to your election authority or the addendum specific to your election jurisdiction for details. A committee should make as many of its disbursements by check as possible and must make all payments of $100.00 or more by check or other written instrument. Since it is sometimes difficult, impractical or awkward to write checks for such items as refreshments for volunteers, postage due, a roll of film, copy costs or other small sundries, political campaigns and committees may make these kinds of expenditures by using currency and coins from a petty cash fund.

A petty cash fund is "an imprest fund", that is, a fund of a designated (fixed) amount out of which payments for expenses of small amounts are made. Petty cash does not mean cash disbursements that are uncontrolled or unrecorded. Here are some recommended guidelines for establishing and controlling a petty cash fund:

• A campaign employee or trustworthy volunteer is designated as the petty cash custodian. A committee check is written made payable to the custodian, the check is then cashed and the custodian places the money in a safe place – sometimes a locked box or locked desk drawer.
• The custodian:
• Advances cash to an individual, who signs a receipt for the cash. The receipt should contain the date, amount and purpose of the expenditure.
• Reimburses an individual who presents a receipt for a campaign related expenditure.
• Uses the Campaign Craftware petty cash envelopes (see example below) to store the receipts and records the expenditure data in the format printed on the envelope.
• The custodian submits the completed petty cash envelope to the campaign treasurer when the cash in the fund is low and needs to be replenished.

Craftware is designed to help you follow the guidelines above, and comply with your election authority’s rules for campaign petty cash funds. Some election authorities require you to itemize petty cash disbursements for amounts over a specified threshold amount. In California, for example, this threshold is $25.00.

1. Recording Transactions Using Petty Cash Receipts Envelopes

Included with Craftware is a supply of specially printed envelopes for maintaining petty cash receipts. Start a new envelope every time you receive a check to replenish the petty cash fund – each envelope represents one replenishing check. Record all petty cash disbursements on the outside of the envelope, and store the receipts inside it.

Record all petty cash transactions on the petty cash envelopes. When the fund needs a replenishing check, enter the transactions you’ve recorded on the envelope into Craftware.

Craftware’s petty cash envelopes will assist your committee in following the guidelines and the data entry screens.

The first time you select Petty Cash from the Expenditures Menu, a message stating that no petty cash funds are defined is displayed:



No Petty Cash Funds Message

Press ENTER and the following data entry screen is displayed. Fill in the name, address and phone numbers of the campaign office site, the name of the fund custodian and the check date, check number and amount of the check with which the new petty cash fund is being opened. The following is an example for a California committee:



New Petty Cash Fund Data Entry Screen

2. Replenishing the Fund, and Cash Shortages/Overages

When it is time to replenish the petty cash fund, the custodian adds the total of the receipts to the total of the cash on hand. This total should equal the designated amount of the petty cash fund. If the total is less than the fund amount, then the fund has a shortage. If the total is more than the fund amount, the fund has an overage. This can happen because of incorrect change being made, lost receipts or theft.

• If the fund is short, record the amount short on the list of disbursements Under $25.00 and include it in the sum of the Under $25.00 receipts.
• If the fund is over, subtract the amount from the list of Under $25.00 receipts.

This will return your petty cash fund to the correct fixed amount.

When you are ready to write your first petty cash fund reimbursement check to replenish the fund, select Petty Cash from the Expenditures Menu and the pick list of petty cash funds is displayed:

Select the fund to be replenished. If this is the petty cash fund’s first reimbursement check, the following message is displayed: "No Previous Petty Cash Transactions Found, Adding – Press any key". Press a key to continue and the petty cash check data entry screen displays. After you have written one reimbursement check to this account, this message will not appear.

Following is an example of a petty cash receipts envelope, already filled out with sample data.

Take the following steps to enter the data on the envelope into Craftware.

When completed, the petty cash data entry screen will look like the following:

When the disbursement amounts entered equal the check amount, the following message will be displayed:

Yes is the default, and pressing ENTER will save the entries and return you to the Expenditures Menu. Or, type "N" to re-edit transaction entries.

1. Editing Petty Cash Transactions

To edit petty cash transactions, choose an account from the pick list and press ENTER. Or, use one of the following functions:

• Press F10 to add a new petty cash fund.
• Press F2 to edit the highlighted account and its opening check.
• Press F3 to close the highlighted account.

To delete a highlighted check, press F9.

1. Closing a Petty Cash Fund

To close a petty cash fund account, select the fund from the pick list and press F3. The following screen will be displayed:

Enter the amount of remaining cash. Then allocate the outstanding receipts to the under $25 and $25-and-more categories as you did in the petty cash check data entry screen. The total of the remaining cash, receipts under $25 and receipts of $25 and more must equal the original amount assigned to the petty cash fund.

Press CTRL-W to proceed and the following displays:

The above message verifies that the entire petty cash fund has been properly allocated. Answer Yes and the following displays:

After confirming the figures are accurate, press ENTER to accept Yes as the answer and complete the closing of the fund. Remember to add the cash to the next deposit made to the committee’s checking account.

The Expenditures pick list for some committees will also include a "Matching Funds Status" function. This function only appears if your committee is qualified for a matching funds program offered by your election jurisdiction that is supported by Craftware.

Select Matching Funds Status from the Expenditures functions pick list, and the following status screen is displayed with data for your committee filled in:

Press ENTER to return to the Expenditures menu, or type "Y" and press ENTER to print the status report and return to the Expenditures menu.