FEC E-FILING SPECIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS
VERSION 8.1
November 27, 2013
DocID: FEC_Format_v8.1.docx
ELECTRONIC FILING FORMAT OVERVIEW
The format consists of various record layouts whose fields
(An ASCII field separator (FS) character is a 1-b
many software programs can be coded by holding down the Alt key while typing 28 on the numeric keypad.) Each FS
character marks the end of one field and the beginning of the next. As with prior versions of the format, each record is
terminated with CRLF (carriage-return+linemarked by FS Field Separator delimiters. (In order to maintain continuity with previous releases of the FEC format, doublequote mark characters are not allowed within text fields.)
Fields may not begin with leading blanks (for example, "ABC" is incorrectly coded and should be coded "ABC").
The following characters will be allowed in filing fields (These are technically specified using the ASCII standard):
Keyboard characters. These fall within the range of ASCII 32 (space) through 126 (tilde "~").
Some characters used in other languages. Specifically ASCII characters 128 through 156, ASCII characters 160
through 168, and ASCII character 173.
Additional special characters. Specifically ASCII characters 9 (tab), 10 (line feed), 11 (vertical tab), and 13
(carriage return).
This allows name and address fields to contain letters such as , , , , , , . etc. Care should be taken if text is cut and
pasted from word processing, or other programs, since many non-keyboard characters such as apostrophes and "smart
quotes" (which are stored as ANSI coded characters) will not translate into the appropriate ASCII characters.
The first record of every electronic file that is submitted to the FEC must be an HDR record that precedes the main body of
the ASCII CSV (comma separated values) data. The second record will be a "cover" record for the particular filing, (for
example, a F3 or and F3X record for a FEC-3 or FEC-3X electronic report). An unlimited number of Schedule records
(examples: SA, SB, SC/, ...) can follow the first two records of an FEC electronic report file. (Electronic files are usually
assigned the file suffix ".fec".)
A validating utility named FECCheck is available for downloading from the FEC website. It can, and should, be used by
everyone who creates electronic files for the FEC, especially by those who are testing new software to create electronic
filings. The same validating utility is used by the FEC to check every electronic filing that it receives, either by diskette or
over the internet.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
FORM TYPE
FORM TYPE refers to the combination of the FEC form and other important identifying indicators. For the general forms
(cover sheets, not schedules), the format is form type followed by the amendment indicator (e.g. F3A, F3PA). If a filing is
not an amendment and not a termination report, it
NOTE: The Form 24 (F24) - 24 / 48 Hour Notice of Independent Expenditure and the Form 6 (F6) - 48 Hour Notice
are now amendable.
Form types for schedules are a little more complicated -they indicate both the schedule and the line from the Summary Page
of the cover form that the record relates to (e.g. SA15A).
FEC ID NUMBER -(FEC COMMITTEE ID NUMBER, FEC CANDIDATE ID NUMBER)
ntification number. All committee
numbers are 9 characters long with no spaces.
FEC E-Filing Specifications
Page 1
FEC E-FILING SPECIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS
VERSION 8.1
November 27, 2013
DocID: FEC_Format_v8.1.docx
House & Senate Candidate FEC ID codes have the following formats: H9ST99999, S9ST99999, and P99999999... (where
the 1st Character is H=House, S=Senate, P=Presidential, and the 3rd & 4th characters of House & Senate codes are the
2letter State Code, and the remaining parts of all codes are numeric).
Committee FEC ID codes consist of the letter C=Committee in the first position, followed by 7 digits, followed by a
This document has been changed to include more detail and to insure consistency. For example, in Form 1, the line:
2. FILER FEC CMTE ID (A/N-9) (reflects that only committees will file the document.)
Please note, certain lines will have identifying words included; these exist only to aid in identifying the type of committee
included in the field. For example:
FEC COMMITTEE ID NUMBER (PCC) (A/N-9)
FEC COMMITTEE ID NUMBER (AUTH) (A/N-9)
ENTITY TYPE
COMMITTEE NAME -COMMITTEE NAME
All committee names are a maximum of 200 characters long.
ORGANIZATION TYPE -ORGANIZATION TYPE
Appendix) .
AFFILIATED RELATIONSHIP CODE (Section 6 of Statement of Organization {F1 & F1S})
Defines how the affiliated committee relates to the Committee filing the Statement of Organization. Options are: ORG =
Connected Organization; AFF = Affiliated Committee; LPS = Leadership PAC Sponsor JFR = Joint Fundraising
Representative.
FILER CODE (24-Hour Notice of Disbursements {F9})
Code describes the type of Committee/Organization making the Communications Expenditure. Options are: IND =
Individual; UNO = Unincorporated Org; QNC = Qualified Nonprofit Under CFR 114.10; CLQ = Corp, Labor or QNC under
CANDIDATE NAME -CANDIDATE NAME
All candidate names are a maximum of 90 characters long apportioned among 5 new fields: Last Name (30-chars); First
Name (20-chars); Middle Name (20-chars); Prefix (10-chars and Suffix (10chars).
STREET ADDRESS 1/2 -STREET 1, STREET 2
All street addresses are a maximum of 34 characters long. If only one line of street address is given, it should be coded in
Street 1, and Street 2 should be blank.
CITY -CITY
All city indicators are a maximum of 30 characters long.
STATE CODE -STATE / ELECTION STATE
All state indicators are 2 character codes. The Appendix includes a listing of special state codes. State codes referring to
addresses are indicated by STATE, references to the state in which a candidate is running are referred to as ELECTION
STATE.
FEC E-Filing Specifications
Page 2
FEC E-FILING SPECIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS
VERSION 8.1
November 27, 2013
DocID: FEC_Format_v8.1.docx
ZIP CODE -ZIP
All zip codes are 9 characters long, four trailing spaces are acceptable.
DATES -DATE
All dates are eight numeric characters. The dates are in the format YYYYMMDD. In this document, many dates are followed
by identifiers such as: DATE (OF CONTRIBUTION).
AMOUNTS
Amount fields are 12 characters maximum. They must be numeric (with two exceptions). A leading minus (-) sign is used to
indicate negative amount values. If an amount is dollars and cents, an explicit decimal point (.) must be imbedded with 2
numeric decimal positions following the point. Amounts that do not have an explicit decimal are treated as whole dollar
amounts.
RATES
Interest rates are generally coded as numeric amounts, however up to 15 characters of text is acceptable on Schedule C,
rcentage then it must
be coded as a 4-digit percent (i.e. 4 decimal places with an explicit, leading decimal point). For example: .0500 or .0865 is
interpreted as 5% or 8.65%. A value of 100% must be expressed as a rate with a coded value of
1.000. The m
exactly 5 bytes.
-IND/NAME
Handling of Names of Individuals on all Forms and Schedules (version 6.x);
Names of individuals are to be encoded into five (5) separate new fields that have been added to all Form and Schedule
layouts. A name of an individual is apportioned among the fields: Last Name (30-chars); First Name (20chars); Middle
Name (20-chars); Prefix (10-chars) and Suffix (10-chars) to a theoretical maximum of 90 characters. Caret (^) delimited
fields are no longer used for individual names.
-INDEMP
All individual employer fields are now a maximum of 38 characters.
N -INDOCC
Previously in this document the individual occupation field was listed at 34 characters. It has been changed so that all
individual occupation fields are now a maximum of 38 characters. The original logic was that the disclosure database
contains 35 character names.
CANDIDATE OFFICE -CAN/OFF
represents presidential.
CANDIDATE DISTRICT -CAN/DIST
Candidate districts consist of two numeric characters. The only acceptable responses are blank, and 00 through 99.
PARTY DESIGNATIONS -PTY/CODE
Candidates and some committees declare their party affiliations. This should be a three character code and is optional in all
cases. A full list of these party codes is included in the Appendix.
TELEPHONE NUMBER -TELEPHONE
Telephone numbers, when reported contain 10 numeric characters.
REPORT CODE -RPTCODE
Report code consists of three alpha-numeric characters. New Report Type codes created for F3L filings. The acceptable
report codes are included in Appendix A.
FEC E-Filing Specifications
Page 3
FEC E-FILING SPECIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS
VERSION 8.1
November 27, 2013
DocID: FEC_Format_v8.1.docx
ELECTION TYPE (COVER FORMS / REPORTS) -RPTPGI
Election types, when referring to the basic reports, can only indicate elections within the election cycle that is being reported.
dix.
ELECTION TYPE (ITEMIZED / SCHEDULES) -ITEM-ELECT-CD
In reference to the individual transactions reported on the various schedules, election types indicate elections within the
election cycle that is being reported and past and future elections. See Appendix. If Other is coded, the ITEMELECTOTHER description must also be coded.
Starting with Version 5.1, Election Type/Description fields are also included on F57 Schedule of Independent Expenditures
which is part of Form 5 (F5) filings.
CONVENTION COMMITTEE TYPE -CONVENTION TYPE
Form 4 gives a selection for type of convention committee. The choices are: Arrangements, Host and Other. Included is a 40
COMMUNICATION COSTS SUPPORT/OPPOSE -24F/24N
Communication costs may be reported on Form 7. The support/oppose value is identified as 24F and 24N on the FE
INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES SUPPORT/OPPOSE -24A/24E
Communication costs may be reported on Schedule E and Form 5. The support/oppose value is identified as 24A and 24E on
MEMO ENTRY-MEMO
Many itemized transactions have a Memo entry to allow the filers to provide a more complete description of the activity;
Maximum 100 characters. Memo Text is available on itemized amounts on Schedules A and B -amounts which are totaled
and carried back to the Summary Page of the filing. In addition a Memo Code indicates that the amount is NOT to be
included in the itemization total.
YES/NO BOXES -YESNO
Several Forms and Schedules contain yes/no boxes; the questions are generally different for each form and can determine the
based on the data content of the related field in the Comma-Separated-
when CSV value
preferred)
TRANSACTION IDENTIFIERS (TRAN_ID)
Transaction Identifiers {TRAN_ID} are required on every schedule itemization record.
For all new items, the TRAN_ID must contain a unique value
particular item. It must be a value that is unique among all items within a group of reports comprised of original and all
associated amendments.
Tran ID: A unique identifier permanently associated with each itemization or transaction appearing in an FEC electronic file.
If a given itemization appears in more than one schedule, (e.g. an in-kind contribution is reported on both Schedule A and
Schedule B) then the Tran ID associated with that itemization must have different values for that single item among the
various schedules. However, all Tran Ids of itemizations appearing in any amending report must match the Tran Ids first used
for those same itemizations in the original report.
FEC E-Filing Specifications
Page 4
