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Using Web Reporter to File Bank Reports

Bank Report Menu Selections:

Create a draft report (for a single candidate or committee)

Create bulk reports (for all candidates and committees in a reporting period)

Amend a filed report

My Drafts

Credits (adding credit account acvitity information to a draft report)

Expenditures (adding debit account activity informaiton to a draft report)

Change Password

Log In / Log Out of Web Reporter


Creating a draft report for a single candidate:

Step One - Setting up the draft report:

  • Click on the "Create a draft report" link on the navigation menu.

  • Select the type of report by clicking on the button next to the report type you want to create.

  • Select the candidate you wish to file for using the dropdown list provided.  If your candidate is not listed, contact OCPF for further assistance.

  • NOTE: The candidate and/or committee information and dates are automatically filled in for you.

  • Click on the "Create Draft Report" button at the bottom of the page.  You will notice two changes to the navigation menu on the left:

    • The "My Drafts" link on the navigation menu will update to show the number of drafts currently on the system; and

    • New navigation links will appear for the newly created draft report and all of its associated item schedules.
Step Two - Entering the report information:

  • Once the draft is created, the Summary Balance Information page (draft cover page) is displayed.  The report information you entered in Step One is now displayed at the top of the page.

  • Fill in the beginning balance.

    • If this is a new candidate or committee, the beginning balance will be zero.  You'll be entering the initial deposit to open the account on the Credits page.

    • If this is an existing account, the beginning balance of this report will be the ending balance of your previous report.  If you electronically filed the previous report, Web Reporter will automatically bring the ending balance from that report forward and will auto-fill the beginning balance for you.

    • NOTE:  If you believe that the amount auto-filled by Web Reporter is incorrect, you should go back and review the prior report you filed on the EFS.  If you need to change the amount in the beginning balance field, you can edit the number in your draft report. You will need to go back and amend the previous report as well, though or you will create a discrepancy between the beginning balance of your draft report and the ending balance of the previously filed report.

  • Enter the credits for the reporting period.

    • Click on the Credits menu option.

    • Enter the date, amount and a brief description for each credit item in the reporting period and click on the "Add" button.

      • All item dates must fall within the reporting period.

      • Descriptions should be brief, such as "deposit", "transfer from savings" or "interest."

    • If you make a mistake before you add an item, click on the Clear Fields button to start again.
      Once you have added an item, use the Edit button next to the item to change any information in that record.

  • Enter the expenditures for the reporting period.

    • Click on the Expenditures menu option.

    • Enter the check number for the item.
      If the debit item is not a check, leave this field blank.

    • Enter the date and amount of the item.
      All item dates must fall within the reporting period.

    • Enter the Vendor's name and address, if provided.
      If the Vendor's address was not provided, leave these fields blank.

    • Enter the specific purpose information provided on the check into the Purpose field.
      If no purpose was provided, please enter the notation "No information provided" in the field.

    • Enter the expenditure code by choosing the code from the dropdown list provided.

    • If you make a mistake before you add an item, click on the Clear Fields button to start again.
      Once you have added an item, use the Edit button next to the item to change any information in that record.
Step Three - Filing your report:

  • When you have completed the data entry for the report, click on the draft cover page link on the navigation menu.

  • At the bottom left of the Draft Cover Page is the "File" button.  Click on this button to electronically file your report.

  • You will be re-directed to the electronic filing page.  This page contains your certification and electronic signature notification as well as the button to click to e-file the report.

  • When you click the "Agree to legal terms and file with OCPF" button you will be re-directed to the receipt page for confirmation of your filing.  You should print this receipt for your records.

IMPORTANT -- PLEASE NOTE:  Your report is not filed until you click on the "Agree to legal terms and file with OCPF" button and receive a valid receipt.
If you receive an invalid receipt, the receipt will tell you the reason(s) why the report was rejected.  You can then go back to the draft report and make any necessary corrections.



Creating draft report for all candidates in a reporting period (bulk reports)

Step One - Setting up the draft reports:

  • Click on the "Create bulk reports" link on the navigation menu.

  • Select the reporting period using the dropdown lists provided.

    • If you select a reporting period in which reports have already been e-filed, the following warning message will appear:  "Overlapping filed report found, will not be created."  You can then choose a different reporting period.

    • If you are uncertain about which reporting period to choose, click on the Show Reports button to view any reports that may exist for the period selected.

    • REMINDER:  There are three reporting periods available for each month:

      • Full Month - This report is designated by the three-letter code for the month, i.e. Jan, Feb, Mar, etc.  This report is used in off-election years and in the first six months of an election year.  This report covers the first through the last day of the month.  It should be e-filed by the 5th day of the following month.

      • Partial Month, First Half - This report is designated by the three-letter code for the month and the Roman numeral "I", i.e., Jul I, Aug I, Sep I etc.  This report is used in the last six months of an election year, when the reporting schedule switches to bi-weekly filing.  This report covers the first through the fifteenth of the month.  It should be e-filed by the 20th of the month.

      • Partial Month, Last Half - This report is designated by the three-letter code for the month and the Roman numeral "II", i.e., Jul II, Aug II, Sep II, etc.  This report is used in the last six months of an election year, when the reporting schedule switches to bi-weekly filing.  This report covers the sixteenth through the last day of the month.  It should be e-filed by the 5th day of the following month.

    • Once you've chosen the reporting period, a list of the bank's candidates and committees to be reported will be displayed.  The CPF ID number and beginning balance of each account will also be displayed for verification.

  • Click the Create Reports button to create the bulk draft reports.

  • NOTE:  Once the bulk reports are created, you are re-directed to the My Drafts page, where you can access all of the draft reports.  You will notice two changes to the navigation menu on the left:

    • Links for the last report created will appear on the navigation menu.  The link for the summary balance information page (draft cover page) of the report is identified by the reporting period and year of the report and the candidate or committee's CPF ID number.  There are also links to the Credits and Expenditures data enty pages and the Filer information page, in case you want to view the candidate or committee's name.

    • The "My Drafts" link on the navigation menu updates to show the number of drafts currently on the system.  Click here for more information about managing draft reports from the My Drafts page.
Step Two - Entering the report information:

  • Click on the draft cover page link for the loaded draft report.  The report information you entered in Step One is now displayed at the top of the page.

  • Fill in the beginning balance.

    • If this is a new candidate or committee, the beginning balance will be zero.  You'll be entering the initial deposit to open the account on the Credits page.

    • If this is an existing account, the beginning balance of this report will be the ending balance of your previous report.  If you electronically filed the previous report, Web Reporter will automatically bring the ending balance from that report forward and will auto-fill the beginning balance for you.

    • NOTE:  If you believe that the amount auto-filled by Web Reporter is incorrect, you should go back and review the prior report you filed on the EFS. If you need to change the amount in the beginning balance field, you can edit the number in your draft report. You will need to go back and amend the previous report as well, though or you will create a discrepancy between the beginning balance of your draft report and the ending balance of the previously filed report.

  • Enter the credits for the reporting period.

    • Click on the Credits menu option.

    • Enter the date, amount and a brief description for each credit item in the reporting period and click on the "Add" button.

      • All item dates must fall within the reporting period.

      • Descriptions should be brief, such as "deposit", "transfer from savings" or "interest."

    • If you make a mistake before you add an item, click on the Clear Fields button to start again.
      Once you have added an item, use the Edit button next to the item to change any information in that record.

  • Enter the expenditures for the reporting period.

    • Click on the Expenditures menu option.

    • Enter the check number for the item.  If the debit item is not a check, leave this field blank.

    • Enter the date and amount of the item.  All item dates must fall within the reporting period.

    • Enter the Vendor's name and address, if provided.  If the Vendor's address was not provided, leave these fields blank.

    • Enter the specific purpose information provided on the check into the Purpose field.  If no purpose was provided, please enter the notation "No information provided" in the field.

    • Enter the expenditure code by choosing the code from the dropdown list provided.

    • If you make a mistake before you add an item, click on the Clear Fields button to start again.
      Once you have added an item, use the Edit button next to the item to change any information in that record.

After completing the first report, you can click on the "My Drafts" menu option to see the list of your other drafts.  Click on the Edit button next to each draft report to open that report.  You can then verify or enter the beginning balance and add the credit and expenditure information for each report.

Step Three - Filing your reports:

There are two ways to e-file bulk reports:

  • As you complete each report, you can click on the summary balance page link on the navigation menu to return to the Draft Cover Page.
    At the bottom left of the Draft Cover Page is a "File" button.  Click on this button to electronically file your report.
    You will be re-directed to the electronic filing page.  This page contains your certification and electronic signature notification and the button you click to e-file the report.
    When you click the "Agree to legal terms and file with OCPF" button you will be re-directed to the receipt page for confirmation of your filing.
    You should print each receipt for your records.

  • After you have completed the data entry for all of the draft reports, you can return to the My Drafts page and click on the "E-File" button next to each report in the list.
    You will then be re-directed to the electronic filing page for each report where you can click on the "Agree to legal terms and file with OCPF" button and receive your receipt for each report.  You should print each receipt for your records.

IMPORTANT -- PLEASE NOTE:  Your reports are not filed until you click on the "Agree to legal terms and file with OCPF" button and receive a valid receipt for each report.  If you receive an invalid receipt for any report, the receipt will tell you the reason(s) why the report was rejected and you can return to the My Drafts page and click on the Edit button to make any necessary corrections to the draft report.


Adding Credits

To enter credit account activity, click on the Credits menu option.  When adding credit information, please use the following data entry formats:

Date Information
The Date field should not have any spaces or letters entered into it.  You do need to use a forward slash ( / ) as a separator between the month, day and year.

Here are examples of acceptable date formats:
  • 1/1/08
  • 01/01/08
  • 1/1/2008
  • 01/01/2008
Reminder:  All credit item dates must fall within the reporting period.

Amount Information
The Amount field should not have any spaces, special characters, letters or more than two numbers after the decimal point.

Here are examples of acceptable amount formats:
  • 100
  • 100.00
  • $100
  • $100.00
Description Information
Descriptions should be brief; there are only 100 characters available in the field.  Credit descriptions such as "deposit", "transfer from savings" or "interest" are sufficient.

Other Information
If you make a mistake before you add an item, click on the Clear Fields button to start again.

Once you have added an item, use the Edit button next to the item to change any information in that record.


Adding Expenditures

To add expenditure information to a draft report, click on the Expenditures menu option.  When adding expenditure information, please use the following data entry formats:

Check Number
Enter a check number for each item, unless the debit item is not a check.  In the case of bank fees, automatic account debits and other non-check debit transactions, leave the check field blank.

Date Information
The Date field should not have any spaces or letters entered into it.  You do need to use a forward slash ( / ) as a separator between the month, day and year.

Here are examples of acceptable date formats:
  • 1/1/08
  • 01/01/08
  • 1/1/2008
  • 01/01/2008
Reminder:  All item dates must fall within the reporting period of the draft report created.

Amount Information
The Amount field should not have any spaces, special characters, letters or more than two numbers after the decimal point.

Here are examples of acceptable amount formats:
  • 100
  • 100.00
  • $100
  • $100.00
Vendor (Payee) Information
All items must have a Vendor (Payee) name provided.  If a check is illegible, enter the phrase "Name Illegible" in the Vendor data entry field.

If a Vendor's address was not provided or is illegible, leave the address, city, state and zip fields blank.

Purpose Information
Enter the specific purpose information provided on the check into the Purpose field.  If no purpose was provided, please enter the notation "No information provided" in the field.

Enter the expenditure code by choosing the code from the dropdown list provided.

Other Information
If you make a mistake before you add an item, click on the Clear Fields button to start again.

Once you have added an item, use the Edit button next to the item to change any information in that record.

Amending Reports

Step One - Selecting the report to amend:

Once the Amend a filed report link has been selected from the navigation menu:

  • Web Reporter will display a list of the latest reports filed on the system.  The list is displayed as follows:

    • The report period dropdown selection boxes are set to the reporting period and year of the latest reports filed.

    • The year the reports were filed appears at the top of the screen.

    • Each report filed shows the date filed, the name of the candidate or committee, and the period of the report.

    • An Amend button is located to the right of each report listed.

  • Click on the "Amend" button next to the report you need to change.

  • A draft report is created and the draft's cover page is displayed.  The button that indicates that the report is an amendment is highlighted and an amendment reason box is displayed.  You must enter the reason for the amendment before you can navigate to any other page.

  • You will notice two changes to the navigation menu:

    • The My Drafts link will update to show a new draft has been created; and

    • New navigation links will appear for the newly created draft report cover page and all of its associated item scheudules.

Step Two - Editing the Report:

  • On the Draft Cover Page, you can edit the beginning balance of the report, if necessary.  All other report information is edited from the report schedules.

  • NOTE:  You can change the candidate or the report type, month or year from this page.  If you change any of these report parameters, Web Reporter will automatically change the beginning and ending dates of the report to match the new report information.  In addition, if any of these report parameters are changed, the draft will no longer be recognized as an amendment by the system.  Instead, when you file the draft, it will file as an original report for the new period indicated.  If you change the report type, month or year and encounter difficulties e-filing, please contact OCPF for further assistance.

  • Click on the links to the report information, i.e. Credits and Expenditures, to either add information or to edit the existing report information.

    • To add information to the report, click on the navigation menu link for the item you need to add, fill in the data entry fields and click the Add button.

    • To edit an existing item, click on the Edit button to the right of the record.  Use this button to recall the record to the data entry area and correct or change the information in the data entry fields.  When the Edit button is clicked, the Add button in the data entry area is replaced by these action buttons:

      • Update - This button is used to save the edited record to the report.
      • Delete - This button is used to remove a record from the report.
      • Cancel - This button is used to cancel the edit function and return to data entry mode.

  • NOTE:  If you find the filer information for your report is out of date or otherwise inaccurate, you can edit the information from the Filer Information menu option.  In addition, please notify OCPF of the error so that we can update the information in the Registered Filer List.

Step Two - Filing the Amended Report:

  • When you have finished completing the changes to your report schedules, click on the Draft Cover Page link for your report on the navigation menu.  This will take you back to the Draft Cover Page.

  • At the bottom left of the Draft Cover Page is the "File" button.  Click on this button to electronically file your report.

  • You will be re-directed to the receipt page for confirmation of your filing.

  • NOTE:  Your report is not filed until you click on the "File" button and receive a valid receipt.  If you receive an invalid receipt, the receipt will tell you the reason(s) why the report was rejected.  You can then go back to your draft report and make any necessary corrections.