Four numbers answer different questions
Receipts describe money coming into a reporting entity. Disbursements describe money going out. Cash on hand is a balance at a particular reporting date, and debts are obligations reported under the relevant rules. These figures are not interchangeable. A committee can have activity in more than one cycle, so a comparison needs matching dates and the same type of reporting entity.
Read the period and the amendment
Campaign reports cover stated periods and can later be amended. A recently imported file is not necessarily a report about recent activity. Look for the coverage-through date as well as the date Electionpedia checked or imported the source. When a source identifies a replacement or amendment, adding every version together can overstate the underlying activity.
Distinguish a payment from a conclusion
A contribution, vendor payment, loan, refund or independent expenditure can mean different things. A reported financial relationship is evidence of that reported transaction. It does not alone establish influence, coordination, wrongdoing or a candidate’s position on an issue. Follow a notable figure back to the filing and examine the transaction description before drawing a conclusion.
Compare like with like
Federal FEC records and state disclosure systems do not form one automatically comparable dataset. The agencies, identifiers, periods and categories differ. Electionpedia connects those records while retaining their original scope. For research that spans jurisdictions, begin by documenting exactly which offices, committees, time periods and transaction categories are included.
Continue with the sources
These publications explain the institutions and record systems discussed in this guide. Individual entries link their own specific documents and dates.