Campaign-finance records describe reported financial activity. Their meaning depends on the committee, reporting period, transaction type and filing version—not just the size of a headline number.
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.
Read the full campaign money guide →