Post-Election Reports

Single Year Committees

For political committees organized for one election only, the C-4 report filed on the 10th of the first month following the election (December 10 for the General Election) is the final report if the campaign is concluded, there are no outstanding debts, loans or other obligations, surplus funds have been disposed of and the committee has been dissolved. There are no restrictions on how a political committee may disperse the funds remaining at the end of the campaign except the prohibitions listed in RCW 42.17A.445 regarding personal use.

If the committee does not or cannot file a final report on December 10, continue to file C-4 reports until all debts and other obligations are satisfied. These reports are filed on the 10th of each month whenever expenditures are made totaling $750 or more since the last C-4 report was filed.

If the committee is choosing to dissolve, see the instructions for completing the dissolution process.

Continuing Committees

Continuing political committees close out at the end of every calendar year. In preparation for the end-of-year C-4 report due in January, there are a few steps that you can take in order to clean up your campaign for the year. The January C-4 is usually due on the 10th, unless that date is a weekend or holiday. In that case, it is due on the next business day. Check the calendar for this year’s date. 

To close out the year:

  • Check for any outstanding checks.  You may have written contribution checks to candidates or other PACs earlier in the year that were not cashed or were lost in the mail.  You will need to review the specific circumstances for each expenditure to see if you are able to reissue the check. 
  • Check your ending balance for the year.  Look at the total appearing on Line 18 of your December C-4 and compare it to your actual bank balance.  If there is a significant difference you may need to make some corrections to your earlier reports and file amendments.  Uncashed checks, duplicate entries, missing bank interest or fees could all be to blame for the discrepancy.  Additionally, negative balances on Line 18 are not appropriate and usually indicate that something has not been reported accurately at some point in the campaign. Since you must use the ending balance from this year as the carry forward amount for next year, your December C-4 will need to be accurate.
  • File your last C-4 for the calendar year.  This report is due in January, usually on the 10th unless that date is a weekend or holiday. In that case, it is due on the next business day. Check the calendar for this year’s date. It is important to complete this final task for the calendar year carefully as you will be using the cash on hand balance from Line 18 of this C-4 as your beginning balance in the coming year. 
  • You must save your campaign books of account for five years. "Books of account" means a ledger or similar listing of contributions, expenditures and debt. Include the underlying source documents such as receipts, invoices, copies of contribution checks, copies of canceled checks for expenditures, digital transactions, notes, or other documentation concerning expenditures, orders placed, and loans.