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Finance & compliance

Build the Electoral Commission spending return

The return builder turns a workspace's expenses and donations into the candidate spending return the Electoral Commission expects. Cadrify assembles it. Your election agent still reviews, signs and submits it, and stays personally responsible for what it says.

01

Clear the compliance flags

The finance hub flags anything the return needs fixed first. Signing, downloading and marking the workspace ready are all blocked while a red flag remains, so nothing incomplete goes out the door by accident.

02

Open the return builder

Open Finance, select the Returns tab, then Open return builder. The summary shows total spending, how much is paid, how much is still unpaid, donations received and the spending limit that applies, all at a glance.

03

Check the category breakdown

Spending rolls up into the six statutory categories the Commission uses: A advertising, B unsolicited material to electors, C transport, D public meetings, E agent and other staff costs, F accommodation and administration, plus an Other row for anything that maps nowhere else.

04

Sign it off

Enter the election agent and candidate names and select Sign off and lock. Signing writes a locked, versioned copy, listed under Signed versions with who signed it and when. Nothing is ever edited silently, and the workspace moves to Return ready.

05

Download and submit

Select Download return (xlsx) and Cadrify populates the Electoral Commission's own candidate spending return workbook, so the limit and every total are the Commission's formulas, not ours. Submit the file yourself with the supporting invoices and receipts and make the statutory declaration, then select Mark submitted to close the workspace off.

What to check
  • A nil return still has to go in. Where there is no spending and no donations, the builder says so and the download is a nil return, not a blank file.
  • The workbook has fixed room, 13 payment lines, 13 notional items, 13 unpaid claims and 15 donations. A longer campaign runs past those rows, so count the lines against the workspace and add any that overflow to the workbook by hand before you submit.
  • Donations only reach the return once they are recorded as received, not merely pledged.

See it on your own patch

Book a demo and we will walk you through it on a real ward.

More guides

Run the rest of the campaign

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