Financial accounting is very similar for both EDAs and campaigns. The difference is that EDA reporting is a yearly event and campaign reporting is one time only.
Elections Canada Tools for Candidates
If you intend to be the Official Agent (accountant) for a candidate you can use this form: Appointment of Official Agent for Candidate
A list of riding names and codes can be found here: List of Electoral Districts (Ridings)
It is a good idea to engage an auditor. You will need one if you spend over $10,000 on the campaign. We have had good results with Campbell Elections Auditing. They have a straight-forward engagement process online here: Request for auditor appointment
With these tasks complete, you will be able to open a campaign bank account, but do not accept donations to the campaign before the election is called as these will not qualify for tax deductions. Instead, deposit donations to the EDA and pay for everything from your EDA bank account. Later, you can transfer money from your EDA to the campaign bank account.
Elections Canada Tools for Electoral District Associations (EDAs)
To be appointed as the Financial Agent (accountant) of an EDA, you will need to complete one forms found here. Registration Forms for EDAs
If you are starting a new EDA, or restarting an old one without a current registration, as soon as you are registered you should file this report. It will most likely be filled with zeros as you won't have any existing assets. Statement of EDA Assets at Date of Registration
The registration documents you receive will permit you to open a bank account in the EDA's name.
For reporting purposes, create an account here:
Create a Political Entities Service Center (PESC) Account
Then download the EFR software here:
Electronic Financial Return (EFR) Software Install pwd: finance2007
EFR is where you will enter donations and generate an electronic file that will be uploaded to Elections Canada (EC). You need to use EFR because it is the tool for generating tax receipts for your donors.
Campbell Elections Auditing provides a spreadsheet to keep track of transactions. They require this to be completed if you select them as your auditor. Campbell Elections Auditing Spreadsheet
If you use Quickbooks and want to get a bit more fancy, here is a ZIP of a template Quickbooks company and a Chart of Accounts. The CoA rolls up into the reporting categories required by Elections Canada: Template for Quickbooks .QBW and CoA .IIF