Financial Disclosure Tools
Electronic Filing for all USDA Public and Confidential Filers
As a business process improvement, the Department of Agriculture uses an online electronic filing (e-filing) system for you to file your Public Financial Disclosure Report (OGE 278) and Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE 450). We have received many positive comments about e-filing and are pleased to announce that the system is accessible to all public and confidential financial disclosure report filers throughout the Department.
Effective January 1, 2013, USDA policy is financial disclosure report filers are to submit their financial disclosure reports using FDOnline, available at: https://fdonline.ntis.gov/
At each step as you go along the system, you will find an intuitive and easy-to-access "Help" section at the right hand corner throughout the application. We are always looking for ways to make the system even better than it already is, and we welcome any comments you may have about your experiences with e-filing and any suggestions for further enhancing the process. We thank you for your support of this Department-wide process improvement. If you have any questions about e-filing, you may contact the Office of Ethics at DAEO.ETHICS@usda.gov, at any time.
Forms, Templates, and Tools
- 10 Tips to Make the 278 Filing Process Easier No matter how well you've filled out your OGE 278, there's always a good chance that you'll get a call from "the ethics person." We're really quite friendly, but you're really quite busy. These 10 tips may help eliminate some of those questions on nittanoid details that the filing materials never quite tell you.
- Sample New Entrant OGE-278
For the visual learner—use the Sample 278 to help you properly list your assets and interests. The sample includes numerous commonly held assets, some complex holdings, farm holdings, real estate interests, etc., as well as standard agreements language for those coming to government from law firms, corporations, universities, and State governments.
- Sample Termination OGE 278 Report
The OGE 278 termination report must be filed by all USDA public financial disclosure report filers within 30 days of terminating employment with the Federal Government. Call the Office of Ethics for (1) assistance with completing the form, (2) obtaining an extension, or (3) obtaining a copy of your previous report. NOTE: You may not submit your termination report before your last day at USDA.
- Resolving Error Messages in the OGE 278e Report
Recently, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) updated the OGE 278 paper format to accommodate an electronic format: the new OGE 278e. Among other things, this new format requires OGE 278 filers to provide additional information not required in past years. Two changes that may affect your report are: (a) You must indicate whether your funds qualify as excepted investment funds (EIFs) and (b) you must respond to the following question: “Is this asset related to your employment (e.g., equity in business or partnership, stock options, retirement plans/accounts, deferred compensation, intellectual property, speaking fees, etc.)?” You will receive an error message if your report does not contain responses to these questions, even if you have no changes to the prior year’s report and are merely resubmitting your report with no changes to stocks and mutual funds previously reported. Click here for instructions on how to resolve these errors.
- 10 Tips to Make the 450 Filing Process Easier This document provides helpful tips for filers regarding what to include, or what can be omitted, and should assist with double-checking that the report is complete.
- FDOnline Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-450) Training
OGE 450 report training for those filers using FDOnline electronic filing. Click here for the training. If prompted for a program to use, choose "Media Player". To further assist you, a helpful step-by-step video overview of the filing process is available here
Don't forget to take the Financial Disclosure training!