This article provides step-by-step instructions for onboarding filers and provides guidance for onboarding in situations where filers have moved departments, disclosure categories, or hold positions in multiple departments.

When a person assumes a designated position within your department, you must create the filer’s account, or if the person already exists in the system, edit the filer’s existing account to add the new position and update their contact information. If applicable, you will also set-up and notify the filer of their assuming office filing requirement, which must be filed no later than 30 days after the filer has assumed the position. The sections in this chapter provide detailed instructions for the various onboarding scenarios.

1. Click the Add a New Form 700 Filer link on the Filers menu.

2. Enter the filer’s last name to confirm the filer doesn’t already exist in the system (search may take several seconds).
   If the filer does NOT exist, continue to steps 3 & 4.
   If the filer DOES exist, skip to Onboarding An Existing Filer.

3. If you do not see the name of the filer you want to add, click the Proceed button to display the Add a New Filer dialog screen.

5. Complete all required Filer fields:

   1. *First Name

   2. Middle Name (optional)

   3. *Last Name

   4. *Email address - enter the filer’s City-provided work email.

      Open

      

      Figure 4

   5. Phone Number - Enter the filer’s business phone number.

   6. Address - the Form 700 is a public document, so it’s recommended to use the filer’s business address.

   7. *Filer Type - Select 700.

   8. Is 800 Y/N - for Ethics Commission Staff use only.

   9. *Employee ID - Enter the filer’s DSW number.

   10. *Department - Select the filer’s department from the drop-down list. The position list will refresh to display the department’s positions.

   11. Agency Name - default is ‘City and County of San Francisco’ (do not edit this field).

   12. Position - Select the filer’s position from the drop-down list. This will automatically set the filer’s appropriate Disclosure Category.

   13. Position Number - leave this blank.

   14. *Assuming Office Date - Enter the date the filer assumed office. This creates an Assuming Office Statement Requirement and a deadline for the statement to be filed.

o. Leaving Office Date - (Optional) generally, this field should be left blank. Required field.

Open

Figure 5

1. Click on the filer’s name to select the filer.

   Open

   

   Figure 6

2. Click Proceed to open the existing Filer’s page displaying:

   1. The filer’s name, email address, and Employee ID.

   2. The filer positions table.

3. Review the filer’s information carefully to determine if this is the correct filer.

4. After you’ve confirmed it is the correct filer, select Add Position at the top of the Filer Positions table (see Figure 7).

Open

Figure 7

5. In the Add New Position to Filer dialog screen:

   1. Select your Department from the drop-down menu.

   2. Next, select the designated Position from the drop-down menu.

   3. Enter an Assuming Office Date.

6. Do not complete Leaving Office Date as this will automatically create a leaving office requirement on that date.

7. If the Filer’s account is active, click the Submit button.

Open

Figure 8

8. If the filer’s account is terminated/inactive, click the Submit and Re-Activate Filer button.

Open

Figure 9

9. Open the filer’s dashboard by clicking Filer Dashboard just below the main menu.

   Open

   

   Figure 10

10. Update the filer’s contact information that has changed, including email address if applicable.

If an existing Form 700 filer with no break in service transfers to your department from another city department, do not attempt to add the new position to the filer’s account. Instead, contact the Ethics Commission via our Form 700 Support Portal for assistance. In your request include:

Upon receipt, Ethics Commission staff will confirm the information with you and the former department and perform a transfer in the system. When a transfer has been performed, the system adds the new position to the Filer Positions table and marks the old position with information about the transfer in the Date Left column including the position transferred to and the date of the transfer. The old position’s background color is also changed to gray.

Open

Yolanda leaves a designated position on Friday, November 7 2025, and starts a new designated position at a different City department on Monday, November 10th, 2025 (the next business day). Yolanda is not considered to have left and assumed office because there was no gap in City service between both positions. Yolanda will continue filing annual Form 700 forms. Filing Officers should contact the Ethics Commission via the Form 700 Support Portal for assistance transferring the positions in NetFile.

Alexis, a designated employee, leaves City employment on November 17, 2023. A week later, Alexis is notified that they have been hired for another different designated position with the City (where they also file the Form 700). Alexis' start date in their new position is December 4, 2025. Alexis must file leaving and assuming office statements because they moved from one designated position to another designated position in the City & County of San Francisco and there was a gap in City service between both positions.

If an active filer in your department transfers to another designated position within your department (e.g., promotion, job change, acting/interim assignment, etc.) they are generally not required to file a leaving office or assuming office statement if there is no break in service.

If the original position and the new position have different disclosure categories, the next statement of economic interests the employee files shall disclose both of the following:

• Interests made reportable by the employee’s original disclosure category that were held or received at any time during the period from the opening date of the statement to the transfer date.

• Interests made reportable by the employee’s new disclosure category that were held or received at any time during the period from the date of the transfer through the closing date of the statement.

You may consider sending a courtesy notice to the filer to let them know of any change in their disclosure category, if applicable.

To transfer a filer in NetFile from one designated position to another within your department;

1. From the filer’s dashboard, in the Filer Position table, click on Action next to the position that the filer is transferring from to open the Edit Positions Actions dialog screen.

Open

Figure 12

2. Click the Transfer button.

Open

Figure 13

3. Select the filer’s old position from the drop down menu, click the checkbox to confirm that the filer’s position qualifies for a transfer, and click Proceed to Final Step.

   Open

   

   Figure 14

4. Select your department from the Transfer Target Department drop down menu.

   Open

   

   Figure 15

5. Select the filer’s new position from the Target Position drop down menu and click Submit (see Figure 16 below).

   Open

   

   Figure 16

6. Return to the filer’s dashboard to confirm transfer was successful. The old position will appear grayed out and will show TR>[former position +transfer date].

   Open

   

A designated employee who, at the expiration of the employee’s term, begins a term in the same position within the same agency within 30 days has not assumed or left office. The employee shall continue filing annual statements.

Note that this 30-day window does not apply if the employee moves from one designated position to another designated position (as opposed to beginning a new term of office in the same position).

If you encounter a filer who occupies active positions in more than one department, you will only have the permissions to access and manage the filer’s position in you department. Likewise, the filing officer of the department for the secondary position can only access and manage that position. Accordingly, two or more filing officers will have access to that filer’s account. In most instances when a filer is occupying multiple positions, one of the positions must file with the Ethics Commission (e.g., the filer serves on a board or commission). In this case, the Ethics Commission can manage both positions in the filer’s account. However, you must keep the Ethics Commission apprised of any changes that occur with the positions within your department (e.g., the filer leaves the position, etc.) Additionally, when a filer occupies more than one designated position, all positions will appear on their Form 700 statement. The primary position will appear on the cover sheet and secondary positions will appear in a separate section. Therefore, the filer will only file one annual Form 700 to fulfill requirements for all designated positions.

An Assuming Office requirement can be added in several ways:

1. When adding a new filer to the system, entering an assuming office date in the Add Filer screen automatically creates an assuming office filing requirement in the filer’s dashboard (see Admin dashboard view in Figure 18). When the filer logs into their NetFile account, they will see the requirement in the Filings to Complete table on their user dashboard (see filer’s dashboard view in Figure 19).

   Open

   

   Figure 18

Open

Figure 19

2. When onboarding an existing filer, adding their new position and its assuming office date will automatically add an assuming office filing requirement to the filer’s dashboard (see Figure 20).

Open

Figure 20

3. If you inadvertently omit the assuming office date when adding the filer/position from a filer’s dashboard, click Action next to the position to which you are adding an assuming office requirement. The Edit Position dialog opens.

   Open

   

   Figure 21

If you mistakenly add an assuming office requirement to a filer that is not required to file an assuming office Form 700, you can remove the requirement from the filer’s account. To remove a filing requirement:

1. From the filer’s dashboard, in the Active Filing Deadlines table, click Exclude next to the requirement you want to exclude. The assuming office requirement is labeled AS in the Type column.

   Open

   

   Figure 22

Open

Figure 23

When onboarding a filer, a critical responsibility of department filing offices is to notify the filer that they have a Form 700 filing obligation. Your filer notices should include:

• Requirement Type and Due Date (e.g., Your Assuming Office Form 700 is due no later than [MM/DD/YYYY]).

• Reporting Period (e.g., The period you will report on is 12 months prior to your start date through your start date (i.e., 12-month look back).

• The Filer’s USER ID (Note: The USER ID is the filer’s email entered when their account was created, which is generally their City-issued email address. This information can be found on the filer’s dashboard).

• The Filer’s Disclosure Category

• How to File - Link to the Filers Page which provides a link to E-File Statement.

• Instructions for first time e-filers. First time e-filers will need to establish a NetFile. password.
  Instructions for How to Establish a New Login Password are available on the Filers Page.

• Link to the Form 700 Home Page (provides important information about the law, disclosure categories, filing and reporting requirements, and consequences of not filing by the deadline.

For your convenience, Sample Filer Notices are available on the Filing Officers Page.

If you encounter an onboarding scenario not covered in this manual, or have questions about the procedures covered, contact the Ethics Commission via our Form 700 Support Portal for guidance.