Texas Ethics Commission
Personal Financial Statement Filers

Forms & Instructions

Filing Forms and Instructions

Determine what type of filer you are (TEC or local) and then see the links below to find the appropriate Forms and Instructions.

TEC filers: By state law, a PFS filed with the Texas Ethics Commission must be filed electronically. However, a PFS filed with the Texas Ethics Commission by an appointed officer may be filed on a paper Form PFS-TEC. Please read the Benefits of Electronic Filing first. Only an individual appointed to office has the option to file a paper Form PFS. All other state officers and candidates must file the PFS electronically.

Local Filers: A PFS filed with a local filing authority must be done using paper forms in the proper format required by the local filing authority. You may use your computer to enter information on the personal financial statement form using Adobe Reader or Acrobat. You may not, however, submit the form electronically. After entering information on the form, you must print the form to complete the signature, notary, and affidavit section., and then deliver the paper report to the proper filing authority.

County Judicial candidates and officeholders: A county judicial officer or a candidate for office as a county judicial officer (such as a County Court at Law Judge or Statutory County Court Judge), has the option to file their PFS on paper with their county clerk or to file electronically with the Texas Ethics Commission. A county judicial officer or candidate who files a financial statement with the TEC shall file with the county clerk a document stating that the officer or candidate is filing the financial statement with the TEC. The document must be filed by the deadline for filing the financial statement

In order to reset your account’s password you must first request an email token by clicking on the “Forgot Password?” link on the login page as illustrated below:

Screenshot showing second steps for resetting your filing password

At the next screen, TEC filers must enter their Filer ID or account number, shown with a red arrow pointing to the location. A local filer or a 1295 filer must enter the email address they are using for a login Filer ID (case sensitive as initially created). After entering your Filer ID, a filer must select a proper filer type from the pull down menu accessed by clicking the “v” to the right of “Select Filer Type”. Then you must click the “Next” button at the far right bottom of the screen to proceed. This screen is illustrated below:

Screenshot showing first step for resetting your filing password

You will receive a message in blue at the top right corner “An email has been sent”. An email from do-not-reply@ethics.texas.gov containing a link to change your password will be emailed to the primary email address on file.

The email token is good for 7 days. (A 1295 email token is good for 24 hours.) After that you must request a new password reset. The email token can be clicked only once. After it has been used, it is no longer usable.

The filing application can be started by using a personal computer or laptop, a Mac desktop computer or MacBook, a Tablet, or a smart phone to bring up a browser window. Acceptable browsers and their minimal version level are:

  • Chrome 4
  • Firefox 15
  • Opera 12.1
  • Safari 4
  • Internet Explorer 9

Note: IE is no longer supported by Microsoft and is not recommended

Logging in the First Time

Logging in and Starting a Report

Use the guide and the part templates below to prepare your Personal Financial Statement (PFS) schedules for import into the filing application.

PFS Import Guide

PFS Parts Templates

For Appointed TEC Filers

Only appointees have an exception to file a paper PFS report. See Filing Information to file an electronic PFS report.

To file a paper PFS with the Commission on a paper form as an appointed officer, use any of the following options to fill out Form PFS and print a copy of the completed form to file with the Commission.

Option 1: Use E-Form PFS-TEC for editing with Adobe Reader or Acrobat and print a paper copy to file. This IS NOT used for filing the PFS electronically. This is only used to prepare and print a copy to file in a paper format. Read here for How-To-Use E-Forms. Click the appropriate year below:

Period Covered: January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025 (Form PFS-TEC 2026)

Period Covered: January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 (Form PFS-TEC 2025)

Period Covered: January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 (Form PFS-TEC 2024)

Option 2: Print Form PFS-TEC and fill out the paper copy.

Period Covered: January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025 (Form PFS-TEC 2026)

Period Covered: January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 (Form PFS-TEC 2025)

Period Covered: January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 (Form PFS-TEC 2024)

If you are unable to use the PDF form, please contact us at 512-463-5800 for an alternate version.

The Form PFS Instruction Guide is intended for completing the PFS on a paper form. If you are using the Commission’s electronic online filing application to complete a PFS, please use the Page Help instructions that are accessible from within the application or the guide below.

Step-by-Step Guide for Starting a New PFS Report Electronically

To correct a PFS with the Commission on a paper form as an appointed officer, you must submit a completed Corrected Financial Statement and Good-Faith Affidavit with the corrected Form PFS.

For reporting Blind Trusts

An appointed officer who resigns from office and who ceases to participate in the state agency’s functions must file a Personal Financial Statement that covers activity that took place during the entire time that individual was an appointed officer. For instance, if the appointed officer resigned and stopped participating in agency functions on December 31, 2026, that officer is required to file a PFS by April 30, 2027 (unless that officer receives the 60-day extension), that covers activity in calendar year 2026.

If your term expired or you resigned and you ceased to participate in the functions of the agency, you must give written notice to the Governor’s Office and to the Texas Ethics Commission. Notice to the Texas Ethics Commission can be given by filing Form PFS-PF (Participation Form). Email your completed Form PFS-PF to affidavits@ethics.texas.gov.

Participation Form for Holdovers (Form PFS-PF)

  1. Navigating the form: After entering text or selecting a check box, do one of the following:
    • Press [Tab] to accept the form field change and go to the next form field.
    • Press [Shift+Tab] to accept the form field change and go to the previous form field.
    • Press [Enter] (Windows) or [Return] (Mac OS) to accept the form field change and deselect the current form field. In a multiline text form field, [Enter] or [Return] goes to the next line in the same form field.
    • Press [Escape] to reject the form field change and deselect the current form field. If you are in Full Screen mode, pressing [Escape] a second time causes you to exit Full Screen mode.
  2. Checking Boxes: Use your mouse to insert or remove a “check” in a check box or [Tab] to the box and press [Enter] to insert a “check.” Press [enter] again to “uncheck” the box.
  3. Resetting the Form: To clear a form in a browser window select the Reset Form button or exit the Acrobat viewer without saving the file, and start again. Clicking the Reload button or the Go Back button, or following a link in a World Wide Web browser window, does not clear a form. (Once you clear the form you cannot get the information back–there is no “undo” for the reset form action.) To clear a form in Acrobat, choose File and then Revert.
  4. Saving the Form: If you use Acrobat, you may save the form and the data in a form on your computer using the Save or Save As command. Note: You cannot save the data in a form using the Save or Save As command if you are using Adobe Reader. The Save A Copy command will save the form itself, but not the data entered into the form fields.

If you are using Adobe Reader, do not close Reader while you are working on a report. If you close Reader, you will lose all the information you have entered.

For assistance with the online form, please call 512-463-5800 and ask for technical support.