Romney has cash-on-hand deficit compared to Obama

• Both borrowed: Romney $20 million; Obama $15 million
• Romney had $63 million in bank; Obama almost $100 million
• Romney paid more than $200,000 in staff bonuses last month

WASHINGTON — Republican Mitt Romney ended September with $63.1 million in his principal campaign account to spend on the final push to Election Day — considerably less than the nearly $100 million President Obama had in the bank at the same time, campaign reports filed Saturday show.

Still, Romney and the Republican Party had a combined $34 million edge over Democrats on money in the bank, which Republicans say will be used to turn out voters in the days ahead.

The campaign balance sheets show both presidential contenders raising and spending huge sums in their effort to capture the White House. Obama, who used an early fundraising advantage to hire staffers in key battleground states, had 974 people on his campaign payroll last month, compared to 434 for Romney.

Obama also swamped Romney in spending on advertising, direct mail and postage last month, spending $94.8 million to Romney's $42.4 million, according to a USA TODAY analysis of campaign expenditures. A month earlier, Obama's advertising bill totaled $71.2 million, while Romney had spent far less, $35 million.

One of Romney's largest single expenses last month: Repaying $10 million of a $20 million bank loan he took out in August to remain competitive with Obama. He still owed $5 million at the end of September.

Reports show Obama also borrowed money, taking out a $15 million loan from the Bank of America last month.

Romney paid out more than $217,000 in bonuses to top aides in September, including $37,500 to political director Rich Beeson, records show. Communications director Gail Gitcho and digital director Zac Moffatt each received $25,000.

Top aides previously received $207,000 in bonuses in August for helping Romney win the primary.

The filings with the Federal Election Committee indicate that Obama had a greater share of Democrats' resources in his direct control to craft his advertising message and drive his get-out-the-vote efforts in recent weeks. Roughly two-thirds of the cash available to Obama and the Democratic Party at the end of September sat in Obama's campaign account.

Romney's available money accounted for about a third of the money Republicans reported having in their campaign coffers. He was boosted by the big fundraising success of the Republican National Committee, which ended the month with $82.6 million in the bank. Federal rules, however, limit how much candidates can coordinate their spending with political parties.

Romney's campaign aides say they operate as a closely aligned unit with Republican Party officials. "Our campaign has the resources and organization to win," campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in an e-mail Saturday.

The totals disclosed Saturday do not reflect any additional fundraising surge from Romney's strong performance in the first of three debates with Obama. Campaign officials said Romney raised $27 million online during the first two weeks of October — more than he has collected over the Internet during any single month of the campaign.

Of the money Romney collected in September, $41.9 million came from individuals, and $12.4 million of that amount came in donations of $200 or less. By comparison, $96.4 million of Obama's September haul came from individuals. Donations of $200 or less accounted for $33 million of the total, giving Obama a bigger pool of donors to ask for more money before they hit contribution limits.