Tech Forum

I ordered some things from store.lds.org and billed it to our branch, thinking that I could pay them by following the instructions found in the MLS 3.5.0 manual. Part of the instructions tells me to click Other: Online Store Purchases in the donation category. But I can't find it!

I've searched clerksupport.lds.org about this but it the help page for the topic only shows a blank page (https://www.lds.org/callings/melchizede ... l?lang=eng).

The order already arrived, but we still haven't payed for it. How can I pay for the purchase?

Purchases from distribution are automatically billed and deducted from your ward budget. The budget line item is Distribution Center Charges. You will also get a statement through MLS.

Where can I see the statement? and the Distribution Center Charges budget line? Is it a budget category? The nearest I see are two subcategories under Budget; SLC DISTRIBUTION CENTER CHARGES TO REGIO and SLC DISTRIBUTION CENTRE CHARGES TO LOCAL. They are both inactive, and I can't make them active.

jodelasur wrote:Where can I see the statement? and the Distribution Center Charges budget line? Is it a budget category? The nearest I see are two subcategories under Budget; SLC DISTRIBUTION CENTER CHARGES TO REGIO and SLC DISTRIBUTION CENTRE CHARGES TO LOCAL. They are both inactive, and I can't make them active.

Are you located in the US or Canada? From the URL you posted it looks like you may be in Brazil. If so, then the procedures may be different than in the US. You may need to contact your area office.

The information below is how distribution center charges are handled in the U.S. and Canada. Other area or country procedures may vary. Contact your Area Office for details unique to your area or country.

jodelasur wrote:Where can I see the statement?

Statements for internal records of purchase (IROP) are sent to units through MLS. Those IROPs are found in Finance > Finance Statements. To view just the IROPs click the "Internal Record of Purchase" folder in the left pane of the page.

jodelasur wrote:and the Distribution Center Charges budget line? Is it a budget category?

To view the line item expense and to adjust the category for the expense go to Finance > View/Update Expenses. The expense will be listed as Budget:Distribution Center Charges in the Budget column.

The budget category to which distribution center charges are debited is "Distribution Center Charges". Some units prefer to track distribution center purchases against organization budget allocations. This can be accomplished by re-categorizing the expense.

jodelasur wrote:I ordered some things from store.lds.org and billed it to our branch, thinking that I could pay them by following the instructions found in the MLS 3.5.0 manual. Part of the instructions tells me to click Other: Online Store Purchases in the donation category. But I can't find it!

The order already arrived, but we still haven't payed for it. How can I pay for the purchase?

A few years ago a procedure was set up in Brazil where you could order from the Store, and then submit the payment to your local branch as a donation in the other category. You did not bill it to the branch, but you said you would pay for the purchase through your branch.

When the payment was recorded in MLS and the branch did the Send/Receive, the order would be released and shipped. That is how I recall it was supposed to work according to the letter I read at the time.

Since it appears you have already received the order and the branch paid for it, I think your best approach at this point is to have the branch record your payment of the money in the Other account and then transfer it to the Budget category where the charge was processed.

There should have been something at the Store website where you would indicate that you would pay through the branch, not that the branch would pay for it and then you would reimburse the branch.

I'm just a new clerk, so I didn't know that some instructions aren't for everyone. Silly me.

Anyway, I called admin office and they told me that it is not anymore recommended to bill purchases to the branch. They also told me that the budget categories here in the Philippines are set-up so that we couldn't edit it.

My problem now is how I can deposit the money back to the branch's account. I'm hoping that a statement for this purchase will be received in our MLS and that we could deposit money from it. A help desk representative from LDS store told me that it'll take some time before it comes, but didn't specifically tell how long. How long will it take before we receive it?

Once we receive it, my next problem is that the Distribution Center Charges line is inactive and I can't make it active. Will this have any effect on how I will pay for it? The answer admin office told me was that it would be very hard. I didn't get the specifics (although I understand that they might have no time to explain it to me because we were conversing near closing time. I haven't had time to call again yet).

In this case I would just have the money put back into the Budget category using a donation slip. The same way I would handle money returned on a cash advance for activities.