Page 1 of 1

Budget report without donations

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 11:16 am
by ulmo
I want to print a detailed budget report for an auxiliary (YM) that does not show donations. I imagine that the donors probably want their contribution to remain confidential and wouldn't want to the YM leader the names of everyone who donates to maintain that confidentiality. Is there a way in MLS to do this? The closest I could find was the Auxiliary Summary budget report, but this does show donor names. What I need to give them is all the info on that report minus the donation info.

Re: Budget report without donations

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 11:33 am
by eblood66
ulmo wrote:I want to print a detailed budget report for an auxiliary (YM) that does not show donations. I imagine that the donors probably want their contribution to remain confidential and wouldn't want to the YM leader the names of everyone who donates to maintain that confidentiality. Is there a way in MLS to do this? The closest I could find was the Auxiliary Summary budget report, but this does show donor names. What I need to give them is all the info on that report minus the donation info.
I'm confused. A budget report shouldn't have any donations because donations aren't allowed for budget categories. Are you actually talking about an 'Other' account to track payments and expenses for scout (or similar) camps? In that case I wouldn't think think that the payments should be confidential. The youth leaders generally need to know who has paid.

Re: Budget report without donations

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 2:49 pm
by ulmo
We've had members donate a few dollars once in a while to the Scout budget and occasionally other budgets. I wasn't quite sure about how to enter them, since I remembered having seen somewhere (I think in the Callings part of lds.org) that it said that members aren't to pay for activities, but I also see on the donation slips a line called 'Budget'.

I asked our bishop about it and he indicated that what it probably meant was that members are ok to donate to a budget, but that specific activities (like a camp) shouldn't be directly paid for by members without that member being reimbursed. It does let us enter it ok in MLS, so I'm inclined to think they intend for it to be possible and/or ok.

But I also couldn't find any other information than just that regarding such donations. If you have a reference to a handbook section or a URL that I can provide our bishop with that would be great; if we're not supposed to then he'll probably want to instruct our ward so we don't get improper donations coming in.

As for the report I might try the custom reports, although I don't remember if financial data is something you can add to a custom report or not.

Re: Budget report without donations

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 3:01 pm
by russellhltn
Yes, you can "donate" to the budget category, but that's intended for reimbursement, not a true donation.

Re: Budget report without donations

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:44 pm
by eblood66
ulmo wrote:We've had members donate a few dollars once in a while to the Scout budget and occasionally other budgets. I wasn't quite sure about how to enter them, since I remembered having seen somewhere (I think in the Callings part of lds.org) that it said that members aren't to pay for activities, but I also see on the donation slips a line called 'Budget'.
The Budget line is used for return of excess funds (e.g. a check was written as an advance and not all of the funds were used or there was a deposit for an activity and the deposit was returned) and when units have joint activities and one unit writes a check to the other unit to cover their portion of the costs.
ulmo wrote:I asked our bishop about it and he indicated that what it probably meant was that members are ok to donate to a budget, but that specific activities (like a camp) shouldn't be directly paid for by members without that member being reimbursed. It does let us enter it ok in MLS, so I'm inclined to think they intend for it to be possible and/or ok.
MLS allows these 'donations' for the purposes listed above.
ulmo wrote:But I also couldn't find any other information than just that regarding such donations. If you have a reference to a handbook section or a URL that I can provide our bishop with that would be great; if we're not supposed to then he'll probably want to instruct our ward so we don't get improper donations coming in.
Unfortunately I no longer have access to handbook 1. But going from memory one section says that all activities should be paid from the budget funds with the possible exception of a single annual camp for youth. In addition, I believe that the section on donations lists each of the possible donation types and does not list budget as one of those types. I don't remember if there is a specific statement about donating to budget. But even if it isn't I believe there is a strong implication that donations are not allowed. Units are supposed to stay within the amounts provided by the church.
ulmo wrote: As for the report I might try the custom reports, although I don't remember if financial data is something you can add to a custom report or not.
Financial data is not available for use in custom reports.

Re: Budget report without donations

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 6:55 pm
by russellhltn
eblood66 wrote:Unfortunately I no longer have access to handbook 1. But going from memory one section says that all activities should be paid from the budget funds with the possible exception of a single annual camp for youth. In addition, I believe that the section on donations lists each of the possible donation types and does not list budget as one of those types. I don't remember if there is a specific statement about donating to budget. But even if it isn't I believe there is a strong implication that donations are not allowed. Units are supposed to stay within the amounts provided by the church.
I'd look in Handbook 2: 13.2.8 as well as Handbook 1: 14.7.2.

Re: Budget report without donations

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2014 7:11 pm
by jdlessley
Essentially what eblood66 has written is correct.

Refer to Handbook 1: Stake Presidents and Bishops, 14.7, for guidance on the budget. Members do not donate to the unit budget. The entire unit budget comes from the budget allowance (section 14.7.2). The General Principles and Guidelines subsection of 14.7.2 provides information and guidance on budget funding, or sourcing of budget funds. It also describes the possible exceptions to the funding policy for annual camps or similar activities. See Handbook 2: Administering the Church, 13.2.8, for more detailed information about funding for unit activities.

The restriction against members donating to the budget is found in Handbook 1, 14.7.2, in the fourth paragraph of the General Principles and Guidelines subsection.

Re: Budget report without donations

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 7:57 pm
by ulmo
Thanks so much for the handbook references and info. That makes a lot of sense. Looks like I need to get more familiar with the handbook. :). Thanks again.

Re: Budget report without donations

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:02 pm
by russellhltn
ulmo wrote:Looks like I need to get more familiar with the handbook. :).
As a clerk, I'd suggest you approach it like the scriptures - read it completely, and consult it frequently.

Each time you read it, you'll have a different set of problems to solve - and you'll see a different aspect that you missed previously.