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Transfer from Other to Budget

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:05 pm
by KAnderson
We used other accounts to track money collected for YM/YW camp during the summer and now we want to put it into the correct budget account. The transfer screen does not appear to allow this. Does anyone know how to do this, or even why we shouldn't have done it this way?

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:15 pm
by russellhltn
Certain transfers can only be done by writing a check and then treating it like a donation.

I'd be very careful about transferring "Other" to "Budget". It's likely to raise some red flags. Is there a reason you can't cut the check(s) to pay for the camp from the other account?

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:17 pm
by aebrown
KevinAnderson wrote:We used other accounts to track money collected for YM/YW camp during the summer and now we want to put it into the correct budget account. The transfer screen does not appear to allow this. Does anyone know how to do this, or even why we shouldn't have done it this way?

It is appropriate to track money collected for youth camps in the Other category. However, you really should have spent the money from the appropriate Other subcategories. Fundamentally, that is the purpose of the Other category -- collect money for a specific purpose, then spend it for that specific purpose.

However, now that you are in the situation of having collected money into Other, but apparently already spent it out of Budget, you need to clear out the appropriate Other subcategories.

The first question is, did you collect more than you spent? If so, you need to refund the excess to those who paid for the camp.

Once you have dealt with any overpayment, then you simply need to write a check to the ward from the appropriate Other subcategory to bring the balance to zero, and deposit that amount in the appropriate Budget subcategory. Write one check for each appropriate subcategory.

I would highly recommend that you take the training lesson Understanding and Using the "Other" Category. That will answer all of your questions on the proper use of such funds. The exact problem you mention is described on slide 20, and the solution I mentioned above is described on slide 31.

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:29 pm
by aebrown
Alan_Brown wrote:I would highly recommend that you take the training lesson Understanding and Using the "Other" Category. That will answer all of your questions on the proper use of such funds. The exact problem you mention is described on slide 20, and the solution I mentioned above is described on slide 31.

Although I do indeed recommend that you take the whole lesson, for reference, here is the appropriate excerpt from slide 31:
Sometimes an activity is mistakenly paid for using budget funds even though funds were collected and designated for the activity in the “Other” category. To correct this error:
• Print a check payable to the ward from the appropriate “Other” subcategory.
• Fill out a Tithing and Other Offerings slip in the name of the ward, cross out “Other” on the slip, and write in the name of the budget subcategory and the amount of the check.
• Record the deposit in MLS to the proper budget subcategory.
• File the white copy of the donation slip with one check stub and the expense information, and file the yellow copy and the other check stub with the donation information.
• Deposit the check at the bank using normal procedures.

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:35 pm
by rmrichesjr
Alan_Brown wrote:It is appropriate to track money collected for youth camps in the Other category. However, you really should have spent the money from the appropriate Other subcategories. Fundamentally, that is the purpose of the Other category -- collect money for a specific purpose, then spend it for that specific purpose.
...
To reinforce Alan_Brown's very good explanation, a few years ago, when I was stake finance clerk and was talking with clerk support about some early difficulties adjusting to using MLS, I was told the basic rule was that "Budget" was for funds that came from the Church budget allowance program, and "Other" was for funds that came from elsewhere.

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 12:00 am
by crislapi
This was also discussed, at least in part, in this post.

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:47 am
by mkmurray
crislapi wrote:This was also discussed, at least in part, in this post.
Which post specifically? Your link is to an entire thread.

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 8:14 am
by crislapi
mkmurray wrote:Which post specifically? Your link is to an entire thread.
Good point. Sorry about that. I posted a similar question here. The last part of the post contains the question. The first reply on the question is Alan_Brown here.

Alan's response (hope he sees this)

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:22 pm
by ffrsqpilot
In Alan's response he made the following statement - "Once you have dealt with any overpayment, then you simply need to write a check to the ward from the appropriate Other subcategory to bring the balance to zero, and deposit that amount in the appropriate Budget subcategory. Write one check for each appropriate subcategory."

I got twisted around the axle in a previous iteration of this subject so I won't go into that , however Alan I do have a question about the last sentence in the statement above? Could you just write one check and deposit it into two (or more) budget subcategories? I know it works the other way when you write a check out of budget and you take funds out of two separate categories (such as one check for a joint youth activity and charge both the YM and YW accounts for the activity).

After going through the training lesson on Understanding the Other Category, and finally calling Salt Lake for some clarification on how putting money into the budget all works I never thought to ask about if you could put money into two separate categories.

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:41 pm
by aebrown
Pilotfly wrote:In Alan's response he made the following statement - "Once you have dealt with any overpayment, then you simply need to write a check to the ward from the appropriate Other subcategory to bring the balance to zero, and deposit that amount in the appropriate Budget subcategory. Write one check for each appropriate subcategory."

I got twisted around the axle in a previous iteration of this subject so I won't go into that , however Alan I do have a question about the last sentence in the statement above? Could you just write one check and deposit it into two (or more) budget subcategories? I know it works the other way when you write a check out of budget and you take funds out of two separate categories (such as one check for a joint youth activity and charge both the YM and YW accounts for the activity).

After going through the training lesson on Understanding the Other Category, and finally calling Salt Lake for some clarification on how putting money into the budget all works I never thought to ask about if you could put money into two separate categories.
Well, actually you're right -- you could do it with one check. If you have, for example, balances in YW, Scouts, and Varsity in Other that you need to move to the appropriate Budget categories, the check would be written from Other, and have $500 from Other:Young Women, $300 from Other:Varsity, and $700 from Other:Scouts for a total of $1500. Then when you deposit it, you could deposit that one check into Budget:Young Women, Budget:Scouts, and Budget:Varsity. There is technically nothing wrong with that approach. Processing such a donation is no different from processing a donation of which part goes into Tithing, part into Ward Missionary, etc.

But that seems like that buries some of the information. To my mind, it is much cleaner to write one check for each transaction. Yes, it's more paperwork, but each document is simple and straightforward.

I suppose it comes down to personal preference -- either way could work.