CUBS Implementation -- Notes from the field

[natet]

OK, I'm going to summarize our situation (which seems to be similar to what others are seeing) and what we think we need to do about it.

With the most recent update, looking at our categories, some of them are overdrawn, with the biggest negative being under Authorized Member Financed Activities. We believe that this is because pretty much any reimbursement check we've written over the last 4 years was put under that category. A number of other categories are also negative, but others are positive, and our overall balance is positive. We can see all the individual spending items (which is a relief because that wasn't always the case).

We considered going through all the negative categories and moving the items to the appropriate categories, but we realized that this would be a huge undertaking, for not much gain. So, we've decided that we can live without having all the spending items under the categories that are appropriate. But, we also want the categories to be a a good starting point (namely zero) come Jan 1. Our current line of reasoning (and I think that I've seen this echoed in a number of CUBS related threads) is to transfer money from the positive categories to the negative categories until everything zeroes out. Before we begin, we plan on setting up a spreadsheet so that we can have a proper plan on which positive categories will transfer to the negative ones.

I guess what I'm looking for is some confirmation that this is a wise course of action before we begin working this.

[crislapi]

Are you just referring to Authorized Member Financed Activities?

Your course of action seems reasonable under two conditions - 1) pre-CUBS all of your other sub-accounts had a balance of $0 and 2) your net other balance post-conversion is $0. That is, if you run an Income and Expense report on JUST the Other category, do the remaining balances sum to zero?

If post-conversion you are not $0, you will obviously end up chasing your tail trying to make them $0. There is a bug with balances that has not yet been fixed.

[aebrown]

So, we've decided that we can live without having all the spending items under the categories that are appropriate. But, we also want the categories to be a a good starting point (namely zero) come Jan 1. Our current line of reasoning (and I think that I've seen this echoed in a number of CUBS related threads) is to transfer money from the positive categories to the negative categories until everything zeroes out.

I'm assuming that you are talking only about the Other:Authorized Member Financed Activities category. My advice would be somewhat different for the Budget category. It seems to me that you are combining two issues:

• Dealing with CUBS transition problems that affected your current balances
• Setting balances to a desirable value

I would recommend dealing with them separately.

For the first issue, I would compare a pre-CUBS Income and Expense report for the Other category, with the same report post-CUBS (but before any new activity post-CUBS). Then I would create whatever transfers are necessary, dated 20 October 2010 (or some other date in the middle of the week of CUBS transition) to set the balances to the correct values. On the "Comment" line you would note something like "Adjust balance for CUBS transition." Of course, you should first make sure, as crislapi mentioned, that you don't have an inconsistency in your overall Other balance that was caused by the CUBS transition.

Once you have dealt with the CUBS transition issues, you should be able to run an I&E reported dated 20 October 2010 and see the same balances as on your pre-CUBS I&E. If you still want different balances going forward, then you would create additional transfers dated with the current date to transfer funds as needed. Note, however, that for these transfers you need to be following the policy for the Other account. If funds were paid by members for a specific purpose, but were not used, those funds should be returned, not just transferred to another Other subcategory. See the wiki article Other category for other important policy and procedure notes.

[natet]

I'm just the STS, not the stake financial clerk, so I have to say, I know enough about this to be dangerous. But what I saw was a report that had a root level category called Authorized Member Financed Activities (I don't recall seeing an Other: in front of it). This category had a large number of debits against it, and no deposits, so it's negative $100k+. A large number of items that had previously been under other categories pre-CUBS had been moved there after the transition. Other categories, like the Girls Camp budget or our YSA activities have no debits against them, only deposits, so they're higher than they ever were for any given year. So, we're interested in zeroing out the negative categories, and returning other categories to their pre-CUBS balances.

Also, I'm pretty sure that we were looking at the budget report, as there was a balance forward January 1 of this year. I don't know if they've even looked at the I&E report yet, so it may tell a different story.

[aebrown]

I'm just the STS, not the stake financial clerk, so I have to say, I know enough about this to be dangerous. But what I saw was a report that had a root level category called Authorized Member Financed Activities (I don't recall seeing an Other: in front of it). This category had a large number of debits against it, and no deposits, so it's negative $100k+. A large number of items that had previously been under other categories pre-CUBS had been moved there after the transition. Other categories, like the Girls Camp budget or our YSA activities have no debits against them, only deposits, so they're higher than they ever were for any given year. So, we're interested in zeroing out the negative categories, and returning other categories to their pre-CUBS balances.

As I explained, the best procedure is to first restore your previous balances for all AMFA categories, whether they are positive or negative, using dates during the transition week, and then follow proper procedures to zero out any negative balances.

Also, I'm pretty sure that we were looking at the budget report, as there was a balance forward January 1 of this year. I don't know if they've even looked at the I&E report yet, so it may tell a different story.

There's no way that you were looking a Budget Report for anything in the Other category. It's just not possible, pre-CUBS or post-CUBS, since the Budget Report can only show activity in the Budget category and its subcategories. You must have been looking at an Income and Expense Report.

[crislapi]

I'm just the STS, not the stake financial clerk, so I have to say, I know enough about this to be dangerous.

You should probably then at least work with the financial clerk to fix this. He at least will understand the different categories. It sounds like you're a little confused between them all.

But what I saw was a report that had a root level category called Authorized Member Financed Activities (I don't recall seeing an Other: in front of it).

This is the other. My stake computer does not have "other" in front of it, but we also had not used the other account in the previous 4 years.

Also, I'm pretty sure that we were looking at the budget report, as there was a balance forward January 1 of this year. I don't know if they've even looked at the I&E report yet, so it may tell a different story.

Budget report would not show a balance forward on Jan 1. Budget reports don't show balance forwards from previous years. Only the I&E shows a balance forward from previous years. The budget report also does not show AMFA (Other). Only the I&E will show this.

[natet]

I definitely won't be making any changes myself. I was tasked with looking through the forum to see if there was any general consensus on how to handle our situation. Our stake clerk and financial clerk will actually be doing the work.

Our plan was, as you have pointed out, to put our categories back to their pre-CUBS levels. crislapi, thanks for the warning about the balance being 0. I'll pass that on to our clerk. I appreciate all the advice I've gotten on this topic. I'm sorry if I sound so dense on this stuff, but I've never worked with the financial side of MLS (I'm a membership clerk in my own ward), so I'm learning as I go here.

[crislapi]

crislapi, thanks for the warning about the balance being 0. I'll pass that on to our clerk.

Let me clarify. MY other was zero because we never used it. Your AMFA balance should be whatever it was before conversion (hence Alan_Brown's advice to use transfers to restore all pre-CUBS balances). Look at the ending balance of Other in your last CUFS (for dates 1 Oct - 19 Oct). There is a bug that may make be making you balance more negative post-conversion.

Your budget balance should be $0 on 19 Oct, but this is also affected by a bug that may cause it to be negative post-conversion.