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Quarterly report modifications

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 9:58 am
by mjscott2
Can ward clerks modify quarterly report information after the quarter has expired?

Re: Quarterly report modifications

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:08 am
by lajackson
mjscott2 wrote:Can ward clerks modify quarterly report information after the quarter has expired?
During the quarter, any change made to the report will update the report, but I do not believe that is possible after the end of the quarter, because a new quarterly report baseline loads at that point.

Re: Quarterly report modifications

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:02 pm
by Deuel
lajackson wrote:
mjscott2 wrote:Can ward clerks modify quarterly report information after the quarter has expired?
During the quarter, any change made to the report will update the report, but I do not believe that is possible after the end of the quarter, because a new quarterly report baseline loads at that point.
Actually, I once updated a Quarterly Report that was a year old, because I noticed it was missing the High Priest's portion of the Home Teaching report. Any way, the new numbers displayed the last time I checked.

Re: Quarterly report modifications

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:40 pm
by kisaac
mjscott2 wrote:Can ward clerks modify quarterly report information after the quarter has expired?
I believe the previous "quarter has expired" the first day of the new quarter, but you have until the 15th day of that next month to finish entering data for last quarter and "submit" an on-time report. Now, if you have submitted it before the 15th, can you change the data? Or after the 15th of the month can you change the data? Or after the budget allotment has been made to your ward can you change the data? I believe it is possible to change the data after submission, but have not tracked a case of doing so.

If it is a figure submitted incorrectly that effects a budget allocation, I certainly would suggest a call to your stake clerk, who might contact Global Service Center - MLU Support ASAP for direction!

Ward clerks might be reminded in Handbook 1: 13.5.1 of who, besides a Ward Clerk, is responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of a Quarterly Report.

Re: Quarterly report modifications

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:25 am
by aebrown
kisaac wrote:
mjscott2 wrote:Can ward clerks modify quarterly report information after the quarter has expired?
I believe the previous "quarter has expired" the first day of the new quarter, but you have until the 15th day of that next month to finish entering data for last quarter and "submit" an on-time report. Now, if you have submitted it before the 15th, can you change the data? Or after the 15th of the month can you change the data? Or after the budget allotment has been made to your ward can you change the data? I believe it is possible to change the data after submission, but have not tracked a case of doing so.
The answer to your first two questions is easy -- you can certainly change the quarterly report data anytime during the reporting quarter (for example, clerks could submit the Q4 2013 report beginning on 1 Jan 2014, and can submit updated information as often as needed up to 31 Mar 2014). Once the reporting quarter has expired, the budget allocation is calculated on the quarterly report as it exists at that date; no further changes will affect that allocation.

It is possible to make later corrections that might lead to adjustments in a subsequent allocation, but I would certainly contact Local Unit Support for guidance in making such corrections.

Re: Quarterly report modifications

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:45 pm
by camcphie
Here is a problem I just recognized in our Stake, since "you can certainly change the quarterly report data anytime during the reporting quarter (for example, clerks could submit the Q4 2013 report beginning on 1 Jan 2014, and can submit updated information as often as needed up to 31 Mar 2014)".

Our Stake wants monthly reports with the same data as in the Quarterly report. In early April the Clerk enters the March data and clicks Submit to issue the 1st Q report. Then in early May the Clerk opens the quarterly data report and clicks Edit (you see where this is going). He enters the April data and clicks Resubmit and prints an April Monthly report to give to the Bishop and the Stake. Then again in early June repeats the May process. Now the actual March Quarterly data is not in the system as it was edited twice to support monthly reports. When you review the history of quarterly reports and look at the key indicator graphs, etc. they are showing February data (for 4th Q), May (1st Q), August (2nd Q), November (3rd Q) data instead of the correct data. This likely is feeding the data for the incorrect months into the allocation calculations.

What actions, besides fixing the Clerk, are needed? I do not think it is possible to go back and fix the previously incorrect Quarterly data. Any recommendations on a tool to support doing the monthly reports without altering the actual Quarterly report? Plus, to make the data in the monthly reports truly factual, the Clerk will have to take into account all move ins/outs for each month that change the baseline number in the "Potential" column.

Re: Quarterly report modifications

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:57 am
by kisaac
Welcome to the forum!

Your problem is three-fold. First: Education.
Second: Fixing "wrong" quarterly report modifications from the past? Can the ward just go back to those dates and enter the correct data again? I would suspect the "correct" data may not exist anymore, and may be impossible to reconstruct.
Third: Eliminating confusion so the same problem doesn't happen again.
camcphie wrote:Our Stake wants monthly reports with the same data as in the Quarterly report.
Actually, I think that participation reports collected monthly is a better system for our local leaders to help them minister. However, I can see how confusion could exist if a new clerk was told "just send in the same information as the quarterly report but do it each month."
camcphie wrote:Any recommendations on a tool to support doing the monthly reports without altering the actual Quarterly report?
Yes. Go back to a paper form, designed by the stake, and with a title and reporting instructions that make it obvious it is NOT the quarterly report.

You could base it on a "blank quarterly report" you can print from MLS (until it goes away) at Reports/Forms > Reports/Tools > Print Blank Quarterly Report. Obviously, some categories or columns can be removed because your wards will not be able to compute those. If you have the ability, print to a PDF, and edit it to your needs. If you don't have that ability, go "old school" and use scissors and a glue stick to make a master form you can then scan/photocopying and deliver to your wards for them to fill out and return each month.
Again, I would stay away from any connection on your monthly report to the quarterly report- In other words, you could say "just print a blank quarterly report each month and fill it out and give it to the bishop and the stake," but I think you risk the same confusion you are now dealing with.