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I need to take money out of a General account for supplies, but we have several accounts it could be. Is there some default categories so I can eliminate duplicates and develop one general operating budget? HELP?

simonmudge wrote:I need to take money out of a General account for supplies, but we have several accounts it could be. Is there some default categories so I can eliminate duplicates and develop one general operating budget? HELP?

MLS has several default categories, and then you can create as many (or as few) subcategories of those default categories as you would like. If you want to keep things as simple as possible, you can simply use the default categories and not create any custom subcategories. If you are concerned about eliminating "duplicates," it sounds like you may have more categories at this point than you really need.

But regardless of what categories you have, the basic principle is that before the year begins, you work with your bishop (at the ward level) or stake president (for a stake budget) to decide what your anticipated annual budget allocations will be, and how you want to divide that total among the categories. To do this, you'll have to be clear on what kinds of expenses will be charged against each category. Then as you make expenses, charge those expenses to the appropriate category.

How do I know which ones are default categories, like it does for callings?

simonmudge wrote:Is there some default categories so I can eliminate duplicates and develop one general operating budget? HELP?

You should take a look at the budget categories and unit subcategories listed in the Finance | Budget | Add/Update Categories screen. The budget categories with a red X are the default budget categories. They cannot be edited, deleted, or inactivated. Your unit may have created subcategories of these default budget categories. MLS calls these subcategories "unit subcategories". They will have a green dot next to them. Unit subcategories can be renamed. "Unit subcategories cannot be deleted or inactivated if they have references to an expense, transfer, donation, or assigned budget." (MLS note)

Your unit also allocates the planned and actual budget allowance to the budget categories and unit subcategories in the Finance | Budget | View/Edit Budget screen. This is where you would have to make changes to the budget allocations if you wish to consolidate any previous allocations.

The default unit budget categories I see in MLS are Activities, Administration, Budget Allocations, Curriculum, Distribution Center Charges, Elders Quorum, High Priests, Library, Miscellaneous, Primary, Relief Society, Single Adults, Sunday School, Young Men, and Young Women.

In our unit under the budget category Administration we have created unit subcategories named Building Shared Expenses and Clerk's Office to cover general supplies expenses. Supplies ordered by and for unit organizations are debited to their budget category.

Does this functionality still exist? All my categories are listed with red 'x' and so I can't add any custom sub categories to the budget categories. The previous stake financial clerk was running a load of spreadsheets to track the various expenses at a sub budget category level ie. Dances / Firesides etc - which I wanted to track through MLS instead.

How does everyone else do it? or do your stake presidencies only set budget amounts that correspond to the top level MLS budget categories?

Thanks.

As far as I'm aware the accounting system is slightly different for us in the UK. The actual Budget categories aren't used by us, hence the red 'x's. To get the definitive answer it might be worth contacting the European office, in Frankfurt, now we know longer have the LUS in Solihull..

dannykos wrote:All my categories are listed with red 'x' and so I can't add any custom sub categories to the budget categories.

I know there are some differences in the UK. But perhaps the following US-oriented response will help you, or someone else reading this thread.

The red X simply means that you can't delete the category. It does not mean that you can't add a sub category.

However, note that since we switched to CUBS, you can create only one level of subcategory under the built-in categories. For example, Young Men is a built-in category. Under that I could create a subcategory for Scouts. But I cannot create a sub-subcategory under Scouts called Camps -- that would be a second level and is not permitted.

So when you want to create a new subcategory, make sure that you have one of the built-in categories selected first. That's how you specify what the parent category of the new subcategory will be.

Thanks for the response - I did try and right click on the categories to add a new sub category, but eveything was greyed out and there was nothing I could do.

Perhaps it's a UK thing?

Any other UK based stake financial clerks out there care to share how you manage tracking the various budget subcategories from the annual stake budget?

Is there a general description of what should be the make up of each budget allowance detail report? I mean what is considered an administration item and etc. Some are very evident, but categories are difficult to define.
Thank you

I doubt that any two budgets are alike. You are correct that some items are very evident, and that some categories are difficult to define.

For example, some units will split the cost of a combined activity between the YM and the YW budgets, while others will have a separate item for combined youth costs. Some will break out the costs of copier supplies, and others will just lump it in to an administrative costs line item.

I think the key is that you and your leaders know what your budget items include. If the question is asked whether something needs to be tracked separately, and the answer is yes, then I would create a budget line item for it.