Tech Forum

As a stake finance clerk, I have a question about how it works when a unit in my stake repeatedly does not turn in a quarterly report. I understand that the stake receives a budget $ amount and then allocates most of these funds to the stake units based on certain criteria. The amount the stake gets is based on the reporting in the units (i.e., quarterly reports).

Does this hurt the entire stake's entire budget $ amount when one unit doesn't turn in a report because the stake in result has less attendance showing up due to it not being reported? What effect does the lack of reporting have on the stake and that unit that is not reporting?

Thank you,
Dane

dheilner wrote:As a stake finance clerk, I have a question about how it works when a unit in my stake repeatedly does not turn in a quarterly report. I understand that the stake receives a budget $ amount and then allocates most of these funds to the stake units based on certain criteria. The amount the stake gets is based on the reporting in the units (i.e., quarterly reports).

Does this hurt the entire stake's entire budget $ amount when one unit doesn't turn in a report because the stake in result has less attendance showing up due to it not being reported? What effect does the lack of reporting have on the stake and that unit that is not reporting?

You should review the Budget Allocation report. You should have very recently been sent the Q4 report, which will appear in the Finance Statements section of MLS. That will tell you exactly how much budget was allocated to the stake for each ward, and how it was calculated (sacrament meeting attendance, youth, Primary, YSA) for each ward.

If a ward has not been submitting a quarterly report, you will see zeroes for that ward. That will lead to zero budget being allocated to that ward for any quarter with no quarterly report having been submitted in the previous quarter. Also, if you have a typical strategy for the stake getting a percentage of each ward's budget allocation, then the stake will also get zero for the portion of its allocation that would have come from that ward's attendance figures.

There are many reasons a ward should be submitting a quarterly report promptly, but I don't see how a ward could repeatedly fail to submit the report. They would have no budget funds to operate on.

dheilner wrote:Does this hurt the entire stake's entire budget $ amount when one unit doesn't turn in a report because the stake in result has less attendance showing up due to it not being reported?

The units submitting quarterly reports should not be affected by the non-reporting unit. Their allocations are based on their individual unit quarterly reports. Without a unit quarterly report, Church headquarters cannot compute the allowance for the non-reporting unit. Therefore the stake's budget allocation will only include the amounts computed for the units submitting quarterly reports.

dheilner wrote:What effect does the lack of reporting have on the stake and that unit that is not reporting?

The stake's budget is shorted the amount they would have received had the unit submitted a quarterly report. The unit not reporting has no operating budget for each quarter they do not report.

Looks like a Stake President needs to have a heart to heart talk with a Bishop.

I would also guess that there may be some MLS messages from headquarters to the bishop asking about the budget overspending.

If the Bishop is not making sure the QTR Report is sent in, whats the chance he is looking in MLS for messages?

aebrown wrote: If a ward has not been submitting a quarterly report, you will see zeroes for that ward. That will lead to zero budget being allocated to that ward for any quarter with no quarterly report having been submitted in the previous quarter. Also, if you have a typical strategy for the stake getting a percentage of each ward's budget allocation, then the stake will also get zero for the portion of its allocation that would have come from that ward's attendance figures.

And what if they submit it late (after the budgets have been allocated?) Is the budget ever re-allocated for a late submitted quarterly report or is it just never issued? What is the absolute deadline on the quarterlies for getting a budget allocation? (assuming the QR can be turned in late....which I also don't know....)

The scriptures are quite clear about what happens when you show up late and unprepared.

kisaac wrote:And what if they submit it late (after the budgets have been allocated?) Is the budget ever re-allocated for a late submitted quarterly report or is it just never issued? What is the absolute deadline on the quarterlies for getting a budget allocation? (assuming the QR can be turned in late....which I also don't know....)

I've never tested the system by letting a ward get to the point where they actually get a zero budget allocation, but my understanding is that:

• The deadline is very close to the end of the quarter (within a day or so). One reason the report of projected budget allocations is sent out about a month before the end of the quarter is so that stakes will have warning of what will happen if nothing changes in that last month of the quarter.
• If the quarterly report(s) are submitted the budget allocation(s) that were withheld will be restored. We are all about repentance in this church, after all. But I wouldn't want to assume that there is infinite patience and grace in this particular regard.