Tech Forum

When we had our Financial audit recently, the auditor placed the name of a welfare beneficiary on his audit form. The actual payment was made to a person (acting on behalf of the Bishop) for the benefit of that member.

I was under the impression that beneficiary's weren't to be placed on any document, other than that allowed for in MLS! Is my assumption correct?

I did query this at the time! Perhaps I should have just said no to the auditors request!

Biggles wrote:When we had our Financial audit recently, the auditor placed the name of a welfare beneficiary on his audit form. The actual payment was made to a person (acting on behalf of the Bishop) for the benefit of that member.

I was under the impression that beneficiary's weren't to be placed on any document, other than that allowed for in MLS! Is my assumption correct?

It is certainly true that we should be very careful about protecting the privacy of those receiving welfare assistance, and thus the confidentiality of any transactions in this area. However, I know of know specific policy that says that "beneficiary's weren't to be placed on any document, other than that allowed for in MLS."

The fact is that any auditor assigned to do a stake audit can see the stake's Consolidated Financial Statement, which lists every payment made in the Fast Offering category for the month, with the payee, purpose, amount, and beneficiary listed. That's clearly a very confidential document, but the auditor can see it, and the audit committee can see anything the auditor can see, and the Church Auditing Department can see any of that as well. Since the only people who should see an audit report are those who have callings or assignments that allow them to see that information, I don't see why including that information on an audit form would be prohibited.

That said, it seems to me that it would be even better for an auditor to refer to a reference number for the transactions in question; that gives a better audit trail if anyone needs to follow up on the item, and omits the beneficiary's name, which probably wasn't essential to the point being written up on the audit form.

This sounds like a valid concern to bring to the stake audit committee.

Biggles wrote:When we had our Financial audit recently, the auditor placed the name of a welfare beneficiary on his audit form. The actual payment was made to a person (acting on behalf of the Bishop) for the benefit of that member.

I was under the impression that beneficiary's weren't to be placed on any document, other than that allowed for in MLS! Is my assumption correct?

I did query this at the time! Perhaps I should have just said no to the auditors request!

Take a look at the audit form. Under Item 16 Document review, it specifically requires that the auditor provide the name of the person assisted with a fast offering expense. In the instructions, it also says that you are to provide the auditor with the expense summary report. The expense summary report will provide the auditor with the beneficiary's name.

allenjpl wrote: Take a look at the audit form. Under Item 16 Document review, it specifically requires that the auditor provide the name of the person assisted with a fast offering expense. In the instructions, it also says that you are to provide the auditor with the expense summary report. The expense summary report will provide the auditor with the beneficiary's name.

I was able to follow up, last night, on the reference you indicated. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction, that has clarified the situation!

I normally just enter the members MRN, as it isn't easy to identify an individual from that alone, on the reimbursement request form!