How to add FO recipient from another unit?

Discuss questions around local unit policies for budgeting, reconciling, etc. This forum should not contain specific financial or membership information.
eblood66
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Re: How to add FO recipient from another unit?

#11

Post by eblood66 »

russellhltn wrote:The way the Handbook is written, it sounds like it's still done by the one unit, but I don't know how the approval process is handled. Is it just a pop-up reminder, or does it refuse until something else is done?
A similar question came up in this thread. lajackson indicated that the ward would pay the expense. That really is the only thing that makes sense. Spliting an expense up just makes the accounting and auditing more obscure.

I haven't done an large medical expense myself but I seem to remember that it just does a popup reminding you of the limit. I think the approval should be written and included with the documentation. It seems like there may be a related audit question as well but I'm not sure about that.
rchomskis wrote:never heard of the policy restricting units to share the burden :shock:
The thing is that there is no 'burden' on individual units. FO does not come out of local unit funds, it comes from the general church FO fund. Local FO go to the same place. And the limit is not per-unit, it's per recipient. So spreading the expense over multiple units just makes it difficult to make sure the actual expense is within limits for the district and has appropriate approval.

If the branch with the recipient can't actually cut the necessary check then I'd check with local unit support on how to proceed.
lajackson
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Re: How to add FO recipient from another unit?

#12

Post by lajackson »

rchomskis wrote:Our district president asked our several branches to share one large medical expense. I am not sure how in MLS to add a FO recipient from another unit, if the option is greyed out?
As eblood66 said (typing more quickly than me), since the expenditure is within the limits of the district president and also has been approved by the mission president, the only thing left to do is for the branch in question to pay the expense. There is no need to split the expense, since all Fast Offering funds expended are reimbursed to the unit.

The error message you see in MLS should be just a warning to make sure the approvals have been given. The branch should be able to continue through it to issue the check (or make the payment). (I was not able to see the image, sorry.)
rchomskis
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Re: How to add FO recipient from another unit?

#13

Post by rchomskis »

lajackson wrote:
rchomskis wrote:Our district president asked our several branches to share one large medical expense. I am not sure how in MLS to add a FO recipient from another unit, if the option is greyed out?
As eblood66 said (typing more quickly than me), since the expenditure is within the limits of the district president and also has been approved by the mission president, the only thing left to do is for the branch in question to pay the expense. There is no need to split the expense, since all Fast Offering funds expended are reimbursed to the unit.

The error message you see in MLS should be just a warning to make sure the approvals have been given. The branch should be able to continue through it to issue the check (or make the payment). (I was not able to see the image, sorry.)
it is not an error window, it is the "add recipient" window. also, the mission president advised to split the expense between branches, so the branches now need to figure out how to do this. since I am the district clerk, I need to teach local clreks how to do this in MLS. Leaving my actual case aside, why then MLS still have the option to indicate the FO recipient as from another unit, but it is greyed out? how do I activate the option in MLS!?
russellhltn
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Re: How to add FO recipient from another unit?

#14

Post by russellhltn »

rchomskis wrote:the mission president advised to split the expense between branches
It would take a call to support to confirm this, but that advice seems to be questionable. The question might have to be kicked back to whoever suggested that.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
drepouille
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Re: How to add FO recipient from another unit?

#15

Post by drepouille »

rchomskis wrote:
drepouille wrote:That sounds like a clear violation of the intent of the policy. We see that in accounting as well, when folks try to circumvent corporate policy by splitting expenses. Bad news.
never heard of the policy restricting units to share the burden :shock:
This indicates that the leaders misunderstand the nature of the Fast Offering fund. There is only one. Each unit does not have its own Fast Offering fund. It is not like the budget or Other:AMFA funds. When you deposit into the Fast Offering fund, the amount is immediately swept into the general fund. When you write a check from the Fast Offering fund, the amount is transferred from the general fund. It simply makes no sense to "share the burden" among units.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
russellhltn
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Re: How to add FO recipient from another unit?

#16

Post by russellhltn »

drepouille wrote:It simply makes no sense to "share the burden" among units.
The only reason to attempt to do that is to circumvent some kind of limitation. But I find that idea highly suspect.
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lajackson
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Re: How to add FO recipient from another unit?

#17

Post by lajackson »

russellhltn wrote:
drepouille wrote:It simply makes no sense to "share the burden" among units.
The only reason to attempt to do that is to circumvent some kind of limitation. But I find that idea highly suspect.
I believe that the well-meaning mission president actually thinks that the branches are sharing the burden of this Fast Offering expense, which as has been explained is not true at all. There is no circumvention in this case because all of the proper approvals have been obtained.

This is simply a case of a desire to follow the instructions from the mission president that appear to have been based on inadequate or old information. What has been asked here is something that may have been done 30 or 40 years ago as a practical matter, but which is no longer necessary today.

I would suggest a call to Local Unit Support asking them if it is possible for MLS to do what the mission president has requested. It would be an interesting call.
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