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Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 11:38 am
by kenmcalister
davesudweeks wrote:We plan to keep a mix of paper and electronic. If we receive the paper receipts and issue a paper check, there will be a paper copy of everything for the auditor to review. If we receive all electronic, and issue an ACH reimbursement, there will be no paper copy of anything. If we scan paper receipts to make them electronic so we can issue an ACH reimbursement, we plan to keep the paper at least until the next audit provides guidance.

My experience with church auditing is there is huge variation in personal opinion of the "requirements" by certain auditors and very little training by the stake to ensure they are all doing it the same (I have had audits stretch over multiple days and totaling over 8 hours due to auditors thinking their role is to personally inspect every reimbursement issued in the past 6 months and adding requirements that don't exist in any handbook and training document). This is why we are stepping cautiously down this path as we have had no clear direction from the stake and the direction in the instructions is vague. I understand we should not be commanded in all things, but when a rogue auditor is allowed to make life miserable for the wards for years and the stake doesn't respond, it is very frustrating.
Dave, I feel your pain. As a stake fin clerk we are left in the dark also. I am just finding out about this ACH business yesterday and trying to wrap my head around what is required. With no direction or process flow from SLC the stake can not help if they were not trained or given the information. And with the auditors going rouge, that is because there is no training for them either. Seems to be all in interpretation instead of real training and guidelines. I work the financial system in our stake around the audit questions and what is going to be asked and required. When the questions change and there are no advanced notice we all get hurt with audit findings.

Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:05 pm
by chriswoodut
I've created a flowchart of what process we are going to try using. Maybe this is helpful to others. It is based on feedback I received on this thread and our preferences for our ward based on our previous process. If you want to make a copy of this for your own editing enjoyment, I think you can do that under the File Menu after you open it ("make a copy" option).

Google Presentation Flowchart:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/ ... sp=sharing

Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:12 pm
by MurdockM
chriswoodut wrote:I've created a flowchart of what process we are going to try using. Maybe this is helpful to others. It is based on feedback I received on this thread and our preferences for our ward based on our previous process.
Awsome, Thanks so much. As a financial clerk everyone else has been asking me about the new system. (from the Ward clerk to the Bishop).
I especially like your chart because it gets the Bishops permission before the expense is entered into the system.

Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:30 pm
by camroncall
chriswoodut wrote:I've created a flowchart of what process we are going to try using. Maybe this is helpful to others. It is based on feedback I received on this thread and our preferences for our ward based on our previous process. If you want to make a copy of this for your own editing enjoyment, I think you can do that under the File Menu after you open it ("make a copy" option).
As I was reading this forum I thought to myself that I needed to make a process for my ward to follow. There are a lot of good things to take from these pages in the absence of more direct training. This is what I had in mind. Thanks.

Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 11:50 am
by robertmax
It looks to me that with the new electronic reimbursement option that receipts for expenses can be uploaded. We currently have a form that the payee will fill out and the bishop signs to approve the expense and we would then enter that data into MLS. For auditing purposes, does this mean our specific form may not be required? If approvals can all be done online, it seems that way.

Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 12:48 pm
by chriswoodut
robertmax wrote:It looks to me that with the new electronic reimbursement option that receipts for expenses can be uploaded. We currently have a form that the payee will fill out and the bishop signs to approve the expense and we would then enter that data into MLS. For auditing purposes, does this mean our specific form may not be required? If approvals can all be done online, it seems that way.
The new system assumes that an approval happens before you enter it into LCR. It does not dictate that process. Your process sounds similar to ours. For electronic email requests, I'm saving the email thread to a PDF and uploading it into LCR with the receipts as proof of the approval. If someone gives me a paper form, I'm scanning it and the receipts and emailing it to the bishop for approval and then following the same steps (export email thread approval to PDF, upload PDF and receipts into LCR).

My flowchart: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/ ... JO2qpxRLQc

Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 1:16 pm
by drepouille
chriswoodut wrote:The new system assumes that an approval happens before you enter it into LCR. It does not dictate that process. Your process sounds similar to ours. For electronic email requests, I'm saving the email thread to a PDF and uploading it into LCR with the receipts as proof of the approval. If someone gives me a paper form, I'm scanning it and the receipts and emailing it to the bishop for approval and then following the same steps (export email thread approval to PDF, upload PDF and receipts into LCR).
That is exactly what I have been doing this past week. Printing the email thread to a PDF really helps to preserve the history of each expense for the auditor. I even have the bishop trained to check for needed approvals a couple times a week.

Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:16 pm
by jennyg89
Okay but where do I go to actually fill out and get a reimbursement? I set up my bank account to do it, but... then what?

Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 5:30 pm
by russellhltn
jennyg89 wrote:Okay but where do I go to actually fill out and get a reimbursement? I set up my bank account to do it, but... then what?
The system is not open to the general membership, or even ward leaders (other than the bishopric and clerks).

I'd suggest sending a email to the organizational head and/or the ward clerk with an attached receipt.

Re: Electronic reimbursements

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:20 pm
by drepouille
Arrgh! Receipts came to me via email. I saved the email thread, including the Primary president's approval, as a PDF. When I created the expense, I uploaded that email PDF, and planned to simply drag the three receipt attachments from Gmail to the expense. However, I clicked Save after I had reviewed the approval PDF, so the expense went immediately to the Approve Expenses bucket. Luckily, the bishop was able to quickly approve the expense. Then I was able to attach the three receipts to the expense after he had approved it.

It would be lovely if I could back the new expense out of the Approve Expenses bucket when I make a stupid mistake like that. I really did not want to reject the entire expense when I just wanted to attach more receipts for it.