Bishop approval of checks In lcr

Discuss questions around local unit policies for budgeting, reconciling, etc. This forum should not contain specific financial or membership information.
Post Reply
cavesrus
New Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 7:28 am

Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#1

Post by cavesrus »

We received a email about weekly fin summary. Said 5 expenses was not approved by bishop. Does he need to do this weekly now online as well as all the paper work? Just seems excessive since all the paper work done n office.
davesudweeks
Senior Member
Posts: 2637
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 9:16 pm
Location: Washington, USA

Re: Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#2

Post by davesudweeks »

If the bishop does it online, you don't need the paperwork. As some others have already done (including one of the church employees who shadows the forum) we are eliminating the "reimbursement form" for digital receipts sent to the bishop. We may keep it temporarily for paper receipts as it provides a handy place for communicating who the reimbursement goes to and the purpose.
davesudweeks
Senior Member
Posts: 2637
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 9:16 pm
Location: Washington, USA

Re: Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#3

Post by davesudweeks »

cavesrus wrote:We received a email about weekly fin summary. Said 5 expenses was not approved by bishop. Does he need to do this weekly now online as well as all the paper work? Just seems excessive since all the paper work done n office.
To further clarify, there is no requirement for a "form" for reimbursements. There is only a requirement for an approval - the form is optional. We used to use the form as the document of the approval since everything was paper. Now that the bishop's approval can be online, the form serves no purpose as long as the reimbursement recipient and budget line/amount are known.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34421
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

Re: Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#4

Post by russellhltn »

The form is useful in routing the paperwork and tracking the status of the reimbursement. But I think the electronic version takes care of 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
Senior Member
Posts: 2859
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:06 pm
Location: Plattsmouth, NE

Re: Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#5

Post by drepouille »

How does an organization leader control expenses if he/she does not have approval authority? What is to stop a rogue Cub Scout leader from spending the entire annual Primary budget? The Primary President wants to know what is being spent before it is spent.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
davidw.rogers
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 10:33 am

Re: Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#6

Post by davidw.rogers »

We still use a expense form for the leaders signature so they are aware of the expense from their budget.
cavesrus
New Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 7:28 am

Re: Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#7

Post by cavesrus »

What about audits and showing doc spend receipts etc.
davesudweeks
Senior Member
Posts: 2637
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 9:16 pm
Location: Washington, USA

Re: Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#8

Post by davesudweeks »

drepouille wrote:How does an organization leader control expenses if he/she does not have approval authority? What is to stop a rogue Cub Scout leader from spending the entire annual Primary budget? The Primary President wants to know what is being spent before it is spent.
The same way as before. Policy states that the bishop must approve each expense BEFORE the expense occurs. I would expect the organization leaders to control this the same way they have been in the past - the process does not cut out the Primary President from the approval loop in your example.

If a form works for you, then by all means, keep using it. We are going to allow the organization presidents use an email instead of a paper form if they choose to, but in our ward, we are not requiring anyone to abandon our current form if they like it and want to continue using it.
jdlessley
Community Moderators
Posts: 9860
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:30 am
Location: USA, TX

Re: Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#9

Post by jdlessley »

In our ward we will be accepting an email with the electronic receipt(s) either as an embedded image or as an attachment. If the reimbursement is to be debited to an auxiliary's budget category then the email will be routed through the auxiliary president to let them know about (approve) the reimbursement request. We will encourage members to send the email to the auxiliary president first for approval. If the email comes directly to me (the ward clerk), the finance clerk, or bishopric member, then it will be forwarded to the auxiliary president with a request for them to approve the request before I, the finance clerk or a bishopric member, process it. The email with the receipts will serve as a replacement for reimbursement request form with receipts attached.

We will continue to accept the paper request form with attached paper receipts if that is what works best for the member.
JD Lessley
Have you tried finding your answer on the ChurchofJesusChrist.org Help Center or Tech Wiki?
davesudweeks
Senior Member
Posts: 2637
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 9:16 pm
Location: Washington, USA

Re: Bishop approval of checks In lcr

#10

Post by davesudweeks »

jdlessley wrote:In our ward we will be accepting an email with the electronic receipt(s) either as an embedded image or as an attachment. If the reimbursement is to be debited to an auxiliary's budget category then the email will be routed through the auxiliary president to let them know about (approve) the reimbursement request. We will encourage members to send the email to the auxiliary president first for approval. If the email comes directly to me (the ward clerk), the finance clerk, or bishopric member, then it will be forwarded to the auxiliary president with a request for them to approve the request before I, the finance clerk or a bishopric member, process it. The email with the receipts will serve as a replacement for reimbursement request form with receipts attached.

We will continue to accept the paper request form with attached paper receipts if that is what works best for the member.
This is exactly our plan as well.
Post Reply

Return to “Local Unit Finance”