Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

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Deuel
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Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#1

Post by Deuel »

While preparing our Quarterly Report, I noticed 4 pre-filled data lines (i.e. Single Adults, Endowed Members, Primary) had differing numbers between MLS and that displayed under the Clerk's Resources on "lds.org" - any thoughts and/or similar experiences?

The most notable are the two lines concerning Primary Children ["3 - 11" and "0 - 2"]. It seems those "age 3 on January 1st of the Reporting Year" were probably included on the wrong line of the Online Quarterly Report, because the difference is equal to the number of kids that turned 3 years-of-age during 2013. Unfortunately, the web site version does not provide a list of members in the various categories, as does MLS.
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showseason
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Re: Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#2

Post by showseason »

Same issue here. In fact some numbers appeared to change when I moved out members after the 1st of the year. I opted to use the MLS version for my report because of this.
lajackson
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Re: Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#3

Post by lajackson »

MLS locks the statistics at the last/first day of each quarter. The Web version does not seem to lock them, but rather seems to display current statistics. I also prefer MLS.

It will be interesting to see what changes come when we prepare the 2014 1Q report in April.
scgallafent
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Re: Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#4

Post by scgallafent »

deuel wrote:The most notable are the two lines concerning Primary Children ["3 - 11" and "0 - 2"]. It seems those "age 3 on January 1st of the Reporting Year" were probably included on the wrong line of the Online Quarterly Report, because the difference is equal to the number of kids that turned 3 years-of-age during 2013. Unfortunately, the web site version does not provide a list of members in the various categories, as does MLS.
There was an issue with the Primary calculation when the calculation routine ran at the beginning of the quarter. It has been fixed, but the calculated values weren't changed retroactively.

In the current configuration, the baseline statistics are calculated early in the morning (unit local time) on the first day of the quarter. When the quarterly report is sent from MLS, the baseline values calculated by MLS overwrite the values that were calculated at Church headquarters. Since the MLS-calculated values will overwrite the incorrect values, the decision was to let MLS push the corrections rather than try to go back and recalculate the statistics retroactively.
scgallafent
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Re: Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#5

Post by scgallafent »

lajackson wrote:MLS locks the statistics at the last/first day of each quarter. The Web version does not seem to lock them, but rather seems to display current statistics. I also prefer MLS.
The web version should lock them at the beginning of the quarter (see above), but will update as the reports are submitting using MLS.
eblood66
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Re: Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#6

Post by eblood66 »

scgallafent wrote:
deuel wrote:The most notable are the two lines concerning Primary Children ["3 - 11" and "0 - 2"]. It seems those "age 3 on January 1st of the Reporting Year" were probably included on the wrong line of the Online Quarterly Report, because the difference is equal to the number of kids that turned 3 years-of-age during 2013. Unfortunately, the web site version does not provide a list of members in the various categories, as does MLS.
There was an issue with the Primary calculation when the calculation routine ran at the beginning of the quarter. It has been fixed, but the calculated values weren't changed retroactively.

In the current configuration, the baseline statistics are calculated early in the morning (unit local time) on the first day of the quarter. When the quarterly report is sent from MLS, the baseline values calculated by MLS overwrite the values that were calculated at Church headquarters. Since the MLS-calculated values will overwrite the incorrect values, the decision was to let MLS push the corrections rather than try to go back and recalculate the statistics retroactively.
Does that mean the statistics won't get updated if you submit the report via Clerk Resources and not MLS?
scgallafent
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Re: Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#7

Post by scgallafent »

eblood66 wrote:Does that mean the statistics won't get updated if you submit the report via Clerk Resources and not MLS?
They will NOT get updated if you use Clerk Resources to submit the report. You don't have the ability to modify the baseline values from Clerk Resources, so you need to submit the report using MLS in order to use the MLS-calculated values instead of the existing values.
eblood66
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Re: Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#8

Post by eblood66 »

scgallafent wrote:
eblood66 wrote:Does that mean the statistics won't get updated if you submit the report via Clerk Resources and not MLS?
They will NOT get updated if you use Clerk Resources to submit the report. You don't have the ability to modify the baseline values from Clerk Resources, so you need to submit the report using MLS in order to use the MLS-calculated values instead of the existing values.
I've already submitted via the web (I just ignored the incorrect count for primary children and put in the correct number who attended). If I resubmit in MLS on Sunday will that update the report appropriately?
scgallafent
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Re: Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#9

Post by scgallafent »

eblood66 wrote:
scgallafent wrote:
eblood66 wrote:Does that mean the statistics won't get updated if you submit the report via Clerk Resources and not MLS?
They will NOT get updated if you use Clerk Resources to submit the report. You don't have the ability to modify the baseline values from Clerk Resources, so you need to submit the report using MLS in order to use the MLS-calculated values instead of the existing values.
I've already submitted via the web (I just ignored the incorrect count for primary children and put in the correct number who attended). If I resubmit in MLS on Sunday will that update the report appropriately?
Yes. As long as the MLS report is submitted by January 30, the MLS baseline values will overwrite the generated baseline values that you see in Clerk Resources.
russellhltn
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Re: Quarterly Report Discrepancy: MLS vs. Web

#10

Post by russellhltn »

However, I think MLS values might change based on records being moved out. We've observed that with HT/VT stats.
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