Do Discount Programs violate the one account per unit rule

[atticusewig]

It has been mentioned on the forum that there
is official instruction that each unit is to have
one bank account and no other accounts.

This has been used to discourage the use of an
account at a Scout Shop being setup with a balance
and that account used to pay for badges, for example.

My question is, do Discount Programs, violate this
instruction.

For example, my local office supply has a program
in which when signed up, a set percentage of every
purchase is redeemed to you as a gift card once a
quarter. Does this constitute an account, and violates
the policy ?

How about, buy 10 pizzas get one free cards that are
punched each time a pizza is purchased. Is that an
account ?

It seems to me that we should be taking advantage of
deal programs to help conserve church funds.

[russellhltn]

I believe the restriction on accounts is because it's harder to track expenses and make sure that church funds are being used correctly.

On one hand, it would be nice to take advantage of any discounts offered, but I wonder about situations it may create. Such as the YM buying most of the pizzas but the YW end up with the free one. Or who gets to use the gift card which creates "off the books" purchases - the very reason that I think the "no other accounts" rule was created for. I'm wondering if the headaches are wroth the benefit.

[aebrown]

For example, my local office supply has a program in which when signed up, a set percentage of every purchase is redeemed to you as a gift card once a quarter. Does this constitute an account, and violates the policy ?

How about, buy 10 pizzas get one free cards that are punched each time a pizza is purchased. Is that an account?

It seems to me that we should be taking advantage of deal programs to help conserve church funds.

Neither of these examples sounds like an account to me. The concern with separate accounts is accountability and auditing. In my opinion, you're just paying the regular price but you have the opportunity to get a reduced price on future purchases. You're not taking actual Church funds and putting them in some account that skirts the regular controls for purchases.

However, in the absence of a clear general policy on the matter, it would be a decision you should probably run by your priesthood leaders and audit committee to make sure they agree.