I see that there is a "Ward Budgets" screen in MLS for the Stake that allows you to write down/"calculate" the ward budget based on attendance (that you have to enter) and an arbitrary "adjustment" amount. Unfortunately, this is not really linked to the allotment document that is sent to the stake each quarter, and this budget screen does not update anywhere else to seem that useful.
Can someone explain the reason for that screen and how it is supposed to be used?
I thought of some other ways to improve this budget "feature" in MLS so that it would be more useful for the Financial Clerk reviewing Stake money:
- Allow MLS to show the each unit's budget allocation that SLC mails in hard copy, so that the Stake can see what amount each unit should be receiving
- Allow the Stake to "populate" the total budget amount for each Unit's total budget allotment (based off of the numbers in (1) and an adjusted amount (if necessary). This way the Ward will know what amount it has to spend during the year instead of being able to create their own TOTAL budget amount in MLS
- Have MLS populate the Stake data with Unit budget expenditures, so that the Stake can create a report that shows how much money each unit has spent on their budget and how much is left
- Give the Stake a view of the financial picture in the stake through MLS instead of (or in addition to) hard copies. The information would display both Stake budget/expenses and the Units budget/expenses that are updated and "current".
- Having more view of the ward $$ budget can also help in troubleshooting problems over the phone between the ward and stake clerks.
Hope this is not too much of a ramble, but more of a helpful suggestion for the budget/financial side of MLS.