Internal Record of Purchase - what do you use them for?

[davesudweeks]

As I am the ward clerk, I have no way to directly verify if another leader can use store.lds.org and bill to the unit. We have had a couple of auxiliary manual orders billed to the ward - I had assumed there were online purchases. It is possible these were purchases via telephone. The next time this happens, I will query the specific organization the manual purchases are for and try to determine the cause.

Thanks for the tip!

[allenjpl]

In our ward only the bishop and clerk can bill the ward using the website. I don't know if there is a problem but no assistant clerk or either counselor can can bill an order to the ward using the website. We can place telephone orders, however, and have them billed to the ward. I don't know if any other ward leader can even do it by phone. We have never tried.

I'm an assistant clerk over finances, and I have no problem. When I'm in the checkout screen, I change the payment method to "Bill to xxx Ward." The shipping then pops up with the Bishop's information.

[jdlessley]

I'm an assistant clerk over finances, and I have no problem. When I'm in the checkout screen, I change the payment method to "Bill to xxx Ward." The shipping then pops up with the Bishop's information.

Well I guess we were having a temporary problem for our ward. Before this evening whenever I or a bishopric counselor signed in using our individual LDS Accounts and tried to do the same as you describe the "Place Your Order" button was deactivated (greyed out). When checking again just this evening it worked. So now I guess I really don't know who else in ward leadership really can place an on-line order.

[wrigjef]

Well this is eye opening. From this discussion one could say our stake is rather tame as far as finances go, and I am actually very glad. My original question was about internal records of purchase. Way back when I was first called (pre-pre Cubs) I did enter them in until I realized that they were only telephone charges on a reimbursed account. Everything was a wash so I stopped entering them and always balanced.

I guess we are doing distribution center orders differently. For the most part DC orders always go against a curriculum order budget and if not the come under the administration budget for the Bishop (on the ward level). I can see how it may be different in special circumstances but so far I have been lucky. In my entire time in the Stake I can only remember a couple of DC orders and they have gone against the administration budget.

[williamjackson]

As to the original question of what to do with "Internal Records of Purchase": my bishop receives them in the mail. He hands them to me (ward clerk) and I fill out the same disbursement authorization form that a member would use to submit a reimbursement request. I note on the form what budget category should be used. My bishop signs the form.

When I or my financial clerk are processing disbursement forms and writing checks, and we come to one with an "Internal Record of Purchase" instead of a receipt, we don't write a check, but we re-categorize the existing expense that we find in Budget: Distribution Center. The "Internal Record of Purchase" and attached disbursement authorization form are then filed along with the rest of the check stubs.

[davesudweeks]

As to the original question of what to do with "Internal Records of Purchase": my bishop receives them in the mail. He hands them to me (ward clerk) and I fill out the same disbursement authorization form that a member would use to submit a reimbursement request. I note on the form what budget category should be used. My bishop signs the form.

When I or my financial clerk are processing disbursement forms and writing checks, and we come to one with an "Internal Record of Purchase" instead of a receipt, we don't write a check, but we re-categorize the existing expense that we find in Budget: Distribution Center. The "Internal Record of Purchase" and attached disbursement authorization form are then filed along with the rest of the check stubs.

That's a great idea, but how does it go with your financial audit? Our auditor does not want to see the DC charges mixed in with the checks and makes us separate everything out for him if they are. Our audit already usually takes about 6 hours so I'm reluctant to do something that will slow him down further...

[aebrown]

That's a great idea, but how does it go with your financial audit? Our auditor does not want to see the DC charges mixed in with the checks and makes us separate everything out for him if they are.

That's entirely a preference. Personally, if my auditor complained about that (but no auditor ever has in my 30+ audits), I would consider that to be an interesting opinion and ignore it. It has nothing to do with the official audit procedures.

I wouldn't change my filing system for an auditor, but I'm happy to find any document the auditor asks for -- I can do that faster than the auditor, so there is no slowdown.

Our audit already usually takes about 6 hours so I'm reluctant to do something that will slow him down further...

Wow. I guess it's great that the auditor is thorough, but that seems wildly excessive. I've never had an audit go longer than 2.5 hours, and most are done in less than 2 (and at the stake level, we're often done in about 1 hour).

[allenjpl]

Our audit already usually takes about 6 hours so I'm reluctant to do something that will slow him down further...

Say what? I've been the finance clerk for several years, and never had one take more than about an hour and a half. What is the auditor doing that takes him an hour per month he reviews?

[wrigjef]

For those that have not experienced it yet, you will see a huge difference in the audit time when you switch over to the new online system. All the units in our stake did it online this past audit and we had the auditor visit me in the stake offices first so we could get familiar with the process. In the weeks leading up to the audit, the audit committee instructed them to use the spirit of discression but to really focus on the instructions printed for the new audit system as well as the messages displayed during the audit. This really helped because in the past we have had auditors that wanted to use the handbook of instructions, the complete standard works and every CPA instruction known to man as guidelines for an audit. During the audit what we found that what worked well and really streamlined things was for the auditor to log in and run through the questions part while sitting at the computer and I sat off to the side and answered and organized documents. When it came time for the document review, we switched places and I would hand him documents which he reviewed off to the side then he would look over my shoulder while I input the data as instructed. Got through the audit in a fraction of the normal time. Bit of a paradyme shift having the auditor turn over control of the keyboard and some auditors had a problem initially but after they saw how much time it saved having the clerk type and do any needed calculations while the auditor reviewed documents and had the final say of what ultimately was submitted, they were fine with it.

[jdlessley]

Our audit already usually takes about 6 hours so I'm reluctant to do something that will slow him down further...

Even pre-CUBS with a lot of issues to investigate I rarely took more than four hours. And that included the interview time.