Payment Request menu in LCR Finance

[chrissb]

Part of me thinks this would be cool. Part of me dreads it. I already struggle with poor quality images and missing information sent from members and leaders for reimbursements. It will only be harder once they submit on their own and the clerk has to go back to them and ask them to resubmit a better pic that is actually legible... Hopefully the church will implement a feature that will allow the member to correct the submission after they submit or it may end up increasing the workload instead of reducing it as designed.

Our ward has decided to discontinue our custom online reimbursement form - unfortunately - We're back to the paper reimbursement requests. I think it would have worked though. Our main issues had to do with user receipts and admin (tech abilities). We were having issues with the receipts. We would get really small images - totally unreadable, non-receipts from Amazon and other online services where the members would not get a complete picture of their purchase (with tax and itemized lists). Our Financial Clerk also wasn't very tech savvy so going into the administration to interactively click a couple buttons was a bit complicated. I'm a big proponent for an online system though it seems like there will be some hurdles to overcome.

[schester]

I wonder how the process is supposed to work for this? Our stake clerk says the Bishop has to sign the authorization from AND approve it in LCR. He could also approve it via Email as long as that is uploaded. Does anyone know if that process should stay the same or if the authorization is taken care of when he approves it in LCR?

I think your stake clerk is adding requirements that are not in the policy. Once the bishop approves the reimbursement in LCR, it's done. There is no requirement for him to sign anything or send any email. His digital signature in LCR does all that.

We have been told that bishop's approval in LCRF is sufficient. He's generally in the loop on expenses before they are submitted and I wouldn't submit anything that I had any question about or concern that he wouldn't approve without speaking directly with the bishop first. However, for general everyday expenses, we submit them in LCRF and wait for him to approve. The two counselors have been instructed to ignore the annoying emails telling them there are expenses for approval as the bishop needs to approve first. The only expenses they would approve are reimbursements for the bishop or in situations where we are on a time crunch and the bishop has provided verbal approval.

Has anyone actually used this new payment request? I tried to test it (as finance clerk), but I couldn't seem to select anyone to pay besides myself. I finally got it to select the first person alphabetically in the ward, and now that I submitted a test it shows on the LCRF homepage, but when I click it, I'm sent to expenses and don't see anything about that payment request.

Is this like everything else the church is rolling out before it is ready and we need to wait another 3-6 months before it is usable?

[davesudweeks]

The two counselors have been instructed to ignore the annoying emails telling them there are expenses for approval as the bishop needs to approve first. The only expenses they would approve are reimbursements for the bishop or in situations where we are on a time crunch and the bishop has provided verbal approval.

There is nothing in the policy that prevents counselors from approving organization expenses. In fact, I believe it streamlines the process for members as their reimbursement can be processed more quickly and the busy bishop can give his final approval when he has time. As clerk, I could enter an expense reimbursement in LCR and a counselor could approve it the same evening. The member would receive their reimbursement in a few days. It could be several weeks if they had to wait for our bishop to get to it...

One would hope the counselors are already "in the know" on the expenses the organizations are incurring so nothing should be a surprise.

[schester]

I believe the audit specifically says no funds are dispersed without explicit permission from the Bishop. That permission could be verbal, but he must approve before funds are sent.

[brown67]

The two counselors have been instructed to ignore the annoying emails telling them there are expenses for approval as the bishop needs to approve first. The only expenses they would approve are reimbursements for the bishop or in situations where we are on a time crunch and the bishop has provided verbal approval.

There is nothing in the policy that prevents counselors from approving organization expenses. In fact, I believe it streamlines the process for members as their reimbursement can be processed more quickly and the busy bishop can give his final approval when he has time. As clerk, I could enter an expense reimbursement in LCR and a counselor could approve it the same evening. The member would receive their reimbursement in a few days. It could be several weeks if they had to wait for our bishop to get to it...

One would hope the counselors are already "in the know" on the expenses the organizations are incurring so nothing should be a surprise.

This is not true, the Bishop must authorize every expense before it is paid.

"Expenses must be approved by the stake president or bishop before they are incurred. His approval may be verbal or written. A member requesting reimbursement provides the receipts or invoices electronically (a picture or scan) or a physical copy showing the amount and date of the purchase. The member indicates which category the expense is for. If a receipt or invoice is not available, the member should provide a full written explanation of the expense, including the date, amount of the purchase, and category.

The reimbursement or expense information is entered into Leader and Clerk Resources (LCR). Units not using LCR should follow local procedures.

Two authorized leaders must approve each expense; one of them must be a member of the stake presidency or bishopric. An authorized leader should not approve the expense if he is the payee or fast-offering recipient.

The stake president or the bishop must also review each expense unless he is one of the initial approvers." This is in the instructions for reimbursement.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/hel ... s?lang=eng

[davesudweeks]

The two counselors have been instructed to ignore the annoying emails telling them there are expenses for approval as the bishop needs to approve first. The only expenses they would approve are reimbursements for the bishop or in situations where we are on a time crunch and the bishop has provided verbal approval.

There is nothing in the policy that prevents counselors from approving organization expenses. In fact, I believe it streamlines the process for members as their reimbursement can be processed more quickly and the busy bishop can give his final approval when he has time. As clerk, I could enter an expense reimbursement in LCR and a counselor could approve it the same evening. The member would receive their reimbursement in a few days. It could be several weeks if they had to wait for our bishop to get to it...

One would hope the counselors are already "in the know" on the expenses the organizations are incurring so nothing should be a surprise.

This is not true, the Bishop must authorize every expense before it is paid.

"Expenses must be approved by the stake president or bishop before they are incurred. His approval may be verbal or written. A member requesting reimbursement provides the receipts or invoices electronically (a picture or scan) or a physical copy showing the amount and date of the purchase. The member indicates which category the expense is for. If a receipt or invoice is not available, the member should provide a full written explanation of the expense, including the date, amount of the purchase, and category.

The reimbursement or expense information is entered into Leader and Clerk Resources (LCR). Units not using LCR should follow local procedures.

Two authorized leaders must approve each expense; one of them must be a member of the stake presidency or bishopric. An authorized leader should not approve the expense if he is the payee or fast-offering recipient.

The stake president or the bishop must also review each expense unless he is one of the initial approvers." This is in the instructions for reimbursement.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/hel ... s?lang=eng

The bishop must authorize the "expense" to the ward budget (this can be verbal with no documented record). The counselors are within policy to approve the "reimbursement" for the expense the bishop has already approved. These are two different things as one happens before the expense is incurred and the other happens after. If the bishop is not one of the approvers of the reimbursement, he also must approve that.

I was referring to the approval of the reimbursement after an expense was already verbally approved by the bishop. I admit my choice of words could have been better. It was to answer a unit who was erroneously thinking that the bishop must be the first approver of every "reimbursement" which is not required by policy and not enforced by LCR.

[russellhltn]

"Expenses must be approved by the stake president or bishop before they are incurred. His approval may be verbal or written. (emphasis added)

You are correct that the bishop must approve before the expense is incurred, but this thread is talking about the required written approval that the auditors will be looking for that happens during the reimbursement process.

[davidlh]

This is my question is where does the request go to get approved and processed? Did not see selection for the submitter to declare EFT or check.

[russellhltn]

Did not see selection for the submitter to declare EFT or check.

To some degree, I suspect that's the clerk's option. But if the member has enabled EFT, then it will probably be assumed that's the preferred method.

[davesudweeks]

When I was clerk, we told our ward council to pass the word through their organizations that we would always reimburse via EFT if it was available unless the member specifically requested a paper check.