Does MLS allow online payments from one ward to another or to the stake?

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jwjohnson99
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Re: Does MLS allow online payments from one ward to another or to the stake?

#21

Post by jwjohnson99 »

I may just go old school and mail them a check. Thanks for the suggestions.
azabrisk
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Re: Does MLS allow online payments from one ward to another or to the stake?

#22

Post by azabrisk »

I'm the stake finance clerk. All the units in our stake have set up an Other: Authorized Membership-Financed Activities : Afghan Refugees account. The idea is for people to donate funds at the ward level to be transferred to the stake. Two of our ward clerks have told me that they can't see the stake Afghan Refugees account when they enter the "To" portion of the transfer. The only Stake account that appears is Other: Authorized Member-Financed Activities. Do I need to make the transfer within the stake account after receiving the transfer from each ward? Is that a policy or is there a step we're missing in the account setup? Shouldn't a ward be able to transfer funds directly to the same account at the stake?
jdlessley
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Re: Does MLS allow online payments from one ward to another or to the stake?

#23

Post by jdlessley »

I have made transfers similar to what is described by azabrisk as a ward clerk. My experience is the lowest level of categories available to a ward transferring to the stake in the Other category is the the Authorized Member-Financed Activities category. What I have done is send an email to the stake clerk and the assistant stake clerk - finance alerting them to the transfer and the intended purpose or category. The stake clerk then transfers the funds from the Other:AMFA category to the Other:AMFA:[category name] category.
JD Lessley
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eblood66
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Re: Does MLS allow online payments from one ward to another or to the stake?

#24

Post by eblood66 »

As jdlessley said, only the first level of sub-categories of Budget and Other are visible to other units. So the other unit has to transfer to Other:AMFA and then you have to transfer to the appropriate sub-category. Pay particular attention at the very end of each audit period to avoid having a balance in the top Other:AMFA category or you'll generate an automatic audit exception (it's added by the audit system and the auditor can't remove it).

I encourage our units to put the purpose and their unit name in the transfer description because sometimes the source unit is listed as 'Headquarters' instead of the actual unit for some reason. And having the purpose in the description helps if there are any questions about the transfer later. An email from the unit is nice too so that I know to look for the transfer and take care of it promptly.
drepouille
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Re: Does MLS allow online payments from one ward to another or to the stake?

#25

Post by drepouille »

Agreed. Wards can only transfer funds to the top-level stake Other:AMFA category. That is usually done for YW camp fund-raisers.

It is very important for the stake clerk to stay on top of this, and watch for any funds transferred from other units. He must transfer those funds into the appropriate subcategory. If he does not, then he will garner a financial audit exception if he leaves any funds in the top-level category.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
drepouille
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Re: Does MLS allow online payments from one ward to another or to the stake?

#26

Post by drepouille »

eblood66 wrote: Mon Dec 20, 2021 1:48 pm Pay particular attention at the very end of each audit period to avoid having a balance in the top Other:AMFA category or you'll generate an automatic audit exception (it's added by the audit system and the auditor can't remove it).

I encourage our units to put the purpose and their unit name in the transfer description because sometimes the source unit is listed as 'Headquarters' instead of the actual unit for some reason. And having the purpose in the description helps if there are any questions about the transfer later. An email from the unit is nice too so that I know to look for the transfer and take care of it promptly.
Plus one! Exactly right!
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
ric10001
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Re: Does MLS allow online payments from one ward to another or to the stake?

#27

Post by ric10001 »

I've submitted a suggestion on LCR (at least I hope it went to the right department) that the transfers process should have an additional step added.

I believe the transfer should not be completed until the receiving clerk designates the proper subcategory for the funds and that designation is approved by the bishop or president of the unit, almost exactly as if it were an outgoing transfer. This would ensure the funds landed in the right subcategory, and that the receiving unit was aware of their arrival.

If we can't have that, then the auditor should have the ability to waive the automatic exception if the funds were moved out of the Other:AMFA category before the audit.

I don't know when or if they might make such a change. It would be unnecessary if we all were to consistently follow eblood66's advice above.
ericschultz14
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Re: Does MLS allow online payments from one ward to another or to the stake?

#28

Post by ericschultz14 »

On the new LCR tools I needed to transfer money from the ward to the stake.

I did that by go going Finance > Transfer > Transfer out of unit (on the to section).
Expenses is not the tool for that.
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