Audit - two authorized approvals

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ceddings
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Audit - two authorized approvals

#1

Post by ceddings »

Hello
I am a stake auditor, auditing a ward. I am confused in reading the audit question:

Does the payment have two authorized approvals and proper support documents that match the Church financial system?

The unit has uploaded receipts and I can see the bishop's automated approval has taken place. Why is the audit system asking if their are two authorized approvals? That is what the LUFAS is set up to do, is it not? It seems like this question should only be focused on whether the support matches the payment. I shouldn't be looking for two authorized approvals - there is no where to look. But the first question #8 indicates the system has already found the bishop's automated support so I should be able to assume the necessary approvals have taken place.

Thanks!
russellhltn
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Re: Audit - two authorized approvals

#2

Post by russellhltn »

Can you see who uploaded it? I believe LCR counts that as an approval.
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eblood66
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Re: Audit - two authorized approvals

#3

Post by eblood66 »

If the expense is a electronic reimbursement or a check with attached documentation I believe that LUFAS will automatically check for the two approvers. But for a printed check without electronic documentation you should check to make sure there are two different signatures on the check. LUFAS has no way of checking that automatically.
KarStly
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Re: Audit - two authorized approvals

#4

Post by KarStly »

As an auditor, I have encountered the same issue. During the most recent audit that I conducted, I had to ask the bishop to look in his own electronic records to show which two members of the bishopric had approved the reimbursement. As previously mentioned, LUFAS will let you know automatically that the bishop has approved the transaction. But I could find no way to view additional details without asking for access to other records.
jms238
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Re: Audit - two authorized approvals

#5

Post by jms238 »

I am going to +1 this question. LUFAS does not show the approval workflow. As I have not been a clerk since electronic reimbursements were deployed I can only assume that the workflow requires two approvals prior to dispersing payment, but cannot confirm. I am not marking these as exceptions, but will review a few with the clerks when I execute the audits.
cdfife
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Re: Audit - two authorized approvals

#6

Post by cdfife »

I am a stake auditor and have the same question as jms238 and others. I wish there was a simple 3-minute video training on this topic as I was also a clerk 10+ years ago before e-reimbursements! I likewise don't flag when the same person is listed as the submitter and approver. I simply make sure to instruct wards to not have the Bishop be the submitter as he's always an approver. Have a counselor or clerk submit a payment expense. But training would be nice :)
j_schroeder
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Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2022 2:48 pm

Re: Audit - two authorized approvals

#7

Post by j_schroeder »

Ditto to all. Last audit cycle during my stake audit I had to have the clerk pull up information on the transactions and he could show me both approvals through the online portal. But if that information exists for automated transactions then shouldn't the system be able to check that for me?
mattsalt77
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Re: Audit - two authorized approvals

#8

Post by mattsalt77 »

This is my exact question. How do I verify that it's been approved. There are receipts, and it looks correct to me, but I can't verify who approved the transaction in the first place.

How does one do that exactly?
funaddict
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Re: Audit - two authorized approvals

#9

Post by funaddict »

"I simply make sure to instruct wards to not have the Bishop be the submitter as he's always an approver. Have a counselor or clerk submit a payment expense. But training would be nice :)"

How do you do this if the Bishop paid for an expense and has the receipt? Why would he need to have a clerk/counsellor submit the expense?
Also, is signing the check the same as approving the expense? If Bishop A turns in an expense reimbursement request, and Counsellor B and Clerk C sign the check, is that considered two separate (apart from the Bishop) approvals?
eblood66
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Location: Cumming, GA, USA

Re: Audit - two authorized approvals

#10

Post by eblood66 »

funaddict wrote: Wed Aug 24, 2022 1:56 pm How do you do this if the Bishop paid for an expense and has the receipt?
Same as for anyone else who can't submit their own expense. Give it to the clerk and he enters it.
funaddict wrote: Wed Aug 24, 2022 1:56 pm Why would he need to have a clerk/counsellor submit the expense?
Because if he enters it, he is the first approver and that is against policy. However, if he uses the Payment Request option in Member Tools on a mobile device then it' OK. In that case he isn't the first approver. Someone else has to review and submit the expense and then a 2nd person has to approve.
funaddict wrote: Wed Aug 24, 2022 1:56 pm Also, is signing the check the same as approving the expense? If Bishop A turns in an expense reimbursement request, and Counsellor B and Clerk C sign the check, is that considered two separate (apart from the Bishop) approvals?
If you're using paper documentation and not uploading an electronic copy then signing the check is the approval. So if the bishop enters and prints a check (without uploading) and others sign it then that's OK (but I've never known a bishop who wants to print checks--they have enough to do).
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