Tech Forum

"Only checks made out to the ward or branch name (or Church name) will be accepted at the deposit bank."

I know of another situation where Salt Lake said the deposit bank would not accept something. In addition to a stake unit, I have another (finance only) unit loaded on my MLS so I can run finances for an area YW Camp. So I have two sets of checks, deposit slips and endorsement stamps one set with the stake name on it and one with the Camp name on it. Occasionally a stake will send funds meant for the camp on a check made out to our stake. A local leader told me to try and just double endorse the check by stamping it with our stake endorsement, then with the camp endorsement right next to it. After I tried it once, I had to call Salt Lake about something else and mentioned it to them. They said that there was no way the bank would accept a check that way and we should have returned the check to the payee and ask that they void and issue another made out to the camp. Well it turns out that the bank does accept checks endorsed like that and more then one has gone through. I still follow-up with stakes and ask them to make the corection as often as I can because it's the way our leaders in Salk Lake have asked it to be done.

wrigjef wrote:Well it turns out that the bank does accept checks endorsed like that and more then one has gone through.

The bank errs in doing so and does it at risk. Bank error in your favor. But it should not work.

How many of you out there would like it if CHQ officially set up every wards account so that it allowed the depositing of checks written to the units Scout troop? What problem would it solve for you?

ckmcdonald wrote: What problem would it solve for you?

In our case, this does not solve a problem for us because there is no problem to solve. We use the current budget process exclusively.

It's simply been a matter of education. There are very few cases where someone might be tempted to make a check out to the troop, and in each case there is some sort of communication related to the fundraiser or scout camp. We just make sure that those communications clearly state who to make the check out to (which is a very helpful practice for any situation where payment by check is an option). Years ago we often had problems with checks being made out to troops, but now it almost never happens.

ckmcdonald wrote:How many of you out there would like it if CHQ officially set up every wards account so that it allowed the depositing of checks written to the units Scout troop? What problem would it solve for you?

I'd give a thumbs-up for your idea. Our ward has dealt with this numerous times during our annual scout fundraiser activity. It seems there are a few generous non-members in the neighborhood who will gladly donate to the Boy Scouts, but who adamantly refuse to make their checks payable to the Church. The long-time Scoutmaster doesn't want to aggravate the donors or turn down their donations. And he's convinced that checks made payable to the scouts have been accepted by the ward "since before I was born". Bottom line is that it makes the clerk the "bad guy" in trying to adhere to policy. And this clerk hates being the bad guy.

ckmcdonald wrote:How many of you out there would like it if CHQ officially set up every wards account so that it allowed the depositing of checks written to the units Scout troop? What problem would it solve for you?

I would dislike this a great deal. For starters, it would require customizing the depository account to accommodate 2-3 units per ward (Troop, Team, Venturing Crew). Sometimes those unit numbers are the same. More often, they are not. (i.e. Troop 100, Team 6100). Then you have the problem with duplicate unit numbers, and ensuring that only checks made to the correct unit were processed. i.e. Troop 100, chartered by the LDS First Ward in the Alpha BSA Council is not the same as Troop 100, chartered by United Methodist Church, in the Beta Council, or even Troop 100, chartered by the LDS 142nd Ward in the Gamma Council. That would seem to require the elimination of deposit concentration, and a reversion back to actual individual ward accounts. No thank you.

Second, even if this were possible, the resources it would take to design and implement could be spent far better elsewhere. As aebrown said, it's just a matter of education.

86Bengal wrote: It seems there are a few generous non-members in the neighborhood who will gladly donate to the Boy Scouts, but who adamantly refuse to make their checks payable to the Church.

And these nonmember donors are perfectly happy that the check that they specifically made out to the Boy Scouts gets cashed by the Church, and is deposited in a Church account? If they are so opposed to supporting the Church in any way, I find that hard to believe. Besides any questions of legality, it seems to me that the practice of accepting checks made out to one entity and depositing them in the account of another entity is deceptive and thus not something the Church should be involved in.

We are having the same problem 86Bengal is having, and an additional one. We recently started the ever-popular flag posting fundraiser. Our troop has offered the service to members and non-members alike. There have been several occasions a non-member has agreed to sign up for the service but later declined when they were asked to write a check to the Church.

Our other problem is with a non-member boy who has joined our ward's troop. In all aspects it a great situation, except, the boy's parents don't want to write checks to the Church (i.e. Scout Camp fee).

Both the above are not show-stopper problems but they can be pretty annoying when they are happening to you.

aebrown wrote:Besides any questions of legality, it seems to me that the practice of accepting checks made out to one entity and depositing them in the account of another entity is deceptive and thus not something the Church should be involved in.

I fail to see how this would be deceptive. If done, the money would go directly where the author of the check thinks it is going - to the Scout troop (assuming the Financial Clerk is managing the funds properly). What is deceptive is the very problem I am referring to, a check written to the Church that really goes to the Scouting program - that's deceptive.

ckmcdonald wrote:I fail to see how this would be deceptive. If done, the money would go directly where the author of the check thinks it is going - to the Scout troop (assuming the Financial Clerk is managing the funds properly). What is deceptive is the very problem I am referring to, a check written to the Church that really goes to the Scouting program - that's deceptive.

How is a check written to the troop deposited into a troop checking account when no such checking account exists? A check written to the troop is deposited into the church account in all the scenarios discussed by those who have accepted such checks. Having a check writer believe his check is being deposited into a checking account owned by the troop is deceptive since the account is owned by the church. The Scouting program is not the same as a Scout troop checking account.