2020 Budget rollover balance

Discuss questions around local unit policies for budgeting, reconciling, etc. This forum should not contain specific financial or membership information.
eblood66
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Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#11

Post by eblood66 »

cchang wrote:Do I need to do that first in order to see the 2019 balance roll over to 2020?
Regardless of what shows in LCR, you can see the rollover amount in MLS by going to the Finance > View/Edit Budgets menu option. At the bottom it should show the rollover amounts and have places to enter the estimated quarterly allocations and below that the total of the rollover and estimates. That total is the amount you have that you can allocate to budgets in MLS no matter what LCR is showing.
cchang
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Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#12

Post by cchang »

I'll have to review this in MLS. This is the frustrating part and one of the last remaining things in MLS that I need to access MLS for in budget updates. Hopefully this feature will be coming to LCR soon.
jsmackley
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Location: Bonney Lake, Wa

Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#13

Post by jsmackley »

In my experience, The Budget tab has nothing to do with the actual amount in your Budget Account. The Budget tab shows what the Ward/Stake has assigned to each category and what has been spent in that category. If the Ward/Stake has not assigned an amount for a category, it will show $0.00 for that category or for the whole ward assigned budget.

To see what is actually in your budget Account, go to 'Overview' tab, then select 'Income and Expense Summary'. This will show the amount in the Budget account. Think of the Budget account as a checking account, but the 'Budget' tab is what is being assigned as a spending goal and does not reflect what is in the Budget account.
cchang
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Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#14

Post by cchang »

Found out I needed to assign allocated budgets to each category in mls before it shows up in LCR.
drepouille
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Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#15

Post by drepouille »

Yes, that is what clerks need to do in MLS every January, preferably before expenses for the year begin to be paid.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
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cjbeckert
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Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#16

Post by cjbeckert »

There's a common misunderstanding that left over funds in an organizations budget category at the end of the year roll over into the same organization's budget category the following year. I have a canned response I usually send to organization leaders when the question about roll over comes up. Granted, its a bit simplified but I think it gets the basic concept across to those less experienced in unit finances.

"Excess funds do not roll over within a budget category ... however any left over funds are still in the unit's (stake or ward) checking account and are available for spending allocation.

"At the end of the year, the software closes out the financial year and zeros all the budget allocations for the new year. Clerks then enter organization budget allocations for the new year as approved by priesthood leadership. Any left over funds from the prior year are still in the unit's bank account where the actual dollars reside. The budget is just a tool to manage the funds in that account.

"Think of it like your checking account at home. Each month you receive funds (paycheck, pension, etc.) into your checking account. You then prepare a monthly budget to spend the money from the account. You may end up spending a little more from one budget category and a little less from another but overall you make sure you don't deplete all the funds in the checking account. Then next month, you may adjust your budget categories up or down as needed making sure your overall spending does not exceed your income and overdraw your checking account.

"The unit budget operates in the same way. Our income arrives quarterly from CHQ into a single unit checking account. Instead of a monthly budget, we prepare a yearly budget to spend the the projected income making sure not to overdraw the unit's checking account. Organizations should adjust their budget request for the new year up or down based on anticipated expenses for the upcoming year. If you anticipate extra expenses for the upcoming year, then request a larger budget. If your prior year allocation was more than you will need in the new year, then request less. Clerks and priesthood leadership then review all the requested organization budgets to make sure the total does not exceed projected income plus any funds remaining funds from the prior year."
drepouille
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Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#17

Post by drepouille »

At the end of 2018, our stake president asked all units to return "unneeded ward funds" to the stake per Handbook 1 Section 14.7.2.2. That is the first time our stake had requested us to do so since the stake was formed in 1999. If they did that every year, we would be sorely tempted to "blow" the remainder of our ward budget funds by the end of the year.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
russellhltn
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Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#18

Post by russellhltn »

drepouille wrote:At the end of 2018, our stake president asked all units to return "unneeded ward funds" to the stake per Handbook 1 Section 14.7.2.2. That is the first time our stake had requested us to do so since the stake was formed in 1999.
If gambling was allowed, I'd lay odds that someone blew though their budget and needed a bailout.
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davesudweeks
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Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#19

Post by davesudweeks »

drepouille wrote:At the end of 2018, our stake president asked all units to return "unneeded ward funds" to the stake per Handbook 1 Section 14.7.2.2. That is the first time our stake had requested us to do so since the stake was formed in 1999. If they did that every year, we would be sorely tempted to "blow" the remainder of our ward budget funds by the end of the year.
This happened to our ward once. Most of the time our stake allows each ward to carry over about one quarterly allotment into the next year, but they make it clear that is not guaranteed. They watch this closely and will ask wards to return amounts over that as "unneeded" funds. In our case, the stake president did not ask us to return "unneeded" funds - he gave the bishop an exact amount he wanted returned to the stake because they had a use for it and our ward obviously did not... Knowing the bishop at the time (I was ward clerk), that made me chuckle.
drepouille
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Re: 2020 Budget rollover balance

#20

Post by drepouille »

russellhltn wrote:If gambling was allowed, I'd lay odds that someone blew though their budget and needed a bailout.
That is possible, because I know from experience that some of our rural units run on the razor edge of their budget allocations. I found it interesting that about four months later, our ward was moved to a different stake, so our old stake got to keep our "unneeded funds".
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
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