Best way to prevent expense reimbursement errors with multiple receipts

[davea0511]

... but as consumers of their product ...

While we use the tool we are not the customer...

Fwiw, I agree with you completely, which is why I did *not * say that we are the customer, but rather those who use the product (consumer).

On a related note, I also agree that not exposing us to a feedback mechanism may be by design. We should first try to resolve issues, and perhaps make recommendations, by working through our reporting structure to someonewho has access to a trouble ticket system.

Fwiw, just this week our super-detail-oriented Bishop (which is awesome by the way) noticed an expense mistake that was likely caused by this system wherein multiple receipts for the same expense category can't be saved within a single expense request, forcing the submitter to do math outside the app to calculate the sum.

And this error which I imagine occurs in EVERY ward in the church at least once annually on average... is likely not even caught during reviews because reviewers must also do math instead of just checking numbers displayed on a receipt vs what's displayed in the entry column. Same problem with audits (which are really just a second review).

And it could all be fixed by simply allowing multiple entries for the same category within an expense report.

[jpjones~ogr]

I'm curious when/how the multiple receipts for one category breaks down.

I can attach multiple photos of receipts to a single Tools payment request. Granted I need to do my own addition to determine total tax and total for each other category. Then, as long as I don't duplicate categories I can assign values to multiple categories. Is the error when picking the same category more than once in a request, or later in the reimbursement process?

Regarding definition of customer, I learned that it includes consumers, bosses, coworkers, production staff, contractors, suppliers, etc., all with different needs. Non -paying end user needs can even drive product design more than organization owners or managers. Just 2 cents worth of musings.

[davea0511]

I'm curious when/how the multiple receipts for one category breaks down.

I can attach multiple photos of receipts to a single Tools payment request. Granted I need to do my own addition to determine total tax and total for each other category. Then, as long as I don't duplicate categories I can assign values to multiple categories. Is the error when picking the same category more than once in a request, or later in the reimbursement process?

Regarding definition of customer, I learned that it includes consumers, bosses, coworkers, production staff, contractors, suppliers, etc., all with different needs. Non -paying end user needs can even drive product design more than organization owners or managers. Just 2 cents worth of musings.

yeah, the error happens when you submit a request if you have multiple entries for a given category.

[jpjones~ogr]

If you haven't already, sending feedback through the app about this might get the right folks thinking about a fix.

A subroutine that recognizes and resolves category duplications before passing requests to main finance systems (LCR) might be reasonable. LCR finance routines also dislike duplicate categories in individual requests.

Until then, training individuals members as needed, or taking on the process for them, is effective. Though I've seen persistent ward member confusion about multiple receipts for single categories, as well as single receipts for multiple categories, since well before LCR, I've only helped 2 folks with this Tools limitation.