How to do checks via FO when an invoice/receipt is not available until after payment?

[jgoggan]

I am curious how others are handling the new Financial requirements that all receipts be uploaded/digital (i.e. no more paper) -- in situations like a rent payment where there is no "invoice" in most cases and no receipt from the landlord until after payment is made. Before, we would issue a check (and choose "paper receipts") and then get the receipt back from the member after they got it from their landlord upon payment. The system no longer allows us to do it that way since you can't generate a check before the receipt. How are you all handling this?

[eblood66]

If there is an active lease or rental agreement, then I'd attach a copy of the lease as documentation. If I get a receipt after payment then I'd upload that and add it to the expense as well (although the lease is usually enough as long as it's still in effect).

If there is no formal lease, I'd see what evidence I could get for the amount of the rent. Maybe a previous months rent receipt or cancelled check. If necessary, a signed statement from the FO recipient. I'd upload that as the documentation with a note indicating that a receipt will be uploaded after payment. Then I'd make extra sure to get the receipt and add it to the expense later.

[jgoggan]

Yeah, I was thinking about the lease and using that. But it really doesn't seem to solve the problem that the church was trying to solve there. I mean, in the old system, the receipt came AFTER and that sometimes created issues, sure -- but, in most cases, you ended up with something written showing that a specific check was used to pay a specific amount on a specific date.

With this new system, I stick in a copy of the lease -- and that really doesn't show that any specific payment was really used for any specific person.

It just seems like such a step backwards from a financial audit standpoint. I went from needing a real receipt to just showing something that MIGHT indicate what/who a check was actually used for and that it was received where expected.

Oh well. Appreciate the response though!

[garystroble]

If there is an active lease or rental agreement, then I'd attach a copy of the lease as documentation. If I get a receipt after payment then I'd upload that and add it to the expense as well (although the lease is usually enough as long as it's still in effect).

If there is no formal lease, I'd see what evidence I could get for the amount of the rent. Maybe a previous months rent receipt or cancelled check. If necessary, a signed statement from the FO recipient. I'd upload that as the documentation with a note indicating that a receipt will be uploaded after payment. Then I'd make extra sure to get the receipt and add it to the expense later.

I would have the Bishop or Branch President sign any statement signed by the FO recipient also before uploading it.

[russellhltn]

In the old days, a paper process usually preceded the actual cutting of the check. Like some kind of check request form.

Do you still have anything like that left? Perhaps such a request form could "fill in" to show who the funds were for and why.

Ultimately, I think that's something to take to the stake auditor. If he doesn't have an answer, he can send up his support line.

[eblood66]

Yeah, I was thinking about the lease and using that. But it really doesn't seem to solve the problem that the church was trying to solve there. I mean, in the old system, the receipt came AFTER and that sometimes created issues, sure -- but, in most cases, you ended up with something written showing that a specific check was used to pay a specific amount on a specific date.

In my experience (in a stake in Utah and a stake in Georgia over a period of 18 years), we almost never got receipts for rent payments. If you have, I'm impressed. It probably took a fair amount of effort. Most of the documentation for rent payments has just been an active lease. I've never had an auditor question it as long as the lease shows dates that include the month we're making payment for.

With this new system, I stick in a copy of the lease -- and that really doesn't show that any specific payment was really used for any specific person.

For a reimbursement, I'd agree. A receipt shows that a specific person paid a specific amount for a specific purpose. But FO expenses are often different. They are usually/hopefully paid directly to the provider so the documentation is also different. Take a utility bill, for instance. Usually the documentation is the bill itself. That doesn't show that someone has already made a payment because no payment has been made yet. And I've never seen a utility company provide a receipt after payment. But the bill does show that there is a legal obligation to make the payment on behalf of a specific person. And that's what is really needed for a check paid to a provider.

A lease serves the same function for a rent check. It shows that the expense is a legitimate expense that needs to be paid. Since the check is paid directly to the provider, the fact that it cleared is evidence that the payment was made for the intended purpose. Together they provide pretty much the same evidence as a receipt does for a reimbursement.