Auditors flagging Amazon receipts as exceptions

[mcallaghan]

One of our Stake auditors consistently flags Amazon invoices and receipts as exceptions because they don’t have the name Amazon on them. I just downloaded an official invoice from a recent purchase, and confirmed that it indeed does not say Amazon anywhere on it.

The audit committee wants to fix this, but they don’t know how. My position is that it doesn’t matter. The auditor says that anyone could create a fake invoice without the logo. I pointed out that it’s just as easy to fake one with the logo.

Given that the receipts section in Tools specifically says that handwritten receipts are acceptable, their concern feels unfounded. They immediately shifted to protecting against an IRS audit.

I’m not sure where to go from here.

[eblood66]

I think it's unnecessary but a screen shot of the Amazon order web page (in addition to the invoice) should be enough to collaborate that the invoice came from Amazon. But, personally, I can pretty much always tell that something is an Amazon invoice just based on the format especially given it's ubiquity. The audit question indicates that the documentation must indicate the place of purchase. It doesn't say there must be a logo. In my view, in this particular case, the format is enough to document the place of purchase. Having something more explicit may be better but not critical in my view.

I've never heard of IRS audits having anything to do with church financial policies. Everything I've ever seen regards just protecting church funds and ensuring they are used correctly. I've certainly never heard of the IRS auditing church units.

I would ask your assistant area auditor for an opinion and then the audit committee should train the auditor based on that opinion.

[jdlessley]

One of our Stake auditors consistently flags Amazon invoices and receipts as exceptions because they don’t have the name Amazon on them. I just downloaded an official invoice from a recent purchase, and confirmed that it indeed does not say Amazon anywhere on it.

The auditor does not have any leeway on the five required elements (6 for FO assistance) of a receipt/invoice. Those are date, amount, items purchased, place of purchase, any required taxes, and the fast-offering beneficiary (if applicable).

You are correct that the printed Amazon invoices do not include a name or logo at the top of the invoice, but the printed invoice does include Amazon's name in the footer on the last page.

Amazon Order Details.pdf

This is the information I provide those submitting payment requests that include Amazon purchases:

You can't directly print a receipt or download a PDF from the Amazon app because the app itself doesn't have a built-in printing function; to print a receipt, you need to access your order details through the Amazon website and download the order details as a PDF.

From a browser on your phone open the Amazon website, sign in, and tap your name. Tap Your Orders, locate the order, and tap it. Scroll to Order Info, tap View order details, tap View Invoice, and tap Print this page for your records. On the print preview page tap Save as PDF. The procedure on a computer is essentially the same.

[mcallaghan]

Most members resort to a screenshot of their Amazon app, which the auditors like even less.

Playing around with Amazon tonight, I discovered that printing the invoice and saving it as a PDF from the mobile app works, but doesn’t contain and verbiage saying it’s from Amazon. Printing the invoice from a desktop browser includes the copyright notice at the end, as you have already noted.

I just reread your message. The mobile app omits the copyright notice but the mobile website doesn’t? I hadn’t tried that. Thanks. I’ll check it out.

[russellhltn]

Playing around with my last order on my laptop, if I pull up the order, I end up on the web page. If I print, it says Amazon in the header.

[mcallaghan]

Yes, I have validated this as well. The problem is that most members insist on using their phones for everything. The solution posted above, using the amazon.com mobile site instead of the app, appears to work perfectly.