Signatures on Reimbursement form

I know a counselor in the stake presidency (or bishopric) can sign the request form for reimbursement (or advance payment). The stake president's (or bishop's) signature is only required after the check has been cut to acknowledge that he is aware of the expense for audit purposes.

My real question is about the organization (auxiliary) president's signature. Can that signature come from a counselor in that organization? Let's say the auxiliary president is sick, or lives in a remote part of the stake. If a counselor in the stake presidency (bishopric) can sign the form, why can't a counselor in the stake/ward auxiliary organization sign the form?

Actually, there's only one signature that is required by Church policy -- that of the bishop or the stake president.

Any other signatures that you may ask for on your reimbursement form are simply local practice. Those might be good local practices that help keep a good paper trail of who was involved in the expense, and one or more other signatures may be helpful to the presiding leader as he decides whether to affix his authorizing signature. But all the questions you ask about other signatures can and should be answered within your stake and wards. There is no Church policy or audit question that addresses any signature other than that of the bishop or stake president.

In our stake, it is quite common for an expense authorization form to have only the signature of the stake president. He sometimes asks for an auxiliary leader or high councilor to sign the form as well, but that is optional and is totally his call.

drepouille wrote:The stake president's (or bishop's) signature is only required after the check has been cut to acknowledge that he is aware of the expense for audit purposes.

I don't agree with that statement. The bishop or stake president is authorizing the expense by his signature. Without his authorization, the expense doesn't get made. Period. It's not just some formality for audit purposes (although the auditor is appropriately very concerned that the authorizing signature has been made).

There may be some times where the signature part of the authorization may come after the check is cut, but the presiding authority must authorize the expense before it is made.

Our local policy is that a counselor may authorize the expense before the check is cut, but the president/bishop must sign at some point, either before or after the check is cut. That seems to have been OK with auditors in the past.

drepouille wrote:Our local policy is that a counselor may authorize the expense before the check is cut, but the president/bishop must sign at some point, either before or after the check is cut. That seems to have been OK with auditors in the past.

I'd recommend that you review the very short second paragraph of Handbook 1, Section 14.7.1. It makes it pretty clear that the presiding authority's authorization is required before expenses are incurred. That's what I was referring to earlier. As I mentioned earlier, the signature part of the authorization may not always come before the expense is incurred, but there's no question that it is the authorization of the presiding authority that is required.

I appreciate your feedback.

As for my question, we feel that someone in the auxiliary presidency should approve of funds being spent from their budget. For example, the YW presidency should be aware how much the YW camp director or cook is spending. Then again, perhaps most auxiliary presidents don't much care if they spend more than their budgeted amount, since the stake will usually just transfer more money into their budget category.

drepouille wrote:. . . we feel that someone in the auxiliary presidency should approve of funds being spent from their budget.

We do the same in our stake, and it makes for better budget discussions along the way. But it is not a requirement.

On our ward reimbursement form we require three signatures before a check is even cut.

Requestor
Auxiliary President
Bishop

We tend to follow the explanation that is part of the audit... Here is what the Audit says about expenses:

Question 16
Did the bishop approve all payments?

Look at the payment records. Make sure the bishop has approved the payments by signing at least one of the following: original invoice, original bill, original receipt, or payment request. The bishop's signature on the MLS Expense Report is acceptable proof of his approval. If any tested payment did not have the bishop's approval, mark "No."

Gary_Miller wrote:On our ward reimbursement form we require three signatures before a check is even cut.

Requestor
Auxiliary President
Bishop

Would you accept the signature of a counselor in the auxiliary presidency?

drepouille wrote:

Gary_Miller wrote:On our ward reimbursement form we require three signatures before a check is even cut.

Requestor
Auxiliary President
Bishop

Would you accept the signature of a counselor in the auxiliary presidency?

No, the President is responsible for overseeing the budget and finances of their organization, therefore their approval of all expenses is required.

Gary_Miller wrote:

drepouille wrote:

Gary_Miller wrote:On our ward reimbursement form we require three signatures before a check is even cut.

Requestor
Auxiliary President
Bishop

Would you accept the signature of a counselor in the auxiliary presidency?

No, the President is responsible for overseeing the budget and finances of their organization, therefore their approval of all expenses is required.

We do the same.

For my part - if the budgeting process has been done correctly prior to the beginning of the year - there should already be in place a list of proposed expenditures and approximate amounts for each auxiliary, group & quorum.

Having approved the various budgets I'm happy for the president / leader to approve prior to incurring the expense. I wouldn't accept a counsellor as an approver unless circumstances particularly dictated.

As mentioned previously the authorization by others than the bishop is optional. In my unit we have the same requirement for 3 signatures. If the requestor is the organization president or spouse, in theory, the same rules should apply as when an authorized check signer requests a check. In other words, neither the authorizer nor his/her spouse should approve the expense. In that case I would accept a counselors signature.
Remote living should not really be an issue. I presume the organization leader is able to attend church on most Sundays and it is on those days they should sign. Personally, neither I nor my finance assistant will touch a reimbursement request until it has both the organization leader's signature and bishop's. (See above for exceptions.) I don't have the cycles to run around tracking down org leaders for their signatures. I expect the person requesting the reimbursement to do that leg work.

aaronengineer wrote:If the requestor is the organization president or spouse, in theory, the same rules should apply as when an authorized check signer requests a check. In other words, neither the authorizer nor his/her spouse should approve the expense. In that case I would accept a counselors signature.

I don't see this as a big deal as the bishop has to approve the expense and the check has to be signed by two people. In my ward the check in most cases is signed by myself (as finance clerk) and the Bishop. The only time someone else would cut or sign a check is if I was out of town for an extended length of time, over two weeks.

aaronengineer wrote:Personally, neither I nor my finance assistant will touch a reimbursement request until it has both the organization leader's signature and bishop's. (See above for exceptions.) I don't have the cycles to run around tracking down org leaders for their signatures. I expect the person requesting the reimbursement to do that leg work.

In our ward no one has to chase down the bishop for approval. The organization president places the reimbursement request, with the signatures of the requester and the organizations president along with the receipt in the finance clerks box in the clerks office. The finance clerk then reviews the request making sure the receipt amounts and the requested amount balance. The request is the place in a yellow pocket folder titled, Reimbursements needing approval Signature, then placed in the Bishops Box for his signature. Once the bishop has signed the request approving the expenses the folder is returned to the finance clerk who then cuts a check, signs the check and the places it in another folder along with the expense report titled, Expenses needing Signature, we use green for this folder. Once the bishop signs the check he sends the folder back to the finance clerk who distributes the checks and files the paper work.

Gary_Miller wrote:In our ward no one has to chase down the bishop for approval.

That only works if the leadership subscribes to the "Failure to prepare on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." philosophy.

russellhltn wrote:

Gary_Miller wrote:In our ward no one has to chase down the bishop for approval.

That only works if the leadership subscribes to the "Failure to prepare on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." philosophy.

Does not matter I'm not going to cut a check until Tuesday or Wednesday when I'm in the office so the Bishop can sign them Wednesday night when he is in the building for mutual. This includes welfare checks.

Gary_Miller wrote:This includes welfare checks.

I stand by my prior statement. I can't find it, but I remember threads in the past about teaching people that if they need help with their electric bill, they better come to the bishop sooner and not wait until the day before the power is to be cut off.

Is a reimbursement form even required? I just did an audit and found an expense without a reimbursement form. I was going to make it an exemption and then I read the instructions. The Branch President had signed the MLS Expense Report that was stapled to the check stub so I had to take that as proof of his approval. I did make a note of it in the notes section of the Corrective action plan though.

Question 16
Did the bishop approve all payments?

Look at the payment records. Make sure the bishop has approved the payments by signing at least one of the following: original invoice, original bill, original receipt, or payment request. The bishop's signature on the MLS Expense Report is acceptable proof of his approval. If any tested payment did not have the bishop's approval, mark "No."

I don't think the reimbursement form is required. But it sure is nice to have and helps with the approval and record keeping process.

need form to submit the check the report for the clearer of all report