Commodities orders what to do when added items?

We've had a spate of commodities come back where the store assistant allowed changes to the form (adding toilet paper). Outside of talking to the recipients and saying to not accept any changes or calling the welfare office, I'm not sure what to do about this. I'm also a stake auditor but don't know the answer to this. The form for the stake audit just says to have the Bishop write down corrective actions, and this gets sent to audit committee.

I read in the church handbook that bishops can call the Bishops hotline for welfare questions, but does anyone know of any real policy or procedure for this?

esogs wrote:We've had a spate of commodities come back where the store assistant allowed changes to the form (adding toilet paper).

The bishop should advise the stake president or the chairman of the stake bishops welfare council, who should contact the storehouse manager. If there is an audit discrepancy, the bishop's action is to refer the matter to the stake for resolution.

The audit checklist requires an auditor to compare the copy of the order returned from the storehouse with the copy retained by the ward. The auditor is supposed to look for significant discrepancies. Significant discrepancies must be investigated and resolved.

The question then is what is a significant discrepancy? That can be subjective. As a former auditor I would look for indications that the bishop knew of any changes or discrepancies, significant or otherwise. His innitials next to those discrepancies or a note or annotation with the bishop's initials was a good indication he is/was aware of the discrepancies. If an auditor has a question as to whether discrepancies are significant he should contact the audit committee chairman. Or better yet, the training an auditor receives before each cycle begins should provide guidance as to what constitutes a significant discrepancy.

Discrepancies on several commodity orders for a particular household could be considered a significant discrepancy. Increases in the quantity of several items or the addition of more than one or maybe two items could be considered a significant discrepancy. Whatever constitutes a significant discrepancy requires an investigation to be performed and the discrepancy resolved. As an auditor, I would look for some sort of documentation that an investigation had been accomplished and the discrepancy resolved. The checklist does not prescribe the documentation required for the investigation and resolution. I have seen sticky notes attached to the returned form written by the bishop with his initials and the audit committee chairman was fine with that.

Thanks JD, yes, the question is less about the audit side and more about what the Bishop should do. Our Bishop wants to know what "he" is supposed to do about discrepancies like this, other than what I indicated above. I think your comment about what is significant is both good and relevant as well.

As an auditor, I know that this is the Bishop's venue, so I do what you indicate above, namely I mostly make sure the Bishop has initialized any discrepancy and often they will tell me they know of the issue.

But I have had more than one Bishop be frustrated that the form has been changed and they just don't know what course of action to take at that point, other than what I indicated above.

Ah, thanks LAJackson, I haven't heard that specific instruction before. I'll advise our Bishop and other Bishops that I audit on that procedure.

I had the same problem. But didn't know who was changing the order after I signed it. What I have done:
1. When I sign the order, I put it in one of my ward envelopes, seal it and sign it across the back of the flap.
2. The next one that was changed, I called the storehouse and asked them why. I explained that it created problems on my end if they changed the order without putting a note on the bottom of the yellow copy, I was going to be calling them every time.

That solved the problem for me. They now put a note like "member requested toilet paper" and it gives me something to show the auditor.

I really believe, that in our case anyway, if there are just small changes, the auditors don't really mind. They figure that something came up and the member needed an extra gallon of milk or something. I think the purpose is just to make sure that there are not wholesale changes. So, I don't sweat the small stuff.