When do checks affect the Budget Allowance?

When you write a check against the Budget category, especially near the end of the year, you may wonder what will happen if the check is written in 2008, but does not clear until 2009. Will it affect 2008's budget allowance, or 2009's?

Fortunately, since MLS transmits information about all checks that are written, a check written in 2008 will be charged to the 2008 Budget Allowance. This is a much nicer system than we had in the old FIS days, when we had to push people to cash their checks by December 31 or the checks would be charged to the new year's budget. With MLS, the only requirement is that the check is written and transmitted before the financial cutoff time (typically noon on the last business day of the year).

Even if a 2008 check is lost and later replaced in 2009, you still don't have to worry about it hitting your 2009 budget, since there will be a credit to the 2009 budget when the original check is voided that balances out the debit that will occur when the replacement check is written.

Alan_Brown wrote:With MLS, the only requirement is that the check is written and transmitted before the financial cutoff time (typically noon on the last business day of the year).

It seems that the exact noon Send/Receive time was given for the first time last year. Do we know what the official cutoff time is for 2008?

lajackson wrote:It seems that the exact noon Send/Receive time was given for the first time last year. Do we know what the official cutoff time is for 2008?

I have not heard anything about 2008. I would have expected some sort of notification on Sunday, but there was no MLS message on the topic. I did fire off a question to Clerk Support by e-mail on Sunday morning requesting clarification, but I don't know if they will have a chance to respond before the end of the year -- it is a rather busy time for them.

However, noon was not the cutoff the first time last year. I distinctly recall that the 2006 cutoff was noon on December 29 (which fell on a Friday, and was the last business day of 2006). The early cutoff caused quite a bit of confusion that year, since it was 60 hours before the end of the calendar year.

The cutoff this year is December 30th at 12:00 midnight. The checks must be entered in MLS and successfully transmitted by this time to assure they will post to 2008.

uofufan wrote:The cutoff this year is December 30th at 12:00 midnight. The checks must be entered in MLS and successfully transmitted by this time to assure they will post to 2008.

Thanks for the information (although it would have been helpful for that important piece of news to have been sent to all clerks through MLS messaging).

One clarification: I assume the cutoff does not apply to deposits, as the date of a donation batch is entered into MLS, and is not necessarily the same as the date of the deposit (as is necessarily the case when a donation postmarked on or before December 31 is processed and deposited in January).

Alan_Brown wrote:Thanks for the information (although it would have been helpful for that important piece of news to have been sent to all clerks through MLS messaging).

One clarification: I assume the cutoff does not apply to deposits, as the date of a donation batch is entered into MLS, and is not necessarily the same as the date of the deposit (as is necessarily the case when a donation postmarked on or before December 31 is processed and deposited in January).

That is correct - it does not apply to deposits. Hopefully there will be a tip coming out this week about that to explain this in better detail, but in short, deposits can be backdated in MLS to December 31, 2008 as long as the donation was received by the Bishop or postmarked by December 31, 2008.

uofufan wrote:as long as the donation was received by the Bishop or postmarked by December 31, 2008.

For purposes of documentation, I like to deposit everything the Bishop receives by Dec 31st.

And keep the envelope with the slips for anything deposited in 2009 but postmarked in 2008.

Since it's not to common to have someone show up at the Bishop's house, it's not hard to do and there's a sold paper trail.

uofufan wrote:The cutoff this year is December 30th at 12:00 midnight. The checks must be entered in MLS and successfully transmitted by this time to assure they will post to 2008.

Hummm.... not to murmur too loudly, but this information would have been really helpful about a week or two ago. I will have to somehow free up some time tonight to process the last of the checks instead of tomorrow morning as I was planning.

This information is also available on the Clerk and Technology Support Calendar.

http://tech.lds.org/forum/calendar.php?c=2

It was posted on the calendar as soon as the cut off time and date was made know to us. Also, there are other dates posted on the calendar related to tithing settlement and when year-end reports are due. Check it out at the above link.

This information is also available on the Clerk and Technology Support Calendar.

http://tech.lds.org/forum/calendar.php?c=2

It was posted on the calendar as soon as the cut off time and date was made know to us. Also, there are other dates posted on the calendar related to tithing settlement and when year-end reports are due. Check it out at the above link.

uofufan wrote:The cutoff this year is December 30th at 12:00 midnight. The checks must be entered in MLS and successfully transmitted by this time to assure they will post to 2008.

cward wrote:This information is also available on the Clerk and Technology Support Calendar.

My turn. Again, not to complain, but I do not know of any other clerks in our stake who are even aware of this forum. There may be one or two at the most.

But, any news is better than no news. And I think there is another thread about the communication process in general where any additional discussion would better fall.

Added:
In fairness, I suppose I should ask when the information did become available and was posted to the calendar. Perhaps the decision was only recently made.

And is there anything else official we should be watching the calendar for?

lajackson wrote:My turn. Again, not to complain, but I do not know of any other clerks in our stake who are even aware of this forum. There may be one or two at the most.

If clerks are not aware of this forum, then they aren't reading their MLS messages. The clerk.lds.org site and associated forum were announced in a general message sent out through MLS messaging. I believe that was early this year sometime. But I do know how it is easy to miss one MLS message, especially when one clerk may have seen it when it was fresh and didn't print it out or tell the other clerks. Perhaps a reminder message would be nice.

lajackson wrote:And is there anything else official we should be watching the calendar for?

The calendar does list the important January 31 financial deadlines, along with weekly reminders for those deadlines throughout January. It also lists the Quarterly Report deadline. So it's probably a good place to visit every once in a while.

You can request an e-mail reminder of any particular existing event, but unfortunately it seems that you cannot currently subscribe to the calendar as a whole to request notification of new events.

Alan_Brown wrote:If clerks are not aware of this forum, then they aren't reading their MLS messages. The clerk.lds.org site and associated forum were announced in a general message sent out through MLS messaging. I believe that was early this year sometime.

I did not see it. Is there any way to go back and retrieve old MLS messages?

lajackson wrote:I did not see it. Is there any way to go back and retrieve old MLS messages?

I don't know if they get automatically cleaned up or not, but I do know there is a Delete button. My guess is that if someone has clicked Delete, it's gone.

Alan_Brown wrote:If clerks are not aware of this forum, then they aren't reading their MLS messages.

Even if they were aware of it, I doubt if the majority of the clerks would take up residence in the forum like we do. A forum post is nice, but not the best way to disseminate the information.

The calendar is nice, but then I'm not sure as anyone is going to go out of their way to look at it unless they have a question. What needs to happen is to integrate that calender with the next LUWS so people who are clerks will see it as a layer to the ward calendar.

But right now, I think the best method would have been to send a email and/or MLS message between Dec 1 and mid-Dec.

lajackson wrote:I did not see it. Is there any way to go back and retrieve old MLS messages?

I started seeing it around the beginning of April up until just last week as a "tag line" on every financial correction and adjustment reply from CHQ. It went as follows:[INDENT]** http://clerk.lds.org has been created to answer many of the questions and concerns of clerks. We encourage you to check it out.
[/INDENT]OK, it did not specifically point people to this forum, but it at least got them half way.

RussellHltn wrote:But right now, I think the best method would have been to send a email and/or MLS message between Dec 1 and mid-Dec.

Agreed.

Alan_Brown wrote:The calendar does list the important January 31 financial deadlines, along with weekly reminders for those deadlines throughout January. It also lists the Quarterly Report deadline. So it's probably a good place to visit every once in a while.

Hummm... I'm not finding the 2009 cut-off date. :rolleyes: (OK, slap me.)

Mikerowaved wrote:Hummm... I'm not finding the 2009 cut-off date. :rolleyes: (OK, slap me.)

Patience, my son. It will be posted sometime in the next 364 days.

Alan_Brown wrote:If clerks are not aware of this forum, then they aren't reading their MLS messages. The clerk.lds.org site and associated forum were announced in a general message sent out through MLS messaging. I believe that was early this year sometime. But I do know how it is easy to miss one MLS message, especially when one clerk may have seen it when it was fresh and didn't print it out or tell the other clerks. Perhaps a reminder message would be nice.

Correction, it was not an MLS message that I was referring to. It was an e-mail sent (from "MLS Support") on 12 March 2008 to stake clerks and stake technology specialists. I'm guessing the distribution list came greatly from LUWS, using e-mail addresses associated with people who were designated in the Stake Leadership section as having those callings. Given that some stakes don't participate in LUWS, and some of those don't keep the Stake Leadership updated, and some people in those callings might not have accurate e-mail addresses in LUWS, distribution may not have been as broad as it could have been.

But it would be a good idea to send out such an announcement via MLS messaging. It will be the first notice for many clerks, and a reminder for others. Here is the text of the 12 Mar 2008 letter:

We are excited to announce a new internet site created to provide extensive resources and information for all clerks, assistant clerks, and technology specialists. This site has been designed to not only carry church-released policies and information, but also a discussion forum where clerks and technology specialists can now assist each other. The new site can be found at http://clerk.lds.org and can be accessed from any internet connection.

The new site provides an any-time resource for clerks and technology specialists to ask and answer questions, share ideas, and address frequently asked questions and commonly seen issues in wards and stakes. In addition, setting up an individual user account will allow active participation in the forum, including asking and answering questions and/or providing helpful ideas.

There are also resources provided by the church including calendars with information about upcoming events and/or deadlines and online record-keeping trainings. It will also include articles written to provide detailed information for troubleshooting and/or answering common questions.

Moderators with extensive experience as clerks and/or technology specialists will assist with the forum in order to verify that information remains correct and within church guidelines and policies.

All clerks and technology specialists are encouraged to rely on the site as a training and information resource to provide the capability and know-how to better accomplish the mission of the church.

lajackson wrote:I did not see it. Is there any way to go back and retrieve old MLS messages?

I don't know of a way to retrieve all old MLS messages (and as I corrected myself, the message about clerk.lds.org was an e-mail, not an MLS message).

You can request that the Tips of the Week be resent to your unit, as was indicated in an MLS message on 2 May 2007:

All 'Tips of the Week' may be redelivered upon request through an MLS message. (The option to request specific tips is not available.) To request the Tips:

• Click 'Messages' (Main screen, on the panel with the picture of Angel Moroni)
• Click 'Create Message' (lower left)
• Select the 'Type' as Finance or Membership
• In the Subject line, type: request for tips
• Leave the message field blank
• Click 'Save'
• Click Send/Receive Changes (Main screen, above the 'Messages' link)
• Send/Receive Changes again after 6 hours to receive the Tips in your Messages

Mikerowaved wrote:I started seeing it around the beginning of April up until just last week as a "tag line" on every financial correction and adjustment reply from CHQ.

Perhaps then I should arrange to have to do a financial correction or adjustment. I feel so left out. [grin]

Alan_Brown wrote:When you write a check against the Budget category, especially near the end of the year, you may wonder what will happen if the check is written in 2008, but does not clear until 2009. Will it affect 2008's budget allowance, or 2009's?

Fortunately, since MLS transmits information about all checks that are written, a check written in 2008 will be charged to the 2008 Budget Allowance. This is a much nicer system than we had in the old FIS days, when we had to push people to cash their checks by December 31 or the checks would be charged to the new year's budget. With MLS, the only requirement is that the check is written and transmitted before the financial cutoff time (typically noon on the last business day of the year).

Even if a 2008 check is lost and later replaced in 2009, you still don't have to worry about it hitting your 2009 budget, since there will be a credit to the 2009 budget when the original check is voided that balances out the debit that will occur when the replacement check is written.

It's to bad that this first post didn't expound more on the cutoff date mentioned in post #4 & the link to the calendar in #9
http://tech.lds.org/forum/calendar.php?c=2
We wrote a $900.00 check this morning based on the statement above when we read it on the 29th before anybody replied to this post. "a check written in 2008 will be charged to the 2008 Budget Allowance."

Even thought this statement was included, "With MLS, the only requirement is that the check is written and transmitted before the financial cutoff time (typically noon on the last business day of the year)." All three of us in the bishopric made the assumption that it was referring to today, the 31st since it is still a normal working day for most.
May we suggest that Instead of saying "typically" this is how it would/could be, and since there are many new bishoprics doing this for the first time, it would be more helpful to have all of the facts up front for us new people that may be prone to assuming some things, such as in our case.

We do however, appreciate the effort made to explain this matter, and hope our comments are not offencive.

elderlarryhawkes wrote:It's to bad that this first post didn't expound more on the cutoff date mentioned ... We wrote a $900.00 check this morning based on the statement above when we read it on the 29th before anybody replied to this post. "a check written in 2008 will be charged to the 2008 Budget Allowance."

Even thought this statement was included, "With MLS, the only requirement is that the check is written and transmitted before the financial cutoff time (typically noon on the last business day of the year)." All three of us in the bishopric made the assumption that it was referring to today, the 31st since it is still a normal working day for most.

May we suggest that Instead of saying "typically" this is how it would/could be, and since there are many new bishoprics doing this for the first time, it would be more helpful to have all of the facts up front for us new people that may be prone to assuming some things, such as in our case.

We do however, appreciate the effort made to explain this matter, and hope our comments are not offensive.

When I made that first post on December 28, I posted everything I knew at the time. (I am a moderator, but I am simply a clerk -- I have no more inside information from the Church than any other clerk.) I tried to say what was absolutely true (checks have to be written and transmitted before the financial cutoff time) and distinguish that from what has been true in the past but was not known for this year (indeed, the last 2-3 years the cutoff has been noon on the last business day of the year). I apologize if that distinction was not clear -- I did use the word "typically" which was a pretty strong indication that I had no knowledge of what was coming this year.

However, it was not until 11:20am on December 30 that a Church employee finally posted that the cutoff time would actually be at midnight that very night. If you read the subsequent posts in this thread, you can see that you are not the only one who was frustrated that the notification came so late, and in a way that only a tiny fraction of the clerks would see in time, anyway.

I hope some people in the Church Finance Department see these posts and realize that their failure to communicate this very important deadline in a reasonable way with adequate notice has caused many unnecessary problems. This was particularly unfortunate because the deadline was 12 hours earlier this year than it has been the last few years.

So I'm sorry that your first experience with this forum was a frustrating one, but I hope this post helps explain how things happened with this issue. And no, nothing you said was offensive -- it is quite helpful to hear specific experiences (good or bad) that people have. Feel free to return here often to gather information and to post questions (and answers).

Alan_Brown wrote: However, it was not until 11:20am on December 30 that a Church employee finally posted that the cutoff time would actually be at midnight that very night. If you read the subsequent posts in this thread, you can see that you are not the only one who was frustrated that the notification came so late, and in a way that only a tiny fraction of the clerks would see in time, anyway.

I hope some people in the Church Finance Department see these posts and realize that their failure to communicate this very important deadline in a reasonable way with adequate notice has caused many unnecessary problems. This was particularly unfortunate because the deadline was 12 hours earlier this year than it has been the last few years.

Just a quick update.
Well, after going though this learning experience, to know how to finish out the end of the year when it comes to writing checks, it seems that ether the deadline was not correctly put on the calendar or someone at the church read this thread and made and adjustment. We got our December statement and it did include the $900 check that we wrote and transmitted the morning of the 31st.

Any way, thanks for everyone's help by providing the useful information here that helped us learn the process, and thanks to whomever might have adjusted the cutoff time to something after the morning of the 31st so our check would be on December 2008.

Larry

elderlarryhawkes wrote:Just a quick update.
Well, after going though this learning experience, to know how to finish out the end of the year when it comes to writing checks, it seems that ether the deadline was not correctly put on the calendar or someone at the church read this thread and made and adjustment. We got our December statement and it did include the $900 check that we wrote and transmitted the morning of the 31st.

Any way, thanks for everyone's help by providing the useful information here that helped us learn the process, and thanks to whomever might have adjusted the cutoff time to something after the morning of the 31st so our check would be on December 2008.

Larry

Hopefully this means the Church decided to show some leniency after realizing the tardiness of their communications.

It's too late for this year, but we will try to remember to get this information out to you for the next year's closing in time to be useful, perhaps in a Tip of the Week. Thanks for making us aware of the need.

smithgw wrote:It's too late for this year, but we will try to remember to get this information out to you for the next year's closing in time to be useful, perhaps in a Tip of the Week. Thanks for making us aware of the need.

Actually, I don't think it is too late to get this information out for 2008. Obviously it would have been much better before the deadline, but it could still be helpful. There is bound to be some confusion when expenses that MLS says were in 2008 show up in 2009 on financial reports. This is a rather confusing topic, and it's not at all clear to new clerks (and even to many old clerks).

smithgw wrote:It's too late for this year, but we will try to remember to get this information out to you for the next year's closing in time to be useful, perhaps in a Tip of the Week. Thanks for making us aware of the need.

If the cutoff was at the end of the day on the 31st, there is not a problem. If it was at noon, there will be some confusion.

For the record, I would prefer the end of the day, even if it was not the 31st, than a noon cutoff. With a noon cutoff, there is no efficient way to do anything after the cutoff time and make the reports work when you have to go back and look at things in MLS.

smithgw wrote:It's too late for this year, but we will try to remember to get this information out to you for the next year's closing in time to be useful, perhaps in a Tip of the Week. Thanks for making us aware of the need.

Looks like you got it through to the tip of the week, though I'm sure somebody will wonder why it came out now.

cward wrote:This information is also available on the Clerk and Technology Support Calendar.

http://tech.lds.org/forum/calendar.php?c=2

It was posted on the calendar as soon as the cut off time and date was made know to us. Also, there are other dates posted on the calendar related to tithing settlement and when year-end reports are due. Check it out at the above link.

When is the Last day for Budget checks to post on the statement for 2009?

Wanted to encourage whom ever posts this info on the calendar to do so sooner this year so the information is timely to be useful. Several reminder messages via MLS throughout the next several weeks in December would be helpful to ensure all wards properly plan their year end budgeting.

Along these lines, beware of purchases made late in December from the Distribution Center billed to your budget using your unit's number. These can take anywhere from 3 to 14 days to post to your unit. (I have yet to figure out why it varies so much.) If it happens to get delayed and post in January, it WILL be deducted from your January budget, even though the purchase might have been made mid-December.

This bit me last year and the amount was significant. On top of that, our stake chooses to not roll-over any ward budget funds from year to year and this created unused funds for the prior year that could have been applied to another need we had.

Mikerowaved wrote:Along these lines, beware of purchases made late in December from the Distribution Center billed to your budget using your unit's number. These can take anywhere from 3 to 14 days to post to your unit. (I have yet to figure out why it varies so much.) If it happens to get delayed and post in January, it WILL be deducted from your January budget, even though the purchase might have been made mid-December.

This bit me last year and the amount was significant. On top of that, our stake chooses to not roll-over any ward budget funds from year to year and this created unused funds for the prior year that could have been applied to another need we had.

Interesting. Do you know if that also includes on-line purchases using the wards account at http://www.ldscatalog.com ?

elderlarryhawkes wrote:Interesting. Do you know if that also includes on-line purchases using the wards account at http://www.ldscatalog.com ?

I'm sorry, I don't know, but I'm sure someone else here can answer that.