Expense reimbursement form required? Audit Question 16

I am an auditor and found an expense reimbursement that did not have a reimbursement request form. I was going to write up an exemption until I read the instructions for question 16, "Make sure the bishop has reviewed and authorized the payments by signing at least one of the following: original invoice, original bill, original receipt, or payment request form. The bishop’s signature on the MLS Expense Report is also acceptable proof of his review and authorization." The bishop had signed the MLS expense report so I could not give an audit exemption. This leads me to ask, are reimbursement request forms even necessary? Is there any guidance on this?

Additionally on a previous audit I gave exemptions because I found reimbursement expense forms without signatures, now I am thinking I should not have marked them as exemptions. Please advise and clarify.

A reimbursement form is not required but is recommended since it helps manage the reimbursement process and gather all the information needed to correctly record and process the transaction. But the audit question isn't about making sure that process is smooth but is just concerned with whether there is evidence of the bishop's approval. So as long as the bishops signature is on one of the indicated papers then there should not be an exception.

Personally, although it is not required I like to have a signature for each expense (rather than relying on the Expense Report). It helps the audit go smoothly. But if the bishop gives me a bill for fast offering reimbursement, I just have him sign the bill. I don't want to make the bishop go to more work and filling out the request myself seems redundant because I'll just record the same information on the computer right after.

Thank you for answering my question.

where can I find the form to print for reimbursement?

rodkidman wrote:where can I find the form to print for reimbursement?

There is no such church-wide form. Each unit comes up with their own. I'd suggest you check with your clerk.

This is very interesting. It will save us a lot if time and inconvenience for the Bishop. But, if anyone is interested, here is a Request Form I put together several years ago.

There are recommended forms in the Wiki here.

2018 and we're still using paper reimbursement forms... This is ripe for an upgrade - where would I submit the feature request to add the option of submitting a reimbursement request online (like tithing now) with the ability to route it to a leader for approval then to the bishop and after authorization directly deposited to my account. Many times I will pay for stuff for a Scout campout and not bother to fill out a reimbursement form because it is such a pain to have to do then bother with routing to get it signed and finally having to bother with cashing a check... (I know I'm not the only one), but if I could use my phone to submit the request as easy as I can pay tithing I think I (and others) would be more consistent on getting reimbursed. Plus, they'd all be authorized by auxiliary leaders and Bishop with an electronic log... Stake policies tend to vary on reimbursement - from (a previous Stake): you must submit all your expenses so as to not make others feel obligated to pay for things out of pocket they can't afford, as contrasted with my current ward where it's OK to pay personally for ward expenses and there's a general feeling that you'll get more blessings if you don't request reimbursement... Personally, I've seen the value of going by the book and how it makes others feel obligated as paying for ward expenses personally is far from anonymous, but I digress slightly - Please add this feature, it would really help!

timfey wrote:This is ripe for an upgrade - where would I submit the feature request to add the option of submitting a reimbursement request online (like tithing now) with the ability to route it to a leader for approval then to the bishop and after authorization directly deposited to my account.

There are two ways to get suggestions in front of those who make these decisions and who set the priorities for the developers. First, you may use Feedback through LDS.org which will be reviewed, though not usually answered. Second, you may suggest a change to your bishop or stake president, who will elevate the suggestion through priesthood channels until it lands in front of the priesthood leaders for whom the developers work.

FYI--my stake is actually using a pilot process that addresses this concern about using paper reimbursement forms (and some other "modern-day" features that we have all been longing for). So far after just a couple of weeks, we have encountered a couple of problems, but it seems very promising. I suspect that once the bugs are worked out, this will be released to everyone soon.