Financial Statement Corporate Express

I read somewhere the procedure for the need to post charges like Corporate Express purchases that appear on the CUF statement. When the charge is automaticaly posted in the CUF there is still the need to post it on MLS. What are the steps for posting in MLS?

ronk wrote:I read somewhere the procedure for the need to post charges like Corporate Express purchases that appear on the CUF statement. When the charge is automaticaly posted in the CUF there is still the need to post it on MLS. What are the steps for posting in MLS?

There are two good sources for this information. The first is in the MLS Help at the Finances>Reconcile Account>Other Items instructions. There is online training available at Reconciling the Church Unit Financial Statement (U.S. and Canada only) that explains the process.

jdlessley wrote:There are two good sources for this information. The first is in the MLS Help at the Finances>Reconcile Account>Other Items instructions. There is online training available at Reconciling the Church Unit Financial Statement (U.S. and Canada only) that explains the process.

I know that one option is to enter such items as Other Items during the reconciliation process. But I have seen many people get confused about what sign to enter on expenses in the Other Items (it's a minus sign, by the way), so I always recommend that people simply enter them as Expenses in MLS. You just check the "Not a check" box and enter the date and reference number manually. That way there's no confusion over the sign.

Alan_Brown wrote:I know that one option is to enter such items as Other Items during the reconciliation process. But I have seen many people get confused about what sign to enter on expenses in the Other Items (it's a minus sign, by the way), so I always recommend that people simply enter them as Expenses in MLS. You just check the "Not a check" box and enter the date and reference number manually. That way there's no confusion over the sign.

I got bit by that very thing. What I found was that if I did my reconciliations based on the summary CUFS, everything worked out fine. The summary report has the correct sign that should be entered with "Other" items during reconciliation.

ronk wrote:I read somewhere the procedure for the need to post charges like Corporate Express purchases that appear on the CUF statement. When the charge is automaticaly posted in the CUF there is still the need to post it on MLS. What are the steps for posting in MLS?

Another good resource is the MLS Software Manual, which can be found with the training available on lds.org (the easiest way to find it is to go to clerk.lds.org and choose the Training link).

On page 5, under Expenses:

2. If ... the expense you want to enter is not a check, click theNot a Checkbox before beginning....

Note:An example of an expense that would not bea check is the recording of a Distribution Services charge found on the Church Unit Financial Statement.

The entire process is clearly laid out there. A Corporate Express purchase is handled exactly like a Distribution Services charge.

Alan_Brown wrote:
The entire process is clearly laid out there. A Corporate Express purchase is handled exactly like a Distribution Services charge.

I haven't had to reconcile a statement yet but just wondering what account would that be charged to?

19nazzy wrote:I haven't had to reconcile a statement yet but just wondering what account would that be charged to?

That is a local preference. The bishop or stake president will get an invoice in the mail that explains what the item is. Many units will choose to charge such expenses to the appropriate organization. For example, if it is toner, it might be charged to Budget:Copiers; if it is a basketball, it would be charged to Budget:Sports; and so on. I have seen some units create a Budget subcategory called "Distribution Center" but that doesn't seem like very good accounting to me.

That invoice should be attached to an Expense Authorization form so that the bishop/stake president can approve the expense. The form would then record what budget subcategory should be charged. You can use this form to enter the expense in MLS. Doing it this way gives you much better details than trying to enter it from the limited information on the financial statement.

19nazzy wrote:just wondering what account would that be charged to?

I believe the church just pulls it out of "budget". Which budget sub-category you charge it to is up to you. The distinctions between the ward's budget sub-categories makes no difference to the stake.

It's just like how your bank treats the distinctions between "clothing" and "utilities" in your own personal budget. As long as the account has money, they don't care.

RussellHltn wrote:I believe the church just pulls it out of "budget". Which budget sub-category you charge it to is up to you. The distinctions between the ward's budget sub-categories makes no difference to the stake.

Corporate Express charges are always charged to Budget as far as I know. However, it is important to look carefully at the Church Unit Financial Statement to be sure. I know that some automatic debits go against the Other account, so you want to be sure that you record it in MLS for the account it is charged to on the statement.