FO fund

if you got little budget left for the remaining weeks of the quarter is it okay to charge some ward activity like bishopric training meeting, etc from the FO fund?

Please search the sections of the handbooks that are relevant to the topic. The last time I read that material, I understood that the Fast Offering fund was not allowed to be used for the sorts of things you mentioned.

Imagine how members would feel if fast offerings were used to pay for a meeting.

Pretty sure the answer to your question is No.

what should i do if this is already the practice of the ward or even the stake?

The following is only my personal opinion:

D&C 44:88 would seem to be applicable, to inform _in_ _private_ the leader(s) in question. It would probably be a good idea to have the relevant handbook pages and perhaps a conference talk or two about fast offering funds being used _only_ to care for the poor. I have great admiration for the Old Testament prophet Nathan, who was commanded to go inform King David that the Lord was displeased with David's sinful conduct. Another idea would be to inform the stake auditor and suggest he call attention to the situation.

In the stake where I was a stake finance clerk under (IIRC) three stake presidents, the stake presidents all carefully reviewed the fast offering dispersement reports from Church headquarters. If the problem is at the ward/branch level, the stake presidency would likely have already caught it.

Some years ago, I lived in a stake where the wards and stake were collecting temple attendance numbers by not-approved methods. At a stake conference, the visiting authority asked the stake leaders how they got the temple attendance numbers. The stake leaders replied. The visiting authority instructed the stake leaders to repent and not do it again.

"what should i do if this is already the practice of the ward or even the stake?"

Like President Uchtdorf said: Stop it!
The church website regarding Fast Offering funds says the following:
"Each week the Church consolidates fast-offering contributions into a worldwide general fast-offering fund."
For this reason there is no need to use budget money for assistance. While it's true a ward might have a negative balance in their fast offering fund
they would never need to refuse someone assistance because of that.

eduardomalate wrote:what should i do if this is already the practice of the ward or even the stake?

Assuming you are a ward clerk, I'd have a conversation with the stake clerk who is responsible for your training. If he is in agreement with your assessment, he'll pass that along to the stake president who will help set things right.

eduardomalate wrote:if you got little budget left for the remaining weeks of the quarter is it okay to charge some ward activity like bishopric training meeting, etc from the FO fund?

If your total ward budget (all budget categories) balance is running close to zero every quarter, then I would ask the stake presidency to examine the budget allocation percentages. They may determine that the stake is withholding more than it should. They can change those percentages to allow more funds to flow into the ward budgets. If the stake presidency believes that those percentages are correct, then the bishop simply must cut costs, and practice better management of his budget categories and expenses. The only other way to receive more budget funds is to increase ward attendance. But please do not report higher than truthful numbers on your quarterly report.

Brethren, thanks for your suggestion...

Hurrah for Israel!