Submitter should not be the payee of expense

As the financial clerk in our ward I occasionally need to purchase something. I try to submit for reimbursement through LCR but I get the message "The submitter should not be the payee or fast-offereing recipient of the expense." To my mind this restriction invalidates the entire process for all ward members, however if I ask the Bishop to enter the information and show me as the recipient of the expense, it works just fine. If I submit an expense with my spouse as the recipient of the expense, it works just fine. Both of those "work arounds" would probably be considered fraudulent by an auditor.

Shouldn't this restriction be on the approval end rather than on the submitting end?

bayless wrote:As the financial clerk in our ward I occasionally need to purchase something. I try to submit for reimbursement through LCR but I get the message "The submitter should not be the payee or fast-offereing recipient of the expense." To my mind this restriction invalidates the entire process for all ward members, however if I ask the Bishop to enter the information and show me as the recipient of the expense, it works just fine.

This does not invalidate the entire process for all ward members, since ward members cannot submit expenses for approval. If you need to be reimbursed, then the ward clerk should create the expense. If the ward clerk needs to be reimbursed, then you should create the expense. That is the only work-around you need.

Oh, so the head of the group submits reimbursement requests for anyone in their group. The Primary teachers give their request to the Primary President who then submits them. Elders Quorum President submits for his counselors etc. Is that the correct procedure? We are still not using the system because no one understands how it works.

bayless wrote:Oh, so the head of the group submits reimbursement requests for anyone in their group. The Primary teachers give their request to the Primary President who then submits them. Elders Quorum President submits for his counselors etc. Is that the correct procedure? We are still not using the system because no one understands how it works.

No. Only the ward clerk, finance clerk and bishopric members can submit EFT reimbursements. The new system does not handle the part where the member or organization leader makes the request. That has to be handled either with paper or via email. It's not part of the automated system.

Each reimbursement has to be approved by two people. One approver can be a clerk or bishopric member. The other has to be bishopric member. The person who enters the reimbursement is also the first approver and must review the documentation and approve each one. You should not be an approver (either one) for a reimbursement to yourself.

Think of the new system as just an electronic check. When you enter the request it's like you're printing the check and doing the first signature. Then a bishopric member does the second approval which is like the second signature.

Here in the UK, as a Ward Clerk when I submit a payment for reimbursement for myself. I get the warning message, but am still able to process the payment. Out of curiosity I have tried to approve the payment, but quite rightly the system won’t allow it!

Biggles wrote:Here in the UK, as a Ward Clerk when I submit a payment for reimbursement for myself. I get the warning message, but am still able to process the payment. Out of curiosity I have tried to approve the payment, but quite rightly the system won’t allow it!

Yes, I accidentally found out it will allow you to submit a reimbursement for yourself in the US as well and it will process with only one other approval.

eblood66 wrote:

Biggles wrote:Here in the UK, as a Ward Clerk when I submit a payment for reimbursement for myself. I get the warning message, but am still able to process the payment. Out of curiosity I have tried to approve the payment, but quite rightly the system won’t allow it!

Yes, I accidentally found out it will allow you to submit a reimbursement for yourself in the US as well and it will process with only one other approval.

To clarify. I couldn’t part approve my own reimbursement. Just able to submit it. It still requires 2 separate approvers.