Electronic Reimbursement - Approval Process

Now that we have completed the mid year audit and can now fully utilize the online approval process, I would like some clarification and see how others are handling the new online approval process. For example, the EQ President hands me a reimbursement form with the receipts and his signature of approval.

1. Do we still need the paper signature approval from the Auxiliary unit President approving the expense or can a verbal approval from them with the receipts be sufficient?
2. Can we upload the receipts electronically online to that expense with a second signature from someone on the Presidency?
3. Is there a way to have the second online approver not have to log into their LCR account but enter their credentials under the Clerk's LCR expense form during approval. This eliminates the need to log out and log in of multiple LCR accounts to approve the expense. (Similar to having two approvers sign and approve online tithing)
4. Can all reimbursement expenses be handled online now without any paper trail?

Please note that the recipient of any EFT reimbursement must be a member of the church, and must have registered their bank account as an EFT reimbursement account. Not all checks are made payable to members, and not all members have registered a bank account.

I wish. We tried to make sure everything was online, however when it came to the audit - they still wanted everything in paper copy (Which we do). However, the Expense Report that MLS prints isn't available when completing these online, so there seems to be a disconnect between the online system and what the auditors want.

I was hoping that because we had scanned in that the Auditors could at least verify some of it prior. But nope, it's almost as if the online system doesn't exist in their realm.

Our auditor also asked for paperwork, but he was happy to look at the scanned images if we did not have the hardcopy. We did receive several receipts via email, and although I asked the members to bring the hardcopy to church, they never did. So the auditor just brought up the receipt images on his laptop, and that satisfied him.

I teased him a bit because he could have done all that at home, so he only needed to examine the financial statements and donation records during the on-site visit.

cchang wrote:I would like some clarification and see how others are handling the new online approval process.

The procedures established in the past for processing expense reimbursements were in place to ensure the proper authorization and approval accountability in using sacred funds. Nothing has changed in maintaining that authorization and approval accountability. Only the means and method of processing and recording has expanded to incorporate electronic capabilities that have benefits to streamline and ease the reimbursement process and make recording and record keeping potentially less error prone and adaptable to local needs. The following is how our ward and stake have adapted to the added capabilities in the areas you addressed.

1. Our ward continues to require some sort of recorded documentation that the quorum and auxiliary presidents have approved funds expenditures under their management. Paper reimbursement requests with attached paper receipts are processed as has been done in the past. When possible, we convert paper documentation to electronic files for processing. Additionally, we accept email that contains the pertinent information necessary to process a reimbursement request (reason for expense, who is to be reimbursed, responsible organization, and category to debit) with attached receipt(s). The email must pass through the quorum or organization president for approval.

2. Our stake has encouraged units to use electronic copies of paper documents and receipts. This avoids the cumbersome need to have two approvers present at the same computer at the same time for electronic approvals. When receipts are electronically submitted then the two approvers can sign electronically at their convenience from any location with an Internet connection. Also, once receipts are electronically attached then there is no need to retain the paper copies for any period of time.

3. Our ward does not bother with this situation since it is easier to convert paper receipts to electronic files using our smart phone apps such as Office Lens. We tried electronic filing with paper receipts once and determined it was way too cumbersome and challenging to get the two electronic signatures at the same time from the same computer.

4. The simple answer to your question is no. One scenario is as drepouille identified. We have found that most of our fast offering expenses require a paper check. When a paper check is used then the check stub must be retained for the retention period. Another scenario involves members who cannot accept or don't want an EFT reimbursement and request paper checks.

cchang wrote:1. Do we still need the paper signature approval from the Auxiliary unit President approving the expense or can a verbal approval from them with the receipts be sufficient?

While many units do that, approval by the auxiliary or quorum president has never been a requirement and isn't part of how the church has structured the process.

But since the electronic submission process isn't open to the members, it's easy for local unit add a requirement to require that approval when submitting via email.

jdlessley wrote: 1. Our ward continues to require some sort of recorded documentation that the quorum and auxiliary presidents have approved funds expenditures under their management. Paper reimbursement requests with attached paper receipts are processed as has been done in the past. When possible, we convert paper documentation to electronic files for processing. Additionally, we accept email that contains the pertinent information necessary to process a reimbursement request (reason for expense, who is to be reimbursed, responsible organization, and category to debit) with attached receipt(s). The email must pass through the quorum or organization president for approval.

2. Our stake has encouraged units to use electronic copies of paper documents and receipts. This avoids the cumbersome need to have two approvers present at the same computer at the same time for electronic approvals. When receipts are electronically submitted then the two approvers can sign electronically at their convenience from any location with an Internet connection. Also, once receipts are electronically attached then there is no need to retain the paper copies for any period of time.

3. Our ward does not bother with this situation since it is easier to convert paper receipts to electronic files using our smart phone apps such as Office Lens. We tried electronic filing with paper receipts once and determined it was way too cumbersome and challenging to get the two electronic signatures at the same time from the same computer.

How does the bishop give/show approval before entering into LCR? If email forwarding counts as approval, how does that go over with auditors?

teribao wrote:How does the bishop give/show approval before entering into LCR? If email forwarding counts as approval, how does that go over with auditors?

No approval before entering into LCR is required as long as the expense reimbursement is approved by the organization president and the expense does not cause the quorum or auxiliary allocation to go negative. The bishop gives advance approval for organization expenses when he approves the annual organization allocations. It is up to the organization president to remain within that allocation and seek bishop approval if the allocation will be exceeded. In those cases where the allocation will go negative a verbal approval from the bishop is given. Auditors check to see that the bishop approves all expenses. For the current online system that is done by the electronic bishop approval.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/ ... sp=sharing

This is our process. If you want to make your own version of this file, click FILE in google docs and then choose "Make a copy". Then you can edit it to match what you do.

(One thing that was mentioned to me is that if a clerk is on a mobile device in LCR, that when entering the expense if actually will give the ability to take photos directly into LCR. If you're on a desktop, apparently you don't see this feature. Our stake has been told that expense functionality in MLS will be removed in October.)

I know it was once stressed to auditors that the bishop must approve each expense before any funds are spent, and especially before expenditures are reimbursed. That approval may be verbal, which complicates the verification of the auditor. The new online process for EFT reimbursement does not require any approval from the bishop until after the expense has been reviewed by two others, and the EFT has already been issued. The bishop actually approves each expense twice after the expense has been paid:
* LCR approval.
* Signing the unit financial statement.

Assuming we do not use a reimbursement request form, how can we prove to the auditor that the bishop gave his approval before the EFT reimbursement was issued?

jdlessley wrote:

teribao wrote:How does the bishop give/show approval before entering into LCR? If email forwarding counts as approval, how does that go over with auditors?

No approval before entering into LCR is required as long as the expense reimbursement is approved by the organization president and the expense does not cause the quorum or auxiliary allocation to go negative. The bishop gives advance approval for organization expenses when he approves the annual organization allocations. It is up to the organization president to remain within that allocation and seek bishop approval if the allocation will be exceeded. In those cases where the allocation will go negative a verbal approval from the bishop is given. Auditors check to see that the bishop approves all expenses. For the current online system that is done by the electronic bishop approval.

russellhltn wrote:

cchang wrote:1. Do we still need the paper signature approval from the Auxiliary unit President approving the expense or can a verbal approval from them with the receipts be sufficient?

While many units do that, approval by the auxiliary or quorum president has never been a requirement and isn't part of how the church has structured the process.

But since the electronic submission process isn't open to the members, it's easy for local unit add a requirement to require that approval when submitting via email.

drepouille wrote:Assuming we do not use a reimbursement request form, how can we prove to the auditor that the bishop gave his approval before the EFT reimbursement was issued?

I don't think that has ever been something the auditor can or should check and I don't think the audit questions ask that. Since the approval can be verbal there may not be evidence. Even with the reimbursement request form we had times where the bishop didn't actually sign the form until after the check has been issued but had given his OK in some other way. It didn't happen often but it did happen. As far as I know the auditor only checked for the existence of the bishop's signature, not that the date was before the check was printed. And now the audit form has the answers to the bishop's approval pre-populated based on approvals recorded in LCR.

My experience is probably OBE by now. After being stake clerk for a few years, I was on the stake audit committee for a few years. One year, the auditor training emphasized the bishop's pre-approval. In later years, that moved into the pre-audit interview, in which the auditor asked the bishop if he approved all expenses beforehand. The actual expense audit items gave three options: bishop signs the reimbursement form, bishop signs the expense report, or bishop signs the unit financial statement. So these things change over time. Since the new online system in LCRF does not require bishop's pre-approval, I think we have moved on from that standard, although the Handbook still says that the bishop should at least be aware of each expense before it happens.

drepouille wrote:The new online process for EFT reimbursement does not require any approval from the bishop until after the expense has been reviewed by two others, and the EFT has already been issued.

Which puzzles me, since what's the bishop to do if he doesn't approve of it?

It appears what's happening isn't approval, but acknowledgement after the fact - which isn't the same thing.

russellhltn wrote:Which puzzles me, since what's the bishop to do if he doesn't approve of it?

He doesn't check the box and it generates an audit exception and then corrective action occurs depending on the reason. And a smart bishop would likely start appropriate corrective action before the audit.

It's not really that different than if a check is printed, signed and distributed without the bishop's approval. But the new system is likely to bring the issue to the bishop's attention sooner.

eblood66 wrote:He doesn't check the box and it generates an audit exception and then corrective action occurs depending on the reason. And a smart bishop would likely start appropriate corrective action before the audit.

I'm not sure why this is preferable to having the bishop approve (in a documented way) prior to the funds being disbursed. There might be some situations involving fast offering funds that might arise, but they'd be the exception.

russellhltn wrote:

eblood66 wrote:He doesn't check the box and it generates an audit exception and then corrective action occurs depending on the reason. And a smart bishop would likely start appropriate corrective action before the audit.

I'm not sure why this is preferable to having the bishop approve (in a documented way) prior to the funds being disbursed. There might be some situations involving fast offering funds that might arise, but they'd be the exception.

I think it's to allow for the exception. Personally, I like to have the bishop be the second approver. LCR marks both approvals at once and there is no question that he approves it before it's reimbursed. With the online process he can do it when it's convenient and rarely takes him more than a minute or so. The only time I have some else sign or approve is for urgent checks (fast offering expenses and only very occasionally).

But if the church is indeed working on an electronic request submission system then I expect a pre-approval step will be available and will automatically mark what is now the post-approval check mark.

drepouille wrote:I know it was once stressed to auditors that the bishop must approve each expense before any funds are spent, and especially before expenditures are reimbursed. That approval may be verbal, which complicates the verification of the auditor. The new online process for EFT reimbursement does not require any approval from the bishop until after the expense has been reviewed by two others, and the EFT has already been issued. The bishop actually approves each expense twice after the expense has been paid:
* LCR approval.
* Signing the unit financial statement.

Assuming we do not use a reimbursement request form, how can we prove to the auditor that the bishop gave his approval before the EFT reimbursement was issued?

I email all requests to the Bishop and ask for approval. When he responds, I save that response as a PDF and upload it into LCR with the receipts. If he proactively sends me the item to get paid (like a fast offering), that email/text gets saved and uploaded into LCR with the receipts.

Does the expense reimbursement form need to be digitized and electronically attached or just the receipts?

daisonm wrote:Does the expense reimbursement form need to be digitized and electronically attached or just the receipts?

I do include the form if someone used one. I include the approval.

daisonm wrote:Does the expense reimbursement form need to be digitized and electronically attached or just the receipts?

It probably doesn't have to be attached since the bishops approval is done electronically. However, I'd still recommend including it. If there are any questions about whether the expense (whether in the audit or from an organization leader looking at their budget report), it can be helpful to have the full request information easily available.

If asked by an auditor to show him the electronic attachments for a particular reimbursement, where do I go to do that in LCR?

daisonm wrote:If asked by an auditor to show him the electronic attachments for a particular reimbursement, where do I go to do that in LCR?

The auditor has access to them himself. When we did our last audit, he had already checked all of the ones with electronic docs before he arrived.

You can view the past reimbursements on the expense screen, far right tab that says "Expense Summary".