2020 Budget rollover balance

When does the prior year's remaining budget balance rollover to 2020? I have not seen them rollover yet and currently we are showing a negative balance since we are already seeing 2020 expenses come through.

If you're talking about the funds, check your allocation category.

If you're talking about the spending plan, was that input for 2020?

russellhltn wrote:If you're talking about the funds, check your allocation category.

If you're talking about the spending plan, was that input for 2020?

When I go into the Budget tab it says the following. I would have expected to see the rollover balance at the bottom even if I haven't allocated any of the rollover balance. Where do I check the allocation category and the input?
Budget Balance as of 1/19/20
(123.45)
of 0.00

cchang wrote:When I go into the Budget tab it says the following. I would have expected to see the rollover balance at the bottom even if I haven't allocated any of the rollover balance. Where do I check the allocation category and the input?
Budget Balance as of 1/19/20
(123.45)
of 0.00

Currently the LCR Budget does not display information that is available in MLS. The budget balance you see in LCR is the sum of the 2019 rollover plus the quarterly allocations plus the estimated quarterly allocations less expenses processed to date. To see the rollover amount you will have to go into MLS Finance > View/Edit Budget to see the rollover amount. If you expected a positive rollover from 2019 but see zero ($0) in the rollover amount you will need to speak to your stake clerk. They can use several methods to handle rollovers. If there is a zero amount and you expected a positive amount they notified headquarters to not pass through the rollover to your unit and they retained the rollover.

jdlessley wrote:The budget balance you see in LCR is the sum of the 2019 rollover plus the quarterly allocations plus the estimated quarterly allocations less expenses processed to date.

I don't think that's right. The little info button by the budget balance says "The bolded number represents the amount remaining of the assigned budget. The graph represents the percentage spent of the assigned budget." Since it talks about 'assigned' budgets I don't think it will ever be positive until you've assigned budget amounts to categories in MLS. I don't think the rollover and estimated quarterly allocations will affect this number.

eblood66 wrote:

jdlessley wrote:The budget balance you see in LCR is the sum of the 2019 rollover plus the quarterly allocations plus the estimated quarterly allocations less expenses processed to date.

I don't think that's right. The little info button by the budget balance says "The bolded number represents the amount remaining of the assigned budget. The graph represents the percentage spent of the assigned budget." Since it talks about 'assigned' budgets I don't think it will ever be positive until you've assigned budget amounts to categories in MLS. I don't think the rollover and estimated quarterly allocations will affect this number.

Actually they do affect this number. Our unit has a positive rollover and we have the first quarter allowance and I have entered the estimates for the other three quarterly amounts. The bold large font amount is the total remaining budget amount and below it in smaller font is the total budget set up in MLS which includes the rollover, first quarter allowance, estimated amounts for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters, if entered in MLS. Before I entered the estimated quarterly amounts it only included the rollover and the actual first quarter allowance. It now includes everything found on the MLS Finance View/Edit Budget page I entered. The "assigned budget" is the amounts that appear on the View/Edit Budget page whether the clerk has entered any amounts or not. As headquarters makes budget allocations those amounts will replace the clerk entered estimated amounts, if entered.

It takes a while for the estimated budget amounts the clerk enters to be reflected in the LCR budget amount after an MLS send/receive. The amounts I entered last Sunday last week did not appear in LCR until Monday. The Sunday the week before I had entered only the estimated quarterly amounts and the sum of those along with the rollover were included in the large bold font amount that Monday without any amounts allocated to any categories.

jdlessley wrote:Actually they do affect this number. Our unit has a positive rollover and we have the first quarter allowance and I have entered the estimates for the other three quarterly amounts. The bold large font amount is the total remaining budget amount and below it in smaller font is the total budget set up in MLS which includes the rollover, first quarter allowance, estimated amounts for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters, if entered in MLS. Before I entered the estimated quarterly amounts it only included the rollover and the actual first quarter allowance. It now includes everything found on the MLS Finance View/Edit Budget page I entered. The "assigned budget" is the amounts that appear on the View/Edit Budget page whether the clerk has entered any amounts or not. As headquarters makes budget allocations those amounts will replace the clerk entered estimated amounts, if entered.

It takes a while for the estimated budget amounts the clerk enters to be reflected in the LCR budget amount after an MLS send/receive. The amounts I entered last Sunday last week did not appear in LCR until Monday. The Sunday the week before I had entered only the estimated quarterly amounts and the sum of those along with the rollover were included in the large bold font amount that Monday without any amounts allocated to any categories.

Well, there must be some other factor involved then. We've got a substantial rollover and I've entered the estimated quarterly allocations but I haven't assigned any amounts to any category. I entered the estimates last week. But currently my bold amount in LCR shows a negative number which matches the total amount we've spent this year and under it says 'of 0.00'.

There has got to be a delay in the sync with MLS and LCR. Just wait a day or two. Or... it is possible that if you have processed an expense for a category and you have yet to allocate funds to that category, or any categories, or something like that, there is a bug that results in a negative amount that the system can't resolve and it shows 0.00 for the remaining budget. Since we have not processed any expenses this year we are not experiencing the bug.

jdlessley wrote:There has got to be a delay in the sync with MLS and LCR. Just wait a day or two. Or... it is possible that if you have processed an expense for a category and you have yet to allocate funds to that category, or any categories, or something like that, there is a bug that results in a negative amount that the system can't resolve and it shows 0.00 for the remaining budget. Since we have not processed any expenses this year we are not experiencing the bug.

It's been about 3 weeks and the sync hasn't happened from MLS to LCR. I haven't allocated any funds to the categories in MLS yet. Do I need to do that first in order to see the 2019 balance roll over to 2020? Even when I did not have any expenses processed in early 2020, I still did not see the rollover balance. I just hope that our rollover balance hasn't been taken away since we'll need that rollover balance to cover the 2019 expenses.

eblood66 wrote:

jdlessley wrote:Actually they do affect this number. Our unit has a positive rollover and we have the first quarter allowance and I have entered the estimates for the other three quarterly amounts. The bold large font amount is the total remaining budget amount and below it in smaller font is the total budget set up in MLS which includes the rollover, first quarter allowance, estimated amounts for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters, if entered in MLS. Before I entered the estimated quarterly amounts it only included the rollover and the actual first quarter allowance. It now includes everything found on the MLS Finance View/Edit Budget page I entered. The "assigned budget" is the amounts that appear on the View/Edit Budget page whether the clerk has entered any amounts or not. As headquarters makes budget allocations those amounts will replace the clerk entered estimated amounts, if entered.

It takes a while for the estimated budget amounts the clerk enters to be reflected in the LCR budget amount after an MLS send/receive. The amounts I entered last Sunday last week did not appear in LCR until Monday. The Sunday the week before I had entered only the estimated quarterly amounts and the sum of those along with the rollover were included in the large bold font amount that Monday without any amounts allocated to any categories.

Well, there must be some other factor involved then. We've got a substantial rollover and I've entered the estimated quarterly allocations but I haven't assigned any amounts to any category. I entered the estimates last week. But currently my bold amount in LCR shows a negative number which matches the total amount we've spent this year and under it says 'of 0.00'.

Yes, this is what we are seeing too with a negative number but under it says 'of 0.00'. Anyone else seeing their rollover balance being updated correctly yet?

cchang wrote:Do I need to do that first in order to see the 2019 balance roll over to 2020?

Regardless of what shows in LCR, you can see the rollover amount in MLS by going to the Finance > View/Edit Budgets menu option. At the bottom it should show the rollover amounts and have places to enter the estimated quarterly allocations and below that the total of the rollover and estimates. That total is the amount you have that you can allocate to budgets in MLS no matter what LCR is showing.

I'll have to review this in MLS. This is the frustrating part and one of the last remaining things in MLS that I need to access MLS for in budget updates. Hopefully this feature will be coming to LCR soon.

In my experience, The Budget tab has nothing to do with the actual amount in your Budget Account. The Budget tab shows what the Ward/Stake has assigned to each category and what has been spent in that category. If the Ward/Stake has not assigned an amount for a category, it will show $0.00 for that category or for the whole ward assigned budget.

To see what is actually in your budget Account, go to 'Overview' tab, then select 'Income and Expense Summary'. This will show the amount in the Budget account. Think of the Budget account as a checking account, but the 'Budget' tab is what is being assigned as a spending goal and does not reflect what is in the Budget account.

Found out I needed to assign allocated budgets to each category in mls before it shows up in LCR.

Yes, that is what clerks need to do in MLS every January, preferably before expenses for the year begin to be paid.

There's a common misunderstanding that left over funds in an organizations budget category at the end of the year roll over into the same organization's budget category the following year. I have a canned response I usually send to organization leaders when the question about roll over comes up. Granted, its a bit simplified but I think it gets the basic concept across to those less experienced in unit finances.

"Excess funds do not roll over within a budget category ... however any left over funds are still in the unit's (stake or ward) checking account and are available for spending allocation.

"At the end of the year, the software closes out the financial year and zeros all the budget allocations for the new year. Clerks then enter organization budget allocations for the new year as approved by priesthood leadership. Any left over funds from the prior year are still in the unit's bank account where the actual dollars reside. The budget is just a tool to manage the funds in that account.

"Think of it like your checking account at home. Each month you receive funds (paycheck, pension, etc.) into your checking account. You then prepare a monthly budget to spend the money from the account. You may end up spending a little more from one budget category and a little less from another but overall you make sure you don't deplete all the funds in the checking account. Then next month, you may adjust your budget categories up or down as needed making sure your overall spending does not exceed your income and overdraw your checking account.

"The unit budget operates in the same way. Our income arrives quarterly from CHQ into a single unit checking account. Instead of a monthly budget, we prepare a yearly budget to spend the the projected income making sure not to overdraw the unit's checking account. Organizations should adjust their budget request for the new year up or down based on anticipated expenses for the upcoming year. If you anticipate extra expenses for the upcoming year, then request a larger budget. If your prior year allocation was more than you will need in the new year, then request less. Clerks and priesthood leadership then review all the requested organization budgets to make sure the total does not exceed projected income plus any funds remaining funds from the prior year."

At the end of 2018, our stake president asked all units to return "unneeded ward funds" to the stake per Handbook 1 Section 14.7.2.2. That is the first time our stake had requested us to do so since the stake was formed in 1999. If they did that every year, we would be sorely tempted to "blow" the remainder of our ward budget funds by the end of the year.

drepouille wrote:At the end of 2018, our stake president asked all units to return "unneeded ward funds" to the stake per Handbook 1 Section 14.7.2.2. That is the first time our stake had requested us to do so since the stake was formed in 1999.

If gambling was allowed, I'd lay odds that someone blew though their budget and needed a bailout.

drepouille wrote:At the end of 2018, our stake president asked all units to return "unneeded ward funds" to the stake per Handbook 1 Section 14.7.2.2. That is the first time our stake had requested us to do so since the stake was formed in 1999. If they did that every year, we would be sorely tempted to "blow" the remainder of our ward budget funds by the end of the year.

This happened to our ward once. Most of the time our stake allows each ward to carry over about one quarterly allotment into the next year, but they make it clear that is not guaranteed. They watch this closely and will ask wards to return amounts over that as "unneeded" funds. In our case, the stake president did not ask us to return "unneeded" funds - he gave the bishop an exact amount he wanted returned to the stake because they had a use for it and our ward obviously did not... Knowing the bishop at the time (I was ward clerk), that made me chuckle.

russellhltn wrote:If gambling was allowed, I'd lay odds that someone blew though their budget and needed a bailout.

That is possible, because I know from experience that some of our rural units run on the razor edge of their budget allocations. I found it interesting that about four months later, our ward was moved to a different stake, so our old stake got to keep our "unneeded funds".

So just want to confirm, does excess ward level budget dollars for each budget category (1) go back to the unallocated dollar amounts, (2) get zeroed out and automatically returned back to HQ, (3) roll over to next year?

I know that budget categories zero out, but is there any required action on the funds, and where do they go?

Also, to throw a wrench in things, with the creation of sub accounts in budget for things that were previously under Member Financed accounts like YM camp, YW Camp, do those account funds roll over, sine they are not accounts that you can allocate budget to?

In the past, I believe it's option #1. By default, the funds are kept by the ward, but the stake might ask for some of that to help balance budgets elsewhere. Especially is the roll over is excessive.

Good question on what happens now that budget also includes what used to be Authorized Member Financed Activities.

sareid wrote: Tue Nov 01, 2022 1:16 pm So just want to confirm, does excess ward level budget dollars for each budget category (1) go back to the unallocated dollar amounts, (2) get zeroed out and automatically returned back to HQ, (3) roll over to next year?

I know that budget categories zero out, but is there any required action on the funds, and where do they go?

Also, to throw a wrench in things, with the creation of sub accounts in budget for things that were previously under Member Financed accounts like YM camp, YW Camp, do those account funds roll over, sine they are not accounts that you can allocate budget to?

The answer to your questions is all of it probably rolls over. However, it is up to your bishop and/or stake president. Suggest you start with your bishop. For 2023 a new budget allocation will have to be approved by your bishop and the categories reallocated.

sareid wrote: Tue Nov 01, 2022 1:16 pm So just want to confirm, does excess ward level budget dollars for each budget category (1) go back to the unallocated dollar amounts, (2) get zeroed out and automatically returned back to HQ, (3) roll over to next year?

All excess budget funds get rolled over to the next year and are initially unallocated. All budget categories (other than Budget Allocations) will be zero until amounts are allocated for 2023 (which can be done now if desired). This all happens automatically.

sareid wrote: Tue Nov 01, 2022 1:16 pm Also, to throw a wrench in things, with the creation of sub accounts in budget for things that were previously under Member Financed accounts like YM camp, YW Camp, do those account funds roll over, sine they are not accounts that you can allocate budget to?

Any accounts created to hold previous AFMA accounts are treated exactly the same as any other budget category. Any funds become part of the unallocated rollover. Note that you can allocate funds to those categories just as you can any other category. Whether you want to is a decision that the ward should make. The ward may want a single category which holds both the budget funds which will be used towards camp along with any payments or the ward may want to keep those separate. There are advantages and disadvantages to both and no specific guidance from CHQ has been given at this point.