Budget Refunds

I am sure many of you are dealing with the same issue I am right now. Monies from camps are being returned to members who were already reimbursed for the expense. I am having a hard time finding the best way to allow those members to repay the budget categories. It's probably simple and I'm just overlooking it. But is anyone aware of how to do this process?

Thanks in advance.

The Help Center says:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/hel ... categories

Members are not authorized to contribute to stake or ward budgets. Deposits are only made to the “Budget” category for the return of unused funds from an advance.

Therefore, using MLS, the clerk may process a member "donation" to a Budget category for the purpose of returning unused funds.

Ok. With the current situation, It's been so long since I went into the church to use MLS

It sounds like MLS will let me just post a donation to a budget category.

I will go and verify that. Thank you.

It is not really a donation. Any funds disbursed from a budget category as an advance can be returned to that category. The procedure to process a return is much like a regular donation. The member returning an advance fills out a donation slip but uses the blank space for Other and writes the budget category and a statement like "return of advance". Since the system does not allow donations to a budget category it will be processed as a return of funds instead of a donation. This transaction will not show up on the donors end of year tax valid statement

So just to be clear, do an "advance" and "reimbursement" work the same in these instances? I notice that both responses have used the term "advance". These were "reimbursements" with receipts. I've never had the need to do an "advance" in my ward.

danielwells wrote:I notice that both responses have used the term "advance".

That is the only time funds are repayed to a budget category.

danielwells wrote:These were "reimbursements" with receipts.

It is difficult to understand the situation you are experiencing because you stated:

danielwells wrote:Monies from camps are being returned to members who were already reimbursed for the expense. I am having a hard time finding the best way to allow those members to repay the budget categories.

That suggests budget funds were used to pay an advance. As I just stated above, that is the only time funds are repayed to budget categories.

The only scenario I can imagine that would involve members being reimbursed for a camp expense is when the members pay for the camp themselves in advance of the camp. They are reimbursed for this advance expense by the ward from budget funds. The camp is cancelled and the organization running the camp refund camp fees to the expected attendees. Now the expected attendees need to return the funds they received from the ward back to the ward. Is this the actual scenario?

If that scenario is correct, then even though the members paid in advance directly to the providers of the camp with their own funds and used that receipt to get a reimbursement from the ward, it is still an advance of budget funds.

The only time funds are deposited to "budget" is if they came from budget.

This might be from the unused portion of an advance, or it might be due to a refund. In both cases, the funds originally came from budget.

This may have to do with the way the For the Strength of Youth payments are being handled. Members paid part and the wards and branches paid part. I am not sure how it is all being refunded, but it may be the the members are getting the total refund and needing to return the unit portion.

So to clarify, I have two different instances. The first is a Young Men's leader who paid for the deposit on a High Adventure Camp for 2020 out of his own pocket last year. He submitted receipts and was reimbursed the money from the Young Men's Budget. The camp was cancelled so he received the money back. Now he has to pay the ward back (back to the YM budget).

A similar situation exists for a Young Women. Their President reserved a campsite and paid a down payment on some rental gear last year (for a camp this year). Both those have been cancelled and the YW President has received those funds back. She also wants to pay back her budget.

Hope this helps. Thanks.

• Have the member write a check for the amount to be reimbursed to the budget.
• Have the member fill out a donation slip and write "Budget" and the category in the "Other" section. It wouldn't hurt to attach an explanation of what is being reimbursed or write it on the back of the slip.
• Process the deposit and select the budget category as the destination category (instead of tithing, fast offerings, etc.).
• File the paperwork as normal.

You now have a document (the donation slip and any documentation with the donation slip) that documents the purpose for which the funds were received. You should be able to tie that back to the original disbursement. Because the deposit is not being made to a donation category, the payment won't show up on the member's year-end tax statement.

It's worth pointing out, this is going to have to go the old "gray envelope to the bishop" route. They can't "donate" back to budget using the on-line system.

A member paid for a young women camp reservation and was reimbursed by the ward. The camp was cancelled (Covid 19) , and so the camp organization refunded the money to the member's credit card. How can the member return this money to the ward, and how do we account for it?

markdrichards wrote:A member paid for a young women camp reservation and was reimbursed by the ward. The camp was cancelled (Covid 19) , and so the camp organization refunded the money to the member's credit card. How can the member return this money to the ward, and how do we account for it?

[moderator note: This thread has been merged with another thread about the same topic.]

Please read the posts earlier in this thread that your post has been merged with.

Does anyone know if a member can electronically transfer funds to an other or budget category using ETF instead of writing a check? We have been doing everything online with Covid, but this process doesn't seem to work for this refund of budget money?

At least in the US members can donate to a very few select Other accounts online (basically accounts that are donations to a general church fund). But they can't donate to a budget category or to an Other:Authorized Member Finance Activities category.

Those still have to be done by check in the US. They can mail the check to the bishop but the clerk and a bishopric member have to process the donation in person.

Can this be processed through a members direct deposit or does it need to be the physical “donation” slip?

Also, if someone was reimbursed twice for a “receipt attached expense” accidentally, would this be the same process to return the second reimbursement back to the budget?

Thanks.

markedwardatkinson wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:15 am Can this be processed through a members direct deposit or does it need to be the physical “donation” slip?

Physical.

markedwardatkinson wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:15 amAlso, if someone was reimbursed twice for a “receipt attached expense” accidentally, would this be the same process to return the second reimbursement back to the budget?

Yes.