How do you view the missionary accounts in LCR?

Related question. How do you view the missionary accounts in LCR? I recently had to transfer funds to the Ward that a missionary's family moved into. I gave up on trying to see the total in LCR, and looked it up in MLS on the local computer. It just doesn't feel intuitive yet to find stuff on LCR. Maybe it's just me.

[moderator note: This thread split from another thread topic. While somewhat related they are different.]

pgrandall96 wrote:How do you view the missionary accounts in LCR?

LCR > Finance > Income and Expense Details (or Income and Expense Summary to see the account balance). Select "Ward Missionary Fund" in the Categories drop-down list box. Select the ward missionary name in the Subcategories drop-down list box. Select the appropriate time period using either the "Current Year", "Previous Year", or "Custom Dates" buttons.

This procedure only provide the expenses sent the missionary.
How do you see the remaining balance? That is what most of our ward missionaries families are asking.
-Mathew Francis, 21st ward clerk, Emigration Stake, SLC, UT

mjfrancis wrote: Sun Jun 09, 2024 2:03 pm This procedure only provide the expenses sent the missionary.
How do you see the remaining balance? That is what most of our ward missionaries families are asking.
-Mathew Francis, 21st ward clerk, Emigration Stake, SLC, UT

The procedure jdlessley describes will show both the expenses and donations for the missionary. The current balance for the category is the current amount due (if there is negative balance). If you're looking for the total remaining balance to the end of the mission, that information isn't available--only the current balance.

I'd also add that as discussed in other threads in the Forum, the Church likely intentionally avoids providing that amount, to avoid having families try and "prepay-in-full". Once donations are made, including for full-time missionaries, that money cannot be recovered. So if a missionary unexpectedly returns home early, all donated money remains with the Church and not the missionary. Likewise, there's no way for the Church to know if others may also decide to contribute to that missionary's account, and pre-payment can lead to over-payment.

You may have known that, so just mentioning. If the families are desiring to know how much will be required for completion of the full-time mission, a simple calculation of
"current balance" + ("months remaining" x "amount per month")
should give a reasonable estimate.

Often families right near the end of a child's mission want to know exactly "how much is left". I can't remember what the current rule is for last-month of missions (does the account go live the month the missionary starts and there's no payment the last month? Or the opposite? Or some other calculation process?). I'm sure others in the Forum know those details.

BrianEdwards wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2024 9:25 am Often families right near the end of a child's mission want to know exactly "how much is left". I can't remember what the current rule is for last-month of missions (does the account go live the month the missionary starts and there's no payment the last month? Or the opposite? Or some other calculation process?). I'm sure others in the Forum know those details.

Nowadays the charge for the last month of the mission happens at the beginning of the month after they finish their mission and is pro-rated based on the number of days in the mission for the last month. I don't know the exact date they use for pro-rating so I usually recommend just waiting until the unit gets charged and then letting the family know how much to do for their last payment.

Somewhere between the 2021 post and today, it appears that LCRF has been changed. The question families ask me is "what is my child's current balance." The 2021 instructions say "LCR > Finance > Income and Expense." My LCRF does not have "Income and Expense." It has "Income," and it has "Expense," per the attached screenshot. I can see $$ from families into the ward, and $$ from the ward to Salt Lake in behalf of the missionary. But finding out what is the balance still eludes me. This is true on both the ward level and the individual missionary level.

Any help would be appreciated.

The ward and individual missionary categories can be found at LCR > Finance > Overview and then select either 'Income and Expense Summary' or 'Income and Expense Details'. I seldom use the 'Income and Expense Summary' and prefer to use the 'Income and Expense Details' so I can see both the income and expenses transactions for individual missionaries. When using the 'Income and Expense Details' menu item the 'Ward Missionary' category needs to be selected from the 'All Categories' drop-down list box. Then, if you need the details for a missionary, select the missionary name category in the 'All Unit Subcategories' drop-down list box.