New Reimbursement Function

Does anyone have any more information on the Reimbursement function on the new Tools update? We used it at church today to submit receipts and it worked great! But now what? They do not show up on "Bishops Review" on the Finance page of LCR. Perhaps it just takes a day or two... Hopefully so because it seems like a very easy way to enter expenses for members.

Did you sync/update Member Tools after you created the payment request? If not then the request would not be processed until the next auto-sync.

The requests do not show up under Bishop's Review. Once a reimbursement has been submitted it should show up on the Dashboard page of LCR Finance in the Payment Request box. A clerk can click on one of the requests (you have to first click on the Payment Request text for the actual request list to show), review the request and the documentation and then Save the request. This will create an actual reimbursement expense which then shows up in the Approve Expenses tab under Expenses. The expense will only show up on the Bishop's Review list after it's been approved. As usual if the bishop is the approver then the Bishop's Review will be checked automatically, otherwise the bishop will have to check his approval.

This seems like a nice addition, but will create problems if used in our stake. Our stake policy is that organization leaders must first approve an expense request. They are responsible for their budgets and should be aware of any expense impacting that budget. We do this through email, since the current LCR Finance application (and now the Tools function) delivers the reimbursement request directly to the ward/stake clerk, bypassing the organization leader. We want those leaders to review and approve the expense before it goes to the clerk and bishop/stake president. Is there a way for us to do that without a lot of extra effort on the leader or clerk?

swigginton wrote:This seems like a nice addition, but will create problems if used in our stake. Our stake policy is that organization leaders must first approve an expense request. They are responsible for their budgets and should be aware of any expense impacting that budget. We do this through email, since the current LCR Finance application (and now the Tools function) delivers the reimbursement request directly to the ward/stake clerk, bypassing the organization leader. We want those leaders to review and approve the expense before it goes to the clerk and bishop/stake president. Is there a way for us to do that without a lot of extra effort on the leader or clerk?

The general membership does not have access to the payment request feature in LCR or in Member Tools. Only organization presidencies have access to the payment request feature in LCR and Member Tools. The general membership will continue to make payment requests to the responsible organization presidency, the bishopric, or the ward clerk/finance clerk as has been done in the past. In our ward organization presidencies do well instructing those given assignments that will incur expenses to submit those expenses to the presidency. Our plan when an expense is submitted without going through the organization presidency that we notify the president of the request and ask for a review and OK - usually all by email.

... the current LCR Finance application (and now the Tools function) delivers the reimbursement request directly to the ward/stake clerk, bypassing the organization leader

As jdlessley stated, general members cannot do this. However, an org counselor could submit the reimbursement request, which in your phrasing would then bypass the org president and go directly to the clerk/bishop/stake president. Is this your concern, that a presidency member can submit a request without the president giving their official approval?

I think in most situations the president is aware of the reimbursements any counselor is requesting, and the "expense approval" can occur prior to the expense itself, (and at least in my view) it doesn't have to occur as part of the expense processing. But as we know not all presidencies have effective communication. So if you find this is the case, then perhaps better training is required so presidency members don't inadvertently bypass their org president. And if there's a "frequent offender", simply alerting the clerk to this issue should allow for him to contact the org president for confirmation before approving any request from that particular presidency member.

jdlessley wrote:Did you sync/update Member Tools after you created the payment request? If not then the request would not be processed until the next auto-sync.

I have Updated the app but do not see my payment request in LCR. Do you know how long it takes for the request to populate in LCR?

My experience as a Stake Clerk is that when these are submitted through the Member Tools is they are showing on my dashboard under Payment request. Either myself or my Finance Clerk then reviews them and submits them. This then puts it into the queue for the Stake President to review for approval.

jrk66 wrote:

jdlessley wrote:Did you sync/update Member Tools after you created the payment request? If not then the request would not be processed until the next auto-sync.

I have Updated the app but do not see my payment request in LCR. Do you know how long it takes for the request to populate in LCR?

What is your calling? If you do not have finance edit permissions then you will not see anything. Only those with finance edit permissions will be able to see the payment request in the Finance section of LCR. The process will go much as mmacconnell states.

If you have finance edit permissions and do not see the payment request in LCR Finance then most likely the payment request did not go through. I would expect the request to show up in the system almost immediately after Member Tools syncs/updates.

With the changes in the Young Men's leadership, who can now submit reimbursement requests for them? For the Young Men I now only see " Quorum adult leader" listed. There is no one listed under "Aaronic Priesthood Presidency" in member tools.

I know the adult leaders in the presidencies of the Relief Society, Elders Quorum, Young Woman, etc. can still submit requests.

For example, one of the young men's, quorum adult Leaders, emailed me (cc'd the Bishop) a receipt for gasoline requesting reimbursement because he drove out to the young men's campout.

According to the Access Table in LCR nobody in the Aaronic Priesthood organization has access to the payment request screen. I'm pretty sure that the payment request in Member Tools follows the same rules. That means it would have to be handled by the bishopric or a clerk who can enter an expense directly (without first making a Payment Request).

murdock20m wrote:With the changes in the Young Men's leadership, who can now submit reimbursement requests for them?

The YM presidency is the ward bishopric. Therefore any payment requests using the LCR Payment Request feature and the Member Tools Payment Request is only available to the ward bishopric and ward clerks with finance edit permissions. Quorum advisors and quorum specialists do not have access to these tools.

murdock20m wrote:For example, one of the young men's, quorum adult Leaders, emailed me (cc'd the Bishop) a receipt for gasoline requesting reimbursement because he drove out to the young men's campout.

If you are a ward clerk with finance edit permissions then you can submit the payment request for the quorum adult leader and use a copy of the email and the receipt as the documentation for the payment request. For practical purposes the bishopric and ward clerks are the organization leaders for the young men fulfilling the responsibilities for the former YM presidency.

It's a bit confusing, since a bishopric member can submit payment requests for organizations, but not for the unit budget category. So for me, the default "Budget" page has the drop-down selected as "Unit Leader/Clerk", and no "Payment Request" tab shows. But once I change the drop-down to something like "Young Men", then the "Payment Request" tab appears. I'm not saying this is wrong, just that it's easy for a Bishopric member to miss this if they're not aware.

BrianEdwards wrote:It's a bit confusing, since a bishopric member can submit payment requests for organizations, but not for the unit budget category. So for me, the default "Budget" page has the drop-down selected as "Unit Leader/Clerk", and no "Payment Request" tab shows. But once I change the drop-down to something like "Young Men", then the "Payment Request" tab appears. I'm not saying this is wrong, just that it's easy for a Bishopric member to miss this if they're not aware.

I'm on board with you that the payment request feature needs a bit of work. The original concept was to provide an electronic expense payment method as an alternative, or replacement, to the archaic paper payment request system. As currently implemented, it only makes the expense payment process from organization presidencies to approvers electronic and more stream lined. This does help the approval and documentation of a payment request. The general membership still has to either use paper submissions or email to submit a payment request. There is little improvement in efficiency there. Also unit leaders/clerk do not have a method to submit payment requests for themselves unless submitting under an organization's access; direct entry using the Expenses tab; or using a workaround method described below.

For the general membership the electronic payment request feature, as currently implemented, has no apparent advantage to how payment requests have previously been handled. There would possibly be a perceived improvement should they gain access. There may be an improvement in process efficiency provided the electronic payment request feature routed the request to the appropriate organization presidency first and only required a presidency member approval before the unit leaders/clerks complete the approval process.

The payment request methods available to unit leaders/clerks involve either using the archaic paper method, sending an email payment request to an organization presidency or another unit leader/clerk depending on the category to be debited, or direct entry at the Expense tab. I am sure most would agree the paper method involves a lot of work time and there are delays in completing the processing.

A significant negative of all the available methods listed above for unit leaders/clerks to submit their own payment requests is that the organization president/presidency is left out of the information/approval loop. Further communications are necessary and thus effectively defeating any timeliness and efficiency in the process.

A positive aspect of a unit leader/clerk using the payment request feature is that a submission as not automatically approved by the submitter. This avoids the issue of the submitter being an approver as well as the payee - an improper procedure and an audit exception. This positive aspect of the payment request feature can be developed further to cover payment requests involving ward budget categories not under the management of an organization as well as including organization presidents/presidencies in the approval process.

As I mentioned above there is a fallible workaround that allows a unit leader/clerk, someone with finance edit permissions, to submit a payment request for themselves against a category not falling under a unit organization and avoid being an approver. The procedure involves the unit leader/clerk submitting the payment for themselves at the Expenses tab. But immediately after submitting the payment he opens the payment again and rejects the payment with a comment such as "Approver cannot approve a payment to themself." The rejected payment now shows up at the Pending Expenses tab. Another unit leader/clerk can then review the pending expense and approve it as the first approver.

This workaround can fail if the person submitting the payment request does not remember to go back and reject the payment and another unit leader/clerk approves the payment.

Another failure could possibly develop when an electronic receipt is not attached. In this case the payment goes directly to the Print Checks tab. The chance the error would be caught at this point is low. This error can be corrected. One method to correct it is to attach paper receipts to the expense payment report and check stub. Additionally the payee must not sign the check as an approver. Another error correction method is to attach the electronic copy of the receipts to the completed expense payment as soon as the error is noted.

I am a Financial Clerk with a question.

In, "Tools-Finance-Payment Request", is there no way yet to attach a scanned file of a receipt?

For example a Relief Society President authorizes a teacher to buy supplies for a lesson. The teacher emails scans of the receipts to the President. I can't see a way, for now, that a scanned receipt image can be attached to a payment request. Is the only option taking pictures with the device camera?

murdock20m wrote:For example a Relief Society President authorizes a teacher to buy supplies for a lesson. The teacher emails scans of the receipts to the President. I can't see a way, for now, that a scanned receipt image can be attached to a payment request. Is the only option taking pictures with the device camera?

It's hidden a bit but the option is there. Here's what I did:

1. Hit the plus button to start a request.
2. Add the payee.
3. Enter the purpose.
4. Click the plus button to add a receipt (ignore the text that says 'Add a receipt with your phone's camera')
5. Enter the category and amount.
6. Press the 'Please Add a Receipt' button.
7. Select 'Choose a file'
8. The receipt has to be downloaded to your device or stored on Google Drive (at least for Android)

Thank you eblood66.

I had only browsed, yet not needed to complete a request.

The Ward clerk will be sending out an email to the Presidencies explaining electronic requests and reimbursements.
(Especially, encouraging everyone to opt-in to receiving electronic reimbursements.)

Does anyone know if the general functionality supports reimbursement from a Ward unit to the stake? (i.e. Ward young women's president to the stake clerk)

Or is this still a manual process for the time being.

MCRACEJG wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 9:25 pm Does anyone know if the general functionality supports reimbursement from a Ward unit to the stake? (i.e. Ward young women's president to the stake clerk)

Only stake organization leaders can submit reimbursement requests to the stake. But as at the ward level, they can request the reimbursement on the behalf of another member.

The reimbursement function on the Tools app is great, but as the finance clerk, I wish it allowed me to submit reimbursement requests for other people (unless I'm missing something, the functionality isn't available on my Tools app). We have members submit reimbursements through their auxiliary presidencies but some presidencies still give me paper receipts or I complete a reimbursement for the YM or bishopric. It's a lot easier to take pictures directly with the app than upload them from a computer.

Log into LCR Finance from your phone and submit it using LCR-F.

Has anyone noticed a change in the available categories for this? I've submitted several in the past with great ease, but now I only see FSY and Fast Offerings in the categories.

I believe the categories available to you are set by your ward clerk, and are based upon your current calling. Perhaps you could ask him why the categories for your calling were changed?

mbmealey wrote: Wed Feb 02, 2022 9:43 am Has anyone noticed a change in the available categories for this? I've submitted several in the past with great ease, but now I only see FSY and Fast Offerings in the categories.

This is a new budget year. It is also possible that sub-categories that were available last year are not being used this year. The correct first step would be to reach out to your clerk or assistant clerk-finance for guidance on how to do what you are wanting to do.

Of course! If the clerk has not created his 2022 budget categories yet, then it is quite possible that only non-budget categories would be available for submitting reimbursement requests. You thought of the most obvious explanation, which I missed.

I’m a bishop and can see all reimbursement categories in LCR but see only 5 categories in Tools..what do I need to change to see all categories in tools?

n8crocker wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 7:32 pm I’m a bishop and can see all reimbursement categories in LCR but see only 5 categories in Tools..what do I need to change to see all categories in tools?

Were the categories added recently? It's possible that they haven't synced down to Member Tools. You could try manually syncing Member Tools – if that doesn't work, you could try signing out and back in in Member Tools.

sbradshaw wrote: Tue Apr 26, 2022 3:07 pm

n8crocker wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 7:32 pm I’m a bishop and can see all reimbursement categories in LCR but see only 5 categories in Tools..what do I need to change to see all categories in tools?

Were the categories added recently? It's possible that they haven't synced down to Member Tools. You could try manually syncing Member Tools – if that doesn't work, you could try signing out and back in in Member Tools.

No. All i see on tools are Fast Offering categories, FSY and one Administration subcategory..whereas on LCR I can see all the Org options. So if I need to get reimbursed for something purchased for a youth activity, I can't submit it through Tools..

@n8crocker, did you try the sign-out-then-sign-in suggestion? I know there's other issues people have reported with Tools, that a logout-login resolved. Or maybe re-installing the app.

Another suggestion would be to ask one of your counselors what they see in their Tools app on their phone. Just to try and verify it's an issue specific to you, and not something more general with your ward's budget categories somehow not syncing with anyone's Tools app.

Love the new reimbursement function. An ongoing frustration I have had is that I don't know who has access to what. For example I have a YM specialist that is trying to submit a reimbursement form online but is unable to. However, the YM advisor is able to. I recognize that not every member has access to the reimbursement feature but I don't know who does and who doesn't which makes it difficult to direct members to the right resources if I don't know what resources they have available. Is any one aware of something like a site map of access or a list of who has access to what features in LCR? Thank you

snowtyl1 wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 11:24 am Is any one aware of something like a site map of access or a list of who has access to what features in LCR?

The Access Table is in LCR under the Other link. Only standard callings have access. Custom callings do not.

According to the LCR access table (Other > Access Table on the LCR menu) only organization presidencies have access to the Payment Request option in LCR. So I'm surprised that you have a YM advisor with access. Usually the access table is accurate.

eblood66 wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 11:46 am So I'm surprised that you have a YM advisor with access.

Any chance the YM Adviser has another calling that grants access?