Is it okay to split a DC order between Budget and Other categories?

This question came to my mind while I was responding to this thread about Budget Category Reconciliation


What would be the best course of action in this scenario:

A Distribution Center order comes through on the CUFS for $35 and I pull the invoice out of our filing cabinet and determine to which budget categories it should be applied.

However, on the invoice I find a note that says, "$20 for Sunday School and $15 for Other:YW".

What is the best way to handle something like that? (I ask it because I think I ran into that issue yesterday when I was trying to reconcile the budget category).

Is it okay to split a DC order between "Budget" and "Other"? Will the software figure out what I did and automatically add $15 back into budget and take $15 out of "Other"?

Or should I apply the entire $35 to Budget categories and do a transfer from "Other:YW" to "Budget:YW"?

Thanks~!

coloradotechie wrote:A Distribution Center order comes through on the CUFS for $35 and I pull the invoice out of our filing cabinet and determine to which budget categories it should be applied.

However, on the invoice I find a note that says, "$20 for Sunday School and $15 for Other:YW".
...
Is it okay to split a DC order between "Budget" and "Other"? Will the software figure out what I did and automatically add $15 back into budget and take $15 out of "Other"?

You can't just split a DC order that way for a couple of reasons.

• First of all, it doesn't reflect reality. The fact is that the DC order was charged to the ward's Budget category.
• There's no way in MLS to make a single expense transaction that charges two different major categories such as Budget and Other.

So you definitely need to record the transaction as a "Not a check" expense, charged to whatever subcategories of Budget are appropriate. For this example, that might be Budget:YW.

Then if the Other category is to be the real source of the funds, you need to transfer funds from Other to Budget by writing a check to the ward from Other:YW and depositing it in Budget:YW. That will accurately describe how the expense was originally charged, and leave an audit trail of how it was then adjusted, with appropriate approval signatures.

coloradotechie wrote:Or should I apply the entire $35 to Budget categories and do a transfer from "Other:YW" to "Budget:YW"?

Yes, that's what needs to be done, for the reasons stated above.

Alan_Brown wrote:You can't just split a DC order that way for a couple of reasons.

Thank you. Your explanations make sense. I wonder how many people have had this same problem... it seems that it wouldn't be caught in the usual monthly reconciliation. How is a regular person supposed to catch this error? Is this why reconciling the budget category can be a good idea (b/c I suppose this type of error would surface when doing that type of reconciliation)?

Alan_Brown wrote:There's no way in MLS to make a single expense transaction that charges two different major categories such as Budget and Other.

Hmmm... this must be a new restriction... the reason is because I ran into this yesterday when I was trying to reconcile my budget category for 2009.

I did just try to do this with the test data on MLS 3.1.4 and the system will not let me have a single expense transaction that charges two different categories... so this is good news going forward.

Whew... it is kind of hard not to feel overwhelmed/not sure what to do with all of this for mistakes I've made in the past. I never knew this all these little nuances. (Luckily now things are continuing to get better with updated software and more knowledge on my part).

Thanks~!

coloradotechie wrote:How is a regular person supposed to catch this error? Is this why reconciling the budget category can be a good idea (b/c I suppose this type of error would surface when doing that type of reconciliation)?

If you somehow accidentally created a mixed Budget/Other transaction (which I still don't think is possible), then such an error would indeed show up in the normal reconciliation process. Any transaction in the Other category will affect the calculations used in the reconciliation process, so an error in the time frame up through the end of the reconciliation month would cause the "Unreconciled Differences" for the Other category to be nonzero.

But if you make an error in a Budget category, the only way to find it is by:

• careful comparison of each MLS item with each CUFS item
• The budget reconciliation process we have been talking about

coloradotechie wrote:Hmmm... this must be a new restriction... the reason is because I ran into this yesterday when I was trying to reconcile my budget category for 2009.

I did just try to do this with the test data on MLS 3.1.4 and the system will not let me have a single expense transaction that charges two different categories... so this is good news going forward.

I'm sorry to disagree, but this is definitely not a new restriction. I think if you look closely at it again, you will find that a single expense does not have both Budget and Other categories.

Thanks again! (I'm probably remembering wrong... it is hard to remember all the details when I don't have internet access at the church and I have to wait until I can post on these forums).

Thank you~!