Interest Transferred to other Account

On January 1, 2011 a transfer of interest was posted to the account "Other: Authorized Member Financed Activities". Is there anything I need to do with this entry to clear it?

rvvance wrote:On January 1, 2011 a transfer of interest was posted to the account "Other: Authorized Member Financed Activities". Is there anything I need to do with this entry to clear it?

I asked Local Unit Support this particular question a couple of months ago. The answer was simply that we can move the interest to whatever subcategory seems appropriate. My personal plan is to accumulate it and then periodically (perhaps annually) move it to the Ward Missionary category -- which is pretty much the way it was done automatically prior to CUBS.

aebrown wrote:I asked Local Unit Support this particular question a couple of months ago. The answer was simply that we can move the interest to whatever subcategory seems appropriate. My personal plan is to accumulate it and then periodically (perhaps annually) move it to the Ward Missionary category -- which is pretty much the way it was done automatically prior to CUBS.

I didn't know we had a choice where the interest went. For me, MLS (pre and post CUBS) puts the interest postings in my Ward Missionary fund. Can MLS be directed to put it elsewhere? Is it truly the Bishop's discretion what the interest money is used for?

I assumed that because the interest is most typically paid on accumulated mission fund money that the interest must stay in the Ward Missionary fund.

ckmcdonald wrote:I didn't know we had a choice where the interest went. For me, MLS (pre and post CUBS) puts the interest postings in my Ward Missionary fund.

Are you sure about this? Prior to CUBS that was indeed the case, but not since the CUBS conversion. In our stake account and the ward accounts throughout our stake, the interest earned on Ward Missionary and all its subcategories goes into Ward Missionary, but the interest on Other:AMFA and all its subcategories goes into Other:AMFA.

ckmcdonald wrote:Can MLS be directed to put it elsewhere? Is it truly the Bishop's discretion what the interest money is used for?

No, MLS cannot be directed to put it elsewhere. That's the root of the problem. Post-CUBS, MLS is putting some interest in the Other:AMFA account, and it's not obvious what to do with it.

ckmcdonald wrote:I assumed that because the interest is most typically paid on accumulated mission fund money that the interest must stay in the Ward Missionary fund.

That is indeed true for interest earned on Ward Missionary funds. But the question that is asked is what to do with interest earned on Other:AMFA funds.

aebrown wrote:Are you sure about this? Prior to CUBS that was indeed the case, but not since the CUBS conversion. In our stake account and the ward accounts throughout our stake, the interest earned on Ward Missionary and all its subcategories goes into Ward Missionary, but the interest on Other:AMFA and all its subcategories goes into Other:AMFA.

Ah, I understand now - thanks for the clarification. I now see why my questions/statements probably seemed a bit odd to you. It will all be clear when I confess I didn't know CUBS separates the interest between WM and AMFA funds, I thought the interest was all lumped together like it use to be. I've had a zero balance in all my AMFA categories for several months so I haven't seen an interest deposit in AMFA yet.

Does this mean for a Stake (which has no contributions for ward missionary), that if we clear out the existing balance of ward missionary (writing a check and sending it to a ward in need) that we will never have a balance any funds in this account? If so it's one less acount I have to worry about.

wrigjef wrote:Does this mean for a Stake (which has no contributions for ward missionary), that if we clear out the existing balance of ward missionary (writing a check and sending it to a ward in need) that we will never have a balance any funds in this account? If so it's one less acount I have to worry about.

I suppose that's true, as long as you write the check right after the interest accrues on the last day of the month. There's always a chance you'll accrue some interest on the balance for part of a month, and then you'll have a few cents in the account, and then have to clean that out the next month.

Also, annually or so we have to facilitate gathering surplus missionary funds from some of our wards and then send them to wards in need (which is rare) or to CHQ. So during the time we're doing that we would accrue more interest. So it seems like far more hassle than it's worth to try to zero it out.

Personally, as a stake financial clerk, I have no worries about the missionary account for our stake, so the reduction in worry is negligible. Besides, as I mentioned earlier, my intention is to periodically move interest accrued on Other accounts into Ward Missionary, where it can do some good.

But you're certainly welcome to try that for your stake if you'd like.

Yes that might be a good practice for me. It would also let me clear funds from the main AMFA account and leave those balances in subcategories. Would I be able to move these small amounts from AMFA to Ward Missionary using a transfer or would it require a check?

wrigjef wrote:Yes that might be a good practice for me. It would also let me clear funds from the main AMFA account and leave those balances in subcategories. Would I be able to move these small amounts from AMFA to Ward Missionary using a transfer or would it require a check?

The only way (in the US/Canada) to move money across major categories by writing a check to the unit and depositing it in the desired category.

Just to extend this question a little, how will this affect the audit?

I'm running MLS 3.3 and recently printed an audit form to do a test run before my audit on Wednesday. I have a total of $1.17 I've received in interest in Other:AMFA. Question 24 on the audit reads "Do the funds in the 'Other' category have subcategory classifications?" Should I be interpreting Other:AMFA as a subcategory, or should I be moving the interest to some subcategory (I know, that's really nit picking).

Anyway, just wondering if I'm the only one that's unsure of how to answer these audit questions most accurately or if there are any auditors that have wisdom they can share on the subject.

nutterb wrote:Just to extend this question a little, how will this affect the audit?

I'm running MLS 3.3 and recently printed an audit form to do a test run before my audit on Wednesday. I have a total of $1.17 I've received in interest in Other:AMFA. Question 24 on the audit reads "Do the funds in the 'Other' category have subcategory classifications?" Should I be interpreting Other:AMFA as a subcategory, or should I be moving the interest to some subcategory (I know, that's really nit picking).

Anyway, just wondering if I'm the only one that's unsure of how to answer these audit questions most accurately or if there are any auditors that have wisdom they can share on the subject.

We have the same question in our stake. All of our units now have funds in the "AMFA" category. (Some because the balances before and after CUBs still don't match and since October interest is being added that many of the clerks were unaware of).

Our stake account will probably receive an exception because we have $229.92 in AMFA along with some interest. The $229.92 came from a "rebate" from SLC for a bill we never paid (had to do with a Qwest bill back in September). I argued with the finance folks that it wasn't our money so I was hesitant to do anything with it till they decided to move it or take it back. Since they didn't take it back and told us to keep it, my December statement shows funds in the AMFA category with no clarification of why it is there.

This really ought to be an interesting audit to go through once all the forms are received in Salt Lake. Would love to be a fly on the wall and listen in on the conversations that will be taking place!

FFRsqpilot wrote:Our stake account will probably receive an exception because we have $229.92 in AMFA along with some interest. The $229.92 came from a "rebate" from SLC for a bill we never paid (had to do with a Qwest bill back in September). I argued with the finance folks that it wasn't our money so I was hesitant to do anything with it till they decided to move it or take it back. Since they didn't take it back and told us to keep it, my December statement shows funds in the AMFA category with no clarification of why it is there.

This is the type of explanation an auditor should hear.

Rather than leaving the funds for the rebate in the AMFA account you could write a check to the stake to clear the account and then deposit it into the budget.

jdlessley wrote:This is the type of explanation an auditor should hear.

Rather than leaving the funds for the rebate in the AMFA account you could write a check to the stake to clear the account and then deposit it into the budget.

Actually we are the stake. It was the stake that got erroneously charged with a Qwest Bill. Back in early October I called LUS and was advised that it was an accounting error. They told me not to worry about it as it would be taken care of from their end. Unfortunately multiple units within the stake (as well as the stake account) were charged erroneously. Those bills still showed up after the CUBs conversion. It took some time to figure it all out when trying to balance the "Other" accounts. Again I called LUS advising them that these bills were making the Other account not balance pre/post CUBs. I was again informed that it would be taken care of. For most of our units it indeed did get taken care of. However for the stake we still have the reimbursement of $229.92 for a bill we never paid. I kept hoping that LUS would rectify the situation but it didn't happen and now they don't want it back (btw - how often does that happen)!

So in January, I explained this all to the Stake President and we moved the funds to another category within AMFA and will see what happens. Unfortunately, the amount was still sitting in the top AMFA category at the end of December which is technically a "non-designated" category.....guess we'll find out what the auditor has to say when he shows up.

FFRsqpilot wrote:Actually we are the stake.

That is why I made that statement. You can only make transfers of this kind by writing a check.