Transfer between units?

OK - this may be a silly question, but I need to know the answer, so I guess I am going to ask it anyway: Is it possible to transfer money between units? Specifically, I need to transfer money from the stake's account to one of our wards. Can I do it inside of MLS? Will I have to write a check? Is this frowned upon? Thanks for your help and for not making me look too foolish!

Unless there's a feature I've missed, you'll need to write a check.

That's what I figured, but I wanted to be sure. Thanks!

We used to have 2 units in our building and shared expenses (Sacrament supplies, Library Copier supplies, etc) were confusing for reimbursements. Several years ago, the other ward's clerk and I met to come up with an easier way to handle "shared" expenses. Members were trying to catch each ward clerk to get reimbursed for 1/2 of the expense from each ward, then each ward had a reimbursement check for members of the other ward they had to chase down.

We thought it would be easier and more straight-forward for the member to just get reimbursed from their home ward. Then that ward would "bill" the other ward for 1/2 of the expense using a "billing" form. Everything is traceable during an audit (though the original receipt resides in the ward who does the original reimbursement, we use the "bill" from the other ward as our receipt and it can be traced to the original receipt if needed).

We like this form and it has made things much easier for the members and the clerks. I am attaching it here (in both editable and .pdf format) in case anyone wants to adapt it for their ward. We now have a singles branch in our building as well so I recently updated it for 3 units.

Note: there are 2 forms on each page - print, then cut in half along the horizontal line.

davesudweeks wrote:We used to have 2 units in our building and shared expenses (Sacrament supplies, Library Copier supplies, etc) were confusing for reimbursements. Several years ago, the other ward's clerk and I met to come up with an easier way to handle "shared" expenses. Members were trying to catch each ward clerk to get reimbursed for 1/2 of the expense from each ward, then each ward had a reimbursement check for members of the other ward they had to chase down.

Ouch. As you found out, that's painful for all involved.

davesudweeks wrote:We thought it would be easier and more straight-forward for the member to just get reimbursed from their home ward. Then that ward would "bill" the other ward for 1/2 of the expense using a "billing" form. Everything is traceable during an audit (though the original receipt resides in the ward who does the original reimbursement, we use the "bill" from the other ward as our receipt and it can be traced to the original receipt if needed).

This is still more complicated than what we do. In our building, we choose an "agent ward" for the year. (Usually the agent bishop's ward.) Every expense that is a shared building expense goes to them, and then the other units in the building are "billed" once a year for their share of the combined expense. We adjust a bit based on the size of the unit. FWIW, each ward keeps their sacrament cups in their clerks' office, so that expense does not have to be shared.

We used to do it annually as well. Last year we had a combined BSA troop. For the past several we have had combined Cub Scouts and combined Achievement days. We found it too painful to have a large bill at the end of the year that consumed budget money that had been planned for another use. We decided that, for us, it was easier to just address each charge when it happened. Then, each organization can see where their money is going through the year. It also helps keep the communication going before anything gets out of hand (sometimes the Primary Presidents of each ward have to get together to agree on spending activities because one ward is significantly larger than the other).

We keep a box of Sacrament cups in the Sacrament Prep room, and 2 boxes in the library - when the last box is taken from the library, we re-order 2 more boxes (I do keep a couple of bags of cups in the clerks office for an emergency in case our KANBAN system breaks down).

We also use the Agent Ward method and bill the other wards once a quarter. This seems to be a good balance between too often and not often enough.

When you are talking about "billing" the other units, are you sending them an email or is there some facility within MLS to do this?

We usually just walk over to the other clerks office and slide a piece of paper under the door. That is the fastest way we know.

bush wrote:When you are talking about "billing" the other units, are you sending them an email or is there some facility within MLS to do this?

The billed ward will need some sort of paper documentation for their own records, but you can deliver it almost any way you'd like. There's no special facility within MLS for sending bills, but I suppose you could send an MLS message if you want.

We use a paper invoice (see my post #4 above). If you do it via MLS message, the receiving unit will still have to print it for their Financial records so this method works fine for us. I see the other unit's Clerks at least every week or two so there is not a problem handing off the form (and later the check).

Each unit hand-fills out the form and that becomes the "receipt" for the other unit to process the check. If an Auditor wanted to investigate further, it provides enough information to trace to the other unit's books and the original receipt that generated the payment.