Distribution of Tithing Settlement Statement

Does your ward distribute Tithing Settlement Statements when a member arrives for tithing settlement? I'm a new clerk and don't remember ever receiving one of these at tithing settlement in my previous wards. We did just barely distribute the YTD Donation Summaries, so it may seem a little redundant to give the member yet another document listing their donations so soon after we gave them a YTD Donation Summary.

Do the rest of you print the Settlement Statement upon request only, or for each member attending Tithing Settlement?

cougs wrote:Does your ward distribute Tithing Settlement Statements when a member arrives for tithing settlement? I'm a new clerk and don't remember ever receiving one of these at tithing settlement in my previous wards. We did just barely distribute the YTD Donation Summaries, so it may seem a little redundant to give the member yet another document listing their donations so soon after we gave them a YTD Donation Summary.

Do the rest of you print the Settlement Statement upon request only, or for each member attending Tithing Settlement?

For each member attending Tithing Settlement. See the wiki here, and the training here. Also an IOS for every member who attends so that they can review it. Yeah, it seems kind of redundant, but the Tithing Settlement Statement allows them to record donations they give at TS.

cougs wrote:Do the rest of you print the Settlement Statement upon request only, or for each member attending Tithing Settlement?

I'd recommend that you review the training lesson on Tithing Settlement. That lesson explains all the steps, and why you generate each report.

I agree that it can seem a bit redundant to issue another statement. But the purpose of the YTD statement is to help members prepare for tithing settlement. During the tithing settlement interview, the bishop reviews the Tithing Settlement Statement with the member. It's unlikely that many members would remember to bring their YTD statements with them. Also, the Tithing Settlement Statement has a place for the bishop to check a box indicating the member's tithing status. No other report given to the member contains that information.

So when I was a ward financial clerk, we always followed the prescribed procedure and printed a Settlement Statement for every member who attended tithing settlement.

cougs wrote:Does your ward distribute Tithing Settlement Statements when a member arrives for tithing settlement?

Yes. Then the member takes it in for the bishop's interview and declaration. The Tithing Settlement Statement is not returned to the member after the interview.

cougs wrote:I'm a new clerk and don't remember ever receiving one of these at tithing settlement in my previous wards. We did just barely distribute the YTD Donation Summaries, so it may seem a little redundant to give the member yet another document listing their donations so soon after we gave them a YTD Donation Summary.

The Tithing and Other Offerings Donation Statement (what you call the YTD Donation Summaries) should be given to (or sent to) the member before tithing settlement (at least a week or more in our ward). It gives the member an opportunity to compare their records to what is in MLS. If there are any discrepancies they have time to compare with their own records and then work with the clerk to resolve them before tithing settlement. Then at tithing settlement the Tithing Settlement Statement is used to complete tithing settlement. There may be donations made between the time the member receives the Tithing and Other Offerings Donation Statement. If so, those donations should appear on the Tithing Settlement Statement but may not have been on the Tithing and Other Offerings Donation Statement given to them weeks before.

cougs wrote:Do the rest of you print the Settlement Statement upon request only, or for each member attending Tithing Settlement?

No, the statement is required for the bishop's interview. It is on this form that any last minute donations can be recorded and then entered into MLS. The bishop then records the tithing status on the form.

For more information about the three donor statements available in MLS see the wiki article Donor statements.

jdlessley wrote:The Tithing Settlement Statement is not returned to the member after the interview.

The documented procedure is to return the statement to the member after the interview. See slide 19 on the training lesson Tithing Settlement, which says:

After [the bishop] records the declaration on the Tithing Settlement Statement, which he returns to the member, he then records the declaration again on the Tithing Declaration Report.

jdlessley wrote:Yes. Then the member takes it in for the bishop's interview and declaration. The Tithing Settlement Statement is not returned to the member after the interview.

Although the member takes it into the interview with the bishop, the Tithing Settlement Statement is not retained by the bishop. The training says this:

During each tithing settlement meeting, the bishop asks the member to review the Tithing Settlement Statement and verify whether it is correct. [snipped]

The bishop asks the member if he or she is a full-tithe payer. The bishop then marks the appropriate box at the bottom of the form. The bishop then finds the member’s name on the Tithing Declaration Report. Here he records the declared status and indicates that the declaration was made by the member. The bishop uses this report throughout the tithing settlement process. After he records the declaration on the Tithing Settlement Statement, which he returns to the member, he then records the declaration again on the Tithing Declaration Report. (emphasis mine)

The bishop repeats this process for each member who attends tithing settlement.

As far as I can tell, this is the only place where any instruction is given about who holds onto the Tithing Settlement Statement.

EDIT: Too slow. Alan already answered it.

allenjpl wrote:As far as I can tell, this is the only place where any instruction is given about who holds onto the Tithing Settlement Statement.

The MLS Software Manual refers a couple of times to the Tithing Settlement online lesson. But it also makes additional references (mostly for special cases) that make it clear that the Tithing Settlement Statement is given to donors. Special case #1 talks about mailing the TSS to donors who couldn't attend Tithing Settlement (frankly, I never did that when I was a ward financial clerk a bit over 10 years ago -- I wonder if that was the procedure back then); #3 says you give the TSS for members who died to the spouse or family; #4 says you give the TSS for missionaries to their families.