Step by Step

Card Transactions

Policy and Principles

In some areas of the Church, specific units have been approved to use bank cards for some unit financial expenses. The bishop or branch president must approve all expenses.

When the bishop or branch president reviews the expenses and other documents on the Review Expenses tab, he indicates that he has found the expense to be appropriate and within Church guidelines.

Leaders and clerks should not approve the expense without carefully reviewing the expense and its supporting documentation.

LCR Finance Procedures

Below are the most common procedures for recording, approving, reviewing, and monitoring card transactions for your unit. Your procedures could vary slightly. If you have questions, contact your administrative office.

To begin entering transactions or to review transactions received from the bank, select the menu item titled Expenses, and you will be directed to the Card Transactions tab.

Card Transactions Tab

The Card Transactions tab displays two sections: ATM Transactions and Point of Sale Transactions. Also displayed is an indicator of the number of each type of transaction that has occurred during the selected time period. By default, the system will display transactions during the last 15 days. When you select the indicator, the associated transactions will be displayed. A user-defined number of days may also be selected.

The Search field is provided to assist in finding specific transactions. Clicking the Clear button will remove the search terms.

The Card Transactions section for ATM Transactions displays the following information:

  • SOURCE: The name of the bank that processed the transaction
  • CARD HOLDER: The name of the card holder
  • TRANSACTION DATE: The date of the transaction
  • POSTED DATE: The date the purchase was processed by the bank
  • REFERENCE: The bank transaction identifier used for research
  • DESCRIPTION: A merchant name or bank-provided description of the transaction
  • CARD AMOUNT: The amount of the transaction

The Card Transactions section for Point of Sale Transactions displays one additional column compared to the ATM Transactions section:

  • STATUS: Indicates whether a receipt needs to be recorded or has already been recorded:
    • Record: The user selects Record and is directed to the Expense Entry screen on the Expense menu to complete the recording of this transaction.
    • Recorded: The transaction was successfully recorded on the Expense Entry screen.

Note: The transaction must be recorded completely and saved, or it must be canceled. A transaction cannot be partially recorded and then “saved” to be finished later.

Card Balance Dashboard

The Card Balance dashboard provides a summary of unreported unit expenses (if any). The Card Balance dashboard displays three amounts:

  • Current Card Balance: the calculated amount of card transactions that have not been recorded by the unit.
  • To Be Approved: a link to the Approve Expenses tab on the Expense menu, showing a list of transactions to be approved. Each transaction must be approved separately by two authorized approvers.
  • Adjusted Card Balance: The anticipated card balance if the reported transactions on the Approved Expenses tab are approved.

Deposit Excess Cash

The Deposit Excess Cash screen is where a leader or clerk can record deposits for unused money after using the card. Enter the amount deposited, and then click the Save button.

Two approvers must approve the transaction. Clicking the Cancel button will stop the deposit process.

Once two approvals have been obtained, a prompt to print the deposit report will appear.

The card balance will then be updated by the amount deposited. The leader and clerk make the deposit following the same guidelines for donation deposits.

Warning Messages

When a unit has unreported bank card transactions that exceed maximums based on criteria of card balance, card limit, and days over limit, the system displays either of these warning messages above the Expense tabs by the card balance widget.

Warning 1:

The card assigned to your unit is now suspended.

Warning 2:

The card assigned to your unit will be suspended if the card balance is not reduced to $X in X days.

Warning Message Resolution

To resolve these warnings, record the expense on the Card Transactions tab.