Signing Reimbursement Check Back to Church

[Flemingtl]

Forgive me if this has already been answered but I didn't see it.
When someone gets a reimbursement check from the church and signs it and gives it back, I understand that makes a Contribution for them but how is that check then dealt with in PC+? Would it be voided and if so, wouldn't that cancel out the reimbursement to them?

Also, in a case such as this, all items being reimbursed to the indiv. must be for items related to our church, right? Like to buy paper or cups or other items for the church? What if they (a non-minister or lay person) were doing their own ministry like feeding homeless people in the park. Could they turn in receipts, get reimbursement and sign the check back for a tax deductible donation?

Thanks!

[NeilZ]

Forgive me if this has already been answered but I didn't see it.
When someone gets a reimbursement check from the church and signs it and gives it back, I understand that makes a Contribution for them but how is that check then dealt with in PC+? Would it be voided and if so, wouldn't that cancel out the reimbursement to them?

Also, in a case such as this, all items being reimbursed to the indiv. must be for items related to our church, right? Like to buy paper or cups or other items for the church? What if they (a non-minister or lay person) were doing their own ministry like feeding homeless people in the park. Could they turn in receipts, get reimbursement and sign the check back for a tax deductible donation?

Thanks!

The last half of this thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4541&p=17806
will probably help you out with the first question.

The second part is much different, and difficult to answer. However, in my humble opinion, if this person was doing their own ministry that is NOT officially affiliated with the church, then I'm not sure how the person can claim any type of deduction. I would definitely talk to a tax expert on this.

[Flemingtl]

For the first part, I still don't see on that thread how the check was dealt with other than Eden mentioned them ..."either signing the reimbursement check or writing their own check and then putting it in the offering which they then deposit." As far as I know, you can't deposit your own check into your own checking account?

For the 2nd part, I found out that the person was in fact doing the ministry in the park for our church with another member of our church. It was just that the person that turned in the receipts and made the donation back doesn't attend our church.

Thanks for the help!

[NeilZ]

For the first part, I still don't see on that thread how the check was dealt with other than Eden mentioned them ..."either signing the reimbursement check or writing their own check and then putting it in the offering which they then deposit." As far as I know, you can't deposit your own check into your own checking account?

For the 2nd part, I found out that the person was in fact doing the ministry in the park for our church with another member of our church. It was just that the person that turned in the receipts and made the donation back doesn't attend our church.

Thanks for the help!

Evidently, you can!! Eden says she does it at her church, and the Knowledgebase article she references later in the thread does mention that being done at other churches.

Apparently what happens is that the bank does debit then credit the account, which basically is what would happen if the person deposits the original check, then writes one to the bank. It eliminates the middle man.

That thread was the latest one covering this issue. If you do a search on the forums for reimbursement you'll probably find a few more.

[Flemingtl]

Wow, I thought that I tried to deposit one of my checks back in a few years ago that someone signed back and my bank wouldn't let me do it.
That makes sense now though, it would then just be input in their contribution module and treated as any other contribution with our check number as their check number. Would we need to put a note that it was our check signed back to us?

Thanks again for all your help!

[tborgal]

I do this fairly often and I just have the recipient of the check sign it "For deposit only to 'Church Name' " and then they sign it below this and have had no problem depositing the check. I stamp it with the churches deposit stamp as well.