another WWYD question.

[bythepowerofgreyskull]

I have set up a toddler group in a church.

the church offered to buy some chairs and tables.

we agreed with the PCC the tables based on price and availability.
I ordered the tables but asked for the invoice to be sent directly to the church.

The church is now questioning the invoice because I had forgotten to take into account VAT and delivery charges - which adds over £100 to the bill.

I have been asked to account for the difference which I have done, but am now wondering if I should make some kind of offer to give the church the difference between the agreed price and the invoice.

I wouldn't be able to do it out of my pocket but over the course of this year the toddler group should have enough money to be able to give them the difference.

Do I sit tight or do I step forward and make the offer.

bump

Prices in those sort of catalogues are always quoted ex VAT and I got caught out in the same way the first time I ordered anything.

I would just sit tight for a while and wait and see what they say.

Are the chairs adn tables used by other groups who use the hall? If so then a contribution would be a nice gesture. Tbh though, if the church was paying for equipment for their facilities, you shouldn't have had to have been responsible for the order.

I do think it is important to discover whether the tables and chairs are being used by other groups. Then maybe you could come to an arrangement for all the groups to make a contribution.

My friend provided her own tables and chairs for her group (she hired the church hall). Before long, her tables and chairs were being used by various other church groups. That was fine, but very soon, the church groups started commandeering the chairs etc and were not keen to ensure they were available for her group to use. It all got a bit difficult in the end. What I am trying to say, is that it is best to get all this clarified at the outset.

not used by anyone else at all - they were very generously offering to buy them for us alone.

Would the church have paid the whole bill if they'd known about the extra £100, or did you have a strict budget?

Ah, well, if for you alone, then I would make up the difference or offer to anyway.

we didn't know what would happen,
we were asked to go to the pcc meeting to talk about starting the group and they said what would we do for tables and chairs

we walked in nervous about if they would let us hold the group there and walked out with new rubber flooring, improved heating for the room £100 donation towards art materials and £450 for the chairs and tables.

I think we may have to meet half way perhaps they shoulder 50% of the error and we offer the rest?

Surely the church is a charity and can reclaim VAT so you could offer to pay for the delivery over the next 12 months?

the issue is that you have made a genuine mistake that brings the cost right up. I think you should enter into a dialogue with them because it could just be that they don;t realise it was a mistake and are feeling taken advantage of.

I think I would talk to them first to clarify the mistake and have at the back of my mind that i would pay if it was going to really damage their finances.

maybe you could do a little joint fundraiser to make up the difference?

BBBee - I responded to the email immediately, explaining how I felt the difference had occured, but that I wanted to look at the original order to check. Then I responded forwarding a copy of the original order highlighting the VAT & Delivery bit that we hadn't calculated.

I have just sent an email offering some money over the course of this school year.

Do you rent the space to run the toddler group?

they are not allowed to sublet so no BUT the other we as a group have decided to make a donation to the church funds each year.
(we offered this and they said it wasn't necessary but we are going to do it anyway)

that is what i would have done i think.

Is it a accounting problem for them? In that they have agreed to pay a certain amount and it has come in at 20% more. Perhaps it's that they need to have another meeting to accept the new cost.

If they are not allowed to sublet etc it does sound like they could have charitable status, I would ask them as then they can reclaim VAT (I think)