OUR SERVICES
With our strategic and operational support, not only will you obtain value for money by engaging services with a competitively priced, you’ll also go way beyond your statutory reporting requirements. This means you’ll receive a service that’s tailored specifically to your school’s needs. What’s more, you’ll benefit from our consultants’ extensive experience within this complex and specialised area.
Strategic Financial Planning
- Provision of bespoke budget planning and monitoring software
- Annual budget setting
- Costing of the School Improvement Plan
- Curriculum costing
- Budget reforecast and out-turn reporting
- Development of three-year financial plan and deficit recovery
- ‘What if’ scenario planning
- Cash flow monitoring and management
Financial Systems and Accounting
- Fully trained consultants to provide on and off-site support
- Set up of robust office financial administration systems
- Support and preparation of monthly bank reconciliation
- Completion of VAT returns and VAT advice
- Advice regarding the treatment of revenue and capital expenditure
- Monthly/termly budget monitoring reports prepared for the head teacher and budget holders, including submission to the local authority
- Bespoke reports to enable the close monitoring of school activities (e.g. in-house catering provision, breakfast clubs, Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) monitoring)
- Year-end closedown reconciliation including accruals/prepayments and carry forward calculation
- Final closedown and new year system set-up including a review of the accounting structure
- Maintenance of the school inventory
Financial Governance and Audits
- Review of financial administration and control policies
- Procurement advice and support
- Risk management advice and facilitation
- Financial reporting to governors tailored to the committees' needs
- Attendance at governing body and committee meetings
- Internal and external benchmarking review and analysis
- Annual review of existing internal financial controls and recommendations for enhancements
Business Continuity
- Free remote access software to avoid additional call out visits
- Provision of a school bursar/finance service as a long term arrangement to reduce financial management costs
- Short term incapacity cover in the event of absence including sickness and recruitment
- Flexible telephone and email support service
Finance Training Courses
We deliver a wide range of training courses for senior leaders, governors, trustees and school finance staff.
Whether you’re looking for a specific course for one member of your team or you want to bring your governing body up to speed on a particular issue, you’ll find what you’re looking for in our extensive range of training courses. If it isn’t listed below we can tailor a training session to suit your needs.
Our extensive school finance training courses include, but aren’t limited to:
- Process automation
- Introduction to school finance: We can teach you which financial returns are required to ensure you are compliant with requirements.
- Governor/Trustee finance training: An overview of finance responsibilities and school funding for your governing body.
- Changes to school funding: Updates on the current national funding formula, early years funding, pupil premium, sports grant etc.
- Annual budget setting: Learn how to set an effective and realistic budget taking into account all areas of income and expenditure.
- Medium term financial planning: It is important to plan for the future for effective budget management, we can advise you how to set a longer term plan, taking into account changes in pupil numbers, funding formula, staffing etc. that may effect your funding and expenditure
- Excel training for school/academy based staff: Improve your excel skills and discover how to create useful information and reports by learning the most efficient way to use formulas, vlookups etc.
- School Finance system training in a range of software including SIMS FMS, Civica Corero and Sage: Learn how to process orders and invoices, bank reconciliation, budget monitoring reports and LA returns.
- Financial Management and Governance Self-assessment: Onsite support available for Governing Bodies of academies to complete the returns.
To access this support or receive more information about any of the above services, then please get in touch: