School Finance

Service overview

The finance service is designed to be flexible to meet the needs of individual schools by complementing existing skill sets and systems.  Schools will be able to design their own service by selecting from the menu of available options and agreeing in advance specific outputs.

The services can also be made available across a group or cluster of schools to achieve economies of scale and increased benefits.

Our team will work with schools’ own systems and procedures, and offer advice on how to update them to ensure compliance with current legislation and effective practice.

The service seeks to ensure that information is available to allow schools to understand and operate within all legislative, government and other requirements.

Service delivery

Schools are able to purchase the service at one of three levels to suit their circumstances:

• Access – portal and telephone helpdesk.

• Bespoke – top up consultant days or half days that can be purchased by any school at any time in multiples of one day or half days.

• Combined – the Access package plus five half-days of consultant time, offered at a reduced rate to Bespoke days.

More information about package pricing is available here.

Access package

The Access package provides access to the on-line portal and telephone helpdesk. 

This service provides online and telephone information and advice that includes:

• Information, advice, guidance and toolkits such as a financial handbook with sound, generic, operational finance guidance covering internal financial systems and controls, general VAT rules, cash flow, bank reconciliations, financial planning, budget monitoring, best value, delegation of responsibilities and accountabilities. It will also include the current school funding regulations and the impact of any changes on individual schools.  Note the handbook will not cover specific LA finance system issues or LA standing orders and financial regulations.

• Budget preparation manual with advice on any emerging government funding announcements, cost pressures, new initiatives and legislative changes, including current national pay scales for school employees.

• Procurement toolkit to help schoolsundertake more complex procurements with simple step instructions for each stage of the process, depending upon the size and type of contract or tender.  Larger contracts will fall under European procurement rules and schools need to be aware of thresholds and impacts.

• Value for money advice and guidance including the benefits of collaboration, joint procurement, better use of ICT, sharing of resources and case studies of real savings achieved by schools.

• Budget planning software to help produce the annual school budget in compliance with the CFR framework.  The tool will complete three year budget modelling and “what if scenarios”.

• Exemplar job descriptions.

• Exemplar recruitment questions and competency tests.

The portal also includes:

• Schools finance update service – for example, to alert schools to any pending changes to legislation;

• FAQs – as quick reference tool;

• Discussion forums;

• Email query form;

• Feedback form.

The telephone helpline is answered by a real person from 8am to 6pm on normal working days and is available for an individual problem or query.  Simple queries will be answered immediately; more complex queries are passed to an experienced schools finance specialist.

Combined package

The Combined package includes the Access package plus five half-days of consultant time, delivered as required by the school.  The five half days may be delivered on-site at school, off-site at meetings or off-site for report writing or other desk-based work.

Typically, this visit will offer independent financial advice on a school specific issue. For example:

• Annual visit to review the school budget before it is submitted to governors and/or local authority or national funding body;

• Advise on national school funding developments and their implications for the school;

• Termly visits to undertake high level budget health check and/or support linking spending plans to the school development plan;

• Bank reconciliations;

• Updating of financial systems;

• VAT reimbursements;

• Staffing insurance claims;

• Payroll checks and system reconciliations;

• Budget monitoring and reporting;

• Maintenance of robust internal financial systems and controls;

• Year end preparation and closure of accounts;

• Completion of statutory returns.

Print details here.