Budgeting tools for schools and academies

Budgeting isn’t something that most Schools and Academies enjoy. It can take up a lot of time (reducing pupil contact time), create stress and still be “wrong” (needing money to be found elsewhere or something to stop happening.

Tips for making budgeting easier in schools

When setting your budget for next year, or next 3-5 years for academies, it’s important you collect as much information as possible to create the most accurate forecast. This will enable you to provide the resources needed for teaching and learning to provide the best educational experience possible.

Increasing emphasis is being put on Integrated Curriculum Financial Planning (ICFP), so it’s more important to get this right. While funding is falling and more is being asked of finance staff you want to be sure that you have the right information for SLT and the governing body to allow them to make the right decisions.

Some of the budgeting tools available (listed below) integrate with your MIS allowing for changes to staff to flow through quickly and map proposed changes in different scenarios. Some will link with your financial systems to allow for reconciliation with actual income and expenditure and track differences and will allow you to produce outturn reports to the end of the year.

Which budgeting tool is best for you will depend on your finance and MIS systems and it important to get this right to get the most out of the tools available.

We help Schools and Academies with their financial management, see the results of good practices (and hear about less good practices). If you would like to discuss how to improve financial management in your school, please call. In the last few weeks we have been able to give good schools ideas simply by talking, visiting, or as part of a paid project.