If you are running an Academy Trust your academies accounts return form goes live on 4 November 2019. As an Academy trusts, you need to complete this form if you have audited financial statements for any period to 31 August 2019. The audited return needs to be submitted, online, by 20 January … [Read more...]
The lessons to learn from Wakefield City Academy Trust
You may have recently read that Wakefield City Academy Trust is to be wound up after it’s schools lost £2 million, it certainly shocked us. If you’re interested in what happened, or how you as Head teacher, SBM or trustees could prevent it happening in your trust, read on. What was … [Read more...]
How to make your Academy’s year end audit easier
If you run an Academy you need to start planning your year-end audit in September, even better in July or August. This financial audit will cover all income, expenditure, prepayments, accruals and depreciation – in fact anything that relates to the financial management of your Academy. What do … [Read more...]
Financial Management Services for Schools in London and the Home Counties.
Not many teachers, or head teachers went into education to be involved in financial management of schools; yet that's where many find themselves. Some Academies have Business Managers to help, but most School Business Managers are not Accountants, they're expert in managing business. There is a … [Read more...]
BFR Deadline 30 July 2019
Hopefully by now you (and all other Trusts) have at least had your Finance Committee and Local Governing Board review and agreed your budget for 2019/20 and the 3-year forecast through to 2021/22. Key points on the BFR With many Trust Board’s meeting to approve this prior to submission to the … [Read more...]
Are School Leaders the best people to run their schools?
School leaders and governors are not often not trained finance professionals. School leadership is far more than “just” finances (in fact that applies to leadership in general and maybe we’d be better off if we had more leaders in the country). A good leader needs to be able to inspire, move her … [Read more...]
How can I make BFRO returns easier in my Academy?
This is the time when stress levels rise even higher in many Academies as they are now working on their BFRO (budget forecast returns outturn) submissions for the ESFA. As we help a number of schools and academies with their financial management, we often get asked a few questions about the … [Read more...]
