Finance

The core package includes consultancy and on-going support as well as the added benefit of access to the website and a named consultant for continued support throughout the year.  The SLT, governors, Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and local authority need to see an accurate picture of the school finances which starts with the budget, and the team can work with you to produce the necessary reports from the financial reporting suite to monitor progress. Compliance with the Schools Financial Value Standard means that  effective management of the delegated budget is required - we can help you achieve this substantial task.

• One half-day visit from a finance consultant per term tailored to your requirements.
• Access to a dedicated finance consultant for telephone and email support of up to 15 minutes per day. Call us for support on funding issues, setting up reports or accounting queries.
• Access to the finance consultancy website and regular newsletters.
• Bursar briefings (1 place per briefing per school/ federation). Additional places may be purchased.

Additional consultancy days can be purchased by subscribers to the core package to provide support as required.

Our Finance Consultants are experienced education finance professionals. Their services include, but are not limited to:

• Budget preparation/review for submission to governors using the local authority (LA) budget planning tool.
• Production of the financial reporting suite of reports for governors and the LA
• Support the production of action plans/revised forecasts where there are significant variances to plan
• Set up of the new financial year including any required structure changes
• Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) mapping and review of issues versus the LA information
• Support the governing body in meeting the Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS)
• Benchmarking as part of the SFVS requirements
• Bursar cover service
• Budget Monitoring and FRS report
• Management reporting
• Interview support including shortlisting and question setting
• Strategic support
• Funding projections
• Setting up electronic tools and templates
• Strategic advice
• Options appraisals
• FMS Health Checks
• Salary projections
• Yearend support
• Interpreting guidance and regulations
• Grant support
• Process design
• Induction support for new headteachers to provide an overview of the financial requirements of managing the trust budget and provide support to understand the role of internal audit and the role of the accounting officer
• Induction support for new bursars to discuss the financial issues directly related to your academy accounts
• Bespoke finance training
• Integrated Curriculum and Financial Planning (ICFP) analysis
• Benchmarking against similar settings
• Finance admin support

For schools and single budget federations, please note that schools within federations with separate budgets and finance systems will require separate SLAs.

Just because it isn’t listed here doesn’t mean we can’t help. If your school, academy, trust, or federation requires support not listed elsewhere in this section, please contact us with details. If you are from a non- Devon Authority, we would be happy to help as well.

• Ensure excellent value for money
• Ease the burden of financial management with on-going support, help at year-end and assistance with everyday financial processing
• Ensure you meet regulatory and reporting requirements
• Increase integrity of management and financial information upon which strategic decisions are made
• Boost school finance staff skill sets

“Thank you for the work you did on reviewing our pupil premium allocation and expenditure. Coincidentally, Ofsted arrived two days after your visit and we were able to confidently discuss our pupil premium expenditure and impact.”