School financial management
Contents
Accounts and tax
7
articles
- Cash flow forecasts: guidance for academies Learn how to manage cash flow as a school business manager (SBM). See what to include in your monthly forecasts to help monitor and report income and expenditure. Download a template from the ISBL and get tips for filling out cash flow templates.
- Charging for school premises: lettings Generate income for your school by letting your school premises. Learn how to set your costs and where to turn for advice on VAT.
- Monthly financial management for academies Get to grips with what you need to prepare and do when it comes to monthly budget monitoring reports for academy trusts.
Charges and voluntary contributions
4
articles
- Charging for educational visits Find out which school trips you can charge for and how much you should charge. Download our handy template to help you calculate your costs. Plus, find out what to do with any money that's left over.
- Charging for residential school trips Understand what you can and can't charge for with respect to residential trips. Read guidance on when parents may be exempt from paying for elements that are normally chargeable.
- Charging for school activities Find out what activities and equipment you can and can't charge parents for and how to request payment.
Fundraising and grants
8
articles
- Case study: getting the most out of PTA fundraising efforts Parent and carer associations are a great way to build a strong sense of community and to help your school get the extra financial support it needs. See how one PTA raised over £20,000 in a term and share their ideas with your own PTA.
- Case study: how to make your school community your best fundraising asset Struggling to balance the budget? Lucky enough to have parents who can help out? Read on to see how Horniman Primary School has harnessed the power of the local community to double the PTA's annual fundraising income, to maintain what parents value most about the school.
- Case study: Increase pupil numbers with a targeted marketing strategy Rural schools frequently struggle with funding and many are fighting to stay viable. Here’s how one rural academy trust used marketing to increase pupil numbers by 20% - and, as a result, boost its school’s income.
Insurance, licensing and legal
0
articles
Managing the school budget
23
articles
- Academy Trust Handbook: changes from September 2023 Changes to the Academy Trust Handbook 2023 include looser requirements on sharing management accounts with your board, a higher threshold for related party transaction value before ESFA approval is necessary, and a new list of estates guidance to apply.
- Allocating departmental budgets Find out about the different ways you can allocate curriculum budgets. Download our curriculum budget formula calculator and see case studies from different types of school.
- Benchmarking data: questions to generate discussion and analysis Download our list of questions to help you analyse your benchmarking data, and find guidance from the DfE.
Marketing
5
articles
- Case study: promoting your rural school to increase your pupil roll Keeping pupil numbers up is key to keeping a rural school viable. Here's how one village school in Suffolk has steadily doubled its pupil roll to become stable again, through promotional strategies that you could try too.
- How to advertise your MAT and schools when recruiting Find out what to include in your recruitment adverts and where to post them so that you stand out and attract the best candidates. Look at examples of how other multi-academy trusts advertise roles.For Trust Leaders
- How to advertise your school when recruiting Find out what to include in your recruitment adverts and where to post them so that you stand out and attract the best candidates.
Purchasing
10
articles
- Academy reviews of value for money Academies must include a review of value for money in their annual accounts. Read about the purpose and structure of the review, and see examples from other academy trusts.
- Achieving value for money: guidance and resources Read our advice on getting value for money when paying for goods and services. Find useful links to resources to help you manage your finances effectively.
- Contracts register: template Use our template contracts register to keep a record of all of your school's contracts and service level agreements in 1 place.