Finance: reports to governors

There's no statutory guidance on what you should report to your governors' finance committee. Use our template to help you set out your report and find out what you could share alongside it.

Last reviewed on 25 September 2023See updates
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Contents
  1. No statutory information to include
  2. Download our report template
  3. Other information to share

No statutory information to include

However, the finance report should:

  • Have an overview of the budget to date - i.e. the 'headline figures' of all the money your school has received and spent at the time of the report 
  • Summarise the key changes since the last meeting
  • Contain commentary to explain things like:
    • Whether something has changed since the last meeting and why 
    • Whether these changes were foreseeable
    • What the consequences of the changes are

The budget, in contrast, shows all of your school's finances to date in detail with no explanations.

The report should state:

  • What the budget was at the start of your school's financial year (April for maintained schools and September for academies)
  • Expenditure to date
  • How much money your school has left to spend in the remainder of the financial year
  • What the predicted year-end figure is

Our associate education expert, Graeme Hornsby, told us this. 

Your school business manager (SBM) should send your governors both the finance report