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HINTS AND TIPS – SUMMER TERM 2016
Finance Forum
https://www.learntogether.org.uk/services/finance/
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HINTS AND TIPS – SUMMER TERM 2016
Finance Forum
2015-16 Financial Year Review
Post Budget Review
It is good practice at this time of the year for schools to review their previous year’s budget
performance and to identify any consequences for their 16-17 budget. This will be covered
by your SFA during their Summer Term visit as part of the published Topics for Discussion
agenda. Your SFA is always happy to discuss any specific issues you may have, please make
them aware of such matters prior to the meeting.
Schools Balances and Forecast Outturn (FO)
Analysis of the final year end balances for maintained schools shows there has been
significant movement from the balances forecast at the end of September 2015. The final
year end balances are nearly £5.4m “healthier” than those predicted at the half-year point,
with a majority of schools having significant variances, both up or down. The total year end
difference is £1.8m higher than the difference last year of £3.6m which shows forecasting is
becoming less accurate or too conservative at month 6.
Although we ask you to submit this information to aid the Local Authority in its general role
of monitoring the finances of schools, the primary reason for completing the forecast outturn
is to assist schools in their strategic planning.
We do appreciate things may change during the second part of the year, but the accuracy in
completing the forecast outturn should alert yourselves and governors to any potential issues
which may impact on setting sustainable budgets in future years.
It also provides the Local Authority with assurances that there are no emerging deficits or
other issues which they were not already aware of.
If you need any assistance in completing or updating your half-year forecast outturn
submission please contact your SFA or SFSSO in the first instance. Please note however,
-3whilst your SFA/SFSSO is happy to give advice and support the final forecast outturn figures
submitted are the responsibility of the Headteacher and Governors.
Pupil Dinner Money Reconciliation (CCS schools)
There will be no reconciliation process for Pupil Dinner Money going forward but, as a best
practice, we recommend the balances within the cost centre E25 CCS – CCS Catering are
reviewed at year end (period 13 BCR). A spreadsheet is available on the portal at the
following link to enable completion of this review.
https://www.learntogether.org.uk/Resources/Documents/1516%20Pupil%20Dinner%20Money%20reconciliation.xls
There may be a small discrepancy between the figures as week 52 does not directly tally
with the end of the 2015-16 financial year. Any major differences may need further
investigation with your SFA. Reasons could include failure to correctly reserve for funds in
transit from cashless providers at current or previous year ends.
Budgeting and Monitoring 2016-17
'Fixing' your budget on FMS6
Before any budget amendments are actioned schools should fix their original submitted
budget once entered onto FMS6. This can be fixed in June after the May BCR has been
completed and confirmation received that the budget is correctly allocated and is balanced.
FIX BUDGET
BUTTON
(available on this
screen)
The screen shot above illustrates how to fix the original budget.
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Profiles
After the school budget has been entered onto FMS6, all expenditure and income profiles
should be reviewed and amended as appropriate to match the school’s planned spending
and receipts. The monthly BCR report compares the budget to date figures (i.e. Profile) with
the actual to date figures to produce a variance analysis. This variance information is only
useful and accurate if the profiles have been set correctly.
Please note the Teacher and Support Staff FMS6 budget profiles usually default to equal
12ths on FMS6. These profiles should be amended to “manual” and replaced with the
profiles extracted from the schools budgeting toolkit (SBT).
To extract profiles from SBT ~ Open ‘Staffing’ sheet ~ right click ~ click ‘Print’ ~ select
‘Summary’ tab ~ Financial Period(s): 'All' ~ Include Costs: ‘Total Costs’ and Select
Categories: ‘All’ ~ click ‘Run’. The resulting spreadsheet “Staffing: Monthly Summary for
2016/17 “ can be named and saved or printed and used to input the school’s specific profiles
onto FMS6. If you have any queries please contact your SFA or SFSSO.
Salary Checks
It is very important to check the salaries of staff on your payroll provider’s spreadsheets
match the salary figures included in your Schools Budgeting Toolkit (SBT). There should be
an underspend for non-teaching staff until such time as the ‘offered’ pay award is
implemented as the SBT includes the ‘offered’ pay award wef April 16. We recommend you
also complete a salary check on July payroll.
To extract salary information for any individual employee via the SBT ~ Open ‘Staffing’ sheet
~ right click ~ click ‘Print’ ~ select ‘Detail’ tab ~ Financial Period(s): select month e.g. ‘April'
~ Include Costs: ‘Split by Pay, NI, Pension Totals’ and Select Employees: ‘click on name of
one or more employees listed’ ~ click ‘Run’. The resulting spreadsheet “Staffing: Employee
Detail for 2016/17” can be used to compare the actual elements of salary against your
payroll provider’s spreadsheet.
Anticipated Funding
Your funding statements will include the anticipated funding items listed below in the months
shown:
Pupil Premium – Looked After Children
Pupil Premium – FSM / Service Children
High Needs Block Contingency
Growth Contingency
School sport funding (formerly Olympic
Legacy)
UIFSM
Termly (May for Summer Term)
5/12ths July 2016 & 7/12ths December 2016
5/12ths June 2016 (further review in Autumn
Term)
September 2016 (further review in Autumn
Term)
May 2016 (balance of 2015-16 funding) /
November 2016 (first tranche of 2016-17
funding)
July 2016 (including +/- adjustments for
2015-16 funding)
-5Schools due any contingency funding streams should have received notification directly from
Schools Funding.
Your school budget may also be anticipating other funding changes such as High Needs
Block (HNB) Top Up (SEN/TA funding) adjustments (+/-). On your PER sheet the Budget
Funding Statement totals will not match the Budget BCR Report totals until this
funding/clawback appears on your monthly funding statement. Please ensure you explain
on your PER sheet the reasons for any differences against section 4) Control
Accounts.
If you have any queries regarding specific anticipated funding in your SBT please contact
your SFA. It is useful to print the “2016/17 Anticipated Funding” spreadsheet via the SBT
and tick off anticipated funding as and when it appears on your funding statement.
Open ‘Funding’ sheet ~ right click ~ ‘Print Anticipated Funding’.
Please check any HNB adjustments on your funding statements agree with the school’s
records of anticipated funding and/or in-year changes to pupil statements/EHCP’s.
High Needs Block funding adjustments
Schools will have received initial updates to pick up any amendments from the figures used
in the budget setting process, plus any retrospective adjustments for changes affecting the
period prior to 31st March 2016.
In some instances further retrospective adjustments may be required and will be processed
once the relevant information is available.
Monthly Reports will continue to be sent to schools providing details of any changes in TopUp funding. Please check the monthly lists of allocations for high needs pupils and make
START aware of any errors/omissions.
Your contact for concerns about pupil data in your lists should be
[email protected]; Schools Funding does not have the necessary
information to be able to help.
Out of County: High Needs Block (HNB) and LAC Pupil Premium
funding
It is the responsibility of individual schools to invoice the 'home' Local Authority for HNB top
up or LAC Pupil Premium funding. Please contact your SFA if you need assistance with this
process.
Pupil Premium received from other Local Authorities must be coded to FNDPP-01 (mapped to
I05).
HNB Top Up or funding from other Local Authorities must be coded to FNDSEN-01 (mapped
to I03).
The exception is HNB funding for Out of County Looked After Children which is provided by
START and therefore the ‘home’ Local Authority should not be invoiced for these children.
-6Differences showing on your Period End Return tab of the BCR must be explained on each
submission for both budget and actual differences.
Primary School Sport Funding
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Funding must be spent on improving sport and PE provision in schools, with the
discretion on how this is achieved resting with individual headteachers and governing
bodies. There is no compulsory top-slice by the LA or any other body or partnership. DfE
set out several possible uses of the funding at: http://tinyurl.com/PE-grant
Schools will be held to account on how they spend sport funding, with Ofsted
strengthening its coverage of sport and PE.
At the time of writing, the funding level for the Academic Year 2016-17 is still to be
confirmed.
Further advice on the amount and timing of funding is/will be available by e-mailing
[email protected]
Insurance Scheme Buying Decisions
Local Authority Absence Insurance Scheme buy-in decisions collated from the 2016-17
Schools Budgeting Toolkits were sent to schools for checking. Unless you raised a query by
the 1st June deadline the premiums will be charged on your July funding statement.
The 2016-17 Absence Claim Form is now available on the Learn Together Portal. Claims
dated back to 1st April will be accepted until the end of July. Future claims must then be
made within 4 weeks of the first day of absence.
Please ensure all claim forms are sent in Excel format, paperwork should not be posted
unless this is the absolute only option available.
Please ensure you are familiar with the current rules, regulations and timescales for the
Absence Scheme, Guidance and Claim Forms can be accessed at:
https://www.learntogether.org.uk/services/finance/ (left hand side of page, under
red banner heading).
Any queries regarding insurance claims should be sent to
[email protected]
No further claims will be accepted for the 2015/16 Insurance Scheme.
2016-17 Teachers’ Maternity and Adoption Scheme
All maintained Primary schools are automatically covered for any teacher’s maternity leave
commencing in the period 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2017. The payout benefit for a full
time teacher is £2,100 pro rata for part time staff e.g. for a 0.5 fte teacher the payout
benefit is £1,050. For any school converting to academy status after 1st April 2016 coverage
within this scheme ceases the day before conversion.
-7The Maternity Claim Form 2016/17 is now available on the Learn Together Portal. Claims
should be completed and submitted along with a copy of the teacher’s MATB1 or Adoption
Certificate within 4 weeks of the teacher commencing maternity or adoption leave.
Late or un-evidenced claims will not be paid.
Please ensure all claim forms are sent in Excel format, paperwork should not be posted
unless this is the absolute only option available.
Please ensure you are familiar with the current rules, regulations and timescales for the
Maternity and Adoption Scheme, Guidance and Claim Forms can be accessed at:
https://www.learntogether.org.uk/services/finance/ (left hand side of page, under
red banner heading).
Any queries regarding insurance claims should be sent to
[email protected]
No further claims will be accepted for the 2015/16 Insurance Scheme.
BCR Toolkit
The original budget column on your BCR toolkit has now been populated with figures from
your submitted budget.
Forecast outturn (FO) adjustments will not be required until September 2016 period end.
However, please do try to use forecasting in the meantime to ensure you are familiar with
the process on the BCR toolkit. We are aware of a current fault with FO’s for salaries which is
being resolved shortly.
If you have a general query on how to complete the forecasting part of the BCR toolkit
please contact the Schools Corporate Team or email
[email protected].
Please also speak to the Schools Corporate Team (SCT) if you have any other problems with
your BCR toolkit (or Schools Budgeting toolkit {SBT}) and not the ICT Helpdesk. The SCT
can advise or will pass your query to the relevant person.
Rates
Please ensure you have sent a copy of your 2016-17 National Non-Domestic Rates bill to the
Schools Funding team at the Local Authority. Copies are required from ALL schools
If you receive a revised Rates Remittance for 2016-17 or notification of adjustments relating
to a previous year, please either fax a copy to Schools Funding Team on 01223 729183 or
scan and email a copy to [email protected]. Please do not send
this information to the Schools Corporate Team, as they do not deal with funding
adjustments for Rates.
-8If you receive a refund from the District Council in 2016-17 relating to a previous financial
year please code income to Rates ledger code.
If you have received an adjusted Rates bill relating to a previous financial year please check
a copy has been sent to the Schools Funding Team. If the adjusted Rates bill resulted in a
refund to the school please confirm the date this was received.
Consistent Financial Reporting
CFR coding/compliance will continue to be a major focus for the Schools Corporate and
Education Finance teams during this financial year to ensure reports are accurate prior to
submission to DfE.
We strongly recommend you familiarise yourself with the structure of CFR coding. The PDF
document (link below) can be downloaded and should help to understand the importance of
linking ledger codes to the relevant CFR codes.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fil
e/508009/Consistent_Financial_Reporting_Framework_guidance_201617_FINAL.pdf
Although mentioned in a previous Hints and Tips, a common issue is still the differentiation
necessary for bought in Consultancy & Professional Services. There are 2 similar codes but
with different CFR categories.
02738900-01 Consultancy Professional services – Curriculum, linked to CFR E27
- used for Sports Partnership SLA’s or non partnership SLA’s etc.
02838900-01 Consultancy Professional services – Other, linked to CFR E28
- used for SIP/HTPM fees etc.
If Sports Coaches are a bought in service they must not be linked to E19, they must be
linked to E27.
Other Useful Information
Capital Funds
A flowchart, Capital Process and Types has been produced to assist schools in understanding
how to deal with capital funding and expenditure can be accessed at:
https://www.learntogether.org.uk/services/finance/ (under Schools Corporate blue
banner)
Please note:
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The different Capital funding streams should not be mixed and must be kept separate
to each other.
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No Capital funds or expenditure can be moved to Revenue; they must always stay in
the separate fund areas and be shown separately in the BCR toolkit.
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Expenditure on items of equipment/furniture or building/refurb work or projects
deemed to be over the de-minimis level (which is £2,000) must be coded within FMS
to Capital to show in the correct place on the BCR toolkit
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The following funds/code endings must be used for the different Capital streams:
- 04
= Devolved Formula Capital only
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= Either 1) For external capital donations (e.g. P.T.A or external capital
grants)
or
2) For reimbursements from the LA relating to capital projects (Note:
the income and expenditure related to reimbursed work must both be
unmapped for CFR purposes).
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= Must only be used for transfers from Revenue during the year to Capital once moved, this cannot be moved back. *All other Capital must be spent
before schools can transfer revenue funds to capital.
*Fund 18 ONLY - Prior to starting a project or making a purchase (i.e.
before ordering!) schools must contact
[email protected], as several questions need to
be answered before proceeding with capitalising revenue. Permission is
needed even if the Potential Capitalising was budgeted for on 77777777-01. No
actual entries should be passed to this code as it is for budgeting purposes
only.
If you make a buildings insurance claim for over £2000, please refer to the SCT for guidance
on how to process the expenditure and income entries.
Any queries on how to code either capital income/funding or expenditure should be made to
the Schools Corporate Team at [email protected].
Procurement (revenue and capital)
If revenue or capital expenditure is being accounted for through the school’s bank account,
but is being wholly managed by an external organisation (i.e. providing funding, arranging
quotes/tenders, appointing a contractor……) your school needs to have written confirmation
from the external organisation, which must be retained on file stating as lead organisation
they are responsible for the tender and quotations etc. If this is not the case then your
school is responsible for obtaining and retaining the quotes or organising tenders etc, i.e. the
school must either demonstrate compliance with Contract Regulations or have something in
writing to evidence that the school did not comply with contract regulations due to the lead
organisation having that responsibility.
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Payroll Control Reconciliation
Please ensure your Payroll Control account is reconciled monthly and any discrepancies are
followed up immediately. After completing your Month End Report the Payroll Control figure
on the BCR Balance Sheet should equal the total of the EPM (or other payroll provider)
payroll elements yet to appear on your Bank Statement, e.g. Pension, National Insurance &
3rd Party payments for the month being reported.
If the Payroll Control figure cannot be agreed with the outstanding payroll provider’s figures
the difference needs to be investigated in order to make an appropriate adjustment. If you
need any advice on this please contact your Schools Financial Advisor or SFSSO.
Childcare voucher (CCV) transactions are one of the main causes of differences. If you are
unsure of the process for dealing with CCV's, for guidance please contact either your SFSSO
or SFA or access Computershare Voucher Service (CVS) Guidance document at:
https://www.learntogether.org.uk/services/finance/Pages/Welcome.aspx (under
pink banner)
Please record in the notes column of the BCR (Balance Sheet) against Payroll Control the
figures for the payroll elements* still outstanding after any import of notes etc. from the
previous month. *Please identify in the BCR notes field each element separately!
Schools must not, under any circumstances, apply payroll transactions via a cash
book journal if the charges have not been processed by the bank yet. A number of
schools caused issues for Schools Corporate Team and the ICT Service by failing
to follow correct procedures at year end. Please only action cash book journals
when the items show on the bank statement.
Understanding the BCR
If there are any finance staff who would like to learn more about completing and
understanding the BCR, please contact Sue Moore or Janet Neale via email.
[email protected] [email protected]
Non Public Funds
Schools should no longer be operating Non Public Funds (or old school funds), please contact
Kerrin Compton directly if you think your school still has one of these funds in operation.
Parent Pay fees
For schools using Parent Pay (PP) to collect CCS pupil dinner money, we recommend linking
the General Office Expenses ledger code (40030000-01) to the CCS Catering Cost Centre and
debiting this code with PP charges related specifically to dinner money. CCS will
refund these charges (retrospectively) on the monthly funding statement, these should be
credited to the same General Office Expenses ledger code in the CCS Catering Cost Centre.
This is one of those rare occasions when you can credit an expenditure code!
- 11 PP charges relating to other monies received (i.e. Educational Visits, Uniform etc.) should be
charged to the General Office Expenses ledger code in the default cost centre unless these
also have their own cost centre when linking the code as above is an option.
Schools using an alternative provider for cashless catering must submit a claim form to
recoup charges from CCS on a termly basis. CCS will make the reimbursement via the
schools funding statement. It should be credited to the code used to pay the provider’s
charges (which should be 40030000-01 and the default cost centre). The claim form can be
accessed at: http://tinyurl.com/transactionfee
Educational Visit budgets
Schools need to follow best practice and set budgets against Educational Visit cost centres
for the net cost to the school (including any Pupil Premium subsidy).
The lack of budgeting or explanatory notes in these areas was very obvious at year end and
Schools Corporate Team had to contact school finance staff to ensure they had not forgotten
to raise reserves.
Looking Ahead….
Governor Meetings
When setting dates for budget ratification meetings for 2017-18, please bear in mind the
budgeting toolkit is likely to go through a series of updates during April. To ensure
Governors have ratified the final version of the budget, meetings should ideally take place in
late April/early May so the final budget can be submitted by 5th May 2017.
Summer Holidays and issuing cheques
To avoid cheques being rejected and suppliers not paid during the summer holidays, please
send details before you break up – relating to any cheques over £3,000, raised after
13th July 2016 to [email protected]. You must send the email for the attention of
“The Local Authorities Team”, the email must be sent from the schools email address. This
will give Barclays the verification required to pass the payment. After the start of term in
September there is no need to do this, it is just for the summer break.
Year End
The school Easter holidays next year are 1st April – 17th April 2017 inclusive so year-end falls
during the school holidays. The year end deadline for submission of all year-end documents
is Friday 7th April 2017. However, for those finance members of staff who are not
contracted to work during school holidays you may need to make alternative arrangements
to ensure the year end timetable is adhered to. Early booking of the SFSSOs is
recommended if this option is to be used.
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Childcare Vouchers whilst on Maternity Leave
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Peninsula Business Services v Donaldson has
decided that childcare vouchers provided to employees through a salary sacrifice
arrangement should be classified as ‘remuneration’; meaning that employers do not have to
continue to provide them to an employee on maternity leave.
However, this ruling is at odds with the previously understood legal position and the
approach taken by most employers, including schools and academies. EPM would advise
that those who wish to review or change their current approach should proceed with
extreme caution and consider the following factors:
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Any employees, who are currently on maternity leave and receiving childcare vouchers, will have an
expectation that this will continue. Any sudden changes to the benefits available to those who are
already on maternity leave may be disputed.
Some employees may have a contractual right to receive childcare vouchers during maternity leave
which would still be enforceable.
In our view, the EAT decision fails to deal with some existing legislative points and it appears that the
lay members involved in the ruling advised that salary sacrifice was a ‘diversion’ of salary which does
not support the regulations issued by HMRC.
The government are due to introduce tax-free childcare vouchers in January 2017. This scheme will
close the current arrangements to new applicants, which will be facilitated directly by the government,
rather than through the employer. This will reduce the monthly administration and additional costs
during maternity leave. The current process will continue to apply to those who remain under the
existing childcare voucher scheme arrangements.
EPM understand that the EAT decision is likely to be challenged further and therefore before
making any changes to your policies, please contact your HR Adviser in the first instance.