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Access Education Finance
School finance software
School accounting software designed with education in mind
Our cloud-based financial management software for schools helps you confidently manage your education finances and save money with Access Education's cloud-based financial management system.
Supporting features such as DfE automation and the new standard chart of accounts, our finance software for schools ensures thousands of schools across the UK are streamlined, up-to-date and making best use of their budget.
The trusted choice of education finance software
All on one platform (SSO)
100% cloud-based with secure single sign-on through Access Evo Workspace, anytime, anywhere.
Fully compliant (DfE and ESFA)
Stay worry-free with automatic compliance updates, ensuring your school meets all Department for Education and ESFA requirements effortlessly using our school finance software.
Education-specific finance tools
We’ve worked with school finance managers and leading education figures to make our school and academy accounting software fit for purpose.
Instant insights & reporting
Electronic bank reconciliation made easy. Upload a CSV statement to auto-match transactions. Consistent Financial Reports (CFR) can be produced quickly and easily for submission to the local authority.
School accounting software - key features
Manage, control and report on your school finances
The fully customisable chart of accounts, ledger options and defaults allow you to accurately represent how your school or academy works, letting you record and report information as you need to. Our school management software gives you the freedom to manage transactions, payments, receipts and reconciliations quickly and accurately, with built-in double-entry posting, tolerance and transaction warnings.
Customisable user-access profiles allow you to delegate responsibility appropriately. Plus, customisable document templates and online document management means you can keep everything in one place with the added comfort of knowing it is securely, stored online.
Easily monitor your school’s financial performance
The real-time information dashboard gives an up-to-date picture of your school’s financial performance quickly and easily. While detailed reports let you analyse your school’s finances to reveal critical trends.
You can create easy-to-understand monthly, termly and annual reports for governors and trustees and meet your regulatory responsibilities with simple-to-produce DfE and ESFA returns.
Management reports can be run at the click of a button and you can easily access real-time information at a high-level by a ledger code group or detailed data through your ledger codes. The management report is built to the suggested DfE format, in our school management software.
DfE and ESFA compliant
As a UK-developed and hosted platform, it's compliant with DfE and ESFA requirements, and you will be ready when tax goes digital.
Access Digital Tax retrieves relevant data from Access Education Finance ready for your review and submission to HMRC.
Straightforward set-up - Nothing to install and limited IT support needs means minimal disruption and the most up-to-date version every time you log in.
Make life easier for yourself: Combine your budgets and finance software
Manage your school's finances effortlessly with the Access Education Financial Management solution, combining Access Education Budgets and Access Education Finance into one intuitive system for schools, academies, and trusts.
Make it even easier with our new Access Education suite bundles:
- One platform, one contract, one price.
- Tailor your bundle to fit your needs and enjoy discounts based on your contract term.
- Ditch per-employee or per-pupil pricing for a simple, transparent ‘per school’ rate.
Effortless, precise, and made for education - Access Education brings clarity to financial management.
Education finance software all in one place, anytime, anywhere, on any device
Why schools love our education finance software
Integrated Finance with Budgets provides me with a brilliant overview of the school’s finances
It helps me quickly identify any worrying trends or oversights that need attention. As well as preventing any costly errors, it also ensures we can allocate resources in the best possible manner - ensuring every pupil gets the education they deserve.
Financial management software has transformed the day-to-day running of the finance department
The system is particularly user friendly for non-finance staff. Teachers can keep track of their spend versus budget from the beach during the summer holidays, should they wish!
With our new system we can produce easily-accessible reports and budget projections
The system has also removed the need to produce hard copy orders, therefore reducing our paper consumption, helping us move towards our aim of becoming paperless and, of course, saving money.
Day to day, the system saves me a huge amount of time
I can also login from home, meaning that during the Easter break I can crack on with year end transactions and I can carry out our VAT return in August.
More than just great school finance software
We are dedicated to providing our customers with award-winning implementation and support to help them get the most out of their software.
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Latest insights on finance software for schools
Discover valuable guides and resources to support your research and purchasing decisions. Our news and updates offer expert advice and industry trends to help you make informed choices for your education finance software.
View all resources
Guide
Education finance panel discussion 2024
Resource hub
School financial year-end: everything you need to know
Webinar
Empower your school or LA with tailored finance reporting
Guide
What is the best financial accounting software for schools?
Guide
The ultimate guide to education finance software
Webinar
Software support when you switch to Access Education Finance
School finance software FAQs
Can Access produce the financial returns and reports my academy/MAT needs?
Yes, Access provides a range of standard and customised reports to meet all your MAT/academy’s needs. Read more about finance for MATs.
Does Access’ contract include implementation and training?
Yes, as part of the project our consultants work with you to ensure the implementation covers all training your requirements. We’d be happy to talk to you about these, please do get in touch.
What support do I get with the system?
Access provides telephone support, account management and online support. You can pick up the phone and speak with a member of our team when you need assistance.
Do you copy my existing Chart of Accounts structure?
We can build you a new Chart of Accounts structure, copy/amend your current structure, or work with you to establish a uniform CoA structure which can be rolled out to all academies.
What is a school finance system?
School finance software helps schools, academies and trusts track and report on the financial status of their educational establishment. The school’s financial management system is in place to increase visibility across the site as well as reduce administration.
What is finance and accounting software for education?
Finance and accounting software for education is solution that helps people within local authorities or academy trusts conduct various accounting and bookkeeping tasks. More commonly known as school finance software, the terms ‘accounting software for education’ and ‘finance software for education’ all refer to the same kind of software packages used to manage a school or trust’s finances.
The software tends to be suitable for use by those without a formal accounting background, such as school business managers and headteachers who manage school’s finances alongside their other responsibilities.
How does accounting software help schools?
School accounting software helps to simplify and streamline finance process in schools and Trusts. Often integrated with other software, it allows schools to become scalable and grow in a more efficient manner due to the ability to centralise resources.
Providing detailed insights in a secure manner, school accounting software can also help schools in their mission to become paperless and provides remote, easy access to real time data and reporting in line with school requirements. The primary benefit schools see when implementing school accounting software is time savings. Take a look at some comparisons of accounting software for schools, academies & MATs.
Which accounting software is best for schools?
The best accounting software for schools is cloud-based, allowing you to access your school finances anytime, anywhere, no matter your location. Education finance software should help to reduce the administrative burdens across your school, academy. It also need to or Trust and aim to increase your visibility, control and reporting over school finances.
However, each school will have a list of requirements based on unique needs and we advise customers to get in touch with us before deciding to purchase any software. Our team of experts will help to identify the best education finance software for you.
What accounting systems do schools use?
There are many providers of accounting systems to schools, including but not limited to Iris, Orovia, IMP, Sage and more – as well as Access Education Finance. Providers offer a range of packages for schools and trusts with different functionality suiting your unique requirements. When investing in a new accounting system it is important for schools and trusts to consider a range of factors including price, compliance, flexibility and more. Take a look at guide to choosing the right financial system for your school or trust.
Solutions created by educators, for educators
At Access Education, we believe in simplicity. Our suite of integrated solutions is designed to seamlessly work together, creating a unified experience that transforms how you manage your school or trust.
- Financial Management: Optimise budgeting and financial management with real-time insights and simplified reporting.
- People Management: Manage recruitment, payroll, and staff well-being effortlessly.
- Parental Engagement: Consolidate communications and administrative tasks into one intuitive system.
- Curriculum & Assessment: Enrich learning with Access GCSEPod and Key Stage 3 resources, offering comprehensive content and insights.
Explore our full educational software solutions
Experience effortless integration, enhanced efficiency, and a unified user experience. Our solutions work together to simplify your processes, so you can focus on what truly matters: delivering exceptional education.
