The 2016 government white paper titled Educational Excellence Everywhere, set out the government’s vision for a fully academised system by the end of 2022. It proposed that most schools would form or join multi-academy trusts to enable them to drive up standards and allow, “proven educational models to be scaled and the system’s best leaders to run more than one school”.
So if you are considering joining a multi-academy trust (MAT) there are a number of financial implications to consider.
Choosing a trust
In some situations, schools might be directed to join a specific MAT. This tends to happen if the school is under-preforming or struggling financially. More commonly, schools will voluntarily decide to join a MAT. It is important to spend significant time assessing the financial stability of a trust before committing; review the budget and ensure cash flow forecasts look healthy. Ultimately, every school wants to thrive so carrying out these background checks is essential.
Day to day running of the finance department and budgeting
The majority of MATs ask that schools allocate a certain percentage of the annual budget (top-slice) to fund centralised services. These services tend to cover the cost of an experienced finance department, as well as a team to cover administrative tasks such as payroll, report production and performance tracking.
The finance team will be responsible for managing budgets across the trust, as well as offering financial oversight and future financial planning. Sharing resources in this way enables academies to dedicate more resources to delivering a strong curriculum with a great teaching team. If you are considering joining a trust you should prepare to hand over the reins somewhat when it comes to financial decision making.
Procurement
Centralising the procurement process in a trust can help ensure financial savings through economies of scale and greater buying power, as well as helping to promote reinvestment back into schools. A MAT stands a far better chance of achieving balance between quality and cost than an individual school or single academy trust.
The procurement process is by no means simple and the European public procurement regime applies to schools and academy trusts in the same way it applies to local authorities. It is a complex area and can be time consuming; especially if the school has limited skilled resource.
Software
Various software systems are now available to assist HR, admin and finance departments. It is important that school leaders do everything in their power to ensure the right systems and software are in place to ensure a smooth transition.
The Access Workspace for Education brings together all aspects of HR, admin and finance. The ability to work from one central system, allows collaborative working despite colleagues being based across different sites. This flexibility and ability to easily access data, reports and documents ensures streamlined working by avoiding duplication of documents or hours of wasted time spent trying to access files.
By using a solution, designed for education professionals by experts in the sector, that can be adapted for the needs of each school in a trust and can be scaled for growing trusts, this means that finance teams will be more easily able to meet current and emerging challenges.