Business Cycle Wall Planner

With the audit process finalised and the filing deadlines passed the finance team may think it’s an opportune moment to have a quick breather. But just before you sit back and relax, remember you’re an academy now and with greater freedom comes, more deadlines, more form filling, in short more work.

EFAs Business Cycle Wall Planner

Yes that’s correct there really isn’t much time to sit back and relax in the academy sector. So click on the link below and make sure that you have a copy of the EFAs Business Cycle Wall Planner 2014 for Academies. It provides information about key dates and deadlines in the academy calendar.

Wall planner

Qualification of the department of education accounts

The National Audit Office (NAO) has qualified its signing off of the Department of Education (DFE) accounts for last year because of “errors and uncertainties”.

Issues with consolidation of academies accounts

The national audit office has identified issues with the consolidation of academies accounts into the accounts of the DFE as a contributing factor in this qualification.

One major issue is that the DFE’s year end is March whilst academy schools have August year ends. This means that assumptions have to be made to bring the accounts together and it would appear to be the validity of some of these assumptions that have been questioned.

Corrective steps

It’s hard to know what steps the DFE might take to try and correct this issue. Will there be pressure on academies to have additional audits, complete additional interim returns, or even to change their year ends?

At the time of posting these questions are yet to be answered but we will endeavour to keep you updated of any further developments with regards to this issue.

Abolition of the state second pension

In the 2013 Chancellor’s Budget it was announced that the abolition of the State Second Pension was being brought forward from April 2017 to April 2016. Currently any member of staff who is part of the Academy’s defined benefit contribution pension scheme is contracted out of the Second State Pension, giving both the individual and the charity reduced National Insurance Contributions as a result.

Once the Second State Pension has been abolished there will be nothing for these employees to contract out of. As such employees and employers will see their contributions increasing under the new regime.

We would urge all academy schools to take this into account when preparing budgets for future years so that they can consider ways in which this increase in costs can be funded.

Pointing the finger at cashless catering

Does your academy use fingerprint recognition for cashless catering? If so, it is our understanding that the following legislation is vitally important to you:

Taken from the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Section 26

1. Requirement to notify and obtain consent before processing biometric information:

(5) But if, at any time, the child

(a) refuses to participate in, or continue to participate in, anything that involves processing of the biometric information, or

(b) otherwise objects to the processing of that information,

the relevant authority must ensure that the information is not processed, irrespective of any consent given by a parent of the child under subsection (3) of rule 26.

This change became enforceable in September 2013 so if you do operate print recognition for cashless catering it would certainly pay to have a plan B for taking payment for those students refusing to participate.

Click here for further information about the services we provide Academies.