Answer: Familiarise yourself with the school budget position as quickly as possible. Familiarise yourself with the financial processes in the school and the roles and responsibilities of all staff who have any financial input. Get to know the governors, particularly the chair of finance and others on the finance committee.
Make use of the DCSF A brief guide to the financial competencies of a school governing body to help identify whether your board has the relevant competencies. This is available in the governance and accountability section of this website in the reference library. If not, you should consider financial management training – there are details of financial management courses run by SHA, NAHT and NBA on this website – or employing the services of a bursar.
It can also be helpful to talk to another headteacher: the Financial Management in Schools community in talk2learn has been set up as a specific forum to discuss financial management issues with colle agues.
Answer: Lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of those with a financial brief and, in particular, between the governors and the headteacher. Roles and responsibilities should be clearly set out in the school’s finance policy. In simple terms, the governing body is responsible for policy and strategy and the headteacher for operational management. You will find the DCSF Guidance on the Roles of Governing Bodies and Headteachers in the governance and accountability section of the reference library on this website.
Also in the governance and accountability section are a number of other useful resources giving guidance in the following areas: accountability, competencies, good practice, legal framework, reporting and roles.
Another common issue can be a failure to link spending to the school development plan (SDP). Not only does linking the budgeting process to the SDP ensure that spending is focused on the agreed priorities of the school, it also makes it easier to track spending.
It can be helpful to talk to another headteacher: the Financial Management in Schools community in talk2learn has been set up as a specific forum to discuss financial management issues with colleagues.
Answer: As well as clearly setting out the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved in the financial management process, the finance policy should clearly identify the budgeting process, ie who does what, levels of delegated responsibility and budget monitoring procedures.
Answer Giving your staff a sense of shared responsibility through involvement in decision making and responsible delegation is central to good financial management.
Be open and honest and keep everyone informed, but keep information to an appropriate level. Too much detail can frighten or confuse people and often means that they do not see the bigger picture. Consider delegating class or subject budgets to staff wherever possible and practical. Involve them in the planning process, make sure their brief is clear and that monitoring systems are put in place.
In the workshop materials section of this website are a number of tools to help you engage others with you in brainstorming and developing solutions to financing issues: problem-solving, team-building and the five whys all feature in the workshop presentation slides.
Answer: Your LA finance team and internal auditors will be able to advise on issues of accountability. The LEA finance team, another experienced headteacher or independent financial adviser on internal monitoring arrangements and the LEA governor services will be able to help with governor issues.
It can be helpful to talk to another headteacher who has faced similar issues: the Financial Management in Schools community in talk2learn has been set up as a specific forum to discuss financial management issues with colleagues.
Answer You will find guidance in the following resources in the preparing and delivering to a budget section of the reference library of this website: Controlling School Finances – a Self-Evaluation Tool and A Guide to the governors’ report on school finances.
There will be several levels to a sound system of budget monitoring. On a monthly basis, the school bursar or finance officer should reconcile the school accounts with bank or LA statements and any queries or discrepancies resolved. Salary costs should also be checked at this point. Monthly reports should be produced for all budget holders and any variances identified and followed up. When comparing actuals with budgets, commitments already made should be included.
The headteacher should set aside some dedicated, regular time with the school finance officer to review the monitoring information and current budget position so that any problems can be identified and remedial action taken.
Reports should go to governors at least termly – preferably on a half-termly or monthly basis – with sufficient relevant detail, variances highlighted and recommendations made to address them.
Answer: You will find the DCSF Financial Summaries to be included in Governors Report and Governor Report on School Finances Guide in the governance and accountability section of the reference library on this website.
Budget monitoring reports for governors should be clear, concise, up to date and accurate. They should contain the right level of information – too much and they may lose track of the big picture, too little and they will be unable to discharge their responsibilities in terms of accountability. Make use of charts. These are often a lot better for conveying financial information, trends and breakdowns than words or numbers.
Reports should include committed as well as actual expenditure so that they are clear about what funds are remaining. Funds earmarked for specific purposes, such as the Standards Fund or Capital Formula money, need to be identified. Any variances should be highlighted and accompanied by recommendations for remedial action.