Accounting and Advisory Services for schools converting to Academy status
As many schools now have the opportunity to convert to academy status, it is necessary for school governors, teachers and parents to assess the key benefits such as less bureaucracy, greater control over their own destiny, freedom to manage finances, flexibility to choose a suitable curriculum and setting teachers’ pay and conditions, amongst others.
A step into the unknown?
However, the conversion process needs careful planning to ensure all legal requirements are adhered to and all financial implications are understood. This is a step into the unknown for most schools and that’s where Burgis & Bullock’s specialist expertise can be invaluable. In addition, we have existing relationships with legal and banking organisations to help smooth the way through the entire process.
For example, did you know…
- You must create a new company, limited by guarantee, which is an exempt charity? There are complex accounting and regulatory requirements surrounding the set-up where specialist advice is essential!
- You will be dealing with a large financial liability on day one of operations, due to the under-funded local government pension scheme when staff are transferred to the Academy. This will incur a cost to the business that’s difficult to evaluate
- You must transfer the land occupied and used by the school – this can be a complex accounting process that will affect your balance sheet
Burgis & Bullock can help you manage the entire process
With our experience and specialist knowledge we can provide a wide range of advice to help support the finance function of a new academy, including:
VAT advice – VAT is always a tricky subject and especially for academies who have a number of income streams. Our ongoing contact with HM Revenue & Customs and the Education Funding Agency (EFA) will ensure you have up to date advice and support.
A Finance Manual – we will provide a detailed ‘How to…’ manual to help you set up internal control systems.
Bookkeeping services – we can help smaller academies cope with the increased reporting and compliance requirements.
Payroll Bureau services – to free you from the burden of responsibility for calculating and processing monthly payrolls and providing information to HMRC. We are happy to provide a no-obligation quotation.
Teachers Pension Scheme – advice and assistance in completing the various reporting requirements relating to pensions.
Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) Return – we will help you complete this legal requirement for all Academies that have a funding agreement with the Secretary of State for Education.
Annual Accounts
The level of assistance you need is likely to depend on the accounting software used by your academy. We can:
- Prepare financial accounts from the academy’s final year end trial balance
- Review financial accounts prepared by the academy’s own accounting software
- Assist the Governors with the preparation of the Trustees Report