Academies

The Coalition Government’s Academy policy, which allows high performing schools to opt out of Local Authority control, requires the new Academies to be significantly more involved with their own financial management. This creates exciting times for those wishing to make the change, allowing more freedom to set own policies and bring in innovative ways to raise the standards of education for pupils. However, Academy status could present a number of challenges including new financial reporting and accounting requirements. This is where Francis Clark can help.

• Annual audit – each Academy will need to appoint external independent auditors, to provide annual audit assurance to the members of the charitable company running the Academy. We act in this capacity for many charitable companies including FE colleges and private schools.
• The annual accounts of the Academy will need to be prepared to comply with the DfE guidance, based on company and charity law. Whilst the preparation of accounts is the responsibility of the Academy, we see it as an important part of our role to help you in this complex annual exercise.
• Financial systems – many Academies will decide that their current systems are inadequate in the light of the new requirements they face for financial reporting and control. At Francis Clark we have a team of specialists who can advise on appropriate accounting systems and account structures, and provide training to finance staff. We have produced a short guide covering the main differences between the current management accounting routines used in schools and those which will be expected in Academies.
• Regulations - the Academy will be party to a funding agreement with Government and will be following guidance in the Academies Financial Handbook. We will be thoroughly familiar with these documents so that we can help you to achieve compliance and to share our experience in interpretation, which we will gain across the sector as our Academy client base expands. 
• Payroll – the one key operation to get right from day 1. We will help you to decide which is the best option, both initially and in the future. Factors to consider, in addition to price, include the attitude and track record of your current Local Authority provider. Francis Clark provides payroll services and in certain circumstances Francis Clark will be the right option to take.   
• VAT – our VAT team specialises in advising charitable bodies on VAT mitigation and compliance.

If you would like to discuss the accounting implications for your school we would be delighted to meet you. Please contact our specialist Education Team

Further Education Colleges

At Francis Clark we act as the external auditor for three further education colleges in the region. We offer a refreshing, transparent audit of their financial statements, focusing on a real understanding of the college’s financial performance and position.

We see a key part of our role as helping the college’s audit committee to fully understand the accounts the corporation will be approving, acting as an independent interpreter of the figures. Whilst strong relationships with the college’s executives are important, our role is to protect the members and we will never lose sight of this.

We approve of the LSC definition of our role as ‘Financial Statements Auditor’. Our job is to form opinions on the annual financial statements of the college, not to provide a consultancy-based service, nor a systems opinion.

We understand that you operate under a demanding set of rules. Our starting point is to understand the regulations, under which you work, by fully understanding your sources of income and the attached restrictions on activity and expenditure. We make no secret that we believe many colleges have been subject to too much external scrutiny recently, in some years seeing no less than 4 different teams of auditors. We also believe some auditors can make the process unnecessarily complex.

Our fees are often significantly less than many of our larger competitors. Our audit team has vast experience and our audit technical expertise is unrivalled in the region. As it is clear there will be cuts in public spending, all public bodies will need to take a very close look at their overheads, so we ensure we provide genuine value for money.

Schools

The firm acts for a number of private schools, many of which are also registered charities. We have helped to guide these schools through the maze of compliance with the requirements of the Charities SORP.

We also provide assurance services to state funded schools and have accreditation under the FMSIS (Financial Management Standard In Schools).

For more information, please contact our Education Team