Finance Reporting

Job Description

KEY PURPOSE

Responsible for oversight and finalisation of both school Level and MAT level Management

accounts to ensure accurate and timely reporting. This includes strong links to Finance

Business Partners who support headteachers and local academy business partners to establish forecast risk to their budgets.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

The appointee will be line managed by CFO, and have direct and matrix line responsibilities to the Central Finance team (4 staff).

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Through our budget system (IMP) you will have opportunity to develop and improve trust

reporting to enable our schools to sustainably thrive in their mission.

The Financial Reporting & Planning Lead will work closely with the CFO to guide the financial

decision making of the Trust.

Accountable for the clear reporting of the trust operating and capital positions with clear month-end reports to include balance sheet and cashflow projection enabling cash and project investment decisions.

Key account reconciliations to include the maintenance and reconciliations to Fixed Asset

register via strong links to Estates Operations team; and the payroll reconciliations via strong

links with the People & Payroll team.

Preparation and support with external audit and internal audit.

Support with Finance software (currently PS Financials) and IMP Budget Planner which is used by Academy Business Partners within schools, as well as central team.

OTHER DUTIES

• Awareness of Academies Trust Handbook compliance, obligations, and responsibilities.
• Provide financial management reports as requested by the CFO
• Support compliance and monitoring of the trust scheme of delegation.
• Ensure Trust wide monthly financial reporting including balance sheet and cashflow with clear articulation that ties back to school management accounts
• Support the trust central finance team to deliver high quality services to academies and ensure best practice is preserved within academies.
• Contribute to identifying key financial risks and possible mitigations with impacts on strategic and improvement plans

GENERAL

• Ensure training and updates provided to all academy finance staff (and wider staff where necessary)
• Ensure Trust budget software (IMP Software) is maintained and updated via the Finance Partners
• To support the Finance Partners and team manage debtors and creditors effectively and accurately across the trust to support cashflow management and represent accurate financial data being reported.
• Support and co-ordinate the year-end accounts for the annual statutory statements for the trust, including managing consolidation and working with academy teams to deliver accounts and supporting information for audit.
• Involvement on statutory reporting and returns, including consolidated MAT statutory accounts, Annual Budget Forecast returns and ensure timely VAT (currently via VAT126) returns.

ACADEMY SUPPORT

• Uphold outstanding relationships with Academy Headteachers and their Business Partners
• Ensure services to academies are of high quality
• Oversight of budget forecast risks and opportunities.
• Review appropriate curriculum led planning and benchmarking to KPIs
• Support appropriate deadlines to central staff and academy staff to deliver timely management reports
• Ensure financial controls and compliance within the academies and the central team are high
• Keep under review appropriateness of systems, centralisation and structures.

OTHER

• To work under supervision to the mandatory guidelines within the Academies Trust
• Handbook and the Trust Financial Policies and Procedures
• To use the trusts financial packages, currently PSF for the Trust accounts and IMP software for visibility into school budget detail including pay.
• Develop constructive relationships with the wider Central Teams and communicate with other agencies/professionals
• The post holder will be expected to work within established procedures and guidelines and to prioritise day-to-day work.
• May from time to time be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility defined in this job description.

STRENGTHENING THE COMMUNITY

Academies exist in a distinctive social context, which has a direct impact on what happens

inside the school. Academy leadership should commit to engaging with the internal and

external school community to secure equity and entitlement. All staff should collaborate with

other schools in order to share expertise and bring positive benefits to their own and other

academies. They should work collaboratively at both strategic and operational levels with

parents and carers and across multiple agencies for the well-being of all children.

This will include:

• Building a school culture and curriculum which takes account of the Church Foundation and

the richness and diversity of the school's communities.

• Creating and promoting positive strategies for challenging harassment of any kind.

• Ensuring learning experiences for pupils are linked into and integrated with the wider

community, the local church and diocesan communities.

• Ensuring a range of community-based learning experiences, including building links with

local churches and Coventry Diocese.

• Collaborating with other agencies in providing for the academic, spiritual, moral, social,

emotional and cultural well-being of pupils and their families

• Creating and maintaining an effective partnership with parents and carers, (including those

who may be described as 'hard to reach', those with learning disabilities and those for whom

English is an additional language), to support and improve pupils' achievement and personal

development.

• Building bridges with the school's diverse communities, seeking opportunities to invite the

whole range of parents and carers, community figures (including clergy and church

representatives), businesses or other organisations into the school to enhance and enrich the

school and its value to the wider community.

• Contributing to the development of the education system by, for example, sharing effective

practice, working in partnership with other schools and promoting innovative initiatives.

• Co-operating and working with relevant agencies to protect children.

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND SAFER RECRUITMENT

Our Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to undertake an enhanced criminal record check via the DBS. Further information about the Disclosure and Barring Service is available from the DBS website at: Disclosure and

Barring Service - GOV.UK )

The Trust will ensure that:

• The policies and procedures relating to safeguarding and safer recruitment are fully

implemented and followed by all staff.

• Sufficient resources and time are allocated to enable the designated person and other staff to

discharge their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding, including taking part in strategy

discussions and other inter-agency meetings and contributing to the assessment of children.

• All staff and volunteers feel able to raise concerns about poor or unsafe practice in regard to children, and that such concerns are addressed sensitively and effectively in a timely manner

in accordance with agreed whistle blowing practices.

DATA PROTECTION

The post holder must meet the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation Act

2018 at all times, especially concerning confidentiality, treatment of personal information and

records management.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Whilst every effort has been made to explain the main duties and responsibilities or the post,

each individual task undertaken may not be identified. Staff will be expected to comply with all

Trust policies and procedures and any reasonable request from a manager to undertake work of

a similar level that is not specified in this job description. This job description will be reviewed

annually and the Chief Executive reserves the right to alter the content of this job description,

after consultation with the post-holder, to reflect changes to the job or services provided, without

altering the general character or level of responsibility