Currently Schools still receive a grant of £25,000 to enable them to convert to an Academy, however, does this really cover the real costs?

There are the obvious costs that need to be incurred:-

Legal Fees                                                         Between £5,500 and £12,000

Local Authority Costs                                     Between £ nil and £7,500

Pension Actuarial Valuation                         Between £1,500 and £2,000

Financial System Upgrade                            Between £1,000 and £6,000

Financial Due Diligence                                 Between £1,250 and £2,250 (if joining a MAT)

Premises Due Diligence                                 Approx. £2,000 for a comprehensive report

There are other minor costs such as rebranding, however, the most significant cost is the time that needs to be devoted to  ensure that the conversion goes smoothly at the school level i.e. Governors, Head Teacher, Business Manager etc.

If the conversion is not managed properly, then this will result in problems at a school level afterwards which could prove costly. In order to alleviate this from being an issue, some Trusts now buy in project management support to manage the conversion and the associated costs. If you decide to do this, make sure the person knows what to prepare the school for following conversion as this can sometime come as a shock to the unprepared and consume more time.

Unfortunately it is the Business Manager that suffers the most as they are trying to setup and run the academy’s accounts system as well as closing down the previous finance system.

In addition, another challenge is ensuring the Multi Academy Trust or Academy is meeting the requirements of the Academies Financial Handbook. The majority of this can be implemented during the conversion process, provided that it is built into the project plan.

David Bagley

Author David Bagley

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Support available for all of schools' finance support requirements including Full Cheque Book transition. We have an open day on Thursday 7th November, for more information or to attend, please contact Doug Skinner doug@drbsas.co.uk or call 07843 282535.