Warmer weather may seem like a long way off. But now’s the time to spring into action, if you want to meet the School Financial Value Standard (SFVS) deadline.
If you’re a Local Authority (LA) maintained school, you have until 31 March 2017 to submit answers to the 25 questions on the SFVS assessment form.
The SFVS helps you manage your finances and provides assurance to the LA that you have secure financial management in place.
As governing bodies have formal responsibility for the financial management of their schools, the questions in the standard are aimed primarily at them.
The questions you’ll need to answer relate to:
- Whether your governing body and senior staff have appropriate financial skills.
- How your processes facilitate effective financial management.
- Whether your governing body is kept informed about budgeting during the course of the year.
- The measures you have in place to prevent conflicts of interest.
- Your staffing structure and pay policy.
- Budget planning, including the connection with improving educational attainment, as well as projections and good practice procedures.
- Effective benchmarking.
- Procedures for purchasing, asset management, collaboration and resources.
- How you protect public money and guard against fraud.
- Adequate accounting systems and arrangements for audits of voluntary funds, as well as disaster recovery plans.
For more information about the answers you need to provide, just ask us or download the EFA's guidance notes.
Don’t forget to obtain your governing body’s approval
The deadline isn’t imminent just yet, of course.
But it’s important to bear in mind that your completed SFVS form must be approved by your Full Governing Body (FBG). It also needs to be signed by your Chair of Governors prior to submission.
In other words, it’ll have to be completed prior to your spring term FGB meeting. And if that’s scheduled for January, you don’t have long to answer the 25 questions.
Let us help you remove the stress
If that sounds like quite a lot to do, don’t worry. As ever, we’re here to support and guide you, and ensure that your questions are signed off and submitted to your LA with time to spare.
Just get in touch to arrange your on-site, half day finance visit from one of our expert consultants. We’ll sit down and go through everything face-to-face with you.
With our support, we’ll help you complete the questions and ensure you have all you need for SFVS compliance, including:
- Reviewing your 2015 – 16 SFVS submission.
- Helping you complete your 2016 – 17 submission.
- Preparing financial benchmarking reports for you to consider at your next F&GP meeting, in accordance with SFVS requirements.
It’s just one of the ways that we go the extra mile to ensure you are compliant, leaving you with the time to focus on educational attainment.
Avoid the spring time blues – Get in touch with Vicky Butters at info@saafeducation.org or visit our Contact Page to book your on-site SFVS visit.