MANAGEMENT
UNPICKING THE THREADS
Unpicking the Threads of Accounts Management Apart from being able to congratulate yourself on underspends and worrying about overspends, what else can you tell from your management accounts that can be useful in your SBL role? CLARE SKINNER has the answer
Y
ou will spend a lot of time preparing accounts, analysing the numbers and then reporting to your headteacher and governors/trustees - but what exactly are you telling them and how accurate is it? In the first term of the new academic year, no matter what type of setting you are in or what stage in the financial year, it is a great opportunity to look at those numbers and really get the most from whatever they are telling you.
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November/December 2024
DETAILED ANALYSIS Much of your analysis will depend on how you produce your management accounts. I hope that your finance software does most of the leg work for you in terms of presentation and allows you to spend your time on the detail rather than the beauty of the report. I always start with annotation around significant over or underspends of course, but why they are there and what you need to do to stop them recurring needs to be considered. Drill down! I start with areas