RSM Tenon: Academies – with independence comes responsibility
|
 Phil Coleman, Partner, Audit and Accounts, RSM Tenon
|
ACCOUNTING and business advisory firm RSM Tenon has worked with 140 primary and secondary level academies to date, helping them through the transition from school to academy status, supporting them with a range of services from annual reports and auditing to corporate governance, VAT and corporate tax. RSM Tenon is holding a number of advisory events across the Midlands during February to help academies get to grips with the latest audit committee guidance which sets out recommendations on how financial decisions, risk management and governance should be managed from now on. Philip Coleman is partner, audit and accounts at RSM Tenon and has been heavily involved with the company’s work on academies. He says: “With independence comes responsibility – I think this statement is particularly pertinent to academies at the moment. “One of the things I hear most often when I speak to people I have met through my academy work is that they wanted to convert because they really do believe it is in the best interests of the pupils. Whilst I do not doubt that this is true, they are often not fully aware of the wealth of regulations, reporting and financial decisions involved with being an academy. “To sum it up, you are operating as a charity, a school and a company all at once, and this is why we have been working closely with academies across the country to ensure that they are able to deliver what is expected of them whilst also remaining compliant. “It is like a coming of age transition; as a school the local authority handles the vast majority of the big decisions and you are clear on the areas you need to manage. But then as an academy you are suddenly responsible for everything from cash flow to property maintenance, accounting and risk management. It is like the jump from being an employee to becoming an owner manager. “This highlights what the new audit committee guidance is making very clear; academies must either develop or buy in the skills needed to make sure that every aspect of their running is managed appropriately and expertly. “The guidance states that academies must review their governance, risk and assurance arrangements to ensure they can deliver the requirements set out as part of the new Academies Financial Handbook. “This includes having the necessary skills to be able to be able to identify and manage risk inside and outside of a financial environment looking at things such as IT, data management, HR and health and safety. “Academies must be aware of the wider world and the ever-changing landscape that they operate in just as any business would monitor market conditions and trends. “Even the concept of an academy and what it is here to do has changed in a fairly short space of time. They were first introduced as a way to help problem schools when local authorities could not help them or it just was no longer working. But now schools are actively being encouraged to become academies and the model of how and why they are run has shifted. “Taking everything into account I think the single most important thing is that academies must have the right skills available to them. This will allow them to identify, address and manage the issues that they are faced with now and that are likely to come up in the future – this is why it is important that they create long-term strategies. “And we must not forget that all of this needs to be done whilst still continuing to operate as a school and worrying about the ‘business as usual’ issues such as Ofsted reports and pupil performance. “RSM Tenon’s approach to working with academies is that we act as critical friends. “We support each academy with its individual challenges and provide support on an ongoing or project basis – we challenge when needed and most importantly, strive to offer timely, relevant and strategic advice with the best interests of the academy in mind.” More articles in
Sectors
CommentsIf you'd like to leave a comment, please register now for free or login
|
