FINANCE PROCEDURE MANUAL

On behalf of Children's Services (Finance & ICT) I am pleased to be able to provide a revised and comprehensive update of the Finance Procedure Manual. You will receive your manual in the courier post by the end of term.

We anticipate that this significant publication will be adopted by all Governing Bodies as a leading management guide providing wide ranging financial directives and information for better accounting in schools. In an effort to provide you with all the information you require, every attempt has been made to draw together within the document all current financial information and guidelines and to set this out in a way that anybody contributing to financial management in the school will find understandable and helpful.

It is important to staff who have financial management responsibility at any level to have access to this working document as it outlines all the requirements placed on schools in terms of financial requirements and duties as well as operational guidelines. It also tells you about the key dates in the financial year. Most importantly, the manual seeks to support your efforts in the school, enabling you to improve financial management performance to meet the ever-increasing challenges of school improvement.

In this revision particular attention has been paid to the small school environment where procedures and separation of duties cannot always follow the recommended course. In such cases, the standard must be interpreted within the context of the school and the school must assess whether the controls in place are sufficient to meet the principles behind the controls and standards identified in this manual.

We hope whatever your circumstance you will find this publication a useful resource that will add to your management and administration library.