Interim Finance Cover for Absences and Vacancies
Seamless financial support when you need it most. Continued support during unexpected absences, unfilled vacancies or scheduled leave such as maternity and paternity.
Why Choose Interim Finance Cover?
Our Interim Finance Cover ensures your school's financial processes continue running smoothly, whether you need short-term support or a longer-term solution.
- Continuity & Stability: Keep your financial operations running efficiently during times of transition.
- Expert Professionals: Access skilled finance specialists with experience across schools, MATs, and all major accountancy systems.
- Flexible Support: Whether you need cover for a few weeks or a few months, we tailor our service to your exact requirements.
- Seamless Transitions: Our team integrates quickly and efficiently, ensuring minimal disruption to your school or trust.
Finance Services we Cover
View our list of common services we can offer for interim support.
- Monthly Management Accounts
- Cash Flow Forecasts & Balance Sheet
- Audit Preparation & Liaison with External Auditors
- Bank & Payroll Reconciliation
- Budget Monitoring & Re-forecasting
- 3-Year Budget Plans
- Accruals & Prepayments
- Expertise Across All Accountancy Systems
Financial Roles we Cover
Whether you need support at the CFO level or for roles like Finance Assistant, our flexible service adapts to your specific needs, ensuring continuity and compliance.
- Finance Assistant
- Bursar
- Finance Manager
- School Business Manager
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
- Finance Director
- Management Accountant
- Finance Officer
- MIS/Data Manager
“We commissioned SBS for interim finance support for 3 months while we appointed an SBM. SBS provided a skilled and intelligent finance consultant in Kelly Crawford. We've been extremely impressed. Although we have now appointed an SBM, we will be sorry to see her go and would not hesitate to recommend SBS’ interim finance support.”
The King's School, Grantham
Meet our Finance Service Lead
Kelly Crawford is a CIMA-qualified accountant and former MAT CFO who joined School Business Services in 2022 as a Senior Finance Consultant.
In this role, she helped clients streamline financial processes and produce accurate financial information to support decision-making. Kelly finds it rewarding to ease the burden of education finance professionals by providing practical solutions that make a real difference.
Now, as Finance Service Lead, Kelly manages a team of experienced consultants who provide guidance and support to schools and Trusts. The team brings a diverse range of skills, qualifications, and first-hand sector experience, and Kelly ensures the right consultant is matched to each client’s needs.
Need Longer-Term Support?
If you require ongoing finance support beyond interim cover, explore our Finance Consultancy Packages for a more secure and cost-effective solution.
Our tailored services provide the expertise and stability you need for long-term financial success.
Related Finance Resources
Our Interim Finance expertise and support extends to a wide range of essential finance functions, tailored to your specific requirements. Browse
our related resources.
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Ready for SBS to support your Interim Finance Needs?
Schedule a call today to find out how SBS’s Interim Finance Cover can support
your needs and move your Trust forwards.
Get in touch
Frequently asked questions
Interim Finance Cover is a service that provides temporary finance staff to fill in for key finance roles during vacancies, absences, or transitions.
SBS offers support from CFO level to Finance Assistant, ensuring continuity in your organisation's financial operations.
Schools and trusts may require interim finance cover during periods of staff absence, recruitment delays, or transitions between finance roles.
This cover ensures that critical financial tasks like audit preparation, budget monitoring, and payroll reconciliation are completed on time, avoiding disruption.
We provide interim cover for a wide range of finance roles, including:
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
- Finance Director
- Finance Director
- School Business Manager (SBM)
- Finance Assistant
- Management Accountant
- Bursar
- Finance Officer
- MIS/Data Manager support
Our service is completely flexible.
We can tailor our support to your specific needs, whether you require assistance for a few weeks or several months. You can also choose the level of support, from high-level strategic oversight to hands-on financial management.
We understand the urgency of filling key finance roles, so we work to provide interim cover as quickly as possible.
Typically, we can have someone in place within a matter of days, depending on your specific requirements.
Yes, our consultants are experienced in working with all major school finance systems. They can quickly adapt to your processes and ensure a smooth transition.
Costs vary depending on the role and duration of the cover. We offer competitive pricing, and our team can provide a customised quote based on your specific needs. Get in touch with us to discuss options and pricing.
To get started, fill out our contact form, and one of our team members will get in touch to discuss your requirements. We’ll work with you to create a plan that fits your school or trust’s needs and ensure smooth implementation.