The latest ‘Dear Accounting Officer’ letter from the EFA sets out their plans to replace the Academy Budget Forecast Return, due in July, with two returns.
Download the letter! →
In previous years Academy Budget Forecasts have included details of actual spend in the current year to March, a forecast to August, as well as the budget for the following year. As part of discussions between the EFA and HM Treasury it has been concluded that details for the current year need to be submitted earlier than has been the case. As a result academies will need to submit two returns.
The first return, the Budget Forecast Return: Outturn (BFRO) will focus on actual expenditure for the period up to March 2017, as well as collecting an updated assessment of forecast expenditure to the end of August 2017. All academy trusts open as at 31 March 2017 must submit a completed BFRO to EFA by
Friday 19 May 2017 in order to meet HM Treasury’s timeline.
The second return, the Budget Forecast Return (BFR), will support the main public expenditure forecasting activities that occur in the autumn. Its focus will be on the projected financial position of academy trusts up to August 2018. This return will need to be submitted by
Friday 28 July 2017 (the same timeframe as in previous years).
UPDATE: Template BFRO workbooks and guides for the documentation and online submission form have now been published by EFA
Read guidance or download templates →
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