So what else do you have to do? School census, year-end accounts, budget preparations (with increased costs from the apprenticeship levy and increases in pension rates), cyber security! Help is at hand.
Academy Land & Buildings Valuations
New academies require a land and buildings valuation to support their year-end accounts. Between April and June every year, the Education Funding Agency procures valuations of the land and buildings of all new academies that opened between 1 April of the previous year and 31 March of the current year, as well as revaluations of academy land and buildings that were last valued 5 years ago.
Academies should complete the
online form within 6 weeks of opening as an academy.
Completed valuations for academies opening in the year to 31 March 2016 will be available on the EFA Information Exchange in October. These will be required by your auditor.
Academy Trusts Deferring Their First Year’s Accounts
All academy trusts incorporated on or before 29 February 2016 must prepare their first annual accounts from the date of incorporation up to 31 August 2016. This may also include academy trusts that have not yet opened – See
Academies Accounts Direction for further information.
Trusts incorporated on or after 1 March 2016 may defer preparation of their first accounts to 31 August 2017. Trusts should discuss this with their auditors or professional advisors in the first instance. If you plan to defer, or submit dormant accounts, you must let the EFA know by
30 September 2016.
Increased Pension Costs
Schools and academies need to be aware that changes to employer contributions rates are expected from April 2017. All Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) are revalued every three years, and with many predicting deficits (as the population ages and rates of return on investments decreases) employer contribution rates are expected to increase. We will advise you as soon as we hear anything – but it is likely each LGPS (Local Authority) will report separately.
Any changes to the Teachers' Pension Scheme will come into force in April 2019. A number of commentators are expecting the employer rate to increase from 16.4% to nearer 20%.
In Other Blogs
School Census Date 6th October 2016. Many of you will now be well underway with your preparations for the Autumn Census, the date for which is next Thursday 6th October 2016. The SBS MIS Team have tips to help you complete the census.
View MIS Blog ⟶
Are you protected? Virus detection & prevention can be difficult to manage for busy schools with multiple users across site. We’ve provided some top tips to help you to combat the increasing number of virtual threats.
View ICT Blog ⟶
Apprenticeship Levy. The apprenticeship levy requires all employers operating in the UK, with a pay bill over £3 million each year, to make an investment in apprenticeships. The levy has initially been set at 0.05% of your pay bill. You can benefit from this investment by training apprentices. We have provided some guidance on how you should budget for this.
View SBS Online Blog ⟶
Have you downloaded our Year Planner yet?
Download now! ⟶
