The latest edition of the Academies Financial Handbook contains a number of amendments and new requirements that academies need to be aware of.
These include:
- Updated feedback on non-compliance and updates on themes arising from ESFA’s assurance work
- Clarification that an academy trust should, in line with the SORP, describe the
- organisational structure of any subsidiaries within their trustees’ report
- ESFA also requires them to describe the organisational structure of any joint ventures
- New governance requirements to explain how conflicts of interest are managed
- A new disclosure requirement on severance payments to reflect changes in guidance published by HM Treasury
- Updated the guidance on service concession arrangements
- New guidance on accounting for buildings whose construction was overseen by the Department for Education or a local authority and transferred to the academy trust on completion
- New guidelines on the accounting treatment for business rates
The latest Financial Handbook rules have also removed a number of previous requirements. Academies are no longer expected to submit dormant accounts to ESFA or to produce trading accounts for teaching school (hubs) as separate notes to the financial statements.
You can view the latest Academies Financial Handbook here.
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