Case study: Keystone Academy Trust
Keystone Academy Trust in Bourne was facing a shortage in central finance team capacity as a result of its fast growth from one to seven schools in two years. We prepared the month-end accounts for the whole Trust so that in-house staff could focus on other pressing demands like setting up new processes and covering staffing reorganisations.
The challenge
As a multi-academy Trust (MAT), Keystone Academy Trust was growing faster than their central team capacity could keep up with. Due to time constraints on existing staff members, the team was finding it hard to deliver key tasks. What’s more, without the capacity it needed, the central team was struggling to set up new processes or cover changes in staffing.
The Trust needed some additional capacity to help pull together the month-end management accounts for the whole Trust. It was hoped that this would free up valuable time for the team, which they could spend on specific projects and addressing staffing shortfalls.
Where we came in
Samantha Taylor, the Trust’s Chief Financial Officer, received a recommendation for Day’s Accountancy Services. After meeting Caroline, she felt that our personality and experience was a good match and we came on board.
By delegating the management accounts for the whole Trust to us, Samantha and her team looked forward to being able to focus on other demands that would allow the MAT to grow proactively, rather than chasing its tail.
What we did
We worked with the CFO to make sure that all the requirements of both the Trust and the Academies Financial Handbook were met in the preparation of the management accounts. The Trust needed the accounts to be available in detail by school, as well as in a consolidated position for the Trust Board. The individual school accounts also needed to be easily exportable for each governing body.
To achieve this, we created the accounts in an Excel spreadsheet, extracted from the Sage accounting software. The Excel files were designed so that when the data was extracted, it was checked for accuracy. This made it easy to identify minor inaccuracies, which could then be reported to the CFO for checking and correcting before closing the period.
We also supported the Trust by checking payroll for one school as part of the central function.
Samantha told us: “Caroline has been a considerable asset to our MAT. Her work method complements how our MAT operates and she is flexible in addressing the variety of tasks we have asked of her. She works independently, requiring minimal input, and always ensures that her finished work meets what we have requested.
“When Caroline works with the MAT, whether remotely or on-site, she feels like a core member of our team rather than an external consultant. This is really important as it helps build trust with all MAT employees.”
Where they are now
We’re delighted to say that our work with Keystone Academy Trust has paid off, as they’ve grown again with the addition of two further schools. They’ve also successfully recruited an additional member of staff as Deputy CFO, to provide additional in-house capacity.
Our support has allowed the Trust to keep on top of their expanding workload and continues to do so, as we still work together on an ad hoc basis – most recently to support the preparation of year-end accounts. We’re also pleased to help Samantha and her team improve their processes, by offering them solutions based on best practices.
We look forward to continuing to support the Trust as they successfully grow and thrive.
“Caroline’s understanding of academies, and our MAT, has enabled her to understand both the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of our requests. Had she not done the work then it quite possibly would still be on the to-do list! I would recommend Caroline to other MATs – but reluctantly, because I don’t want her availability to perform work for us to reduce!”
– Samantha Taylor, Chief Financial Officer at Keystone Academy Trust
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