Cavendish Learning Trust has a centralised finance team.

The Chief Executive Officer is the Accounting Officer of the Trust.

The Chief Finance Officer has an overview of all the finances of the Trust and manages the finance team.

School Business Officers / Assistants at each academy continue to be the local contact for staff at their school to administer procurement, local cash transactions for trips and lunches etc, and to assist with local budget management. Although they have a close relationship with the Shared Service team they continue to be line managed by the school at which they work.

The finance team manages the Trust’s bank account and treasury, supplier payments, payroll, the issue of sales invoices, pension scheme and taxation issues. The finance system is maintained centrally and monthly and annual reporting is taken care of by this team to be distributed to each school. Local schools continue to manage school specific issues such as Early Years Funding, SEN, absence insurance claims, etc.

All schools in the Trust use the same finance package and this will be implemented as part of the conversion process. Finance staff who were based at the new school will have a strong and close link to the central finance team post conversion. The finance function of Cavendish Learning Trust provides the new school with the support necessary to help the whole finance team work together as a group.

Support on budget setting, management reporting, financial reporting and project management is provided to the school.

The Trust is responsible for filing the annual accounts as required by the Funding Agreement.