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21 October 2020
By Michael Howard

Schools Financial Services Newsletter - October 2020

Teacher Pay Scale Update One September 2020

Following the end of the consultation for Teacher Pay Scales on 14 September, documentation has now been published.

The Budget Planning Software has since been updated with the new pay scales. If you have any queries regarding this, please contact the helpdesk.

An email was sent at the end of September requesting information on your schools pay scales, if you haven't sent in a response yet, please do so to ensure your pay scales are set-up correctly.

RBS Cards Online

Some of you may be aware, but RBS are discontinuing CardsOnline and replacing it with a different system.

Schools Financial Services are in contact with KCC and RBS and will provide additional information as soon as we have it.

BCM and Covid-19 Funding

After discussions with the Budget Team it has been agreed that the Covid-19 funding coded to I18A, B & C will not be included in the figures to calculation the allowable BCM value this year.

The BCM form will have the usual Ledger codes as in previous years and will only include the I18 for PE Grant and UIFSM funding – this will be clearly stated on the BCM form by the Returns Team.

Please note that any excess Covid-19 funding will not be accepted as a reason to be over the BCM allowance as the Government expect this emergency funding to be spent.

VAT on Hospitality and Tourism

VAT reduction on hospitality and tourism was originally reduced from the standard rate of 20% to the reduced rate of 5% for the period of July 15 2020 to January 12 2021.

This has now been extended to 31 March 2021.

Data Collection

On week commencing 16 November, we'll be sending out our data collection to ensure we have the correct contact details for any future communication.

This will contain all of the contacts we have for your school and the relevant job functions attached to them, of which we use to ensure individuals receive the relevant information.

Please ensure you return this, even if no updates are required.

Balance Control Mechanism (BCM)

For schools that were over their BCM for the 2019-20 Financial Year, the first reminder to submit your evidence will be sent to you on week commencing 19 October.

BPS Medway Teacher Pay Scales

The pay scales for teaching staff at Medway schools from 1 September 2020 on the BPS have now been updated as per publication from Medway Council.

In This Issue

  • Teacher Pay Scale Update
  • VAT on Hospitality and Tourism
  • Autumn Term Training Webinars
  • BCM and Covid-19 Funding
  • SALE - Benchmarking Report

and much more!

Autumn Term Training Webinars

The SFS Training Team are holding a number of free webinars via Zoom over the autumn term, such as:.

  • Introduction to Schools Finance
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Accounts Payable
  • Senior Leaders
  • Introduction to BPS

and many more!

If you're interested in attending, ensure you have booked your place via CPD Online.

Finance Information Group

Thank you to those who attended the Finance Information Group on Wednesday 14 October. We hope you found this both helpful and informative.

Newsletter Redesign

Schools Financial Services have been looking at re-desiging our newsletter. We now have a finalised version and look forward to sharing this with you from next month!

SALE - Benchmarking Report

Schools Financial Services are having a 10% off sale on all Benchmarking Report orders received by 23 October 2020.

The report provides benchmarking against other Kent schools based on filter criteria provided by yourselves. The report has a variety of different graphs/charts detailing Income and Expenditure information with comparison against other schools.

An example of the Benchmarking Report can be found at
Financial Benchmarking Report 

School eBay Accounts

A number of schools have contacted our helpdesk to seek advice on if they're able to have an eBay account.

Schools are permitted to buy and sell items on eBay, however certain rules apply.

Some of these rules include:

  • both the eBay and associated PayPal account must be registered in the name of the school
  • if the items sold are IT equipment, schools must ensure drivers are professionally wiped to ensure no sensitive data remains.

There are also VAT implications of selling goods.

For full guidance and rules, please contact the Schools Financial Services Helpdesk.