The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) published their latest guidance for academy trusts and their auditors last week. As our readers with a vested interest in education will already know, the Academies Accounts Direction 2016 to 2017 is a vital resource and the main reference document for the production of academy annual reports and financial statements for academy accounting periods ending on 31 August 2017.

It contains information to help academies comply with their academy accounting funding agreements and understand their funding and payments.  It also demystifies key areas, and the practicalities of the ESFA’s reporting regime.

As expected, there are few major accounting alterations which will impact on all trusts. However, there are some key changes which will be important to the trusts that are going to be affected.

To help you decipher the AAD, Cheshire Accountants Afford Bond, have produced a summary discussing the implications of the key changes, using our knowledge and experience of academies accounting.

The Afford Bond academy accounting department have outlined below the key things to note to help you comply with academies governance and financial assurance are:

·         the removal of the option for academy trusts to defer accounts;

·         a clarification of the disclosures required for transfers of existing academies;

·         the need for income recognition where an asset is being constructed under the Free Schools or Priority School Building Programme;

·         the requirement for trusts with more than 250 employees to publish information on their websites relating to the gender pay gap in their organisation

·         A reminder that the Apprenticeship Levy on hiring opportunities was introduced in April 2017.

 To obtain a copy of the full summary please email kate.quirk@affordbond.com   If you would like more information on academies accounting services, or if you have any question about the Academies Accounts Direction 2016 to 2017, please contact our Academy School and Education specialist, Paul Edwards at our Afford Bond Nantwich office or complete the contact form here on our website.