With the Academy Trust Handbook 2026 now in effect, maintaining robust financial oversight, accurate reporting and effective internal controls remains essential. A little time spent reviewing financial processes now can help reduce administrative pressure and support better financial decision-making throughout the year.
Key Areas to Focus On
Stay on top of reconciliations to ensure bank transactions and financial records are accurate and up to date.
Review outstanding transactions, including unpaid invoices, purchase orders and financial commitments.
Strengthen purchasing controls by reviewing approval processes and expenditure procedures.
Prepare management accounts to ensure financial information is accurate and ready for review by senior leaders and trustees.
Review financial procedures against the updated Academy Trust Handbook requirements.
SoFA Assistant Updated for 2025/26
The SoFA Assistant has now been updated for the 2025/26 financial year and is available for academy customers ahead of the 31 December submission deadline, helping to simplify reporting and support compliance requirements.
Run the SoFA Assistant report to produce the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) return (excluding notes) and confirm that any detailed extraction being used to create the final SoFA is accurate and as expected.
The SoFA Assistant is available in both a Single Establishment and the Central Admin Function. To use the report, simply enable editing and then enable content when prompted.
The report provides:
SoFA Reporting
A breakdown of income and expenditure during the year across Restricted, Unrestricted and Restricted Fixed Asset Funds.
Balances by Codes
Supporting information to assist with validating your financial data.
Coming Soon: Access Assets Integration
We're excited to announce the upcoming integration between Access Education Finance and the new Access Assets management solution.
This fixed asset lifecycle management system will provide a seamless experience between platforms, reducing duplicate data entry and helping finance teams manage assets more efficiently.
To stay up to date with product updates, support resources, training materials and best practice guidance, visit our customer resources below.
Helpful Resource: Bank Reconciliation
Keeping bank and cash book balances aligned is a key part of maintaining accurate financial records.
Whether you're completing a reconciliation, investigating discrepancies or need to reverse a reconciliation to make corrections, our guidance resources can help.
Beyond Compliance: Making the Most of the Academy Trust Handbook 2026
With the updated Academy Trust Handbook now in effect, academy trusts have an opportunity to look beyond compliance and strengthen their approach to financial governance.
Effective financial management is not just about meeting regulatory requirements. It is about improving financial visibility, strengthening internal controls and ensuring leaders have access to reliable information to support informed decision-making.
The handbook serves as a timely reminder that strong governance helps build financial resilience and ensures resources deliver the greatest possible value for pupils.
Is your trust simply meeting the requirements, or using financial insight to drive better decisions?
Looking Ahead
With key reporting deadlines approaching, now is a great time to review processes, maintain accurate financial records and ensure your organisation is prepared for the months ahead.
If you need support on any of the topics covered in this edition, our Help Centre contains articles, guidance and product documentation to help you get the most from your software.
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