9. Financial Returns

Last updated: Tue, Sep 20th, 2016 11:53:10 am

9.1 MONTHLY FINANCIAL RETURNS

In order to facilitate the Department's own monitoring, a profile of anticipated receipts into and payments from the School Fund, month by month for the financial year, and agreeing with the approved gross allocation, must be submitted by the Board as soon as the allocation for the year has been approved. A financial report, as outlined at Appendix 2 to the Manual or on a similar computer-generated form, must be submitted monthly during the course of the financial year. These reports must show actual receipts and payments for the month in detail (see notes to Report hereunder). They must include a budget control statement containing the initial profile, actual receipts and payments to date and projected receipts and payments to year end. These monthly reports must reach the Department by the tenth working day of the following month. Copies of these reports must be tabled at the next following meeting of the Board. A copy of the end of period bank statement must accompany the reports for the School Fund Account. School Division Financial Section (Athlone) monitors these returns. Original bank statements are to be retained by the school for a minimum of seven years.

9.2 ANNUAL FINANCIAL RETURNS

The Board must prepare a financial report, in respect of each financial year ending on 31 December. The December report, as well as being a monthly report may also be used for the purpose of the annual report. This report, must be formally approved as such by the Board, and forwarded to the Department by Mid- February following the end of the financial year. The completed accounts must be accompanied by such other information as the Minister may require from time to time.

The financial details of the adult education programme must be accounted for separately from the School Fund to the Board of Management and the Department of Education & Skills. These details must be submitted to the Department of Education and Skills with the financial reports.

Notes to Monthly/Annual Financial Reports

The constituent parts of the monthly/annual financial report are:-

  1. A statement of Receipts and Payments in respect of the School Fund.

  2. A Bank Reconciliation Statement in respect of the School Fund.

  3. A Statement of cash assets and liabilities of the School Fund.

  4. A Petty Cash Statement.

  5. A Statement of Receipts and Payments and Bank Reconciliation Statement in respect of the self-financing adult education programme.

  6. A School Fund Budget Control statement.

  7. A copy of the end of period bank statement

  8. The Report should be completed for each month.

The Report should also be completed for the year as a whole i.e., showing balance at 1 January, receipts and payments for the whole year, net for year as a whole and balance at 31 December. This may be used for the purposes of the Annual Report to be approved by the Board and submitted to the Department.

The various accounts included in the Report are set out in linear format rather than in double column format. This does not require an understanding of debits and credits. It also allows them to be entered on any standard computer spreadsheet.

The constituent parts of the Statement of Receipts and Payments are:–

  1. Balance at start of period €

  2. Receipts €

  3. Payments €

  4. Net for period €

  5. Balance forward €

Breakdowns will be given within the broad headings of Receipts and Payments. These will follow the current division viz.

  1. Administration

  2. Maintenance of School

  3. Maintenance of classes

  4. Miscellaneous.

5. Payments must be analysed into pay and non-pay as at present. Receipts are not analysed into pay and non-pay.

6. Other sub-divisions will be used to suit local management needs and the Department's central needs. Some changes in these sub-divisions are proposed from the current Statement.

7. Payments in the Statement must include cheques issued but not cashed or cancelled. Receipts in the Statement must include receipts to hand but not lodged to the bank account.

8. Where activities are undertaken on the basis of recoupment from some external source, then both receipts and payments relative to this activity and source must be shown to allow for verification of the recoupment.

9. Cheques issued as petty cash floats must not be shown as payments in the Statement of Receipts and Payments. Amounts spent from petty cash (as distinct from issues of petty cash) should be entered under the appropriate payment analysis headings when vouchers have been received and the payments accepted. The amount of the petty cash issued and not spent and vouched must be shown as Petty Cash Unexpended in the balance carried forward in the Statement of Receipts and Payments.

10. The Budget Control Statement requires schools to prepare a profile at the beginning of the year showing how receipts and payments within the budget will fall each month, under appropriate category headings. It is accepted that estimation on a monthly basis cannot be done accurately. The Budget report at the end of each month must show actual receipts and payments for each month to date and an up-to-date estimate for each succeeding month. The comparison between the two must show the variation from the budget. Whether variations during the course of the year can be contained within the total budget for the year as a whole is the most significant question, which the Budget Report is designed to address.

11. A computer-generated report on the same format may be used instead of the manual form supplied