According to the Guardian newspaper, 45 Gloucestershire schools registered to become academies last year. This means Gloucestershire is leading the way in schools free from local authority control and funding.

As Ian Selwood of Randall and Payne Accountants explains: “We knew the uptake would be high in the county and had already formed a new department within our company offering specialist services to schools wishing to convert. Within the last year we have worked with 16 schools as they have become academies, but conversion is only the start of the story. Our hard work really starts once the conversion is complete, for example there are still a lot of funding and VAT questions which remain unclear or undecided by the government.

In June this year the final version of the ‘VAT Guidance for Academies’ was published, clarifying how academies should recover VAT through a new scheme for academies, ‘with special provisions’ under the Finance Act 2011. The documentation offers some basic guidance but will certainly not answer the majority of the questions that we are receiving from schools in the county.

VAT could be one of the most complex financial aspects for academy schools, and we have already seen that HMRC have been seen to not take lightly to academies making errors when it comes to VAT, with the potential of penalties being imposed a real possibility. This goes to prove that there is no “soft-landing” approach for academies that are new to filing VAT returns and, as such, care needs to be taken when submitting returns and checking the amounts declared are correct.”

Randall & Payne’s academies team has built the specialist knowledge to deal with the work required in this sector. Randall & Payne is a founder member of the academies forum within the UK200 Group, a national association of quality assured professionals now dealing with in excess of 40 academy schools across the country, and sharing knowledge.

Ian Selwood: “We are frequently asked to consult on documentation for academies before it is published, which offers an extra insight into the government’s thinking. It also gives us the opportunity to feed back our findings and experience. We have been working with schools across the country for over 25 years on projects from financial planning for green energy projects, to strategic planning and general accountancy work and are proud that we are in a position to serve this massive educational shake up. Let’s hope it helps raise the standard of education in the county even further.”

For more information contact Ian Selwood on 01242 548600