Education Today Education Today Magazine
Navigating today’s complex Multi Academy Trust (MAT) Back-Office operation is a key challenge for a Chief Financial Operations Officer (CFOO). With rocks and reefs waiting to catch out the business service support team that manage the Trust’s Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, Payroll and Reporting activities.
The continuing emergence of Trust CFOO underlines the important connection between finance and operations. A properly equipped and empowered CFOO will better support the C-Level with one eye on the Trust’s balance sheet and the other on Back-Office operational performance.
Trust challenges continually evolve in shape and placement meaning that an effective radar warning system is needed to navigate a safe passage to High Quality Trust.
Our MAT clients are circumnavigating challenges:
• Funding and financial sustainability
• Operational complexity
• Compliance and regulatory requirements
• Resource allocation and efficiency
• Stakeholder engagement and communication
A Trust often experiences ‘choppier waters’ with Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activities – growth pains to be overcome to prevent unnecessary risk and poor performance. Multiple legacy overlapping business applications left as shipwrecked data silos or islands strewn across the Trust will cause danger if left unsecured, unmarked, and unmanaged.
• No single version of truth for Trust-wide reporting
• The increased information and data security risk
• Complex and costly data management operations
Our digital experts are MAT Pilots and alongside the CFOO strengthen the Trust ‘bridge’ to be better equipped for all weather conditions.
A better-informed Trust C-Level Team will anticipate and predict conditions as opposed to just responding to them, determining the best course ahead to achieve the Trust’s future vision.
Harnessing modular and integrated Oracle and ServiceNow Cloud technologies – for the Back-Office will mean Trust automation and efficiency savings. Improving Trust transparency, control, and continuous innovation will deliver better educational outcomes benefitting the Trust, community, and pupils alike impacting:
• Finance: Revolutionising Trust finance execution with streamlined solutions for budgeting, reporting, and forecasting reducing administration for improved strategic MAT decisioning
• Procurement: Collaborative procurement initiatives to leverage economies of scale within MAT by pooling resources and negotiating bulk contracts achieving significant cost savings across the Trust,
• Human Resources: Improving people and talent management strategies to ensure all Trust employees are attracted, developed and retained contributing to deliver inspiring education for pupils
• Payroll: Supporting sophisticated payroll eligibility rules and payroll processing frequencies with detailed cost control management and Trust compensation reporting and modelling analysis tools
• Reporting: Game-changing analytics with deep insights into financial performance, operational effectiveness using predictions to anticipate future trends, areas for improvement, and mitigate risk
So, if you are charged transforming your Trust’s Back-Office future and this
article has stimulated your ambitions for financial and people management
activities – please do not hesitate to get in touch
See us at the Schools & Academies Show 2024!
Visit us at Stand F12 in the Business & Finance Theatre
Don’t miss our session!
Empowering Trust Growth Excellence with Intelligent Back-Office Transformation 10:55-11:25am | Business and Finance Theatre
