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SECTION 6: Supporting Evidence Base
6.3 Financial Benefi ts
6.3.2 Financial
Management Objectives
We will provide an ei cient and ef ective
i nancial management function covering:
Enhanced reporting mechanism to the
Board of Management supporting the
Boards' responsibilities and obligations
to the SFC and Scottish Government;
Financial regulations;
A i nancial planning process, which
rel ects the College's business as well as
i nancial objectives;
Accounting policies and annual i nancial
statements, which rel ect best practice
and adhere to relevant SORPS, i nancial
reporting standards and the additional
reporting requirements required as a
result of charitable status;
A resource allocation model, which fairly
and openly allocates resources across
budget centres;
A high standard of management
information for monitoring College
performance against the Financial Plan;
A i nancial forecasting model to assist
in a forward looking i nancial control
environment; and
The provision and ef ective use of
i nancial benchmarking information.
6.3.3 Financial
Services Objectives
We will provide an ei cient and ef ective
i nancial services function including:
The provision of student centred
i nancial services covering for example,
the payment of bursaries/allowances,
collection of courses fees; nursery fees
and halls of residence fees;
Procedures and practices that comply
with equalities legislation;
Robust i nancial controls & procedures;
A i nancial accounting system
incorporating web-based services;
Treasury management systems
and the related maximisation of
investment income;
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Payments to suppliers, staf and students;
Collection of income and
debt recovery; and
Ensuring the College meets its tax
collection and related reporting
obligations.
6.3.4 Other Benei ts
and Opportunities
We will introduce new ways of working
to benei t services including:
On-line and web based i nancial
services facilitating payment of
fees and chargeable services;
Increased opening hours for services
to students;
Improved functionality of
i nance systems;
Enhanced i nancial reporting systems;
More ef ective budget management/
reporting systems with easier availability
to managers;
Improved electronic transfer systems;
Greater integration between i nancial
systems and other management
information systems;
Greater integration between i nancial
systems and HR/payroll systems; and
Reduced transaction costs.
In addition, the College's external
stakeholders should benei t from
the merger. For example:
Enhanced functionality of the i nance
system will provide reports in the
prescribed form to SFC, OSCR,
National Statistics, Revenue & Customs,
External & Internal auditors;
Improved procurement procedures and
enhanced use of electronic procurement
services, which will be assisted by the
sector's procurement body APUC;
More l exibility to customers / suppliers
regarding payments and document
handling; and
Greater use of BACS payments to
suppliers with emailed remittances.
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6.3.5 Merger Related
Challenges
The merger will have a signii cant and
immediate impact on the work of the
i nance function. The signii cant challenges
are noted below:
Financial systems will be integrated and
a new coding and cost centre structure
developed to rel ect the management
structure of the new College. It may
be necessary to continue with two
separate i nancial systems during 2010-
11 with the introduction of a unii ed
system with ef ect from 1 August 2011;
It will be necessary to employ some
temporary accounting staf during the
merger process to assist in developing
i nancial systems;
The integration of the i nancial system
with other IT systems such as student
records, HR, Payroll and student funding
systems:;
Financial regulations must be approved
and available from 1 August 2010;
A comprehensive budget must be
available for the 2010/11 academic/
i nancial year, service delivery could be
adversely af ected if budget managers
do not have a budget and/or do not feel
empowered to make spending decisions;
Terms and conditions of enrolment will
need to be harmonised at a very early
stage for the 2010-11 admissions process;
2010-11 fee waiver and refund policies
need to be agreed prior to 1 August 2010;
The basis for calculating part-time fees for
2010-11 needs to be reviewed at an early
stage to try and achieve consistency of
approach where appropriate;
Payment terms and debt collection
procedures will need to be harmonised
with ef ect from 1 August 2010 to ensure
consistency of practice;
Professional services for the new College
will need to be arranged at an early
stage of the merger integration process
including; Banking, Internal Auditors,
External Auditors, Insurance Services
and Legal Services.
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