SS14 72 Financial Planning Tool for Kent Schools and Academies.

Descriptions

Kent County Council Schools Financial Services team sells a Financial and Support Service to schools and academies within Kent and Medway. The support service centres on a Financial Planning Tool which provides the ability for a school to plan, set and monitor budgets, with a facility to create further budget scenarios. Currently the tool is an in house developed Excel spreadsheet that has become increasingly complex, is not sufficiently robust and is time consuming to maintain and support. The Schools Financial Services Team and customers they support are happy with the functionality of the tool; however an off the shelf product which continues to meet the needs, and is more robust and stable is now required. The requirement for continued public sector efficiencies remains at the forefront of strategic planning, and the Schools Financial Services section is no different in this respect. As a result, the Council is seeking tenders for a fully encompassing, effective and efficient financial management tool, that can be utilised for both council funded schools and academies.The solution will be required to deliver the following high-level requirements:1. Ability to plan, set and monitor school and academy budgets.2. Ability to calculate salary cost using a number of salary pay schemes including the current Kent Range Scheme.3. To be compatible with school accounting systems, including SIMS FMS6, PS Financials and Corero.4. Ability to comply with the Council's/DfE/EFA financial returns and requirements.5. Ability for the council to access, with appropriate permission, individual school's financial data.6. Draft financial plans must be stored to a minimum level of IL2.7. Delivery to individual schools without the need for software to be individually deployed, but with each school having a unique identifier.Further requirements are detailed in the Invitation to Tender documentation.The majority of KCC funded schools will utilise this solution. Academies and other LA maintained schools will also be able to purchase this tool as is the current practice. Schools Financial Services will provide training and a skills support service for all users, although technical support will be required from the provider. The use of the product to schools/academies within this solution is to be controlled by the Schools Financial Services and the provider will be required to enter into a non-competition agreement with the Council, and agree to provide technical support for any new educational establishments that are added to the solution. Therefore an appropriate licensing model is required.