Outsourcing financial functions enables schools to save time, effort and costs and lets them focus on what they do best – educating children.
Technology advancements in recent years mean that it’s no longer cheaper or more efficient to manage your finances in-house. In fact, there are a lot of benefits associated with outsourcing your financial tasks. We look at some of these below:
Greater breadth and depth of expertise
Businesses that provide financial services have a wealth of experience behind them. They have qualified staff who undergo continued training in accounting and technology and keep up to date with changes to rules and legislation.
When you outsource your financial function, you have access to the combined knowledge and expertise of all staff members.
Note: if you are looking to outsource your financial functions we recommend you select a company that has extensive experience working with schools.
Internal controls
Fraud in New Zealand schools has cost over $1.5 million of taxpayer funding over the past 3 years - and that’s just the cases that were investigated by the Ministry.
When you have one or two employees handling your books your school has a higher risk of fraud – it’s much easier for them to steal from you and cover their tracks.
Outsourcing reduces the risk of fraud because of separation of duties and the rigorous steps taken when providing financial statements. Most companies who provide financial services have two sets of eyes reviewing each step, with different levels of staff working on one account. One employee is usually tasked with reviewing the other’s work to ensure there aren’t discrepancies or errors.
Information at the click of a button
Gone are the days when you must wait for weeks for your report to be posted out. Many accounting service providers are using web-based software, like Xero, which means you can access your school's financial records from anywhere and at any time.
More cost effective
The real cost of schools undertaking financial services in-house is often hidden. For example, you may pay $45,000 per year for the financial role. But there will also be overhead costs like sick days, holidays, KiwiSaver, ACC, training and financial software.
When you add all of these up it’s not difficult for the true cost of an in-house resource to be in the realm of $50,000 to $60,000. Outsourcing your financial function is likely to cost a fifth of this amount.
How we can help
CES is a school-owned, not-for-profit organisation specialising in the provision of goods and services to the education sector.
We offer financial service packages that give you freedom to choose CES’s level of activity in your preschool, school or trust’s accounting function. These range from full service packages involving payment of accounts, preparation of monthly reports, calculation and payment of G.S.T etc, to financial overviews in which our team liaises with your staff on a regular basis to review financial performance.
To learn more contact us, or take a look at our Financial Services brochure (below).