We saved more than $1 million on our spend in the first year and just recently identified an opportunity to save about $10,000 every month on recurring expenses with PLANERGY.
Managing expenses efficiently is essential for educational institutions, especially as they tackle the challenges of operating within tight budgets.
For schools, academies, and multi-academy trusts (MATs), making every dollar count ensures that more resources are directed toward improving education and student outcomes.
But how can schools and trusts optimize their expense management?
This guide provides actionable strategies to maximize your institution’s financial resources.
From energy costs to staffing, schools, and trusts face a wide variety of financial demands.
Effective expense management is more than just cost-cutting—it’s about ensuring resources are used wisely to benefit students, staff, and the wider community.
When financial decisions are made strategically, educational institutions can:
For MATs, the stakes are even higher, as they need to coordinate budgets across multiple schools and ensure equitable allocation of resources.
To help your institution achieve financial efficiency, here are some practical strategies:
Schools and trusts rely heavily on suppliers for things like stationery, IT equipment, and food services.
Regularly reviewing supplier contracts can uncover potential savings.
It is a good practice to request fresh quotes or conduct competitive bidding with suppliers every few years.
For example, getting three quotes for replacing aging classroom furniture can help the school secure a better deal while ensuring quality.
While getting good pricing to prevent overspending is important, it’s also about the value.
You may initially spend more for longer-term savings.
For MATs overseeing multiple schools, combining supply orders can significantly reduce costs.
A trust might negotiate discounts on bulk purchases of cleaning supplies, benefiting all member schools.
Establishing strong, long-term connections with reliable suppliers helps schools negotiate for better rates or additional services.
If a supplier knows they can count on your repeated business, they’re more likely to provide discounts or prioritize your needs, taking the hassle out of finding a supplier whenever needs change.
Energy consumption often makes up a large share of a school’s budget.
By identifying ways to use energy more responsibly, schools can save money while contributing to environmental sustainability.
Start by performing an energy audit to determine where money is wasted.
For instance, outdated insulation might result in higher heating costs, and an audit can pinpoint areas for improvement.
Switching to LED lighting or installing smart thermostats can lower costs significantly.
While these upgrades may require initial investment, they pay off in the long run with reduced energy bills.
Educating staff and students about saving energy can lead to small but impactful changes.
For example, instilling the habit of switching off lights and computers when not in use ensures less power wastage throughout the day.
Schools that invest in renewable energy, such as solar panels, often see substantial savings over time.
Grants or government incentives may even cover some installation costs, making it an affordable option.
Handing tasks to external providers is sometimes more efficient than managing everything in-house.
Outsourcing services like cleaning, IT maintenance, or catering is a proven way to reduce operational costs.
First, evaluate whether outsourcing is more cost-effective than managing tasks internally.
For example, employing a full-time IT technician might cost more than hiring a company to provide support as needed.
Before signing contracts, carefully research potential service providers.
Check reviews, conduct interviews, and ask for references to ensure they offer high-quality and cost-effective solutions your school can trust.
Look for contracts that allow flexibility to adapt to your school’s changing requirements.
For example, you might only need increased cleaning services during certain times of the year, like flu season.
Administrative work, such as budgeting, payroll, and reporting, may hide additional costs caused by inefficiency.
Streamlining these tasks is a simple but effective way to reduce unnecessary expenses.
Modern accounting software, such as expense management software, can replace outdated manual processes.
These tools help schools manage budgets more quickly and with fewer errors compared to spreadsheets with manual data entry.
For example, a software solution can automate payroll for hundreds of employees with just a few clicks. Procurement software can help with supplier relationships and spend management.
The right management solution integrates with your ERP, includes a mobile app for managing things like reimbursement or expense tracking on the go, and is user-friendly so your team actually uses it.
You may need to demo multiple tools before choosing the right one for your higher education institution.
MATs can centralize purchasing systems for all schools under their management.
This not only creates consistency but also reduces duplication costs.
One trust-wide purchasing officer, for example, could negotiate better deals than multiple individual schools working independently.
With the right software, you can automate approval workflows so that requests go through the proper channels and are approved before they make it to the central purchasing officer.
Payroll systems, reporting tools, and even communication platforms can be automated to save time and money.
Automating repetitive tasks, such as expense reporting, spend control and spend management reporting or the reimbursement process, reduces the workload for admin staff, allowing them to focus on higher-priority responsibilities.
Multi-Academy Trusts have unique opportunities to cut costs by pooling resources among schools.
Sharing assets and services is one of the most practical ways to stretch a trust’s budget further.
Instead of hiring separate professionals for each school, MATs can share qualified staff among member schools.
For example, one financial officer or school counselor could serve multiple schools, maximizing expertise while minimizing payroll costs.
Centralized legal, HR, or IT support at the trust level reduces duplication.
Instead of every school paying for its own system, one trust-wide system handles these needs efficiently.
Schools under the same trust can buy expensive items, such as 3D printers or sports equipment, for shared use.
This eliminates the need for every school to purchase its own set while ensuring all students benefit.
Transparency about how money is being spent builds trust and accountability.
Stakeholders feel more involved and reassured when they know funds are directed toward the right places.
Schools that offer straightforward, easy-to-read financial reports foster greater trust.
For example, showing parents how fundraising money has been spent reassures them that their contributions are making an impact.
Regular audits of financial records help identify misuse or inefficiencies that might go unnoticed.
Addressing these issues early prevents bigger problems down the line.
Keeping staff, parents, and boards informed about financial goals and changes ensures everyone is on the same page.
This might include presenting spending summaries during PTA meetings or publishing budget updates in newsletters.
Efficient expense management isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about maximizing resources to empower education, build trust through transparency, and create opportunities for student success.
Multi-academy trusts face unique challenges compared to standalone schools. These include:
One of the primary challenges for MATs is ensuring smooth coordination across multiple schools, each with unique needs.
Developing trust-wide financial strategies that accommodate these differences can be a complex task.
MAT leaders must work closely with school administrators to understand their priorities and constraints while maintaining a cohesive, overarching financial plan aligning with the trust’s goals.
This requires careful planning, regular communication, and flexibility to adapt to each school’s circumstances.
Balancing financial resources equitably across all schools in a trust is a critical challenge.
MATs often have to support underperforming schools by allocating additional funds, but this must be done without compromising the quality of education and resources in high-performing schools.
Establishing a transparent framework for resource distribution is essential, as it helps alleviate concerns among stakeholders and ensures that all schools feel valued.
Trust leaders need to adopt data-driven strategies to make informed decisions about where to allocate funds for the maximum benefit of students.
Managing financial data across multiple schools is both time-consuming and labor-intensive.
MATs must collect, standardize, and analyze data from various entities to clearly understand their overall financial health.
This data informs budget planning, risk assessment, and long-term strategy development. Implementing advanced accounting systems and automation tools can make this process more efficient.
Additionally, regular audits and reviews help maintain transparency and compliance with financial regulations, ensuring that the trust remains accountable.
To overcome these challenges, MATs need strong and adaptable budgets and financial management systems, clear communication channels, and a commitment to equitable practices.
Expense management in education is not a one-time task—it’s an ongoing process that requires attention, innovation, and collaboration.
By implementing the strategies outlined above, schools and trusts can create sustainable financial practices that allow them to invest more in their students’ success.
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