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CIPFA Certificate in Financial Reporting for Academies

The CIPFA Accredited Certificate in Financial Reporting for Academies has been designed by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), in conjunction with the National College for School Leadership. It aims to provide the knowledge and skills to enable successful participants to play a key role in the financial management of academies.

Programme Details

Programme element	Details
Financial reporting requirements for academies	Presents an overview of the financial reporting environment for academies, including regulations that apply to financial reporting for charitable companies.
Objectives of financial statements and underlying processes	Provides a recap on double-entry bookkeeping, accounting concepts and how the different financial statements are linked.
Performance Statements	Examines in general the relevant financial statements required by academies to demonstrate their financial performance, including accounting policies and notes to the accounts.
Balance Sheet	Explores the structure and content of balance sheets with added focus on key elements such as tangible fixed assets.
Cash Flow Statement	Builds on the distinction between cash and accrual accounting to examine the preparation and use of this primary financial statement.
Interpretation of financial statements	Introduces the topic of financial ratio analysis and analyses ways in which useful information can be obtained from financial statements to assist managers and other decision-makers.
Academy conversion – practical issues	Focuses on financial reporting issues which are key to the academy conversion process, such as the initial valuation of fixed assets.

Who is the programme for?

In order to be considered eligible for the programme you must:

Have or plan to have a key role in the management of school/academy finances or
Currently working in a local authority, the Department for Education, an academy, or a school that is intending to convert to an academy within 12 months or
Working in an organisation with an interest in supporting Academies financial management
Have at least one of the following qualifications:

a National College school business management qualification
a bookkeeping or accounting qualification qualification broadly equivalent to NVQ level 3 or level 4
a business or financial qualification broadly equivalent top NVQ level 4 or above or have knowledge or understanding of the key principles of ledger accounting broadly equivalent to NVQ level 3 or 4
Completed CIPFA Financial Reporting for Academies - Introduction to Bookkeeping online programme (see below)

In the case of applicants whose organisations are sponsoring their fees, you have the support of your headteacher/principal (in the case of applicants working in a school or academy) or line manager.

CIPFA Financial Reporting for Academies - Introduction to Bookeeping

If you lack a good understanding of bookkeeping but wish to do this programme and all of the other criteria are met, we offer a short bookkeeping course, consisting of some study materials and some online tuition sessions, and access to a CIPFA tutor to clarify understanding of the materials. This bookkeeping course is available for an additional fee of £50+VAT.

Further information regarding the content/length of study for this course is available in our fact sheet.

If you are interested in purchasing this additional bookkeeping material please click here to complete the enrolment form.

What is involved in the CIPFA Certificate in Financial Reporting for Academies programme

All of the study materials are provided online. Support for the online study is provided in 3 ways:

Access to a CIPFA-tutor moderated online discussion forum
Access to a CIPFA tutor via email to resolve individual queries with the materials
Attendance at a one day CIPFA workshop led by a CIPFA tutor. Workshops are scheduled in various locations around England, such as London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Manchester.
Assessment is via a 90 minute online multiple choice paper at the end of the programme.

The CIPFA workshop is scheduled part way through the recommended study period and provides an essential opportunity to:

Discuss issues arising out of study of the online materials
Air and discuss practical financial reporting issues associated with the transition to academy status
Focus on preparation for the assessment.

Duration

While there is flexibility to work through the material at your own pace, it is expected that most participants would work through the material in around 8-12 weeks, culminating in assessment at the end of that period.

Cost

The fee of £400 + VAT provides access to the online materials for the period of the programme, attendance to the CIPFA workshop, access to the National College online discussion forum and access to a CIPFA helpline.

Apply

Applications for 2012 can now be made by visiting the National College application page. Applications for 2012 will be considered on a monthly basis as follows:

Applications Completed /References Received	Applicants Notified of outcome of Application/Registration Confirmed
01 - 31 January 2012	10 February 2012
01- 29 February 2012	08 March 2012
01- 31 March 2012	10 April 2012
01- 30 April 2012	08 May 2012
01- 31 May 2012	11 June 2012
01- 30 June 2012	09 July 2012
01- 31 July 2012	08 August 2012
01- 31 August 2012	10 September 2012
01- 30 September 2012	08 October 2012
01- 31 Octotber 2012	09 November 2012
01- 30 November 2012	10 December 2012

Workshop dates will be confirmed when your acceptance onto the programme has been confirmed.