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Budget approval process

Get an idea of what your budget approval process might look like, so you're clear on when you're involved and what you need to do.

Last reviewed on 25 September 2023
School types: All•School phases: All•Ref: 40545
Contents
  1. The full board of trustees must approve the budget
  2. Steps 1 to 3: what happens before you approve the budget
  3. Step 4: prepare to approve the budget
  4. Step 5: approve the budget 

Our associate education experts Brendan Hollyer, Graeme Hornsby and David New helped us write this article.

The full board of trustees must approve the budget

As a full board, you must:

  • Ensure rigour and scrutiny in budget management (any committees responsible for finance must also ensure this)
  • Approve a balanced budget and minute its approval
  • Make sure budget forecasts are compiled accurately, based on realistic assumptions, and reflect lessons learned from previous years

This is outlined in sections 2.9 to 2.11 of the Academy Trust Handbook (ATH).

You'll do this through:

Below is a suggested timeline for single academies – it's based on the July deadline and assumes you have a finance committee (some boards call it the audit and risk committee). Although your academy might do things differently (for example, you might not have a committee), this process will give you an idea of when different stages can