ISBL Symposium

Financial Planning and Budget Setting

26 Feb 2025

Conference Aston, Birmingham City Centre

Date: 26th February 2025

Time: 09:00 – 17:00

Topics that will be covered:

  • Using ICFP to inform and set budgets

  • Budget assumptions and pay conditions

  • SEND Funding considerations

  • Using systems to drive financial planning

  • Wider budget considerations looking at impacts and mitigating risks 

Meet our Speakers

  • – Funding Specialist

    Financial Planning , it depends on how you look at things

    This financial planning session explores the critical role of perspective in shaping budget setting decisions. We will look at the importance of shared responsibility, using the best information available and building the financial resilience of an organisation using an agile approach.

    In a complex funding landscape having confidence in the information that you have available to you and making necessary assumptions with clarity is essential if your budget is going to deliver school improvement and financial stability.

  • School Business Leader of the Year Award Nominee

    Mark O’Brien is COO at one of the country’s largest SEND schools, an SRMA, a fellow of ISBL through which he contributed to their recent research into the applicability of Operational Excellence to education systems and is a member on the government advisory Schools and Academies Funding Group. He has held senior officer and governance roles in the education sector over the past 15 years and has worked to support children and vulnerable adults for more than 25 years. Having recently established an initiative supporting children displaced due to domestic violence and has a passion for supporting organisations with a social purpose and promoting social mobility.

  • Ex MAT CFO & Head of Education Strategy, IMP Software

    MAT Budgeting 101: How to achieve a cohesive approach across your schools.

    Synopsis: Budgeting season is always a challenging time for MAT CFOs. With so many assumptions to apply and scenarios to run across multiple schools that can vary, between multiple LAs, there are a lot of plates to keep spinning. Compound this with the use of multiple systems and spreadsheets and data can quickly become inaccurate and inconsistent, untrustworthy and your workload significant.

    Now we’re approaching the beginning of this year's budgeting round, this session will look at our tops tips, gained from working with over 500MATs around how to ensure an effective communication, preparation, and review process, that will lead to better, more consistent budgets

  • Simon has been in the academy sector since 2012 and is the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) national lead on school finance and efficiency. As a qualified Accountant, a Project Manager and Lean Practitioner, he spent a number of years working in the charity sector and a lot of his career working on finance, ICT and capital projects.

    Simon also worked in one of the largest FE colleges in the country so has knowledge of both charity and education accounting. Simon is well known across the sector having delivered numerous training sessions and presentations with the Education & Skills Funding Authority (ESFA), and on behalf of ISBL. He is also a member of one of the ESFA’s Financial Assurance working groups and the ISBL Funding Special Interest Group.

  • Using ICFP and ASOT to inform, set and drive budgets based on prior year trends

    Having conducted analytical reviews of hundreds of schools and academies across all phases, it is apparent that there is persistent and significant evidence of common themes and weaknesses in their budget construction and management systems and processes. This session will start by looking at what these themes and weaknesses are, how they arise, how they are undermining excellent financial management, and how they are hindering their ability to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of their resource use management. The session will then consider and discuss how a proactive and effective use of ICFP and the ASOT tool can be used to inform, set and drive schools budgets based on prior year trends, address these weaknesses and improve their budget systems and processes. To achieve this it will consider how to do this by including elements of curriculum and staff planning, staff structural analysis, and the use of succinct ICFP metrics and the ASOT tool to inform and sharpen schools’ budgetary thinking.

  • Matthew has worked in the education sector for 17 years, and with academy trusts for over 12 years. His particular expertise is helping multi-academy trusts grow and develop through developing close and long-term relationships with them. This covers everything from day-to-day problem solving through to high-level strategic support. He also has significant experience in public procurement and general commercial law.

ISBL Symposium Events - expanding and growing to better support our members

  • ISBL Symposium Events

    ISBL is excited to announce the launch of our symposium events in 2025. These specialist events will focus exclusively on one discipline that is aligned with our professional standards for an entire day. This focused approach will give our members and non-members significant benefits and valuable takeaways.

    Our first event, on financial planning and budget setting, will take place on Wednesday, 26 February 2025.

Tickets are available for purchase through our website. Members can buy tickets for £200 plus VAT, while non-members can purchase them for £240 plus VAT.  

Your ticket includes access to workshops led by practitioners and specialists, networking opportunities with colleagues and our event sponsor, refreshment breaks, and a three-course lunch. 

Click here to register