Introduction
Equa Multi Academy Trust is a group of seven primary schools and two secondary schools located in rural Wiltshire.
In 2016, like-minded schools came together with a common goal of providing the best possible
learning opportunities for children in Wiltshire’s market towns and villages. As a result, Equa MAT was founded in 2019. With equity as their namesake, the trust’s core belief is that every child has an equal right to access excellent education – Every Child, Every Chance – and these principles extend to their non-teaching functions.
Challenge
Sandra Reynolds was appointed Chief Financial Officer soon after the trust’s inception. But she found that she’d inherited a school-led approach to financial management that didn’t meet the complex requirements of a multi-academy trust.
“I’ve experienced dozens of budgeting systems, some written by school business managers for school business managers in local maintained schools. And none of these work in an efficient manner for MATs,” she said. “Unless you are a standalone school, such systems don’t fit. Even with two schools, you’re wasting your time, as you have to log in to those systems twice to make a simple change and pull off individual reports.”
Sandra concluded, “as we grow in line with the Schools White Paper expectations, I have a commitment to make effective use of public money. I see my role to create efficiencies to increase funding available to invest in teaching and learning, as well as relieving senior leaders and governors of the burden of business compliance to allow them to concentrate on the children and education.”
Solution
In 2022, Equa purchased IMP Planner. When they implemented our unified tool for MAT-led
budgeting, forecasting and reporting, the benefits were clear. “As an accountant by trade, I entered the education sector over 20 years ago wanting to make a difference,” Sandra said. “I’ve worked in further education, private education, nurseries, academy trusts and schools, and in that time”.
“I’ve used a plethora of software, including payroll and HR, but IMP Software are the best. They’ve absolutely nailed MAT budgeting requirements.”
Describing IMP Planner as a “one-stop shop for availability of information”, Sandra added: “We get real-time access to data, which is also accessible in conversations we are having at trust level. I can provide the information that trustees need quickly, and importantly it’s relatable to them. Quick access supports quick decision making there. It also supports the training we do with local governing bodies. At the click of a button, all the relevant data is there for them to see: pupil numbers, KPIs, AWPU, income, and more – all live. If we make global changes we can see what that looks like instantly. IMP also knows the BFR process inside and out.” Sandra added,
“I have, on many occasions, described IMP Planner as the Apple of the budgeting world. I question anyone who isn’t using it in a multi-academy trust.”
Value
Delivering a new system always requires careful implementation to ensure as little disruption as
possible. Praising IMP Software’s implementation team as “the best I’ve ever worked with in my
career”, Sandra highlighted our fast and effective approach: “The team are proactive, responsive, and deliver everything on time. And they aren’t judgemental when I don’t! When you need support, someone is always there to hop onto Teams with you, which is unique. The team truly work at a rate of knots. Additionally, the live training and on-demand video training archive are just awesome.”
Every hour of admin our customers save with IMP Planner helps them focus on the important stuff. And the more time we can restore to the trusts we work with, the more resources they have to create effective and futureproof learning environments. Sandra concluded: “The level of return is the time saving, which means I can focus on the value added. The team’s knowledge, passion and care for what they are delivering is unique to the system. I can’t recommend IMP highly enough. The software has done exactly what I want and the team are proactive in improving their offering. If you don’t have it, why not? There’s nothing else on the market that works so well for MATs.”
Case study developed: March 2023
