LEO Academy Trust, an all-primary multi-academy trust established in 2015, will serve over 6,000 pupils across 12 primary schools in the London Borough of Sutton and Surrey from October 2025. The Trust fosters a network of excellence and inclusion, offering extensive opportunities for its pupils, staff, and local communities.
The Challenge: Seamless Financial System Integration
In 2022, LEO Academy Trust sought a new budgeting, forecasting, and reporting approach tailored for multi-academy trusts, requiring automated integration with PS Financials (now IRIS Financials Suite). Beverley Smith, the Trust’s Business Director of Finance, explained that the strategic need for a new budgeting system arose from their transition to PS Financials. Previously, loading new budgets to the Finance system was a full-day task, and data was only updated periodically. A dynamic budget was essential, leading to the decision to switch budgeting providers.
Beverley also aimed for a more effective reporting platform, as the previous system’s reporting was insufficient, particularly for budget amendments. The new system needed to facilitate quick and easy comparison of different scenarios.
The Solution: IMP Planner Eliminating Inefficiencies
After extensive research, IMP Planner, with its direct link to PS Financials, was chosen as the optimal solution. Beverley highlighted the seamless connection between IMP Planner and IRIS for budget uploading, which saved countless hours previously spent formatting CSV files and manually uploading them. Now, budget amendments can be processed easily.
Beverley also highly praised the IMP Software team’s customer journey and dedicated support, describing it as “the best support I have ever had,” with immediate assistance via chat and prompt web sessions for unresolved issues.
The Impact: Time Savings and Granular Reporting
IMP Planner delivered two significant benefits.
Firstly, its fundamental integration with IRIS Financials Suite provided substantial time savings in manually uploading budgets, allowing budgets to be moved between IMP and IRIS at the touch of a button.
Secondly, IMP Planner offers numerous reports that support budget and forecast preparation and analysis. Beverley noted the improved reporting quality and its importance in maintaining accurate budgets for Trust management. As the Trust grew from nine to eleven schools, having up-to-date information became critical. Beverley finds IMP user-friendly for amending staffing and expenditure lines, and for setting up new users with restricted access, which is crucial as the Trust expands.
