Financial Monitoring and Reporting
The board of St Joseph's School ensures there is regular financial monitoring and reporting to determine the financial position of the school, support good financial decision-making, and address any concerns. As required by the Education and Training Act 2020 (s 137), we prepare annual financial statements and include these in our annual report, which we make publicly available.
We comply with legislative and regulatory requirements for preparing and reporting financial information. We follow public sector public benefit entity (PBE) financial reporting standards, and Ministry of Education requirements and guidelines.
See Financial Information for Schools Handbook in Day-to-day financial management 
(Ministry of Education).
Regular financial monitoring and reporting
The principal and board regularly monitor financial processes at St Joseph's School. The school implements and monitors 
internal controls, including segregation of duties, to ensure that finances are managed appropriately. We confirm in our annual report that we have established and maintained a system of internal controls to provide assurance of the integrity and reliability of our financial reporting.
Internal controls are systems and processes to promote financial integrity. We document and implement internal control measures to reduce the likelihood of errors and the risk of fraud and theft, and to ensure we understand who is responsible for financial procedures and information.
We consider internal control measures in the following areas to promote financial integrity:
- Governance – having documentation (e.g. policies, procedures, interest registers) in place and meeting regularly to ensure this is up to date.
- Segregation of duties – having different people perform financial duties (e.g. receipting cash, authorising expenditure, approving and recording payroll) to reduce the risk of individuals engaging in fraudulent behaviour.
- Banking – limiting access to the banking system and authorisation of payments according to recorded delegations, controlling authorisation and usage of any school bank cards, and completing regular bank reconciliations to compare planned income and expenditure with bank transactions.
- Cash handling – encouraging electronic payment rather than cash payments, limiting petty cash, and storing cash securely if it is received and banking this as soon as possible (as well as segregating these duties).
- Payroll – strengthening payroll internal controls (e.g. by following EdPay guidance).
- Journals – authorising journals being posted, segregating duties for preparing and posting journals, and keeping documentation to support manual journals.
- Passwords – maintaining secure passwords for internet banking and any accounting systems, updating passwords regularly and not sharing these with non-delegated staff.
For more information about internal controls, see the Financial information for schools handbook, internal control checklist and segregation of duties matrix in Day-to-day financial management (Ministry of Education).
The principal manages the day-to-day finances of the school, and monitors more detailed financial information as well as providing key information to the board. The principal regularly reviews the details of all income and expenditure (e.g. transaction details for each month), and bank reconciliations for all accounts. A delegate of the board also has oversight of this.
The board monitors school finances by reviewing key financial information provided by the principal and any other staff with delegated responsibility. The board regularly reviews this information to:
The board receives regular updates on key financial information about the school. The Ministry of Education recommends that updates are provided to the board every month. Reports to the board should include:
- a statement of income and expenditure against the budget to date, with an explanation of any variance
- a statement of financial position and comment on adequacy of working capital and cash flow
- information about any upcoming financial commitments (e.g. asset replacement, ongoing costs)
- the year-to-date banking staffing balance and planned usage for the rest of the staffing year
- updates on annual revenue and expenditure forecasts, including recommendations to update forecasts if required (e.g. due to roll growth)
- any financial issues and how these are being managed
- any actions recommended to mitigate financial risk
- confirmation that the school is operating within finance policies approved by the board.
- determine the financial position of the school
- monitor if the school is on track to achieve its financial and non-financial objectives
- identify and address areas where the school may be financially at risk.
The board meets regularly to discuss financial management, and minutes what was discussed and decided.
At St Joseph's School, the board has appointed a finance committee that reports back to the board at each board meeting. It will include the principal and board member(s), and may include administrative staff.
Financial reports are given to every board member as part of the agreed meeting process and all school financial records are available to board members on request. Financial reports must be given to every board member at least seven days before any planned board meeting. Financial reports for the reporting period must be tabled at each board meeting for ratification.
Annual financial reporting
St Joseph's School prepares annual financial statements and publishes these in our annual report. Our annual financial statements record and explain financial transactions for the previous year, and include any other information needed to fairly reflect the financial operations and financial position of the school. As part of our annual financial statements, the board includes a statement of responsibility that acknowledges the board is responsible for the preparation and accuracy of annual financial statements, and maintains a system of internal controls.
Our annual financial statement includes the following sections:
- Statement of responsibility – acknowledges the board is responsible for the preparation and accuracy of annual financial statements, and maintains a system of internal controls.
- Statement of comprehensive revenue and expense – summarises income and expenditure over the school financial year, and if the school has operated within funding received.
- Statement of changes in net assets/equity – shows value and variation in government investment in the school over the financial year.
- Statement of financial position – shows all school assets and liabilities as of December 31 of that year.
- Statement of cash flows – shows all cash received and paid by the school over the financial year.
- Notes to the financial statements – provides extra detail to support the information in financial statements.
- Auditor's report – shows whether the financial statements comply with generally accepted accounting practice and if they fairly represent the financial position, financial performance, and cash flows of the school.
See Annual financial statements disclosures (pg 37-38) in Financial Information for Schools Handbook 
(Ministry of Education)
We submit our annual financial statements to the school auditor by 31 March each year. The board adopts our audited financial statements after receiving these from the auditor. We submit our annual report (including audited financial statements) to the Ministry of Education by 31 May each year and publish the annual report online as soon as practicable following this. See School Planning and Reporting.
Related policies
Legislation
- Education and Training Act 2020
- Crown Entities Act 2004
- Financial Reporting Act 2013
Resources
- Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga:
: Term 3 2025, Term 2 2021
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