Finance and Asset Management Policy updates

These topics were updated following scheduled review in term 4, 2024, and external consultation. The changes were published to school sites during term 3, 2025.

Shaded rows indicate policies that were retired (removed from sites) as part of these updates.

Finance and Asset Management Policy

• Updated to highlight financial responsibility as part of the board's primary objectives.
• Updated information about internal controls and moved information about manual journals from Managing Income and Expenditure.
• Clarified board and principal responsibilities (and proprietor responsibilities for state-integrated schools).
• Strengthened information about board responsibilities in terms of borrowing.
• Removed information about school-specific insurance providers.

Managing Income and Expenditure

(retired)

• This policy was removed from sites. Relevant policy information was moved to Finance and Asset Management Policy, Income, and Expenditure.

Budget

• Added an introductory section to the policy that provides more information about the budget.
• Clarified information about preparing and approving the budget.
• Added a section on monitoring the budget.
• Updated default wording about the final draft budget and the mid-year budget review.

Financial Monitoring and Reporting

• Added more information about the legislative and regulatory requirements for financial monitoring and reporting.
• Added more information about regular financial monitoring and reporting.
• Added information about annual financial reporting.
• Schools have a statement about how financial reporting occurs that is based on the previous version of this policy.

Financial Committee and Board Representative

(retired)

• These policies have been removed from sites. Relevant policy information has moved to the updated Financial Monitoring and Reporting policy.

Financial Conflicts of Interest

• Updated this policy for clarity and readability.

Income

• Merged information from School Donations and Student Activity Payments (for state schools), Attendance Dues and Other Income (for state-integrated schools), Tuition Fees (for independent schools) and Fundraising.
• Added information about operational funding and international learner fees (for schools who have our international learners module).

School Donations and Student Activity Payments, Attendance Dues and Other Income, and Fundraising

(retired)

• These policies have been removed from sites. Relevant policy information moved to Income.

Sponsorship

• This policy was previously optional. Added this to all school sites by the end of the term.
• Added more information about the relationship with sponsors.

Expenditure

• Added legislative requirements and information about sensitive expenditure.
• Added overarching requirements about approval and reimbursement of expenditure, and clarified how these processes are supported by a system of internal controls.
• Clarified processes for payroll expenditure, and linked to internal controls required for managing payroll.
• Moved information about checking of approved processes from the board assurance section to the body of the policy.

Sensitive Expenditure

• Updated to include information that was previously in Entertainment Expenditure and Concurrence.
• Clarified what may be considered sensitive expenditure and emphasised that the board must carefully manage expenditure that could appear to provide benefits to an individual or a group.
• Linked to principles of sensitive expenditure as recommended by the Office of the Auditor-General.

Entertainment Expenditure

(retired)

• This policy was removed from sites. Relevant policy information was moved to Sensitive Expenditure.

Concurrence

(retired)

• This policy was removed from sites. Relevant policy information was moved to Sensitive Expenditure.

Travel Expenditure

• Clarified processes for approval and travel rearrangements, including transport, accommodation, and meals.
• Included more information about reimbursement of expenses.
• Clarified information about overseas travel, and how the board (in consultation with the principal) is responsible for decision-making about overseas travel.

Gifts

• Clarified that the value of gifts should be determined based on a consistent formula.
• Clarified information about koha, cash gifts, securities, and bequests.
• Updated information about recording gifts.
• Updated the board assurance wording.

Gifts for Staff

(retired)

• This policy was removed from sites. All gifts given and received by the school should comply with the policy requirements stated in the Gifts policy, and there should not be separate circumstances that apply only to staff.

Banking and Cash Handling

• Updated to combine information that was previously in Managing Income and Expenditure and Bank Cards.
• Updated information about financial procedures for online banking, cash handling, bank cards, EFTPOS transactions (optional) and investments and deposits.
• Updated wording about petty cash to show this should be limited to low-value, unexpected expenditure.

Bank Cards

(retired)

• This policy was removed from sites. Relevant policy information was moved to Banking and Cash Handling.

Security Management

(previously School Security)

• Made legislative requirements for security management and links with emergency management, health and safety risk management, and property management clearer.
• Added a section on security measures.
• Added information about managing security incidents and linked to relevant related policies.

Computer Security and Cybersecurity

• Considered Ministry of Education guidelines for creating a cybersecurity policy for schools, and made changes to align with Ministry of Education recommendations for computer security and cybersecurity.
• Strengthened wording to show key legislative responsibilities and added additional sample wording.
• Added a section about software security, managing computer and cybersecurity incidents, and supporting policies.

Asset Management

• Simplified the title, as protection of assets is part of asset management.
• Added information about legislation and regulations that apply to asset management.
• Clarified the definition of assets and added information about internal controls.
• Clarified that the 5 year plan asset plan is a fixed asset replacement plan.
• Clarified details about the fixed asset register and aligned the timing of the stocktake with the Ministry requirement to do this annually.
• Linked the policy more clearly to other relevant policies, such as financial reporting and the budget.
• For clarity, added a section on asset planning and purchases.
• The amount for asset disposal ($10,000) is now able to be school-specific

Property Management

• Changed the title from "Property Planning and Maintenance" and moved some content into the new Property Maintenance and Repairs sub-policy.
• Added new wording about delegation, which can be made school-specific.
• Updated information about the property occupancy document (for state schools) and building safety and compliance.
• Added more information about property-related health and safety requirements and linked to relevant policies.
• Added information about board funding and managing property projects.
• Updated content about building safety and compliance and added new optional wording about the owner's representative.
• Relevant policies (i.e. School Houses, Third-Party Use of School Property) have been moved to become sub-policies of this section.

Property Maintenance and Repairs

• This new policy includes information previously covered in Property Planning and Maintenance.
• Added more information about maintenance planning.
• Added information about specific types of maintenance work (e.g. electrical maintenance), including new wording for schools that have alarm systems and/or camera surveillance.
• Updated the section on emergencies to property repairs after an incident.
• Updated wording about vandalism.

School Vehicles

• Outlined school and driver responsibilities and passenger safety.
• Added some content about incidents and accidents.
• Updated policy given to all schools.

School Houses

• Strengthened and clarified content throughout the policy.

Third-Party Use of School Property

• Updated the policy to align with new requirements from the Ministry of Education for Casual Use Agreements and Lease Agreements (for state schools).
• Added links to the Ministry of Education lease agreement forms (for state schools).
• Made relevant updates to suit state-integrated, independent, and charter schools.

Overnight Activities on School Grounds (previously Sleepovers at School)

• Renamed this policy to apply to broader overnight activities on school grounds.
• Strengthened the wording to show key legislative responsibilities and reorganised the content.

Staff Resources

(retired)

• Retired (removed) from school sites. Relevant wording moved to Asset Management.

Personal Property and Insurance

• Reformatted this policy for clarity and conciseness and moved policy to the School Community Engagement Policy section.

Fraud and Theft (previously Prevention of Bribery, Corruption, Fraud, and Theft)

• Renamed policy and retired Investigation of Bribery, Corruption, Fraud, and Theft and Theft by Students.
• Simplified this policy by including bribery and corruption within the definition of fraud, and made the policy more concise by highlighting how we safeguard the school and linking this to other school policies.
• Following auditing advice, removed optional wording about using another person's electronic signature as this goes against the rules of internal controls (e.g. just as a person should never give their banking password to another person, letting their signature be used is no different).

Review Schedule and Board Assurances

• Updated policy titles and assurances to align with recent scheduled review updates.