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Budget

The board of St Joseph's School works with the principal to prepare, approve, and monitor the budget to ensure that the school is managed in a financially responsible way. Our annual operating budget projects estimated income and expenditure over the financial year of the school (January to December), and sets out how we will allocate resources to meet our strategic goals and manage unexpected situations. We also consult with our proprietor as needed.

We regularly monitor progress against our budget throughout the school year to inform responsible financial decision-making. We take action to protect school finances if we determine the school is not meeting budget expectations. Any changes to the budget must be made by board resolution.

We consider different aspects of school income and expenditure when preparing each area of the budget. We ensure that our budget estimates are realistic, and we consider where we should be conservative in our estimates to prevent financial risk. We also ensure that our budget accurately represents the priorities of the school.

We include the approved school budget when preparing the statement of comprehensive revenue and expense, statement of financial position, and statement of cash flows to include in our annual financial statements. We provide our approved budget, and board minutes recording approval, to our school auditor as required by the Education and Training Act 2020 (s 137). See School Planning and Reporting.

Preparing and approving the budget

The board and principal prepare the school budget by:

• reviewing previous income and expenditure and estimating this for the following year
• considering any specific goals or activities that need to be budgeted for as specified in the strategic plan
• considering the information we have available, and deciding if additional information (e.g. quotes for goods and services) is required to be able to make sound financial decisions.

Our budget preparation includes completing an operating budget to estimate income and expenditure for our operational costs over the school year. These include costs for:

• learning resources
• administration
• property (all areas including salaries and wages)
• local funds
• non-cash expenses (e.g. depreciation)
• provision for cyclical maintenance
• any other operational costs specific to our school
• costs coming up in future years that the school needs to save for.

The final draft budget is presented at or before the December board meeting for consideration.

The board, principal, and any staff with budgeting responsibilities contribute further updates to the draft budget before it is formally approved by the board. It may be necessary for the operating budget to be finalised after the 1 March roll return has been submitted and the Ministry of Education have advised of any adjustments to the operations grant, but final board approval of the budget occurs no later than 31 March.

The board as a whole formally approves the draft budget once they are satisfied it meets school requirements. The board minutes this decision.

Monitoring the budget

The board regularly monitors how income and expenditure align with the school budget. The board receives information from the principal and any staff with delegated financial responsibility, and reviews this to ensure income and expenditure are within budget and correctly recorded.

The board receives regular reports to ensure they can accurately determine the financial position of the school, and takes corrective action when required. See Financial Monitoring and Reporting.

When monitoring the budget, the board considers:

• actual income and expenditure against what was budgeted and how much of the budgeted funds remain
• any significant commitments for the rest of the year
• any unexpected variances from the budget and the reasons for these variances
• the banking staffing position of the school – see Staff Funding.

A mid-year budget review is carried out in July following the 1 July roll return and receipt of June financial reports.

Related policies

• School Planning and Reporting
• Financial Monitoring and Reporting
• Asset Management
• School Staffing

Legislation

• Education and Training Act 2020
• Education (School Boards) Regulations 2020
• Crown Entities Act 2004

Resources

• Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga:
  • Day-to-day financial management
  • Operational funding
• NZSBA | Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa: Budgeting in schools

Release history: Term 3 2025, Term 2 2021

Topic Number: 7420	Last Modified Date: 20/10/2025 09:46:29
Topic Version: 3	Published Date: 30/01/2026