For many educational institutions, handling incoming and outgoing financial information is a standard part of day-to-day operations. Logistically however, this can become overwhelming and confusing to organise, especially if staff members are working remotely.
Due to this, many schools, colleges and universities now implement financial accounting software to help monitor their finances. Making use of accounting software can help in assessing where money is being spent, where money is owed, and where reduced spending may be in need.
Sage 200 for Education
Sage 200 for Education is a powerful financial management solution that has been specifically designed for the education sector. It allows you to manage funding, control budgets and automate your reporting, payments and more - whether you work in a standalone school or a large multi-academy trust.
Here are 5 key features of Sage 200 for Education that will help simplify your accounting process:
1. Comprehensive & Tailored Reporting Capabilities
Sage 200 for Education has powerful reporting and analysis functionality. It offers up to date information on budget, spend and committed costs, departmental analysis, consolidation and management and VAT reporting.
Reports, annual accounts and financial statements can all be tailored to your specific needs, plus reports required for governors, school leaders, head teachers and government can be easily generated. Sage 200 for Education also includes CFR reporting for local authority-run schools and SOFA reporting and VAT126 for academies.
Finding and interpreting data is also made easy as reports are generated in a format that most users already know – Microsoft Excel. This provides users with an instant insight into reports, allowing trends and business performance to be quickly analysed. Excel workbooks can be easily added into Sage along with charts and formulas, and you can run them time and time again with refreshed data.
2. Powerful Payment Solutions
Finances can be managed with ease using Sage 200 for Education - whether that's accepting incoming payments or making outgoing payments to employees or suppliers, there is a solution for every scenario.
Online VAT submissions are built in, ensuring you comply with HMRC regulations. There is a VAT 126 report available for schools not registered for VAT. The software is also fully MTD compliant, making accounting as easy as possible.
Standing orders and direct debits can also be easily viewed and managed, with details provided of the day they are paid, frequency, number of payments made, number still to pay and much more.
Budget limits can be set for specific owners and trigger alerts can be implemented, allowing users to see their own budgets in real-time. Other payment features such as purchase order authorisation can also be applied, so users can view, approve or query orders remotely.
3. Flexible Accounting Periods
Sage 200 for Education provides great control over accounting periods - they can be opened, closed and re-opened as required.
The length of accounting periods can also be controlled within Sage, should you work differently to the standard 12 months. Period structures for future years can be set up in advance, so users can plan ahead accordingly.
4. Flexible Nominal Code Structure
Nominal structures are the backbone of financial reporting within any ERP system. Nominal structures can face difficulties, such as not being detailed enough to separate A from B. Additionally, some structures can be overly complicated.
Sage 200 for Education allows a user to set up departments and cost centres according to their individual needs, providing a flexible nominal code structure. Adjustments can also be made to previous year journals and changes can be rolled forward to ensure accounts are accurate and up to date.
5. Easily Accessible Data
Sage 200 for Education is a cloud-based accounting solution, so data can be accessed online from anywhere in the world. This also means there’s no need to purchase, power, or maintain expensive server hardware as data is stored on third-party servers that are accessible online.
As Sage 200 for Education is cloud-based, this means data is automatically backed-up and software updates are automatically installed. This means there is no need to create local data backups, saving time and storage space.
Contact Us
If you’d like to speak to us about Sage 200 for Education or our software support packages, please call us on 01423 330335, or email us at
sales@onesys.co.uk.