YEAR ENDING 31 st March 2016 PROCEDURES FOR ALL FMS SCHOOLS

Important - For the attention of the SIMS FMS6 Operator Financial Services for Schools SIMS FMS6 USER BULLETIN No 183 March 2016 All FMS MAINTAINED SCHOOLS YEAR ENDING 31 st March 2016 PROCEDURES FOR ALL FMS SCHOOLS The key to meeting the deadline is good planning This bulletin provides guidance on using SIMS FMS6 for the year end 2015/16. It follows on from the SIMS FMS6 Bulletin No 180 Preparing for Year End 31 st March 2016. This bulletin should be read in conjunction with School Finance Team s Financial Guidance Notes Year End 2015/16. 2014 1

Topic Page Closedown of Accounts 2015/16 3 March Accounts 4 Accruals 5 Dealing With Revenue Balances 11 Dealing With Capital Balances 13 Year End Returns 16 Electronic Returns 20 To Export The CFR Return 21 To Export the HCC Year End Return 22 Using AnyComms Plus 24 Backing Up SIMS FMS6 25 Closing The Financial Year Year End Routine 27 Year End Support 29 2014 2

Closedown of Accounts 2014/2015 All Schools FMS Schools NOT supported by FSS FMS Schools supported by FSS Must close their accounts on Year end return MUST be submitted by Year end return MUST be submitted by 31 st March 2016 15 th April 2016 22nd April 2016 This bulletin is intended to be read in conjunction with the booklet Financial Guidance Notes Year End 2015/16 (Previously known as The Blue Book ) produced by the School Finance Team. http://www.intra.thegrid.org.uk/downloads/sfu/publications/school_finance_year_end _guidance_2014-15.doc We recommend that you have worked through SIMS FMS Bulletin 180 Preparing for Year End before beginning the year end process FMS Upgrade FMS should be upgraded to version 6.16 prior to completing Year End, bulletin 181 to follow. If you require advice or support for the Year End process please contact the Helpline on 01992 555753 or e-mail fss.helpdesk@hertsforlearning.co.uk 2014 3

March Accounts Please make sure FMS6 has been upgraded to 6.16x Bulletin 181 Ensure all March transactions have been posted Ensure that no inter school transactions are included within your Debtor or Creditor Control Accounts or unreconciled transactions listing Complete Bulletin 180 Preparing for Year End Complete final cheque run on or before the 31 st March 2016 Reconcile the School Bank(s) to 31 st March 2016 Ensure that all 2015/2016 Petty Cash transactions have been posted. Balance Petty Cash with the cash in the tin. Print Petty Cash transactions listing (Reports General Ledger Petty Cash Transactions Listings) Print the VAT Submittal Report for period 12 - March 2016 Enter the VAT Transfer Journal Print VAT reports as you would for your normal monthly routine Complete any required virements / budget allocations Print normal month end reports ALL Schools that are not part of Barclays Pooled Banking will need to scan and email their Bank Statement as at the 31 st March 2016 to the School Funding Unit Complete a System Reconciliation available on the Grid at: http://www.thegrid.org.uk/info/traded/financial/manuals/fms/index.shtml#control March 2016 Accounts Completed? 2014 4

Accruals Detailed information about what should be included as accruals, and what should be carried forward as part of your 2015/16 carry forward is provided by the School Finance Team in the Financial Guidance Notes for the production of 2015/16 Year End Analysis of Accruals There are changes to the way in which accruals are recorded throughout Local Government accounts and there is now the requirement that accruals are recorded by category i.e. NHS, Other LAs, Central Government. In order to complete the whole of government accounts (UK PLC) in a consistent format in line with all other Local Authorities and public bodies we are having to introduce a level of analysis to enable accruals to be collated correctly. Accruals will fall into 3 categories Government agencies (analysed in detail) HCC (in certain circumstances see below) Other entities and individuals (OTHER)..consequently all accruals will now need to be prefixed. This information will be used in the consolidation of the Hertfordshire County Council accounts. Please refer to the accruals spreadsheet ( Tab) to make yourself aware of those organisations. This can be found on the grid at: http://www.thegrid.org.uk/info/traded/financial/manuals/fms/index.shtml#control Pre-fixes have been included in the Accruals spreadsheet for this reason. You will need to select the supplier from the drop down. This will automatically insert the prefix into the next column. 2014 5

If the supplier or income source does not fall into the Local Government Organisation category you must select OTHER and enter this into the Reference Box instead. The prefixes and the description will need to be added in the line detail within your FMS journal. Accruals Spreadsheet FMS Reversing Journal Focus General Ledger Manual Journal Processing Click on Add Select Normal journal Place Tick in Reversing journal Click on Next Select Period 12 Reversing in Next year Period 1 2014 6

Enter the line Details for the journal by clicking on the Add A copy of the Accruals Spreadsheet will need to accompany the 4 journals produced from FMS and sent to the School Funding Unit with your year end documents. Guidance Who is the end supplier? Category Everything on the March Year End Central Billing Hertfordshire Business Services (formerly County Supplies) Overtime and casual hours to be paid to staff Energy Bills Accruals from the Mouchel statement Grounds and Contract Cleaning Income from Parents for trips Ltd Hertfordshire Catering Ltd HCCDD HCCHBS OTHER OTHER OTHER OTHER OTHER OTHER OTHER The accruals spreadsheet is available to download from the Grid to record details of your accruals prior to posting on FMS. http://www.thegrid.org.uk/info/traded/financial/manuals/fms/index.shtml#control Accruals are posted using the Reversing Journal facility (reversing them to Period 1 of the new financial year.) Accruals must be posted excluding any VAT. 2014 7

You will need to create only 4 separate journals in FMS, one for each accrual type: Creditors Debtors Receipts in Advance Prepayments Accruals are posted as follows: Accrual Type Debit Credit Creditors Appropriate EXPENDITURE Ledger Codes & Cost Sundry Creditors (SC) Centres Debtors Sundry Debtors (SD) Appropriate INCOME Ledger Receipts In Advance Appropriate INCOME Ledger Codes & Linked Cost Centres Codes & Cost Centres Receipts in Advance (RIA) Prepayments Prepayments (PP) Appropriate EXPENDITURE Ledger Codes & Cost Centres Remember to enter the specific prefix and the full description for each line entry on the FMS journal, (e.g. HCCHBS Hertfordshire Business Services). Your Year End will be rejected if all the information does not appear in the journals. DO NOT post Debtors/Receipts in Advance to EXPENDITURE ledger codes or Creditors/Prepayments to INCOME ledger codes. All accrual journals are checked at the year end and such postings will be rejected. If you are unsure how to treat an accrual, please call the Financial Services Helpline for advice it saves a lot of time in the long run! Save each journal but do not post until you are sure ALL accruals have been included. The School Finance Team will accept a printed copy of the four accrual journals and the Accruals Spreadsheet negating the need to complete the LMSFR6 and 7 providing each line of the journal includes an appropriate detailed description and the correct prefix. 2014 8

Please use the journal print from the Manual Journal Processing Screen as this report shows the full description Focus General Ledger Manual Journal processing Highlight the journal Click on the print Icon School Finance request an emailed copy of the excel Accrual spreadsheet once all accruals are entered. Send email to csf.sfu@hertfordshire.co.uk Do NOT send the journal print from Journal Review. Journeys Journeys taking place after the 31 st March 2016 (Next Financial Year) Journey Income should be carried forward as a Receipt in Advance (RIA) for all income received to date against each individual trip. These should be set up with the prefix OTHER for monies received from parents Journey Expenditure should be treated as a Prepayment (PP) for all expenditure incurred to date against each individual trip. Journeys with HCC centres, such as Cuffley Camp will be treated as an exception to the no accruals with HCC rule. Therefore, transactions made to Cuffley Camp, Hudnall Park or Snowdonia Centre should be: Prepayment with a prefix of E1920 Hertfordshire County Council for deposits paid NOTE: Do not net off the income and expenditure and accrue just the balance Journeys that have taken place before the 31 st March 2016 (This Year) Journeys that have already taken place should be reconciled to establish if there are any further liabilities or income due for the trip. Once this has been established the following transactions will need to be posted: If there is still Income to be received for a particular trip, this will need to be transacted as a Debtor (SD) to the appropriate trip. If there are still outstanding invoices to be paid in relation to a trip, these will need to be put through as a Creditor (SC) to the appropriate trip. 2014 9

NOTE: Individual Debtor and Creditor journals must be raised rather than accruing for the remaining balance of the trip. Hertfordshire Business Services (HBS) HBS (County Supplies) invoices dated February should clear the bank account by 31 st March 2016. Any outstanding invoices should be accrued & prefixed HCCHBS. Remember Do NOT set up a debtor or creditor for VAT. FMS automatically accounts for this. Do NOT set up a Receipt in advance for any funding from the LA Any unspent Devolved Formula Capital will form part of your carry forward and must be re-allocated to be spent in your budget for 2016/17 this will be in addition to your 2016/2017 allocation. DO NOT ACCRUE ANY DEPARTMENTAL BALANCES, they form part of your carry forward and will therefore need to be allocated accordingly in next years budget. Accrual Journals Posted? At this stage it is advisable to run a System Check System Check Reports Year End Select System Check Financial year is 2015 Select OK Print Report 2014 10

Check through any discrepancies to see if there is any reason why the year will not close successfully. System Check run? Dealing With Revenue Balances (B01, B02, B06) You will need to ensure that Revenue Balances are apportioned correctly on Tab 5 Balances of the CFR Preliminary Report. These balances will show how you are carrying forward any revenue money into the new financial year 2016/17. B01 Committed Revenue Balances Earmarked Balances Formal Commitments made from the 15/16 budget for which no creditor has been raised. Monies carried forward to support 16/17 revenue projects & action plans. Any Revenue Deficit at 31 st March 2016 Consortia Balances (16-19 Partnership) B02 Uncommitted Revenue Balances The remainder of your revenue balance B06 Community Focused Extended School Revenue Balances Any balance relating to COMMUNITY FOCUSED extended school provision. This is the balance of income on lines I16 & I17 less expenditure on E31 & E32 (plus any b/f B06 from 14/15) CFR Tab 5 Original Balance Apportioned Balance B01 B01 B02 B02 B06 B06 Total Total 2014 11

Once you have determined what the balances for each of the above are, you will need to apportion the balances: Reports CFR Select Preliminary CFR Tab 5 Balances All revenue balances will appear in B02 Uncommitted balances. If you have a committed balance it will need to be apportioned to B01, in the light grey box. 2014 12

The monies that you apportion into B01 will then reduce your balance in B02. Dealing with Capital Balance (B03 and B05) It is important that Capital is dealt with correctly. Please refer to the School Finance Team booklet Financial Guidance Notes for the production of 2015/16 Year End for information about accruing for Capital. There should not be any overspend on Capital. If you have spent more than you have been allocated you will have to move money from revenue to cover the overspend Capital Shuffle You will need to ensure that Capital Balances are apportioned correctly on Tab 5 Balances of the CFR Preliminary Report. Any unspent Capital balances should be recorded as follows: B03 - Devolved Formula Capital Balance This is the balance of Devolved Formula Capital for 13/14, 14/15 & 15/16 B05 - Other Capital Balances Balances to carry forward for the purpose of future capital expenditure. 2014 13

Privately raised capital e.g. capital donations, privately raised specialist schools capital funding or monies transferred from revenue to fund future capital projects. Privately raised capital funds Capital shuffle - Monies transferred from revenue, prior to the year end to fund imminent capital projects Throughout the year, all transactions posted to Capital codes will be automatically recorded against B05, and the amount showing in the calculated column is the net value of these transactions. Once you have determined what the balances are for each of the above, you will need to apportion the balances in the same way as you did for B01 (Please see page12): Reports CFR Select Preliminary CFR Tab 5 Balances Type the balances into the apportioned column against B03. This will automatically reduce the balance against B05, but not affect the overall Capital Balance. Your CFR Tab 5 Capital Balances should agree with the Balances on your Capital Return. CFR Tab 5 Balance Capital Return Balance B03 B03 B05 B05 Total Total 2014 14

Remember After the Capital Return has been submitted, only transactions included on the return should be entered into FMS6. Any new transactions (i.e. not included on the Capital Return) should not be posted to capital on FMS6 until the new financial year. If you are unsure about this please contact the Helpline for advice. The Capital Return MUST agree with the CFR Return and the Income and Expenditure report in FMS6 at the year end. If your Capital Return and CFR Capital balances are not the same please call the FSS Helpline for support - 01992 555753 The Capital Return must be submitted via Solero by 1st April 2016. Please remember that HCC will not accept negative balances on Capital. If this is the case you should make a Revenue Contribution to capital - Capital Shuffle. You should only move Revenue to Capital if a project is completed, has already started or is imminent i.e. planning permission has been received, tendering is complete etc. Once Revenue has been moved to Capital you CANNOT move it back in future years. Voluntary Aided schools do NOT need to submit a Capital Return Capital Balances on CFR report match Capital Return submitted? 2014 15

Year End Returns All schools are required to submit an Electronic Year End and CFR Return as well as hard copies of the reports. Before doing this, you must ensure that your balances are correct. For further guidance on the breakdown of Balance Lines B01 B06, please refer to the February 2016 booklet Financial Guidance Notes for the Production of 2015/16 Year End, issued by the School Finance Team. Please check the following: o There should not be any balances in I14 as this code is no longer used o On the CFR Report you have completed the contact name, e-mail and telephone number in the Report Criteria box o The box for Complete Financial Year is ticked. o IMPORTANT - On each tab of the CFR return there are no lines displaying an If there are, highlight the line to display the reason for the error at the bottom of the table. Your accounts will need correcting before you can proceed. o If any lines are displaying a yellow triangle, highlight the line and click on the edit icon. Type an explanation for the query into the explanation text box. o The CFR report balances to Balances & Reserves (CFR Tab 5 - balances; total for actual = B&R Current Balance Totals) o The balances B01 B02 B03,B05 and B06 on Tab 5 are analysed and shown in the correct box i.e. Capital, Revenue and Extended Schools (Community) etc THESE BALANCES MUST BE EXACTLY THE SAME AS YOUR DECLARATION SHEET. Make sure that you keep detailed information of any committed balances in B01 in order to allocate accordingly in next years budget. o Check that the total in the actual column on CFR Tab 5 (balances) = I&E report page 5 Net Assets and Total Balances B/Fwd + In Year Surplus. o B03 and B05, Capital Grant balances (see the Dealing with Capital Balance section of this bulletin and the School Finance Team s Financial Guidance Notes Year End 2015/16) o B06 Community Extended Schools balance. This must NOT include pupil focused activities o The balances on B03 and B05 are the same as those submitted on the Capital Return in March. 2014 16

Make any corrections and reprint your CFR Return. CFR Revenue, Capital and Community Extended Schools balances checked and correct? PRINT & SUBMIT COPIES OF THE FOLLOWING REPORTS BY 15 th April for FMS Schools NOT supported FSS BY 22 nd April for FMS schools supported by FSS The reports must be printed simultaneously and at the same time as the CFR and Year End export routines are run: o CFR Income & Expenditure Report o CFR Report / Preliminary / Print CFR Report o Debtor & Prepayment Journals and Accruals Spreadsheet o Creditor & Receipts in Advance Journals and Accruals Spreadsheet o LMSFR8 or Print the User Defined Report o LMSFR9 or Print the User Defined Report o LMSFR 10 & 11 or Print the User Defined Report o Balances & Reserves o Unreconciled Transactions Listing o Photocopy of the 31 st March 2016 Barclays (or other) Bank Statements(s) for all accounts holding Public money 2014 17

o Aged Creditor Report o Aged Debtor Report o Consortia Balance Return if applicable The Grid School Funding Unit o Declaration Sheet The year end reports must be accompanied by the completed Declaration Sheet available from the School Finance Team website, http://www.thegrid.org.uk/info/sfu/returns.shtml o B01 Committed Revenue Balances Sheet on 31st March 2016 http://www.thegrid.org.uk/info/sfu/returns.shtml Before sending the above reports to School Funding, please check the following: o The Balances and Reserves Current Balance must match the final balance on Page 5 of the Income & Expenditure report and final balance on the Preliminary CFR report (tab 5) & Declaration o The Balance on your final Bank Statement(s) plus or minus your unreconciled listing must equal the Bank Balance on your Balances & Reserves & Current Ledger Balance on the Bank Reconciliation o The total of Debtors + Prepayments less the total of Creditors + Receipts in Advance, plus or (minus) balances of any other control accounts (excluding VAT control a/c) must equal the total of Other Balance Sheet Accounts on your Balances & Reserves 2014 18

o The date of printing and time of the reports must be noted on the declaration sheet confirming that all the reports have been printed concurrently. Each report attached should be initialled. o When completing the declaration sheet it is vital that figures are not rounded up or down. The exact figures including the pence MUST be used. o The Balances on the Declaration MUST be the same as the CFR Balances (tab 5). o Check that the total income on each ledger group on the LMSFR8 is the same as the equivalent line on the CFR & I&E Reports If the signed declaration is not received, your return will be rejected. All reports must be sent to the School Finance Team at the same time as the electronic submission is made (see Electronic Returns section). Copies authorised by the Headteacher will be accepted initially until a full set signed by the Governors can be sent. The reports must be sent by first class post in order to reach the address below on time. If you are a FMS school and cannot complete your year end until the 15 th April 2016 the reports must be scanned and attached to an email to the Schools Finance Team csf.sfu@hertfordshire.gov.uk Alternatively the reports can be faxed to the School Finance Team on 01992 555711. If you are faxing the reports please emailthe School Finance Team to advise prior to sending the fax. (Include your school number on ALL pages) 2014 19

Signed copies of all the reports must be sent as soon as possible to: Postal Point CHN401 Hertfordshire County Council County Hall Pegs Lane Hertford SG13 8DN Please make sure that any documents / e-mail / Fax all have your school number included. All reports printed and sent/faxed to School Funding Unit? 2014 20

Electronic Returns Please make sure that FMS6 has been upgraded to version 6.16x For FMS users this will be the CFR Income & Expenditure Report exported as an xml file, and then sent via AnyComms together with the CFR Preliminary Report on or before the 15 th April 2016. To export the CFR Return: Reports CFR CFR Report Preliminary Select Tab 5 Balances Select Export to XML You will see the following message but your path may be different You MUST make a note of the name and location of the XML file then click 2014 21

OK. Please note: You may have more than one XML file in this location. It is VITAL that you send in the correct one. To check this, follow the path that you noted earlier to find the folder that holds your CFR XML file. If there is more than one XML file: Click on modified to sort Double click on this the files into line to widen the chronological order. column and show the full file names Is the file name the one you noted earlier? Is the date and time that the file was created correct? Check for the date and time that the XML file was created If you are unsure DELETE all the files in this folder and create the CFR return again. This way the only file in the folder will be the one you have just created! Once the preliminary CFR report is exported DO NOT do a FINAL CFR report until notified later in the year. 2014 22

To Export the HCC Year End Return For FMS users this will be the CFR Income & Expenditure Report exported as an xml file, and then sent via AnyComms together with the CFR Preliminary Report on or before the 15 th April 2016. Please note that this will be in addition to the CFR return. To create the Electronic Year End: Reports CFR Select IE Report Select Year to Period Type 13 in the Period to box Complete Contact details Select Export to XML Remember your path may be different to the one shown here Make a note of the name and location of the Income and Expenditure XML report. 2014 23

Click OK. See the notes on locating the correct file in the Electronic Returns section attach ONLY the correct I&E XML file called: 919XXXX_07040_IER003.XML This will be your 4 digit DfES number This number may be different Do NOT send the XML Schema SIMSIE_10.xsd file 2014 24

Using AnyComms Plus This is the first time FMS Schools are using this route to send their year end reports. Log onto the grid. Log into AnyComms Plus From the Home main menu click on the menu option to Upload a file to the Local Authority the screen below appears Click on the Browse button. Browse to the folder and locate the files you wish to send. Using the example above, this will be C:SIMS\FMSSQL\Transfer\Out. 2014 25

School Finance Team also request an emailed copy of your excel accrual spreadsheet (see the Accruals section of this bulletin). csf.sfu@hertfordshire.gov.uk The correct CFR report, the Income and Expenditure IER report sent via AnyComms and the accrual spreadsheet emailed to HCC? Backing up SIMS FMS6 Before starting the preliminary year end closure we strongly recommend that you have a reliable, restorable, backup of FMS. Liaise with your Network Manager to ensure this backup is available to be restored if necessary. We rarely encounter any problems that require a restoration of FMS data but if things did go wrong you could loose a large amount of work if you have to rely on restoring your overnight automated backup. To create backup of your FMS data Tools FMS Transactions Backup Click on Yes 2014 26

The egg timer will appear for several minutes depending on the size of your database. When the backup is complete you will see a message on screen similar to the one below: It is very important to note where the backup has been saved to. Make a note of the path or save the above information into a word document as follows: BEFORE YOU CLICK ON OK Press the Alt key on your keyboard (usually located to the left of the space bar) and with it held down click on the Print Screen key (usually located towards the top right of your keyboard) Open a blank Word document Click on Edit Click on Paste Print this document showing the path of the backup file. Give the printout to your Network Manager so that he/she can locate the file on the server if it is necessary to restore it. NOTE: The last element of the backup file name contains the date and time that the backup was created which should help in locating it on the server. A fully restorable backup FMS is available? 2014 27

Closing the Financial Year The Year End Routine Opt for a preliminary closure - this is strongly recommended in case of problems or possible amendments. Ensure there are no other users logged on and using FMS6 Tools Define Financial Years Define/Edit Years Highlight/Select 2015 Click on Preliminary Close The system automatically checks that it is able to proceed and displays the following screen If for any reason there is a failure, a red cross will be displayed against the relevant check(s). Click on the Report icon for a printed copy of the failure explanations. Once your screen shows that all stages have passed click on Continue. 2014 28

Select Do Not Transfer Central Transactions Click Continue The system runs through the Preliminary Close routine checking each of the following procedures individually. Again, if there is a failure click on report for the printed explanation. Once each action is successful you can opt to print a report to show all transferred transactions. Click on Perform Close Click on Yes This operation will close up to and including the last period and no further financial transactions can take place except for closing balance journals. Depending on the speed of your computer, this can take a while to complete. The old financial year is now in period 13. The Define/Edit screen is now displayed and the status of the year has changed from Started to Closed-Not Finalised DO NOT AMEND THE OLD YEAR ACCOUNTS AFTER SENDING THE FINAL REPORTS TO HCC (Details regarding final closure will be issued later in the year.) Preliminary Year End performed? 2014 29

Year End Advisor Support Year End Support If you would like one to one on-site support for completing your schools year end please contact the Helpline Call 01992 555 753 Or fss.helpdesk@hertsforlearning.co.uk If you require assistance please contact the Helpline: 01992 555753 Or e.mail : fss.helpdesk@hertsforlearning.co.uk 2014 30