What your auditors want to see from Multi Academy Trusts’ school income

Nobody enjoys an audit, but most of the pain comes from the same place: evidence that is hard to find. When school income is collected in several ways across a Multi Academy Trust, finding it takes time and explaining it takes longer.

This is a plain-English look at what auditors tend to want from school income, and how to check your own set-up before they ask. It is general guidance. Your auditors will tell you what they need for your trust.

Reviewing school payment transactions against an audit checklist

1. Records You Can Trust

For every payment, you should be able to say who paid, how much, when and for what. That sounds obvious, but it is harder when payments arrive through different systems, or when cash and cheques are recorded in a notebook.

  • Is there one consistent record of each payment, for every school?
  • Can you trace a payment from the parent to the bank to the ledger?

2. Controls That Are Clear

Controls are the rules about who can do what. Auditors want to see that they exist and are followed.

  • Who can set up a payment item and who approves it?
  • Who can issue a refund and is it recorded with a reason?
  • Who can change a price or a balance after the event?
  • Are staff leavers removed promptly?

3. Reconciliation That Balances

Reconciliation is where gaps show up. Auditors will want to see that money collected matches money banked and that differences are explained, not just carried forward.

  • How often do you reconcile and how long does it take?
  • Can you explain every difference and how quickly?
  • Is the process the same in every school?

4. The Same Approach Across the Trust

Trust is one organisation in the auditor’s eyes. Inconsistency between schools, such as different timing, different tools and different evidence, creates questions. A consistent approach makes the review faster, and the answers more convincing.

5. Offline Income

Cash and cheques still arrive. Auditors will look at how they are logged, who handles them, and how they reach the bank. Fewer offline payments mean fewer risks to explain.

Where a school payments platform can help

A modern school payments platform gives you one record for income, clearer permissions and reconciliation in one place across the trust. Totals can feed finance systems, and pupil data can sync from your MIS, so the audit trail is not rebuilt from notebooks and separate checkouts.

iAntz is built for that trust-wide view: one place for payments, refunds and balances, so school and central teams spend less time assembling evidence.

Related reading: launching school payments across a MAT · MIS integration questions · school payment systems that don't feel like homework · all resources

Next steps

Want to see how a trust-wide school payments platform keeps income evidence in one place? Book a short demo with the team.

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