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Why MATs must move from reactive to proactive budgeting (before it’s too late)
For many MATs, budgeting still means reacting to problems as they arise. But with rising pressure and the 2030 deadline on the horizon, trusts need more than quick fixes. This blog explores why now is the time to shift from reactive to proactive planning—and how to make it happen.
“Let’s just keep an eye on it...”
It sounds harmless enough. But for many Multi-Academy Trusts, those words signal the start of a very familiar cycle: the budget starts wobbling, staffing plans begin to unravel, and suddenly the finance team is trying to solve problems that should have been spotted months ago.
This is the world of reactive budgeting. It’s unpredictable, time-consuming, and far more common than it should be. When every decision feels like a short-term fix, there’s little room for strategic thinking. And with the 2030 deadline for all schools to become part of a MAT fast approaching, trusts can’t afford to be caught off guard.
The good news is that a better way exists. And more MATs are starting to make the shift from reactive to proactive budgeting and forecasting.
What does proactive budgeting really mean?
Proactive budgeting isn’t about working harder. It’s about planning smarter.
Instead of waiting for budget issues to surface, proactive trusts are anticipating them. They’re using real-time data and scenario planning to make decisions with confidence. They know what’s coming before it arrives and can model different outcomes well in advance.
Where reactive budgeting involves working in silos and juggling multiple disconnected spreadsheets, proactive budgeting brings all planning into one central place. It gives the trust leadership team a clear view of what’s happening now and what’s likely to happen next. This shift turns the budgeting process from a defensive scramble into a powerful planning tool.
The result is not just a better financial process but a stronger foundation for every decision a MAT needs to make.
The true cost of staying reactive
A trust that sticks to reactive planning might still meet deadlines and tick boxes, but it often comes at a higher cost than people realise.
Unexpected staffing changes can leave schools short-handed. Opportunities to invest in curriculum improvements or pastoral care can be missed. Finance teams find themselves spending hours reconciling data that could have been available instantly. School leaders make decisions based on outdated or incomplete information, and students can be the ones who ultimately feel the impact.
When budget surprises become the norm, energy is drained from the people who are trying to do their best. Everyone feels like they are always catching up, and long-term goals keep getting pushed back.
A growing trust needs growing tools
As MATs expand, so do their challenges. What once worked for one school no longer works for five, ten or twenty. With the government’s plan for all schools to join MATs by 2030, financial management is only going to get more complex.
Manual spreadsheets and disjointed systems may have done the job in the past, but they were never designed to scale. Trusts need more than spreadsheets and educated guesses. They need visibility, accuracy and the ability to adapt quickly.
That’s why a shift to proactive budgeting isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s essential.
Why MATs trust Anago
Anago is more than software. It’s a budgeting and planning platform designed for the way MATs actually work.
With over 25 years of experience supporting education, healthcare and government organisations in the Netherlands, Anago brings tested, trusted tools to the UK education space. Today, more than 30 percent of Dutch MATs use Anago to plan smarter, allocate more effectively and make decisions that improve outcomes.
The platform provides one centralised space to plan, model and monitor finances across your trust. It gives you a full picture of both staffing and financial planning, allowing you to test scenarios and forecast the impact of your decisions in real time. It connects schools across the trust so everyone is working with the same information and towards the same goals.
Here’s a feature trusts especially love: the simple colour-coded dashboard. Red, amber and green indicators instantly highlight where things are running smoothly and where something might be going off track. You can click through these alerts to dive deeper into what’s going wrong, exploring the data behind the issue without having to dig through endless spreadsheets. Having spoken to a lot of trusts, we know how much they value this clarity. It makes spotting potential problems early and doing something about them much easier and far less stressful. And with built-in scenario planning, you can go one step further—modelling the impact of changes like funding fluctuations, pupil numbers, or staffing levels—before they happen. That means more confident decisions, fewer surprises, and a more strategic approach to trust-wide financial management.
When MATs use Anago, they stop reacting to budget issues and start shaping their future with purpose.
The ripple effect of getting it right
Proactive budgeting isn’t just a finance upgrade. It changes how a trust functions.
One Dutch trust discovered it was overstaffed in one department. Using Anago, they modelled the impact of reallocating those resources to student wellbeing initiatives. Another trust avoided a major budget shortfall by spotting a potential funding gap six months in advance, giving them time to adjust without cutting services.
When a MAT has the right tools and the right insights, every pound goes further. And every decision leads to better outcomes for pupils and staff.
Time to move forward
Sticking with reactive budgeting might feel easier in the short term. But it leaves your trust vulnerable, overworked and constantly chasing problems instead of solving them.
Proactive planning brings clarity, control and a sense of direction. It frees up your finance team to focus on strategy. It gives school leaders confidence in their numbers. And it helps everyone pull in the same direction towards a more stable, more effective and more impactful future.
Ready to see it in action?
If you’re ready to leave spreadsheet stress behind and step into a smarter way of planning, Anago is here to help.
Get in touch to book a demo, explore the platform or learn how other MATs are transforming their budgeting approach with Anago.
Curious what Anago can do for you?
MAT Budgeting in 2025: What changes are coming and how to prepare?
Budgeting is no longer just a back-office task. For MATs, it’s becoming the backbone of strategic leadership. With pressures building across the board, many trusts are feeling the strain.
In this blog, we explore how the landscape is changing in 2025 and what MATs can do to stay one step ahead.
MAT finance under pressure: how to navigate budget cuts without compromising education
In the face of rising costs and shrinking support, this blog explores how Multi-Academy Trusts can tackle 2025’s financial challenges without sacrificing quality or outcomes.
This way you are always prepared for changes in education financing
You've probably experienced it before: government regulations are changing again, and you have to move quickly to get your budget in order. Or you are faced with a new subsidy scheme and wonder how you can incorporate this into your financial planning without errors. The financial landscape in education can be quite challenging, with all the fluctuations in funding and changes in legislation and regulations.
But there's good news: you no longer have to wade through this alone. Current government data can help you maintain an overview, as long as you have access to the right tools and software that process this data for you in real time. How does that work and why is it so important? Let's delve into that in more detail.