Blogs and resources

The real value of a three-year forecast isn’t that it predicts the future perfectly. It’s that it helps trusts prepare for it more intelligently. Here's a deep-dive on the wins that CFOs can seek out.

This playbook offers viable steps for MATs to improve their financial planning power: turning a difficult outlook into a deliberate, multi-year plan that trustees, heads and finance teams can understand and own.

Change is sometimes the only constant for academy trusts in England. Increasingly, we're finding that spreadsheet-led budgeting is no longer cutting it for many schools and trusts across the country. So, with this in mind, we've shared four realistic, low-disruption actions that finance leaders can take this term to move beyond spreadsheets – improving control, reducing risk and building confidence with trustees and schools.

In this blog, we harness insights from Anago's CEO, Ninette van der Velden, as a base to explore MAT maturity: what it takes to move from slow and steady to strategic authority – and how the right tools and support can unlock a maturity shift that is felt all the way to the classroom.

While facing higher expectations from stakeholders, academy trust leaders also find themselves dealing with higher utilities, transport and support costs. It's a unique situation - and a challenging one, too. With income generation becoming increasingly important to academy trust budgets, here are some key talking points to consider during strategic discussions.

A new school year is a good time for multi-academy trusts to reflect on the year that was, and use those insights for future budget planning. Here are some important questions that should be asked.

This blog explores the quiet role trust plays in financial planning systems and why building confidence, not just capability, is the key to moving forward.

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.

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.

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.

Most Multi Academy Trusts are sitting on a goldmine of untapped value. The challenge is knowing where to look. With the right planning software, even the tightest budget can reveal surprising possibilities. From staffing inefficiencies to funding gaps, smart tools help you uncover what’s been hiding in plain sight. Here's how MATs across the UK are using better software to unlock savings, drive improvements, and plan with confidence.

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.