Solution and Services Roadshow 2026

 Shit Happens - Your worlds in transition

School Financial Risk Management

Financial Health Signals

• Financial strain can show up in several recurring warning signs.
• Operating deficits
• Asset non-replacement
• Costly finance leases
• Repeatedly delayed maintenance
• Overused banking staffing
• Inability to pay bills or wages

Serious financial difficulty can lead to statutory intervention.

The speaker described intervention as necessary in some cases.

It was presented as difficult and undesirable for everyone involved.

The speaker drew on school support and Ministry of Education experience.

Solution and Services works with more than 400 schools across New Zealand.

The speaker previously advised South Island schools on financial difficulty.

The speaker noted that one adviser for 650 schools was unmanageable.

Operating Deficits

• Operating deficits are acceptable when planned and sustainable.
• A temporary deficit can support staffing after a roll decline.
• The board must understand, approve, and fund the decision.
• Timing of income can create a legitimate operating deficit.
• Property maintenance grant income was recognised in 2025.
• The related spending was expected to occur in 2026.
• Continuous, unsustainable deficits indicate financial strain.
• The key issue is sustainability, not whether a single year shows a deficit.
• Overly conservative budgets can misrepresent expected results.
• Schools may budget large deficits but produce surpluses every year.
• Schools should not exclude known income simply to remain cautious.
• Include expected returning-student funding.
• Overly optimistic budgets can conceal financial problems.
• One school budgeted $50,000 of grant income.
• Its previous five-year maximum was only $2,000.
• The school included the grant merely to balance the budget.
• Deficits should be analysed through their underlying drivers.
• Capital budgets must be realistic as well as operating budgets.
• One school budgeted no capital expenditure but spent $77,000.
• Assess operating and capital budgets together.
• Capital spending has a major effect on working capital.
• A modest operating deficit can become serious alongside $200,000 of capital spending.

Asset Replacement

• Don't dismiss depreciation just because it is non-cash.
• Breaking even after depreciation leaves funds available for replacement.
• Depreciation is a blunt tool but helps reserve replacement funding.
• Furniture and equipment grants may not cover future replacement costs.
• An asset funded by a grant may need replacement in five years.
• The school cannot assume the same grant will be available again.
• Schools need a deliberate process to maintain and replace assets.
• Ignoring depreciation can leave insufficient cash when assets fail.

Finance Leasing

• Finance leases can be useful but must be assessed carefully.
• One school signed a lease with a 25% effective interest rate.
• Its term deposit was earning only 3.3%.
• Using available term-deposit funds could have been substantially cheaper.
• Total borrowing repayments are subject to a 10% threshold.
• The threshold applies to leases, loans, and other borrowing.
• The speaker planned to explain lease tools later that afternoon.

Maintenance Timing

• Maintenance can be delayed when condition assessments support the decision.
• Painting can wait if the relevant building surfaces remain sound.
• Different building sides can be painted in different years.
• Repeated delays caused by lack of funds signal financial difficulty.
• Year-after-year deferral is different from planned maintenance timing.
• Persistent deferral may indicate that the school cannot afford necessary work.
• Partial block painting can be a reasonable approach.
• One school might paint the south and east sides first.
• The west and north sides can be completed later if still satisfactory.

Banking Staffing

• Banking staffing is useful when planned, monitored, and reviewed.
• One school was overused by $224,000 but had no concern because it tracked the pattern.
• The board received graphs showing the balance over the previous two years.
• The school could see the overuse reducing over time.
• Unmanaged banking staffing has caused serious school disruption.
• It was described as the most common difficulty in the speaker’s Ministry experience.
• Two schools received no July operating grant.
• One of those schools also missed its September operating grant.
• The withheld funding resulted from excessive previous-year overuse.
• Schools may carry significant overuse if they can genuinely balance it.
• The Ministry may not prefer the practice, but balancing is essential.
• Balancing only in December is acceptable only if the school can achieve it.
• Banking staffing should be understood by the board.
• One board did not know what banking staffing was.
• Lack of governance awareness creates significant risk.
• Planning tools can model banking staffing.
• Payroll Toolkit costs approximately $800–$900.
• It can import payroll data and plan overuse and repayment.
• A free Ministry spreadsheet tool is also available.

Cash Flow Planning

• Schools need to plan uneven income and expenditure timing.
• Funding arrives in four instalments.
• Spending does not occur evenly across the year.
• Cash-flow shortages can prevent payment of wages and bills.
• Schools contacted the Ministry near pay period 19 because final wages could not be paid.
• The Ministry sometimes had to intervene to ensure staff were paid.
• Term deposits should not prevent required payments.
• Some schools avoided breaking term deposits to pay GST.
• Failing to pay GST creates a greater problem than preserving the deposit.
• A simple cash-flow spreadsheet can prevent timing shortages.
• Record when money is expected to arrive.
• Record when wages, bills, GST, and other payments are due.
• Review whether cash will be available at each point.

External Fraud

• External fraud commonly exploits urgency and apparent authority.
• A phishing attack imitated a principal who was away at a conference.
• The business manager was instructed to send $120,000 overseas.
• A second email pressured payment the following day.
• Bank controls must be followed without exception.
• The bank required verbal confirmation for payments above $50,000.
• Staff said the principal was at a conference and bypassed the control.
• The $120,000 was lost and never recovered.
• Credit card fraud is widespread among schools.
• Many schools have had to cancel cards because of fraudulent use.
• Malware can alter payment batches.
• One school’s office computer was compromised.
• An attacker monitored the system and logged in around 3 a.m.
• Bank account details in a payment batch were changed.
• The full batch was paid to the attacker and never recovered.
• Ransomware can restrict access to school information.
• Attackers may take student results and demand payment for their return.
• Antivirus, backups, and secure systems are essential controls.
• ICT security failures can directly create financial and operational loss.

Internal Fraud Risks

• Internal fraud can involve trusted, long-serving employees.
• The risk is present in schools, companies, and charities.
• Respectability and tenure do not remove the need for controls.
• Fraud commonly involves three conditions.
• An incentive creates pressure, such as gambling or personal financial problems.
• Weak or absent controls create the opportunity.
• The person rationalises taking someone else’s money.
• Schools can reduce opportunity but not every personal incentive.
• Effective controls and consistent enforcement are the main preventable factors.
• Altered invoices and bank accounts are the most common pattern.
• An invoice may be changed to direct payment to the fraudster.
• An invoice may also be paid twice.
• The supplier receives one payment, so the duplicate payment may go unnoticed.
• Cash creates additional fraud and evidence risks.
• One office employee admitted stealing school cash during an audit visit.
• Schools may not know whether cash was received without proper records.
• Segregation of duties protects both the school and employees.
• Two people should be present when cash is handled.
• Some schools accept cash only during set times when two staff are present.
• Every cash receipt should be documented.
• One family and one staff member disagreed about whether cash had been paid.
• No receipt or record existed to resolve the dispute.
• The school changed procedures to record every cash receipt.
• Staff should not be able to write off payments without oversight.
• One employee recorded incoming cash as written off in the student system.
• The cash disappeared without reconciliation.
• POS refunds should return to the original payment card.
• A school without this control had refunds directed to an employee’s Visa card.
• Cash reimbursements should be minimised.
• Schools should establish supplier accounts where possible.
• One teacher gave students $5 cash rewards for good behaviour.
• The speaker stated that this practice was not acceptable.
• Vouchers require secure storage and complete records.
• Record voucher serial numbers.
• Record and authorise each issue.
• One school bought $34,000 of vouchers without documenting their use.
• Credit cards can reduce reimbursements when properly controlled.
• A school may need several cards for frequent users.
• Each cardholder should accept the terms and conditions.
• A sports staff member may need a dedicated controlled card.
• Credit cards require monitoring after cancellation.
• One cancelled card continued to be used six months later.
• Staff had retained the card number and PIN.
• Credit cards are safer than debit cards for controlled spending.
• Credit cards have spending limits.
• Debit cards can provide access to the entire bank account.
• A zero-limit card can be funded only for a specific transaction.
• The speaker did not recommend issuing debit cards.
• Fuel cards need regular statement checks.
• One employee took a school fuel card home each week.
• The employee used it to fill a private vehicle.
• The school paid the charges without noticing.
• School property must remain for school purposes.
• Staff should not take sporting equipment home without authorisation.
• Items such as paddle boards and kayaks may be damaged outside school use.
• Insurance may not cover equipment used for unauthorised personal purposes.

Scam Awareness

• Scams can persuade even experienced people to act urgently.
• One principal transferred $10,000 of personal money after a four-hour phone scam.
• The incident occurred shortly after attending a scam-awareness session.
• Scam callers rely on pressure and convincing detail.
• A caller claimed to be from the bank.
• The principal believed immediate payment was required.
• The recommended response is to pause before acting.
• Think.
• Stop.
• Do not click anything.
• Verify the request through an independent contact method.
• Unusual payment requests should be treated cautiously.
• One apparently reputable supplier requested card details urgently.
• The school chose to pay in person rather than provide details by email.
• Schools should investigate why a supplier will not invoice them as usual.

Payment Errors

• Mistakes can cause major losses even without deliberate fraud.
• Duplicate bank batches
• Incorrect bank accounts
• Incorrect suppliers
• Automatic payment details that were not checked
• Large payments require careful verification.
• One school paid $150,000 to the wrong supplier before the holidays.
• The recipient acknowledged the error but could not repay the money.
• Two years later, the school was still recovering the amount.
• The school also had to pay the correct supplier.
• Automatic details must be checked before approval.
• One prefilled payment was sent to the wrong person.
• The recipient returned the money because the school acted immediately.
• Rushing and interruptions increase payment risk.
• End-of-term deadlines can encourage inadequate checking.
• Extra verification time is preferable to years of recovery efforts.
• Smaller batches are easier to review and control.
• Break large payment runs into several smaller batches.
• Smaller batches are easier to check and investigate.
• Supporting documentation must accompany each payment.
• Approvers need enough evidence to understand what they are approving.
• Approval should not consist of simply ticking a box.
• Approvers must understand their responsibilities.
• Two approvers in one school had never been trained on what to check.
• They approved altered invoices without reviewing the details.
• Schools should not rely on trust alone.
• Controls exist because trusted people can make mistakes or face pressure.
• Every control must be followed consistently.

Control Framework

• School policies must reflect actual practice.
• Policies should be treated as living documents.
• Schools should update procedures when practice changes.
• Approval thresholds should be enforced.
• The requirement to speak with the principal above $50,000 could have prevented the fraud.
• Staff must not bypass controls because a request appears urgent.
• Segregation of duties should separate key payment tasks.
• Different people should prepare, approve, and review transactions.
• Cash handling should involve more than one person where possible.
• Source documents require independent scrutiny.
• Perform random checks of invoices and bank account details.
• Contact the supplier directly to confirm bank details.
• Do not rely solely on the bank account shown on an invoice.
• ICT controls should protect payment systems.
• Keep antivirus software current.
• Maintain reliable backups.
• Use long, strong, unique passwords.
• Never share passwords.
• Enable multi-factor authentication where available.
• System controls should be actively used.
• Use alerts for bank-account changes.
• Check for duplicate contacts and duplicate payments.
• Retain controls that identify unusual transactions.
• Detective controls can reveal non-fraud problems.
• One school’s water rates were four times the budget.
• Investigation found a major leak beneath the school.
• Repairing the leak returned costs to normal.
• Monthly monitoring should investigate significant variances.
• Compare actual results with budget.
• Ask why a difference occurred.
• Decide whether corrective action is needed.
• Payroll and security systems need regular review.
• Review payroll reports.
• Keep software and antivirus systems up to date.
• Confirm that policies and controls are being followed.

Next Steps

• Suggested review: Compare operating and capital budgets for working-capital effects.
• Suggested review: Check banking staffing plans, repayment timing, and board reporting.
• Suggested review: Test payment, cash-handling, card, voucher, and ICT controls.
• Suggested review: Build or update a cash-flow forecast covering income and major payments.

School Budgeting Planning

Budget Preparation

• Small budgets require careful prioritisation when funding rises only slightly.
• Monty is recommended for budget preparation where available.
  • Supporting Excel or Google documents may still track wages, subscriptions, and SE additions.
  • Teams may collect proposed asset purchases through shared Google documents.
• Start each budget with a blank template.
  • Add prior-year actuals and the previous budget for comparison.
  • Review every line rather than automatically carrying figures forward.
• Review Excel budgets carefully before approval.
  • A school added an $80,000 board-funded teacher without updating the formula.
  • The board therefore approved a result that excluded the teacher’s cost.

Monty Setup

• Use the latest approved budget as the starting template.
  • The 2026 approved budget is generally recommended.
  • Use a re-forecast instead when it better reflects a new programme or current position.
• Save the first version as a clearly named 2027 draft.
  • Leave the comparison box blank for the first draft.
• Save revised versions as separate drafts after board feedback.
  • A 2027 second draft can be compared directly with the first draft.
  • This shows changes such as revised learning-resource allocations.
• Add relevant comparison budgets and actuals.
  • Add the 2026 budget as the main comparison.
  • Include full-year actuals, using December 2025 at this stage.
  • Also include current tracking, such as September accounts.
  • Replace interim actuals with December 2026 full-year actuals when available.
• Enter budget amounts as positive numbers in Monty.
  • Monty automatically displays expenses as negative amounts.
  • This system behaviour deducts expenses from the result.
• Change actual periods through the period-selection box.
  • Remove the existing period, such as July, and add the required period.
• Compare Monty with accounting records line by line.
  • Keeping Monty and Xero open together can support this review.
  • Record notes explaining assumptions and calculations.

GST Treatment

• Enter GST-exclusive amounts for most budget items.
• Check exceptions before entering amounts.
  • Overseas travel may have different GST treatment.
  • Residential rentals may have different GST treatment.
  • F&E grants have no GST.
• Use GST-inclusive amounts for schoolhouse income and related costs.
  • This also applies to capital purchases for rental properties.
  • A new bathroom or kitchen in a rental property is an example.
• OCS travel, courses, and accommodation have no GST.

Budget Components

• The operating budget forecasts the annual profit-and-loss result.
• The capital budget covers significant items affecting financial position.
  • Include fixed assets and major asset additions.
  • Include cycle-maintenance work and planned painting.
  • Include F&E grants where relevant.
  • Include board contributions to ministry property projects.
  • Treat finance-lease payments according to the school’s accounting approach.
• The working-capital estimate tests whether the school can afford the plan.
  • Compare working capital at this year-end with the projected next year-end.
  • Include large capital items in the estimate.
• Approval documentation explains the budget to the board.
  • Include the board minute.
  • Add narrative explaining major assumptions and the key drivers.
  • Explain why a deficit is acceptable if the board chooses to fund extra teachers.
  • Identify support such as international programmes or new funding.

Long-Term Planning

• Extend working-capital forecasts when the budget includes deficits.
  • A two-to-five-year estimate can reveal when funds may run out.
  • One school identified future insolvency risk after several deficit years.
• Budgeted deficits may still result in actual surpluses.
  • The Office of the Auditor-General requires auditors to raise this in a management letter.
  • A later surplus does not remove the concern about an unrealistic deficit budget.
• Use conservative assumptions rather than optimistic forecasts.
  • Conservative income and cost estimates are preferable even when they produce a deficit.

Operations Grant

• Use the operations-grant estimate as a key income source.
• Avoid splitting the grant across many account codes where possible.
  • Splitting creates a risk of overstating income.
  • Updating figures after the long return can duplicate the grant.
• Update every relevant code if the grant is split.
  • Remove or amend duplicated amounts when revising the key operations-grant line.
• Use the Ministry funding calculator when roll numbers are significantly uncertain.
  • Prato is reportedly useful for many schools.
  • The stated cutoff date for a roll review was 15 November.

Pay Equity Funding

• Use ministry correspondence to estimate pay equity and related funding.
• Quarterly funding can be estimated from the October 2026 payment.
  • The October amount can be multiplied by four.
  • The January 2027 installment was illustrated as $80,270.
• Adjust the estimate for later wash-ups.
  • October and potentially January wash-ups may change the amount.
  • The January 1 wash-up should be considered.
• Reduce the estimate if support-staff hours will fall.
  • The funding is based on actual hours.
• The speaker reported ministry confirmation that this funding continues into 2027.
  • The original intention was for pay equity funding to be a temporary bridge.
  • It was expected to become part of the operations grant but has not done so.

Funding Assumptions

• Budget income conservatively when funding or programmes may change.
• No separate audit-fee funding is expected for 2027.
  • Cash received in July 2027 relates to completing the 2026 accounts.
  • That income is accrued into 2026 and should not be budgeted again for 2027.
• Estimate interest income from planned term-deposit balances.
  • The cited expected average interest-rate range was 4.25% to 5.25%.
  • A $300,000 hockey-turf project could substantially reduce term deposits.
  • A lower deposit balance may matter more than a small rate change.
• Budget community-grant income and the related expenditure.
  • Remove uncertain grant income and costs from the budget.
  • Grants with legal conditions are recognised when the funded activity occurs.
  • A $10,000 December swimming grant for March is initially a liability.
  • It becomes income and expenditure in the following year.
  • PTA funding is usually recognised when received if no legal conditions apply.
• Include PTA or community donations only when payment is reasonably certain.
  • Consider whether the organisation has sufficient funds available.
• Carry forward unspent restricted funding appropriately.
  • Treat it similarly to grants with conditions.
• Record assumptions beside material income estimates.
  • An example is “$1 million at 4%” for term-deposit interest.
  • Notes support board review and the following year’s preparation.

Property Income

• Increase property budgets for expected rates and insurance rises.
• Review rental-property costs using GST-inclusive amounts.
• Include the full expected cost of significant property work.

Payroll Planning

• Payroll is a major budget risk area.
• Include holiday pay and pay increments for bulk-funded staff.
  • Match each funding source with its related expense.
• Identify how board-funded teachers will be financed.
  • Possible sources include international programmes, PTA donations, or reserves.
  • Board-funded teachers can quickly change financial position.
• Budget for overuse of salary allowances or management units.
  • From 2027, the ministry will charge for applicable overuse.
  • Schools should check whether they received a ministry letter.
  • Confirm the issue with the principal where necessary.
  • Include the cost when overuse is expected.
• Management-unit overuse may be difficult to reverse.
  • Fixed-term arrangements may be easier to address than permanent changes.
  • Staffing records should show the school’s unit allocation.

Learning Resources

• Review learning resources line by line.
  • Include new programmes, requests, and prior-year spending.
• Food technology and hard-material costs have increased significantly.
  • Some schools had already used their annual allocation.
  • Consider whether the budget will last through the remaining months.
• Professional-development funding may no longer have a separate leadership component.
  • Many principals reportedly chose to receive it through pay.
  • Unspent funding received this year cannot be carried forward as income.
  • The school can minute its intention to use it next year.
  • Budget the expense for the following year.

Prepayments

• Budget expenses in the year when the underlying activity occurs.
• Record significant prepayments as assets until the relevant year.
  • A $5,000 December payment for a principal’s New York course is a 2026 prepayment.
  • The course cost is budgeted as a 2027 expense.
• Review subscriptions paid in 2026 that extend into 2027.
  • The 2027 portion is a prepayment and should be budgeted next year.

ICT Subscriptions

• Track third-party ICT services in a separate line where practical.
  • This makes the expected 12 installments easier to monitor.
• Review subscriptions by cost and usefulness.
  • Start with the most expensive subscriptions.
  • Check whether staff still use them.
  • Check whether they improve educational outcomes.
  • Compare alternative, more cost-effective options.
• Unused software can create avoidable costs.
  • One school discovered staff did not know an educational subscription existed.
• Use the school’s SE threshold when coding technology purchases.
  • Thresholds may be $250 or $1,000.
  • Items below the threshold may require an ICT, computer-hardware, or minor-assets code.
• Review subscriptions that become 2027 expenses through prepayment.

Audit Costs

• Budget the gross audit cost rather than the previously subsidised net amount.
  • Include the total audit fee and disbursements.
  • Add the ministry’s suggested 3% increase.
  • The speaker advised budgeting for the higher amount despite hoped-for reductions.
• The ministry is revising the financial-reporting model to reduce audit costs.
  • The proposed model would report all schools at tier three.
  • Accounting complexity would be simplified.
  • Approximately 600 small schools may receive a review instead of an audit.
  • The hoped-for reduction for those schools was about 50%.
• The OAG may contact schools during the next audit cycle.
  • Schools may be asked whether they want to retain their current auditor.
  • Fee negotiations will then begin.
• No 2027 audit-fee funding should be included as income.
  • The ministry will still provide cash in 2027 for completing 2026 accounts.
  • That income belongs in the 2026 accounts.

Operating Cost Increases

• Review rates, electricity, diesel, and cleaning consumables carefully.
• Use year-to-date spending to estimate annual increases.
  • Compare September 2026 spending with September 2025.
  • Calculate the percentage increase.
  • Apply it to the 2025 full-year cost.
  • Add further increases already known for quarters three and four.
• Maintain separate vendor and minor-equipment accounts where useful.

Cycle Maintenance

• Continue budgeting cycle maintenance until reporting changes are enacted.
• Include the estimated annual allocation expense in the operating budget.
• Include planned building work in the capital budget.
  • Budget the painting scheduled for specific buildings.
  • The example involved painting two blocks in 2027.
• Record the capital use of provision as a negative annuity.
  • Paying for the work reduces the liability to the ministry.
• The proposed reporting model may remove cycle maintenance from financial position reporting.
  • Schools may still need to disclose their building-maintenance obligation.
  • A supporting estimate may still be required.
  • The change requires parliamentary approval before implementation.

Depreciation And Assets

• Budget a realistic amount for asset disposals.
  • Review the disposal amount in the previous year’s accounts.
• Base depreciation on the prior full-year expense and planned purchases.
  • Include assets purchased in 2026.
  • Include assets planned for 2027.
  • A hockey turf costing several hundred thousand dollars may be depreciated over approximately 15 years.
• Use AssetAny to estimate depreciation where available.
  • The speaker described it as straightforward.
  • A service charge may apply if the work is completed for the school.
• Budget ministry teacher salaries and use of land and buildings.
  • These are non-cash “no-show” amounts.
  • Use the 2025 full-year amount as a starting point.
  • They still must appear in the budget.
• The speaker indicated that use of land and buildings may later be removed.

Account Maintenance

• Mark unused accounts with “D” in the chart of accounts.
  • This signals “do not use” to the accounts team.
• Archive an account only after a full year has passed.
  • An account used in 2026 cannot be archived until 1 January 2028.

Capital Budget Details

• Include all relevant capital-budget categories in Monty.
  • Asset additions.
  • Finance-lease repayments where applicable.
  • Use-of-provision painting.
  • Additions to equity.
  • Equity distributions for contributions to property projects.
• Separate operating and capital treatment where required.
  • Operating budgets include annual allocations.
  • Capital budgets include the work or asset actually purchased.

Working Capital Review

• Use working capital to confirm that the proposed budget is affordable.
• A negative projected working-capital position requires revision.
  • The example began with positive working capital of 450.
  • The projected result became negative.
  • The school needed to return to the drawing board.
• Negative working capital may affect ministry oversight.
  • Ministry staff may visit more frequently.
  • The school may struggle to pay wages when due.

Final Documentation

• Attach the board minutes and narrative to the completed budget.
• Explain the budget’s key features and major assumptions.
• Start preparation early and use a blank template.
• Add budget and actual comparatives.
• Include detailed notes for review.
• Ask for help when an accounting treatment is uncertain.
• Use realistic and conservative assumptions.

Next Steps

• Suggested review: Set up the 2027 draft in Monty using the latest approved or re-forecast budget.
• Suggested review: Add prior-year budgets, full-year actuals, current tracking, and assumption notes.
• Suggested review: Check funding, payroll, capital items, audit costs, and working capital before board approval.

Monty Updates and Housekeeping

Monty Overview

• Monty supports complete school budgeting and financial reporting.

  • Includes operating and capital budgets.
  • Budgeted balance sheets are usually prepared for Anything’s clients.
  • Supports board reporting and budget-holder reporting.
  • Imports actuals and comparisons for budget analysis.

• Rachel has worked with Solutions and Services for almost 10 years.

  • She helped set up schools on Monty, enter budgets, and complete Kiwi Park mapping.
  • Her team considers her a Monty expert.

Budget Screen Changes

• Monty now displays a maximum of eight budgets per screen.

  • Use the page numbers to find additional budgets.
  • A missing budget may simply be on the next page.

• Users can favourite the budget used for reporting.

  • Hover over a budget and select the grey star.
  • The favourite moves to the top and appears in bold.
  • Reports automatically use the favourite budget.
  • Favourite the approved or revised budget being reported.

• Update the favourite when progressing into a new budget year.

  • Change it to the draft budget when appropriate.
  • Change it to the approved budget once approval is complete.
  • This reduces the risk of reporting against the wrong budget.

Saving Budgets

• The standard save function now creates a blank budget template.

  • Bring in actuals and comparison budgets manually.
  • Reconsider the figures instead of automatically copying them.

• Use the reforecast option when figures should be copied forward.

  • This suits draft-to-final budget saving.
  • It also suits mid-year reforecasting.
  • After copying, amend the figures needed for the reforecast.

• Choose carefully whether to copy figures when creating or renaming files.

  • The option determines whether the new budget is blank or copied.

Budget Search Tools

• Control-F now works reliably in the budget-entry screen.

  • Use Command-F on a Mac.
  • Use Control-F on a PC.
  • Search words, account codes, or other screen content.

• Search results can include multiple matching items.

  • Use the arrow keys to move between matches.
  • Searching avoids scrolling through long budget templates.
  • This helps locate items such as teacher-aide budgets.

• The budget key-command menu lists available shortcuts.

  • Select the question mark beside the budget lock.
  • Close the menu by clicking away from it.

Account Mapping

• The Show Zero Account Types option helps find incorrect mappings.

  • It displays each code’s Zero account type beside the code.
  • Types include revenue, expense, bank, asset, and liability.
  • Different types appear in different colours.

• Revenue and expense codes may be grouped together.

  • Income and expense can legitimately net off.
  • Balance-sheet codes should not be mixed with profit-and-loss codes.

• Incorrect mappings can cause reports to become unbalanced.

  • Use the colour display to locate an incorrectly grouped code.
  • Unmap the code and place it in the correct group.
  • This can help resolve net-assets and equity mismatches.

Budget-Holder Reports

• Budget-holder setup now shows allocations more clearly.

  • Users can see assigned groups or activity codes at a glance.
  • Assigned users are also visible without opening Edit.
  • Remove groups or codes with the cross, then select Save.

• Activity reports allow users to be removed or replaced easily.

  • Remove the existing user.
  • Add the new user.
  • Save the updated allocation.

• Year-to-date reporting is available for monthly-budget schools.

  • The option adds extra columns for budget holders.
  • Annual-budget schools can ignore the additional boxes.
  • Annual-budget reports continue to display the usual five rows.

• SNS Client schools are generally encouraged to use annual budgets.

  • Larger non-client schools requested monthly-budget functionality.

Purchase Commitments

• Show Commitments applies to purchase-order users.

  • Select it to add an commitments column to the report.
  • Unbilled purchase orders appear as committed expenditure.

• Commitments reduce the apparent amount still available.

  • A $1,000 book order can be deducted before its bill arrives.
  • Once billed, the amount moves from commitments to actual expenditure.
  • Schools not using purchase orders can ignore the option.

Report Filtering

• Users with advisor access can now select multiple report views.

  • Combine several budget holders or departments.
  • Mix budget holders and departments where appropriate.
  • Activity reports support similar multiple selections.

• Report labels clarify the selected information.

  • Budget-holder names appear in brackets.
  • Departments and activities identify the assigned reporting area.
  • Multiple departments can be viewed together for comparison.

• Screen filtering does not change emailed reports.

  • It applies only when advisor-access users view reports onscreen.
  • Email reports continue using their existing setup.

User Access Levels

• New users default to the Contact role.

  • Contacts can receive emailed budget-holder reports.
  • They do not receive Monty login access.

• Budget Holder Reporter access gives broader visibility.

  • Users can log in and see all budget-holder reports.
  • This may expose reports beyond their own assignments.

• The Budget Holder role limits users to assigned reports.

  • Users see only their assigned department or activity reports.
  • An unassigned report type appears blank.
  • Available links depend on the reports assigned to them.

• Login users may see incomplete month-to-date information.

  • Bills may not yet be entered or approved.
  • Users could mistakenly treat an incomplete balance as available money.
  • Explain this limitation before giving login access.

• Emailing reports remains safer for controlled monthly information.

  • Reports can be sent after accounts are closed off.
  • Login access may suit teachers who frequently ask for balances.

• Other access levels support different responsibilities.

  • Advisor access is required for broader administrative access.
  • Solutions and Services must provide advisor access.
  • Standard access is read-only.
  • Read-only access may suit finance committee members.
  • Principals may receive report access without budget-editing rights.

Graph Views

• Management reports now include a graph view.

  • Select Graph View beside the group-detail report.
  • Graphs use the selected date and budget.
  • The view opens on a separate page.

• The first graph shows actual expenditure.

  • It uses the management report’s summary headings.
  • Headings may include international, locally raised funds, and other expenses.

• The second graph compares actual expenditure with budget.

  • Select Annual Budget and update the view initially.
  • This adds the budget figures to the comparison.
  • Without that selection, only one line may appear.

• The third graph shows working capital.

  • The view now includes several historical years.
  • Earlier versions showed only two years and the current year.
  • The available history reaches approximately 2020 or 2021.

• Graphs can support board reporting.

  • Control-P prints the graphs with the school logo and month.
  • Printing currently places the graphs across two pages.
  • The working-capital graph prints on a separate page.
  • A snipping tool can copy graphs into commentary reports.

• Hidden groups can distort working-capital graphs.

  • Unhide excluded groups before running the graph.
  • This helps ensure the working-capital result displays correctly.
  • Sandy welcomes feedback about additional graph types.

Budget File Housekeeping

• Keep at least the most recent three years of budgets in Monty.

  • Older approved budgets can be retained in audit records.
  • Schools do not need to keep every historical budget in Monty.
  • Remove duplicate approved and unnecessary draft budgets.

• Delete budget files only after confirming the selected file.

  • Open the budget and check its name in the top-left.
  • Select Delete in the bottom-left corner.
  • Confirm the deletion when prompted.

• Comparison templates can include up to three prior budgets.

  • Add prior-year budgets to support new budget decisions.
  • Older figures may be less relevant after price changes.
  • Actuals can also be added, such as December figures from the prior year.
  • Choose the historical information that best supports the draft.

Ledger Code Cleanup

• Use the group-detail report to identify unused ledger codes.

  • Look for codes showing repeated zero-dollar balances.
  • Unused codes create unnecessary report clutter.

• Check a code’s history in Zero before archiving it.

  • Open the chart of accounts.
  • Search for the specific code.
  • Select the year-to-date option.
  • Review the latest transaction date.
  • Archive codes that are no longer needed.

• Use budget-template notes when cleanup is not immediate.

  • Record that a code should be archived.
  • Return to the note when the budget work is complete.

Archiving Codes

• Archiving requires changes in both Zero and Monty.

  • Archive the code in Zero first.
  • Sync Monty immediately or wait for the next day’s sync.
  • The code then appears as archived in the group mapper.

• Move archived codes into designated archive groups.

  • Search for archived codes with Control-F.
  • Select the blue cross to unmap them.
  • Move profit-and-loss codes into an archive revenue-and-expense group.
  • Schools may use separate archive groups for different code types.
  • Archive-group names may differ between schools.

• Keep balance-sheet codes separate during bulk moves.

  • Bank codes must not be moved into profit-and-loss archive groups.
  • Incorrect placement can cause assets and equity to stop matching.
  • Review the selected codes before dragging them in bulk.

• Verify report balances after completing cleanup.

  • Run the monthly management report.
  • Use Show Zero Account Types if the report is unbalanced.
  • Inspect the archive groups for an incorrectly placed code.

• Check archive groups in the latest budget template.

  • Each archive group should contain zero budget.
  • Archived codes are not identifiable in the budget-entry screen.
  • Schools may accidentally budget against unusable archived codes.

• Restore codes accidentally used in a budget.

  • Remap the code to its original group.
  • Restore the code in Zero.
  • This makes the code available for use again.

Removing Account Groups

• Empty and obsolete account groups can be deleted.

  • Open Setup and select Account Groups.
  • Find the obsolete heading.
  • Select the blue cross to delete it.

• Monty prevents deletion when a group is still mapped.

  • The error states that the group cannot be deleted because it is mapped.
  • Historical budgets may also prevent deletion.
  • A group used in an older budget may need to remain.

• Exclude Groups can hide groups that cannot be deleted.

  • This is often used for archive groups with zero balances.
  • Use the option cautiously because hidden figures affect report visibility.
  • Unhide groups when investigating an out-of-balance report.
  • Different users may see different results if their exclusions differ.

Sorting Account Groups

• New account groups are added at the bottom by default.

  • This can place a department below archive and balance-sheet groups.
  • Users may overlook the group when completing a budget.

• Sort new groups into the correct reporting position.

  • Open the sorting option in Account Groups.
  • Use the code number to sort groups numerically.
  • Place each new department, sport, or cluster group appropriately.

Next Steps

• Suggested review: Check favourite budgets and report against the approved file.
• Suggested review: Remove unnecessary budget files and review unused ledger codes.
• Suggested review: Verify mappings, archive groups, report balances, and group sorting.