School Private Fund Audit

 

Voluntary and Private Funds can be defined as any funds that are the responsibility of an employee of the Local Authority other than official funds. Therefore, funds held by a school other than their delegated budget or delegated community budget are deemed to be private funds.

 

School private funds are ultimately the responsibility of the school governing body, however operational responsibility will usually be delegated to the headteacher.

 

Although private funds don’t contain public money stakeholders such as parents and benefactors are entitled to the same standards of financial accountability as they are with public funds. Therefore schools must have their private funds audited or independently examined on an annual basis.

 

An annual audit ensures that there are safe and efficient systems in place for the custody and control of private funds.

 

Further information on accounting and auditing procedures can be found by selecting the links below:

 

 

You will also find useful information on auditing the School Private Fund on  the Leafonline website.

 

Should you have any difficulty in appointing an independent auditor, services are available from the local authority. Please contact the schools helpdesk on 0114 2736270 or e-mail them at finhelpdesk@sheffield.gov.uk for more information.

 

Schools must present their audited accounts to the governing body before returning an Audit Return Form (FN22) to Financial Services. This must be signed by both the independent examiner or auditor of the private funds and the headteacher and has to be returned in accordance with the timetable set out by the Local Authority.

 

The Audit Return Form (FN22) and timetable are available at the bottom of this page as downloadable documents.