Directory of Services

School Business Services

Who we are

School Business Services has been providing education finance, MIS and ICT solutions nationally for over 15 years.

As an organisation we are driven by our mission, which is to see every trust able to make confident decisions with greater accuracy and find efficiency in everyday tasks – ultimately improving pupil outcomes.

Our financial forecasting and planning software SBS Budgets is used by over 200 MATs.

School Business Services is proud to advocate the great work of school business leaders at all levels, from administrators through to chief finance officers, chief operating officers and ICT directors in large school groups.

School Business Services also created National School Business Leaders Day to champion the vital role SBLs play in their trusts and communities.

What we do

Our professional services teams are made up of education-experienced, qualified consultants, many of whom have worked in senior roles at trusts in regions throughout the country.

Our finance, MIS and ICT teams can provide a wide range of support, including:

Finance: we work with MATs and schools to help ensure financial sustainability. We do this by ensuring there is real confidence in data, allowing for informed, strategic decision making. We provide varying levels of service dependent on the need, these range from strategic CFO expertise to day-to-day financial management, general processing, or simply a support service at the end of the line.

MIS: our MIS services ensure complete peace of mind by ensuring trusts and schools have accurate data. Furthermore, we provide business resilience, continuity, and strategic advice through our range of service levels. These include full data management, statutory returns and service desk. We are the only MIS support provider accredited in the 5 major MIS; SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom, Ed:Gen and Scholarpack.

ICT: we deliver high quality ICT services, working with MATs to help put in place strategies to deliver affordable, robust and scalable infrastructures.

SBS Budgets: our financial forecasting and planning software, is used by over 1,500 academies, from single academy trusts to some of the largest MATs in the country.

How we help

At SBS, we are committed to making a positive social impact on the communities we are part of and work with. Our work supports the outcomes of children. Our staff are passionate about supporting our customers to enable them to focus on the delivery of education.

Communities: We build strong and meaningful relationships with our customers. Our staff regularly participate in events and activities that help promote the wellbeing of school staff and pupils to build a positive and happy environment.

Fundraising: Each year we nominate a chosen charity and participate in various fundraising events throughout the year. Our staff get to know the values and mission of the chosen charity through our internal awareness raising. In the past we have supported Julia’s House, SHINE and The Honeypot Children’s Charity.

Staff wellbeing: We foster a supportive culture, reinforced through regular informal catchups, an open-door policy at all levels and a strong ethos of openness, positivity, and honesty. The physical and mental wellbeing of our staff is our priority, and we support our colleagues in a variety of ways, including Mental Health First Aiders, Employee Assistance Programme, buddying and flexible working

Care for the Environment: We have been proud to have held ISO 14001 for over 4 years. This ISO standard for Environmental Management, required us to set, regularly review and achieve or exceed targets and objectives across many environmental aspects. We continue to set business goals and decisions which are not detrimental to the environment and ultimately reduce our carbon footprint.

Investing in our team: We continually invest in new and existing talent. We have a record of accomplishment in recruiting and developing college and university graduates.

For staff development we support them through industry recognised qualifications such as Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

School governors:Many of our team are voluntary co-opted governors or chairs of governors in local schools of all phases. This gives SBS staff an opportunity to contribute energy and expertise to the local community whilst learning about the latest priorities and challenges of parents, teachers and SLT.