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AIA

Academies prove fertile ground for software houses

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23rd Aug 2013
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The education market is proving to be fertile ground for accounting software vendors who are developing specialist modules for academies and their accountants.

CaseWare, for example, has updated its Academies Audit program to incorporate the Mercia SAM Academies 4.0 audit manual ahead of the traditional academies year-end.

The application now tackles regularity reporting documentation, regularity planning, risk analysis checklists and sampling forms for control testing.

Demand started growing after the Academies Act 2010 gave schools an opportunity to opt for the new, independent status, explained CaseWare managing director Simon Warren.

Customers were very quickly pushing the developer for an academies audit and financial statement template.

“Our clients were asking us to help them exploit a new market. There was obvious demand and we could also see that many medium sized firms were looking to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that working with academies represented,” Warren said.

“I have been in this industry for over 20 years and I can’t recall another time when accounting firms and a software company helped each other to exploit a new opportunity so effectively.”

Getting a near-paperless audit solution was quite quick, as the accounts and audit templates were adapted from existing charity models. The package is based around a single trial balance and adjustments process that drives the final figures and audit working papers simultaneously.

The application has already proved “extremely popular” and is attracting interest from finance teams in some of the larger academies.

CaseWare isn't the only software vendor finding academies fertile ground for audit software.

CCH recently launched academy audit packs for its Audit Automation software, which will let audit firms plan academy audits using CCH Audit Automation to assess and record risks and controls, along with the program's standard analytical review and planning tools. The CCH academy audit packs are available for the PCAS and Mercia audit methodologies and both include full academy disclosure checklists to help confirm the content of the annual accounts.

CCH confirmed the academy master packs follow the latest Academies Accounts Direction and the software can also be used to review and sign off audits on screen.

Digita, meanwhile, has introduced an Academy Accounts Format for its accounts production software.

While academies are dominating short-term, tactical developments, many practice software developers are turning their attention to the cloud, which is a growing priority for both IRIS and CaseWare.

The latter demonstrated its “next generation” online audit solution at Accountex earlier this year, shortly after IRIS launched a web-based audit product of its own.

Running an audit solution in the cloud will allow teams work on distinct areas of audit in different locations to collaborate effortlessly, according to CaseWare, but users remain wary of security and connectivity issues.

CaseWare’s SmartSync technology will automatically synchronise each auditor’s work from a local copy. If the internet connection breaks down, any further changes are stored as normal and synched when the connection is restored. A Review on the Go facility will let auditors handle queries and sign-offs from devices such as iPads and smartphones without having to install CaseWare.

For more on academies' accounting and audit requirements, see:

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By pbrace
30th Aug 2013 17:01

CCH Academy Accounts Formats

As indicated in the article, CCH have indeed released Academy Audit Packs for CCH Audit Automation based on both the PCAS and Mercia methodology.

 

We have also release Academy Accounts Formats for CCH Accounts Production. These cater for the production of both annual and management accounts, and also reports to assist with the completion of the Accounts  Return.

Paul Brace

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