Do School Accounts need to be certified?

The Education Act 1998 Section 18 states that except in the case of a school established or maintained by a vocational education committee, a board shall keep all proper and usual accounts and records of all monies received by it or expenditure of such monies incurred by it and shall ensure that in each year all such accounts are properly audited or certified in accordance with best accounting practice.

Schools will be required to submit accounts to the FSSU in respect of the 2018/19 school year and annually thereafter in the prescribed format and by the relevant deadline.

A standardised format for the annual accounts of a Voluntary Secondary School has been approved by the Department of Education and Skills. The FSSU will only accept accounts that are prepared using the agreed format. Certified or audited school accounts should include the ‘General Information’ as outlined on page 3 of the sample set of school accounts in the Accountants Report which can be located on the FSSU website at www.fssu.ie . Please note the additional requirement to include a Cashflow Statement in the annual accounts.

It is the responsibility of the Board of Management to ensure financial accounts are submitted to the FSSU by its external accountant/auditor. This will satisfy the requirement under Section 18 of the Education Act 1998 for schools to make available their accounts for inspection by the Minister.

For expert accounting, auditing, taxation services and support please contact us at McEvoy Craig Accountants & Auditors  

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