PLR Advisory

02/12/2025

Testimonial Tuesday 💬

We’re pleased to share more great feedback from one of our recent Internal Audit reviews.

Our client highlighted our professional approach, clear and actionable recommendations, and open, prompt communication throughout the process. It’s fantastic to know that our work has given the Trust confidence in their systems and controls — that’s exactly what effective internal audit should do.

We’re proud to support Trusts in strengthening governance and driving continuous improvement through practical, insight-led audits.

If your Trust is looking for internal audit support that’s collaborative, transparent, and focused on real outcomes, we’d love to hear from you.

18/11/2025

Testimonial Tuesday 💬

We’re always delighted to receive such positive feedback from our clients!
Our recent finance system reviews across multiple Trusts have been both insightful and rewarding — helping teams streamline processes, reduce costs, and drive greater efficiency in their financial operations.

Seeing the real difference these improvements make to day-to-day operations is why we love what we do.

If your Trust is looking to optimise its finance systems or improve operational performance, we’d love to have a conversation.

12/11/2025

On 26 November we are delivering a course which is perfect for those who are new to academy finance or those who are looking to upskill their academy finance team.

Don't miss out on this opportunity! Book your spot today!

We will be covering:
🟠 Academy Trust Handbook common pitfalls
🟠 Preparing for external audit
🟠 Preparing for awkward questions in management accounts discussions

Previous candidates have said: "𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒."

Follow the link below to find out more or book your place:
https://www.educationconferencesuk.co.uk/virtual-online-courses/advanced-plus-introduction-to-academy-finance

Have increased awareness of the top areas where academy trusts fall foul of the academy trust handbook.

11/11/2025

We will remember them 🌹

10/11/2025

On 19 November we are delivering a course which is perfect for those who are new to academy finance or those who are looking to upskill their academy finance team.

Don't miss out on this opportunity! Book your spot today!

We will be covering:
🟠 budgeting
🟠 mis-postings
🟠 Local Government Pension Scheme accounting
🟠 how to account for various funding streams

Previous candidates have said: "𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒."

Follow the link below to find out more or book your place:
https://www.educationconferencesuk.co.uk/virtual-online-courses/advanced-level-academy-finance

To help those with financial and non-financial backgrounds actively participate in financial planning, monitoring and reporting matters.

04/11/2025

Testimonial Tuesday 💬

We’re delighted to share some fantastic feedback from an Internal Audit client!

Our client highlighted our collaborative approach, strong communication with finance teams, and the professional yet practical way we deliver our work — all while remaining cost-effective and focused on adding real value.

We’re proud to support Trusts with internal audit services that don’t just tick boxes, but genuinely help improve processes and strengthen financial governance.

If your Trust is looking for an internal audit partner who works with you, not just for you, we’d love to talk.

20/10/2025

🔍 Internal Audit 2024-25: A Year in Review

We're excited to share our latest article, “Internal Audit 2024-25 – a year in review”, where we reflect on key trends, challenges and lessons from the past year in the education / academies sector.
👉 Read the full article here: https://www.plradvisory.co.uk/blog/internal-audit-2024-25-a-year-in-review

Here are a few highlights:

🚨 Risk & assurance focus sharpened — We saw increased scrutiny on financial controls, governance and risk management across academy trusts.

🏫 Sector-specific challenges — Particular pressure points emerged in areas such as ICT governance, business continuity planning, and compliance with evolving ESFA expectations.

✅ Lessons for 2025-26 — The coming year will demand even greater agility, stronger assurance frameworks, and more proactive risk oversight.

💡 Why it matters — Internal audit is not just a compliance exercise — it’s a powerful tool for continuous improvement, trust, and transparency.

If you work within education, governance, finance or audit, this write-up could spark new ideas or reinforce your own approaches. I’d love to hear your take — which challenges do you expect in 2025-26?

03/10/2025

We’re thrilled to share that 𝐏𝐋𝐑 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲 has been shortlisted as a finalist in four categories at the 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓:
🟠 Overall Supplier/Company of the Year
🟠 HR / Finance / Payroll Supplier of the Year
🟠 New Start Up Business of the Year
🟠 Corporate Social Responsibility Award

This recognition means a great deal to us — not just because of the honour, but because 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬, 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 across the sector took the time to vote for PLR, even when we weren’t their direct partner. As our Director, Phil Reynolds, put it: “𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑃𝐿𝑅 … 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟.”

Among these nominations, being named a finalist in the Corporate Social Responsibility category is especially meaningful. We believe in giving back, supporting communities, and doing the work that matters—not just chasing profit.

We invite you to read more about our journey, our thanks to the education community, and the full list of finalists in the article below.
➡️ https://www.plradvisory.co.uk/blog/we-are-finalists-in-four-categories-at-education-today-awards-2025

Thank you to everyone who supports us, believes in us, and helps us make a difference in education. We’re excited to see what’s next — and hopeful for 5 December 2025.

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PLR Advisory is a financial management and consultancy services business supporting the education sector across the South East.

03/09/2025

🚨 Exciting News 🚨

We’re thrilled to share that PLR Advisory has been nominated in three categories at the Education Today Awards 2025:
🏆 𝐻𝑅/𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒/𝑃𝑎𝑦𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟
🏆 𝑂𝘷𝑒𝘳𝑎𝘭𝑙 𝑆𝘶𝑝𝘱𝑙𝘪𝑒𝘳/𝘊𝑜𝘮𝑝𝘢𝑛𝘺 𝘰𝑓 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑌𝘦𝑎𝘳
🏆 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑈𝑝 𝐵𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟

This is a huge honour for us, and we couldn’t have achieved it without the schools and partners we’ve had the privilege to work with.

Now it’s over to you — the winners are decided by your votes.

👉 If you are a school that has worked with us, or know us well, we’d be so grateful if you could take a few minutes to cast your vote for PLR Advisory in each category.

🗳 Voting is open from 1st – 30th September here: https://lnkd.in/ePAGTusA

The winners will be announced at the Education Today School & Supplier Awards on Friday 5th December at the beautiful Park Plaza London Riverbank Hotel – and we’d love to be there celebrating!

Thank you so much for your support – every vote counts 🧡

29/04/2025

Does your academy trust issue salary statements? Are these issued to all employees?

Our latest blog highlights an importance compliance issue on this subject.

Read more here: https://www.plradvisory.co.uk/blog/salary-statements-helping-you-to-be-compliant

22/04/2025

The Procurement Act 2023 is now live.

The question is, has your academy trust updated its financial regulations or procurement policy to reflect these changes? Are you operating with rules for quotations and tenders which are not aligned with current legislation? When was the last time you updated your regulations and associated policies?

https://www.plradvisory.co.uk/blog/the-procurement-act-2023-is-live