Demystifying Finance

There is no doubt that funding pressures continue to rise in Higher Education – partially through increasing costs-such as pensions, the capacity to generate more income and also through uncertainty whilst the outcome of the Review of Post 18 Education and Funding along with the Government’s response to it are still awaited. Are you clear how the Sector and your own institution might cope with those and other financial challenges ?

It is also clear that the need to deliver more and more with less resource whilst having due regard for Value for Money (VFM) at all times is here to stay with all colleagues expected to play their part in this. 

So, perhaps you’d like to broaden your understanding of the Higher Education Sector’s funding and the challenges of financial sustainability? 

Or maybe you’d like to learn how to make sense of your University’s financial statements and understand the principles of financial planning, budgeting, costing and pricing?

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the day participants will have:

• Strengthened their understanding of their own University's finances and set them into the wider and national context
• Developed practical skills in budgeting, costing and pricing
• Will be less intimidated by financial jargon
• Be confident to seek out additional information and/or help and to identify knowledge gaps.

Programme content

The workshop will cover:

• Where universities money comes from and how it is spent
• How to interpret your own University's financial statements
• Jargon busting and understanding some basic accounting concepts
• Understanding what 'financial sustainability' means and how to measure it
• How to budget for, cost and price activities
• Appreciating the importance of internal controls and financial regulations

Gill Ball OBE

Gill, a qualified accountant spent the majority of her career within Higher Education with the last 20 years as Director of Finance at the University of Birmingham until she retired from that role at the end of 2014.

She developed a deep interest in the finances of the wider sector through supporting a number of HEFCE initiatives such as the Financial Sustainability Strategy Group (FSSG), the TRAC Review Group, Sustainability Metrics Group (SMSG) and the team working on “Financial Sustainability and Efficiency in Full Economic Costing of Research in UK HEIs” which produced the Wakeham Report- all of which impacted on the sector’s sustainability agenda.

From 2002 until she retired, Gill worked with the Leadership Foundation delivering the “Strategic Financial Management in HE” element for 31 of the cohorts of the Top Management Programme which she enjoyed very much. Gill remains committed to the HE Sector by continuing as a member of FSSG and SMSG, mentoring senior staff in a number of Universities, operating as a member of the Science and Technologies Facilities Council- one of the UK Research Councils- and working as an advisor to Accelerus Education which is developing models for reviewing efficiency of teaching and supporting leadership teams in implementing change. 

Gill was awarded an OBE for services to Higher Education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2012.