As Mark outlined in his email on Friday, there are a number of additional financial measures we need to introduce with immediate effect. Whilst the first point is covering year end, tomorrow 31 March, the other points are in direct relation to new COVID19 processes and measures.
SYSTEM CLOSURE/YEAR END DEADLINE
Please be advised that the system will be unavailable from 2:00pm tomorrow Tuesday 31 March until the end of the day. Should you wish any information to be included into this year’s accounts this must be processed onto the system before this time.
AUTHORISATION LIMITS
Given the current necessity to control cash and monitor all spend, the Senior Management Team (SMT) have agreed that all approval limits held within the finance system will be reduced, with the exception of Business Growth Hub, Business Finance and Made Smarter. The limits are £2,500, £5,000, £25,000 and £250,000. All individuals have had their limits dropped by one tier. Therefore, if you had £25,000 you will now have £5,000, if you had £2,500 you now have no approval limit. This will remain under weekly review as SMT monitor the types, values and number of purchase orders being raised by the businesses. If you have any queries relating to your limits, please contact Sally Little.
EXPENSES
In light of the current situation we don’t envision any expenses now coming though in the coming weeks, therefore, can we ask that you submit all expenses you have incurred by the end of this week.
TRAVEL
Due to the current uncertainty regarding travel restrictions in place both domestically and internationally, no travel will now be booked. However, any cancellations for already booked travel must be directed to Kelly Edwards. Please note that booking via the online booking system is no longer possible.
CREDIT CARDS
Current spending profiles and anticipated activity on current credit cards have been reviewed and new credit limits have now been set for all card holders. Relevant card holders will be contacted with their new credit limit in the coming days.
If you have any questions regarding petty cash or credit cards, please contact Lindsay Smith.
PETTY CASH
Following the closure of GC sites and the current infection risk around handling cash no new petty cash requests will be fulfilled. The Finance team are now unable to gain access to the safes in Lee House.
SUPPLIER RISK POLICY AND NEW SUPPLIER PROCESS
We are changing our Supplier Risk Management Policy. This Policy aims to improve the Group’s controls over its supplier relationships and the robustness of our due diligence processes. In addition, we are seeking to reduce the volume of new supplier requests received on a monthly basis to consolidate our vendor base and improve accounts payable efficiencies.
Supplier Risk Management Policy
The policy categorises suppliers into three categories, according to the nature of what they provide and the potential risk to GC; Tier 1 - Critical, Tier 2 - Moderate Risk, Tier 3 - Low Risk. The risks the policy seeks to address fall under the following categories:
- Financial
- Data and Information Security (including the requirement for Cyber Essentials or the equivalent for Tier 1 and 2 suppliers)
- Regulatory and Legal (including Insurance)
- Reputational Risk and Business Standards and Ethics (including conflicts of interest)
New Supplier and Supplier Maintenance Procedure
This identifies a new process for requesting new suppliers so that the requirements of the Supplier Risk Policy can be met. A new Unit4 workflow has been developed to change approval routes to enforce the policy as follows:
- The Procurement Team now review each New Supplier Request and reject where the requirements are not met
- Finance will undertake further checks to prevent the possibility of fraud
Please read the New Supplier and Supplier Maintenance Procedure.
New Forms
- New Supplier Request Form - to be completed by all new suppliers
- Supplier Information Security Questionnaire for Tier 1 (Critical) and Tier 2 (Moderate Risk) suppliers. Tier 1 suppliers have additional sections of the questionnaire to complete.
Learner Creditors: The Learner process remains unchanged. Please mark ‘N/A’ in any sections that are not relevant in Unit4. A new form will be developed for learners in the coming period to streamline this process. Please ensure you select Learner Creditor in the Supplier Type box on Unit4.
Grant Recipients: Please mark N/A in any sections that are not relevant. Please ensure you select Grant Beneficiary in the Supplier Type box on Unit4.
If you have any questions regarding this process new suppliers, please contact Kelly Edwards.
INTER-COMPANY TRANSACTIONS
We are implementing a change in how we transact intercompany trading. For National Schools Training (NST), The Manufacturing Institute (TMI) and MIDAS staff there will be no change to how you operate.
However, for other companies from 1 April 2020 you will no longer be able to raise sales invoices to internal companies. We are doing this to speed up the internal charge process and to ensure that all costs are accounted for on time.
To do this we have created an Internal Trade Request form which when completed will be emailed to the finance team to process. You will still be able to raise sales invoices to external customers and this will include NST, TMI and MIDAS (as they have their own VAT registrations).
Here is some guidance on the inter-company transaction process.
New Inter-company Procedure: This explains the new process, but if you have any questions please contact Peter Stocks in the finance team.
Thank you,
Paul Simpson
Chief Financial Officer