Financial management

Description

A budget is an estimate of planned future expenditure.  Throughout the year the budgets are reviewed by the budget holder and management accountant to reflect activity and may identify required changes.  A budget virement is the process of transferring budget from one line to another.

The Budget Virements system acts as an audit trail, allowing us to track movement of budgets as well as ensure we have obtained the correct permissions before actioning any adjustments.

Links

Budget Virement Journal – all documents

Budget Virement Financial Management

Budget Virement Finance Ops

Timelines

There are no specific time restrictions when actioning budget virements.  They are generally identified during budget meetings and will be actioned by the Financial Management team following this. However, if you would like an adjustment to take effect in your next monthly budget statement, it is advised to arrange a meeting with your management accountant prior to the end of the month to ensure they have adequate time and capacity to get the necessary permissions and complete the work required.

Budget setting for the new financial year is a separate process.  Please refer to [Budget Setting Link].

Rules

1. Any adjustments should fall within your annual budget. 
2. All budget holders must agree to any changes made.
3. To provide an audit trail, all budget virements needs to authorised using the virements system.  This ensures we have all the required approval before actioning any adjustments.

Contractual change forms are used to instruct ESR and Payroll of any changes to an employees’ contract. 

This can include:

• Annual Leave Carry Over
• Career Break
• Secondments
• Extension of Secondments/Fixed Term Contracts
• Fixed Term Contract Made Permanent
• Change in Hours
• Return from Secondment/Career Breaks
• Suspension
• Moving employees to a new Cost Centre

Contractual change forms guidance 

Contractual change forms FAQs

I have submitted a contractual change form, but it is still waiting to be authorised

Contact your management accountant who can advise on any delay.

If an employee is transferring to a new cost centre, whose responsibility is it to complete the contractual change form?

It is responsibility of the receiving manager to complete the contractual change form. Failure to do so in a timely manner will result in costs remaining on the wrong cost centre, obscuring budget information, safe staffing reports and vacancy reports.

What happens if I miss the deadline?

If you have missed the deadline, the contractual change form will be actioned the following month.  In some circumstances this can lead to incorrect payments, which can also impact hugely on colleagues health and wellbeing, creating financial worry and anxiety. As an organisation that places great emphasis on mental health and wellbeing, we need to pay colleagues the right amount at the right time and ensure overpayments are kept to an absolute minimum.

What do I do if my contractual change form has been declined by finance?

Contact your management accountant who will be able to advise.

To ensure all pay related forms and expenses are submitted on time for processing, as well as all rosters finalised for payroll the below timetable needs to be adhered to.  We need the dates adhering to ensure all colleagues are paid correctly and on time.

These are absolute deadlines although we expect any form submitting at the earliest opportunity and leavers forms completing as soon as a resignation is received – depending on the band of the colleague this could be four, eight or 12 weeks in advance of the leaving date.

For rosters, absences for colleagues on health roster should be extended beyond the pay period, before rosters are locked to ensure the information sent to payroll is accurate. This means absences should be extended with an end date beyond the roster finalisation deadline to ensure the pay file extracted is correct and no end date is transferred to ESR incorrectly.  If a return date is unknown at the point of locking the roster, a future date can be put in as well as open ended being ticked (do not select open ended only as the date the pay extract is taken will be the date that goes to ESR as an end date).

Whilst delays and errors can lead to incorrect payments it also impacts hugely on colleagues health and wellbeing, creating financial worry and anxiety. As an organisation that places great emphasis on mental health and wellbeing, we need to pay colleagues the right amount at the right time and ensure advance requests and overpayments are kept to an absolute minimum.

SBS Oracle Form

This form is to be used when requesting the following:

• New user in SBS
• New user in NHS Supply Chain
• Amend user in SBS
• End date user in SBS
• Re-activate user in SBS

This forms needs to be completed by the line manager of the member of staff requiring addition/change/end/re-activate.

Sections 1,2 and 3 are required to be fully completed by the line manager

The completed form must then be sent to your Finance representative - details can be found in section 3 on the form.

Sections 4,5 and 6 will be completed by staff in the Finance Department.

Leavers forms instruct ESR and Payroll of any staff leaving, allowing them to make necessary arrangements of when to end their contract and stop payments.  Furthermore, this will allow finance to review employee information and check for any outstanding salary sacrifice orders that will need to be recovered from their final paycheck.

Links

http://sharepoint.merseycare.nhs.uk/sites/hr/SitePages/Home.aspx#

Leavers guidance

Leavers FAQs

The leavers form I submitted has been rejected but I am unsure why?

This may be due to some incorrect information on the form. Please contact mark.hare@merseycare.nhs.uk who will be able to advise.

When do I submit the Leavers Form?

Once the employee has submitted their formal resignation and a leave date has been agreed.

I submitted a leavers from, but the employee has since retracted their resignation.  What do I do?

How long after I submitted the leavers form is it actioned by finance?

In most circumstance, finance will action all leavers forms in accordance to the Trusts deadlines.  However, for employees with longer notice periods may be left until closer to the leave date so ensure that any new salary sacrifice orders are included in the finance leavers process.

I completed the necessary forms, and the employee has now left.  However, the employee continues to receive payment.  What do I do?

Contact payroll services via [payroll email here] and ESR (ESRadmin@merseycare.nhs.uk) to arrange payment to be recovered and our records to be updated.

Managers are responsible for reviewing the need for a post when a vacancy is identified or as soon as a current member of staff resigns, taking into account factors such as changing service needs. They should consider for example, whether the post is needed in the same format i.e. full time/part time or whether the duties could be delivered more effectively by redesigning roles.  Any changes should be discussed with your management accountant to ensure adequate funding is available.

Before any vacancy can go out to advert, it must be approved by the vacancy approval panel via the online Trac system. The vacancy approval panel consists of a member of HR, Finance and a staff side representative. All vacancies will be assessed and approved by the vacancy approval panel prior to advertising.

User guides

Creating a vacancy request

Authorising a vacancy request

Recruitment and selection policy

Links

Vacancies in online applications management | trac.jobs admin system

Timeline

Managers are responsible for reviewing the need for a post when a vacancy is identified or as soon as a current member of staff resigns, taking into account factors such as changing service needs.  Failure to recruit in a timely manner will impact on service delivery and quality.

Where this vacancy is due to a staff member resigning from post, the manager is responsible for submitting the leaver form in a timely manner. Failure to do this may result in a delay in the new vacancy request being approved.

FAQs

How do I know if I have vacancies available within my budget?

This information can be sourced through your monthly budget statements and budget meetings.  If unsure, contact your management accountant who will be happy to advise.

Is it possible to change the banding of a vacancy?

Yes, as long as it falls within budget.  Contact your management accountant who can help support and explore options available when reconsidering a vacancy.

A vacancy has become available that is no longer required, what do I do?

Contact your management accountant to arrange a budget meeting.  Together you can review your budget in line with service activity and advise how to best utilise the budget.  It may be that you could reprofile the budget to support cost pressures or other service activity or remove the budget as part of our cost improvement plan.

I have submitted a Vacancy Request form, but still waiting on approval.

Contact your management accountant who can advise on any delay in the process.

What do I do if a vacancy request form has been declined?

Contact your management accountant to discuss further.

Due to increased service activity/new projects, I need to recruit beyond my budgetary confinements.  Is this possible?

Contact your management accountant who will be able to advise the best process based on the nature of your request.

• ARRIVE training module