Securing financing for schools and public sectors is a constant struggle. With essential repairs, changes in curriculum, and a small budget, there is usually not enough to support upgrades or developments. Leasing equipment to schools has been an option for very few schools in the past, however, this is about to change and improve for the better.
New accounting rules, called IFRS 16, from the Government, allow schools that the Local Authority maintains to enter fixed-term finance leases on various assets and equipment. However, no approval from the secretary of state is needed. Some items may require approval from the Department of Education, they have provided a pre-approved list of assets (See table 1 below).
See the list below to get an idea of what you could lease:
(Table 1)
Why should you lease school equipment?
1. Improve budget management with regular fixed repayments
Budgeting your money is now easier with fixed repayments, mitigating the need to unexpectedly use most, if not all of the budget on essentials. This improves development opportunities.
2. Spread the costs over the useful life of the assets
Spreading the cost over the lifetime of the assets means you don’t have to pay out a large lump sum or deposit for the products you need. This will also help control budget management.
3. Free up cash for other projects
With this new scheme, you can cover the essentials with possible leftover cash for other projects.
4. Get the equipment that pupils and staff need without delay or compromise
No waiting for development and upgrades is necessary. No need to dedicate your whole budget to one thing, when you can spread out payments with fixed-term agreements.
Schools can start leasing from the 1st of April 2024. From the 1st of September 2024, academies will also be able to finance the same assets using fixed-term leases.
Are you looking to shop everything back to school? Contact us now at Comms Express.
