What’s involved in doing an
Accounting System Diagnostic Review
for a Students’ Union?

Before you fix anything, you need to understand how it actually works today. That’s the rule I was taught early on and it still holds.

Students’ Unions often come to me with an urgent problem. Something needs fixing fast. But step one is always the same: understand the system as it stands.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

Step 1: Map who does what

I start by finding out who owns which part of the finance function. That way I know who to ask when I hit questions like:

• How many legal entities are there?
• Which VAT code covers partially exempt transactions?
• How does the VAT Return actually get produced?

Step 2: List every system in use

Not just the accounting software. I list every add-on, every reporting tool, payroll software and the till (EPoS) systems in your bars, cafes and shops too.

Step 3: Unpick the chart of accounts

I work out the logic behind the numbers. Does the first digit of a code mean income or expense? What do the cost centre codes actually represent; budget holders or groups of them? Are the codes meaningful or just numbers? “251” means nothing. “FIN” means Finance.

Step 4: Understand the SU-specific detail

Every Students’ Union is different. But a few areas almost always need close attention:

• The annual budget and six-month reforecast
• Club and society balances
• Income from bars, cafes and shops

I’m a visual person, so I map these out as a diagram; colour-coded, sometimes animated, so we can see and talk through each process together.

Along the way, I flag quick wins as I spot them. Could you split income control accounts by campus? Could the till system report monthly instead of daily? Small changes like these often make a big difference.

Step 5: Put forward ideas for change

Over the last six years, I’ve worked and still support Students’ Unions across the Russell Group and beyond including UAL, Exeter, Greenwich, Sussex, Nottingham Trent and Warwick. No two engagements have looked the same. Some, I’ve led as interim Head of Finance. Others have been about coaching finance leaders through change themselves.

A diagnostic doesn’t have to cover the whole system. It can focus on just one area; commercial income, for example.