Filling a Vacancy or Solving a Problem?
When a key finance team member leaves, goes on long-term absence, or when recruitment delays create a gap in capacity, academy trusts and schools often need support quickly.
For many organisations, the first response is to engage temporary finance staff through a recruitment agency. It's a familiar route and can appear to be the most cost-effective solution.
However, while agency staff can provide valuable short-term cover, academy trusts are increasingly asking a different question:
Do we simply need someone to fill a vacancy, or do we need someone to solve a problem?
The answer can make a significant difference to the quality of financial management, regulatory compliance and long-term organisational resilience.
Understanding the Difference
Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, interim finance consultancy and agency-supplied finance staff are fundamentally different services.
An agency typically provides an individual to perform a defined role for a temporary period. Their focus is often on maintaining business-as-usual activities until a permanent appointment is made.
A finance consultancy provides specialist expertise, leadership and problem-solving capability. The objective is not simply to cover a vacant seat but to deliver outcomes, address challenges and strengthen the organisation.
Both approaches have their place. The key is understanding which solution best fits your situation.
The Cost Question: Looking Beyond Day Rates
One of the main reasons organisations turn to agency staff is cost.
On paper, agency support may appear less expensive than engaging a specialist education finance consultant. However, day rate alone rarely tells the full story.
The real question is:
What value does the organisation receive during the engagement?
An experienced consultant may:- Resolve long-standing financial issues
- Improve reporting and forecasting processes
- Strengthen financial controls
- Support audit and compliance requirements
- Develop finance team capability
- Reduce future risks
In contrast, a cheaper solution can become more expensive if work needs to be repeated, deadlines are missed or additional support is required later.
The true cost of interim finance support should be measured by outcomes, not simply by the daily rate.
Education Sector Experience Matters
Academy trust finance is a specialist discipline.
Managing finances within an educational setting requires knowledge of:
- Academy Trust Handbook requirements
- DfE expectations and returns
- GAG funding arrangements
- Budget planning and monitoring
- Governance and trustee reporting
- Financial regulations and compliance
- Internal scrutiny processes
- Growing and developing multi-academy trusts
A highly capable finance professional from another sector may still require time to understand the complexities of education finance.
This can create risk at precisely the moment a trust needs certainty.
At SBS, our consultants specialise in education finance. They understand the regulatory environment, funding landscape and operational challenges faced by trusts and schools.
This means they can begin adding value immediately rather than spending weeks learning the sector.
Capacity Is Important. So Is Strategic Leadership.
Every trust needs operational finance support.
Month-end reporting still needs completing. Budgets still need managing. Payroll still needs running. Suppliers still need paying.
Agency staff can be highly effective where additional capacity is required to maintain these routine activities.
However, many finance vacancies expose wider challenges that already exist within an organisation.
For example:
- Financial processes may be inefficient
- Reporting may lack clarity
- Forecasting may not be robust
- Financial controls may need strengthening
In these situations, simply maintaining the status quo may not be enough.
An experienced finance consultant brings both operational support and strategic leadership. Rather than keeping things running, they help organisations move forward.
Reducing Risk During Periods of Change
Many trusts seek interim finance support during periods of significant change.This might include:
- Growth through merger or expansion
- CFO transitions
- Finance team restructuring
- Audit preparation
- Financial recovery programmes
- System implementations
- Recruitment challenges
They require judgement, experience and the ability to make informed decisions.
One of the most common concerns we hear from trusts is that previous temporary appointments lacked education experience. While they provided short-term cover, they were unable to fully support the wider needs of the organisation.
In some cases, trusts found themselves in the same position a few months later. In others, additional work was required to correct issues or address problems that had emerged during the interim period.
When support is provided by education finance specialists, organisations benefit from a reduced learning curve, stronger decision-making and greater confidence throughout the engagement.
Access to a Team, Not Just One Individual
Another important consideration is resilience.When an agency supplies an individual, the organisation largely depends on the knowledge and experience of that one person.
Consultancy support provides access to a wider network of expertise.
This can include specialists in:
- Academy trust finance
- CFO leadership support
- Budget setting and forecasting
- Governance and compliance
- Internal scrutiny
- Financial recovery
- Procurement and value for money
- Trust growth and transformation
What About the Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment Framework?
The introduction of the new Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment Framework has led some academy trusts to question whether all forms of interim finance support must now be sourced through framework-approved providers.
The answer is no.
The Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment Framework is designed for the procurement of temporary, fixed-term and permanent staff supplied through recruitment agencies, including non-teaching roles such as finance professionals. From September 2026, academy trusts are expected to use the framework when procuring supply staff through agency arrangements.
SBS is not a recruitment agency and does not provide agency workers. Instead, we deliver specialist education finance consultancy services, supporting trusts through interim leadership, financial management, strategic projects, compliance support and organisational improvement.
As a consultancy provider, SBS is delivering a professional service rather than supplying temporary staff. This is an important distinction. When engaging SBS, trusts are purchasing specialist expertise, advice and outcomes, not recruiting an individual through an employment agency.
As a result, SBS does not need to be appointed to the Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment Framework to provide finance consultancy services.
When Agency Support Is the Right Choice
Agency finance staff can be an effective solution when:- Additional short-term capacity is needed
- Responsibilities are clearly defined
- Internal leadership is available to manage and support the role
- Specialist education expertise is not essential
- The focus is maintaining routine operations
When Consultancy Support May Deliver Greater Value
A specialist education finance consultancy may be the better choice when:- A trust needs experienced education finance leadership
- Compliance or audit concerns exist
- Recruitment challenges have created operational risk
- Financial processes require improvement
- Significant organisational change is underway
- A CFO or senior finance leader has left unexpectedly
- The trust wants lasting improvements as well as interim cover
Final Thoughts
Finance vacancies are rarely just staffing challenges. More often, they are moments when organisations must balance immediate operational needs with long-term financial stability.
Agency support can play an important role in providing temporary capacity. However, where trusts require specialist expertise, strategic leadership and measurable improvement, consultancy support often delivers greater value.
At SBS, we don't just help trusts fill vacancies. We help them strengthen finance functions, improve financial management and create sustainable solutions that remain in place long after the assignment has ended.
Need Interim Finance Support for Your Academy Trust?
Whether you're looking for an interim CFO, finance leadership support, business continuity cover or specialist education finance expertise, SBS can provide experienced consultants who understand the unique challenges facing schools and academy trusts.
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