6 Ways to Enhance Your IRIS Financials in 2025

IRIS Financials is a powerful platform for managing school and Trust finances, but many teams aren’t taking full advantage of its capabilities. Small adjustments to your setup, processes, and training can deliver significant improvements in accuracy, efficiency, and compliance — all while freeing up time for more strategic work.

Whether you’re looking to improve accuracy, strengthen controls, or save valuable admin hours, optimising your setup can make a measurable difference to your finance and operations.

Our accredited Finance & Accounting experts have helped hundreds of schools and MATs review, enhance, and train their teams on IRIS Financials to deliver smarter, faster, and more compliant outcomes. Here’s how we can help you unlock its full value:

1. Expert Health Check of Your System

When was the last time your IRIS setup was reviewed?
A comprehensive health check can highlight gaps, risks, and missed opportunities in your current configuration.

We review and advise on:

• Security settings and user permissions

• Database structure, locations, and licensing

• Document types and transaction mapping

• VAT setup and control accounts

• And much more

Why it matters:

• Reduce the risk of errors and compliance issues

• Optimise your system for best practice workflows

• Ensure you’re prepared for audits and reporting requirements

2. Essential System Corrections

Health checks are only useful if you act on them. We provide a tailored plan to correct critical and recommended items so your team can move forward with confidence.

Common fixes include:

• Optimising system setup and structures

• Updating user security and access controls

• Streamlining processes to improve efficiency

• Applying access restrictions for better continuity and control

Why it matters:

• Protect against financial risk and unauthorised access

• Build a robust, scalable system that can adapt as your trust grows

3. IRIS Purchasing Setup

Is your purchasing workflow as efficient as it could be? Proper setup can save hours of manual admin, improve budget visibility, and tighten financial control.

We help you configure:

• User setup, including authorisation limits and group access

• Nominal and cost centre security

• IRIS Distribution Workflow settings

• Automated approval processes

Why it matters:

• Reduce bottlenecks in purchasing approvals

• Strengthen audit trails and accountability

• Gain better real-time visibility of commitments and spend

4. IRIS Purchasing Training for Staff

Your processes are only as strong as the people using them. Tailored training ensures your staff feel confident, competent, and consistent in their use of IRIS.

Training covers:

• Raising and tracking Purchase Orders

• Processing Goods Received notes

• Cancelling or writing off incorrect transactions

• Processing invoices accurately and efficiently

Why it matters:

• Reduce errors and duplicate work

• Free up finance teams to focus on strategic tasks

5. Admin Training for Your Team

Whether you have new staff or simply want to build resilience, admin training empowers your team to manage the system without constant external support.

We train teams on:

• Creating and managing users and security groups

• Setting up and maintaining security roles and permissions

• System administration, including cost centres and nominals

• Ledger and period maintenance for clean reporting

Why it matters:

• Build in-house expertise and resilience

• Reduce reliance on external consultants for everyday tasks

6. Sync IRIS Financials with SBS Financial Planner

If you’re still entering data twice — once in IRIS and once in your budgeting tool — you’re wasting valuable time and increasing the risk of discrepancies.

By syncing IRIS with SBS Financial Planner, you can:

• Align Chart of Accounts structures and budget forecasts

• Avoid duplicate entry of contracts and commitments

• Build and report on budgets with live financial data

• Benefit from expert setup and support from the SBS team

Why it matters:

• Gain a single source of truth for finance and planning

• Improve the accuracy and speed of your forecasting and reporting

Ready to get started?

Whether you want a quick health check or a full optimisation project, our accredited team can tailor a package to your needs — from a single school to a multi-academy trust.

Get in touch today to discover how we can help you make IRIS Financials work harder for your finance team.

See our full range of Finance support