Customer Story: Fox Federation

Fox Federation is a federation of six schools across London, bringing together primary schools and a nursery under a shared commitment to delivering the best possible outcomes for pupils. 

As Federation Business Manager, Michelle Foster oversees finance, budgets, HR, payroll and operations across the Federation, balancing strategic leadership with the day-to-day demands of supporting multiple schools.

Today, the Federation uses Access Education Budgets, Finance, People and Payroll to connect financial planning, workforce management and operational processes across all six schools. With information flowing across finance, budgeting, HR and payroll, leaders have access to a single source of truth, helping them spend less time searching for information and more time supporting schools and making informed decisions.

The result is greater visibility, stronger decision-making, reduced administration and more capacity to focus on school improvement.

Like many school leaders today, Michelle is expected to manage multiple responsibilities while delivering greater efficiency and supporting increasingly complex organisational needs.

Connected Education helps make that possible.

By bringing together financial, workforce and operational information into a single platform, Michelle can spend less time switching between systems, gathering data and managing manual processes, and more time supporting schools, leaders and strategic priorities.

"Access Education has made managing multiple schools absolutely easier."

At Fox Federation, the real value does not come from individual systems working in isolation.

It comes from connecting people, process and data through one intelligent platform.

By bringing together budgeting, finance, HR and payroll, Access Education has created a connected experience that allows information to flow across the Federation. Leaders have access to the insight they need, when they need it, without switching between systems or manually piecing together information.

Instead of spending hours gathering data, Michelle and her team can focus on understanding what the information means and taking action.

That shift has become increasingly important as schools face tighter budgets, increasing scrutiny and growing expectations.

"We're spending less time putting information together and more time deciding what we're going to do about it."

The connected approach delivers:

• Greater visibility across all six schools
• Less duplication of effort
• Faster reporting and analysis
• Improved decision-making
• Reduced administrative burden
• More time for strategic leadership

Financial Visibility Without the Paperwork

For a Federation Business Manager overseeing multiple schools, access to accurate, real-time financial information is critical.

Access Education Finance gives Michelle and her team a clear view of financial performance across the Federation while reducing the administrative burden traditionally associated with school finance.

Electronic workflows, audit trails and document storage have transformed the way financial information is managed.

Instead of relying on paper records, emails and manual processes, everything is available in one place.

Managing Multiple Schools from Anywhere

Supporting six schools across two London boroughs means Michelle cannot always be on site.

Access Education Finance gives her instant visibility across every school without needing to remotely access separate networks or rely on different systems.
Instead of moving between locations or logging into multiple environments, she can quickly switch between schools and access the information she needs from one platform.

"I can't be at all schools at the same time, so having everything there makes it much easier."

Audit Ready by Design

During a recent financial audit, Michelle experienced first-hand the value of having complete digital records.

Historically, evidence would have been stored across paper files, approval forms and email chains. Today, supporting documents, approvals and transaction histories are all available within the platform.

The result is less time spent gathering evidence and greater confidence during audits and compliance reviews.

"All you're doing here is uploading the evidence. You don't need all those pieces of paper anymore."

Better Financial Planning and Cash Flow Visibility

With school budgets under increasing pressure, access to accurate cash flow forecasting has become particularly valuable.

The Federation can monitor future income and expenditure, identify potential pressures earlier and make more informed financial decisions.

Michelle highlighted the cash flow reporting capabilities as one of her favourite features, helping the Federation understand future commitments and plan accordingly.

"Cash is tight, so being able to see what's coming and plan for it is really important."

Time Saved Across the Federation

One of the most significant benefits has been the reduction in time spent producing reports.

Before implementing Access Education Finance, producing management reports and outturn forecasts could take several hours per school.

Across six schools, that could mean up to 18 hours of manual work.
Today, reports can be generated in minutes, giving leaders more time to focus on action rather than administration.

"If a governor asked for an outturn prediction before, I could spend three hours per school. Now it's literally the click of a button."

What Fox Federation Loves About Access Education Finance

• Real-time financial visibility across multiple schools
• Sophisticated reporting and cash flow forecasting
• Faster audits with complete digital audit trails
• Reduced paperwork and manual administration
• Faster management reporting and decision-making

Planning with Confidence

Strong financial management starts with effective planning.

For Fox Federation, Access Education Budgets provides the foundation for informed decision-making, helping leaders understand the financial position of each school while maintaining a strategic view across the wider Federation.

The ability to consolidate information, model future scenarios and access meaningful reporting has helped improve both efficiency and confidence.

Rather than spending time pulling together data from multiple sources, leaders can focus on understanding the implications and making informed decisions.

For Michelle, one of the biggest advantages is the ability to quickly access the information needed to support school leaders and governors.

"The insight we have now means we're spending less time gathering information and more time using it."

What Fox Federation Loves About Access Education Budgets

• Federation-wide budget visibility
• Improved forecasting and financial planning
• Faster consolidation of information
• Better support for strategic decision-making
• Greater confidence when reporting to governors

"I absolutely loved Access Education Budgets and still discover new things that help us understand our data."

A Complete View of Your Workforce

Managing people effectively requires accurate information, accessible processes and confidence that nothing will be missed.

By bringing HR processes together within a connected platform, Fox Federation has created a single source of truth for workforce management.

Employee records, contracts, communications, compliance documents and absence data are all available in one place.

This has significantly reduced the time spent searching for information and improved visibility across the Federation's workforce.

"We're not having to go to one system for staffing information and another for HR files. Everything is there."

Supporting Staff Wellbeing Through Better Visibility

The Federation uses automated absence monitoring and trigger alerts to identify patterns early and provide support where needed.

Rather than manually tracking absence records and reviewing spreadsheets, leaders can quickly identify trends, understand potential issues and take proactive action.
This not only reduces administrative workload but also helps support staff wellbeing and minimise disruption within schools.

"The sickness triggers are fantastic because they immediately direct your attention to the people and patterns that need support."

What Fox Federation Loves About Access Education People

•    A complete employee record in one place 
•    Improved absence management and compliance tracking 
•    Better workforce visibility and reporting 
•    Simplified HR administration 
•    Significant administrative time savings 

Payroll That Works as Part of the Bigger Picture

Payroll is one of the most important responsibilities within any school or federation. It needs to be accurate, efficient and closely aligned with workforce and financial planning.

For Fox Federation, the real value comes from having payroll connected to wider people and finance processes.

Rather than operating as a standalone function, payroll sits within a connected platform that supports greater visibility and reduces duplication of effort.

As staffing remains one of the largest areas of expenditure for schools, having payroll linked to workforce information and financial reporting gives leaders a clearer understanding of costs and helps improve planning across the Federation.

Michelle has already seen significant time savings through the integration between payroll, people and finance processes, helping reduce manual work and improve efficiency.

"It's definitely saved us hours and it's way better than what we had before."

What Fox Federation Loves About Access Education Payroll

• Connected payroll, HR and finance processes 
• Reduced manual administration 
• Improved visibility of staffing costs 
• Greater efficiency across the Federation 
• Time savings through integrated workflows

Turning Data into Action

For Michelle, analytics is helping turn information into action. Instead of spending days gathering and analysing data, leaders can quickly identify trends, understand risks and focus their time on making improvements.

This is particularly valuable when reporting to governors and senior leaders, allowing complex information to be presented in a clear and accessible format.

Whether analysing absence trends, reviewing staffing data or monitoring financial performance, analytics helps ensure time is spent acting on information rather than gathering it.

"We're spending less time analysing the figures and more time deciding what we're going to do about them."

What Fox Federation Loves About Analytics

• Visual dashboards that make data easier to understand
• Faster reporting for governors and senior leaders
• Greater visibility of workforce and financial trends
• Less time spent creating reports manually
• More time to focus on action and improvement

For Michelle, the biggest benefit of Access Education is not any individual product. It is the ability to connect financial planning, workforce management, payroll and operational processes through a single platform.

When finance connects to budgets, budgets connect to staffing plans, payroll aligns with workforce data and reporting becomes easier, leaders gain a clearer picture of what is happening across their organisation.

The result is better decisions, stronger governance and more capacity to focus on the things that matter most.

“We keep buying into the Access Education systems because they integrate with each other and make our workflow a lot better."

Perhaps the biggest benefit for Fox Federation is the capacity it has created across the organisation.

By reducing the time spent on administration, reporting, compliance and manual processes, Michelle and her team can focus more of their energy on supporting school leaders, managing resources effectively and helping every school deliver the best possible outcomes for pupils.

That shift from administration to impact is where Connected Education delivers its greatest value.

"Access gives us more time to focus on what really matters instead of spending our days pulling information together."

Whether you're a school, federation or multi-academy trust, Access Education brings together Finance, Budgets, HR and Payroll in one intelligent platform.

By connecting people, process and data, Connected Education helps reduce complexity, improve visibility and create the capacity leaders need to focus on delivering outstanding outcomes.

Find out how Access Education can help your organisation work smarter, make better decisions and create more time for what matters most.