The report is based on the year from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. All quotes throughout are from BUFDG members, unless otherwise stated.
Advocacy, Liaison, and Collaboration
Erica Conway - BUFDG Chair (CFO, University of Birmingham)
I cannot quite believe that I have reached the end of my four-year term as BUFDG Chair, it has gone so quickly and been an absolute pleasure. This of course means I’m reflecting on all four years in my final Annual Report Foreword.
My term as Chair began in that odd period in 2022, moving from the pandemic to the post-pandemic world, both in terms of how our universities were delivering courses, accommodation, research, and student services, and how BUFDG was delivering its services and events. The H E sector and BUFDG have both changed considerably in the post-pandemic years, adapting to a different world doing things in a different way...
This includes my first Annual Meeting as Chair in Leeds in 2023, only the second BUFDG ‘conference’ for CFOs and FDs since the pandemic, and the one that really set the blueprint for the successful Annual Meetings we have today – with a first day of smaller, mission-group or otherwise aligned meetings, followed by an informal dinner joined by a select group of invited supporters (and these places genuinely are invitation-only – the team is often approached by other organisations keen to attend, but invites are only extended where the team believes the supporter will add genuine value to the event, and to the sector over the course of the year), with some homemade but always fun entertainment from the endlessly creative BUFDG team. Then day two brings everyone together for a set of consistently fascinating sessions.
Back in 2022 and 2023 the idea of holding such a gathering without a plethora of sponsors and exhibitors and free-flowing conference ‘merch’ was almost radical, but it was absolutely the right fit for BUFDG CFOs and FDs, and has remained a successful recipe, with just a few tweaks and refinements since.
Another of the post-pandemic innovations in BUFDG’s services that I have found particularly useful are the wonderful ‘Time to Talk’ sessions, as well as roundtable discussions and member surgeries etc. held online (and often available to watch later). Whether these be CFO/FD-only sessions on sensitive matters, or wider sessions on the latest tax issues, procurement meetings, or the nitty-gritty of research finance admin, or any of the other broad variety of topics, they are a wonderful way to not only keep up-to-date with the latest ideas and developments, but to build and maintain your own network, and raise (and resolve) issues you are facing.
With so little time commitment required to attend these one-hour(ish) sessions, no travel involved (and no cost), and such a variety of sessions provided, they reflect a new approach in a post-pandemic era that BUFDG has delivered for us all. They create a virtual space for people to talk about issues and help each other. Let’s be honest, in what could otherwise feel like quite a lonely world in Finance at times, these spaces are truly vital to BUFDG members at all levels.
Another fantastic change in BUFDG services during my tenure has been the addition of CPD-certification for all E-learning courses and many of the conferences and training courses. This is hugely beneficial to members who can now use specific, H E-focused resources to help meet their CPD requirements.
I never cease to be amazed that such a small team of loyal and committed people that we are blessed with in BUFDG creates such massive outcomes for us and provides great value too. I was particularly impressed a couple of years ago, in the review of the BUFDG offering. First this captured thoughts and opinions on BUFDG from across the whole breadth of the BUFDG membership, and then translated some of the benefits of BUFDG membership into clear ‘value for money’ statements in the Member Value Proposition (over £30,000 per institution in 2025 prices, if anyone’s counting, against a maximum subscription for the largest universities of less than £10,000– and that’s just the tangible services, not even capturing the invaluable benefits of advocacy, networking, and CPD hours etc.).
We all know that 2025/26 is proving to be another challenging period for higher education, and for some institutions this year has been more so than ever before. BUFDG is always there to support you and your institution in so many ways. That may be links to other BUFDG members , drawing on BUFDG resources and information, BUFDG advocacy on issues faced by the sector, or the BUFDG team helping you find just what you need. I know we all pay subs, so it is not for free; but I continue to marvel at the scale of value we get in return.
Looking back over this most recent year, the new FEHE SORP and FIAT project have been immensely beneficial to me and for the sector, as have a number of representations made on various issues either direct to the relevant bodies (such as the OfS, HMRC, UKRI and Innovate UK) or via government consultations.
I have found my time as BUFDG Chair both fascinating and rewarding. I have learned more about the sector and the organisations involved in funding, regulating, and supporting it. It has been such a privilege to represent you all in so many different contexts. And I have learnt and grown from working with the BUFDG team – a wonderful group of people who are always searching for new and better ways to help members and the H E sector, to support us through difficult challenges, and to enable us all to do the best we can in our day-to-day roles. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience this all, it has been a genuine honour.
In fact, I have enjoyed it all so much that in the recent tradition of BUFDG Chairs (I’m looking at you Sarah Randall-Paley), I am stepping down as BUFDG Chair but moving on to chair one of the working groups – the Procurement Working Group – so you haven’t heard the last of me just yet, and I look forward to serving you all in this new capacity.
“In our lives the rate of flow of time is not uniform, but it appears to vary with circumstances. Anxiety or pain drag their leaden feet along, whereas hours of pleasure or busy occupation flow on the wings of the wind.”
I reflected in a recent FD/CFO email that time between Fridays seems to go more quickly than ever. The same applies to time between Annual Reports, and to changes between BUFDG Chairs. It seems impossible that four years have passed since Erica Conway first assumed the office and I began the pleasure of working with her more closely.
Erica is the sixth Chair I have worked with, and I am delighted that for the first time in 23 years we have a contest to replace her. By the time you read this we will know who will join the roll of honour that since 2003 includes Michael Yuille, Phil Harding, Bob Rabone, Andrew McConnell, and Sarah Randall-Paley – names that some of you will know and others will wonder, “who was that?” Each of those colleagues brought different perspectives but all contributed to the development of the organisation now called BUFDG, the organisation that supports higher education finance teams. Each one also helped me develop as a finance professional (of sorts) leading a membership organisation and a growing team of colleagues. Erica has been a tower of strength to us all as we have evolved the services we deliver.
The nature of connections between BUFDG members has also evolved and I sense we are at a turning point in how we deliver BUFDG services. After the shock of doing everything on-line by necessity, we are now doing it by choice. This has saved many travel budgets and diaries, but I wonder whether personal meetings and getting to know people over a cup of coffee should really be consigned to the past. To my mind there is huge value in seeing colleagues, reading body language as well as hearing and saying words. Being able to discuss, face to face, sensitive business, or personal issues is more important today than ever.
One hundred years ago this year, my grandfather, Vic Thomas, was the Chairman of the Nottingham City Business Club, an organisation he and some likeminded businessmen (sic) founded in 1924. He was, by all accounts, a decent man who believed in the power of cooperation whilst respecting the value of competition. In those days, their meetings were held fortnightly over lunch and included a guest speaker. The variety of topics discussed was wide but in October 1928 Mr Alfred S. Barnes discussed “Time” and provided me with the quote above. He went on to say, “As we grow older, we are conscious of a change in our sense of duration”. His style may be dated, but the message is very current.
Team BUFDG is looking forward to making the most of time in 2026 and beyond, continuing the legacy of our predecessors and forging new ones for those who take over from us. Thank you, as ever, for your support in helping us do this.
Karel Thomas MBE - BUFDG Executive Director
Amanda Darley - BUFDG Head of Operations and Engagement
Looking internally, it has been a year of upheaval and change within the small BUFDG team, with our longest serving employee, the fabulous Gill, leaving us in September after almost a quarter of a century. (I still marvel at that timeframe!). We miss her and her deeply ingrained experience and knowledge of BUFDG events, but we are very much enjoying working with our new colleague, Rich, who is currently very busy covering all our events requirements.
However, staff changes can cause significant upheaval in such a small and settled team, and carrying another vacancy for several months has impacted the workload of the rest of the team. But as ever, we have been grateful for all our brilliant colleagues, the Exec, and the understanding of, as well as assistance from, our members during this time. As a result, and with additional new posts on the near horizon, recruitment, induction, and training have dominated BUFDG operations this year.
Despite our short staffing, we’ve engaged in a wider range of advocacy this year than ever before...
This included submitting written evidence to parliamentary committees and being invited to attend an oral hearing as a result, and building relationships with research funders and related bodies (along with all the usual advocacy with regulators, other H E sector bodies and groups, banks, HMRC, etc.). We’re unlikely (and don’t want) to ever make it onto anything like an H E Power List, but if anyone ever knew enough to build a ‘soft’ Power List based on quiet conversations, gentle nagging, and dogged perseverance (year after year, after year)….
We are recruiting for a couple of new roles on the team – a Deputy Executive Director to support Karel’s work (as she plans to reduce her hours) and to assist me in managing and leading the BUFDG team in pursuing excellence for all our members, and also a part-time Accounting Specialist to support the Financial Reporting Group, respond to member queries, and support the rest of team when accounting knowledge is required. We are initially undertaking an internal PHES recruitment exercise for our Deputy ED role, and we will be advertising the Accounting Specialist role in late April/early May so look out for that!
Not only have there been big changes in the team, we’ve also changed our name (well, sort of) - we are no longer the British Universities Finance Directors Group, we are now simply BUFDG. (We like to call it ‘doing a Jisc’). And we removed the separate HEPA (Higher Education Procurement Association) name, branding, and website, folding all resources and members into the main BUFDG membership, procurement webpages, and the Procurement Working Group.
The year ahead… We’re currently very busy working on five major events (including two brand new ones) taking place before the end of the financial year – our Annual Meeting for CFOs and FDs in Birmingham at the end of April, a (new) online Shared Services Showcase – showcasing (as the name suggests) shared and sector-owned services across H E to give them wider exposure and hopefully wider usage, the Scottish Universities Finance Conference in Glasgow, the Tax Conference (online this year), and the (new) English H E Finance Conference in Birmingham – phew! (And let’s not forget all the online meetings, Time to Talk sessions and other events over the next few months too!).
The autumn will bring the TRAC Practitioners Conference, the Management Accounting Conference, and the new home for the Finance Festival. We’re hoping to undertake an improved FIAT project for early 2027, taking on board lessons learned from the first year, and the 2027 tax conference will be in-person at the University of Birmingham. We’re currently looking for a venue for the 2027 Annual Meeting and the 2027 English H E Finance Conference (assuming that the 2026 event is a success of course). We’re also planning to change our internal E-learning processes and make better use of our member engagement data to ensure all members are getting the most out of their BUFDG membership. And, of course, there will be the usual abundance of online events and meetings, and we’re also looking forward to working with all the usual H E sector organisations and supporters throughout the year on issues and projects as they arise.
Over the past 12 months our members have had the benefit of all the outputs listed in the boxes below - expand them to find out more...
BUFDG is not a lobbying organisation, but we represent our members by advocating for the issues that matter to them. We look at the broader picture and link with other organisations working outside of finance, as well as raising finance issues with appropriate organisations or government departments to try to find solutions.
You can have a look at our Advocacy webpage to find out more about the numerous meetings and events we attend to learn about issues in the sector, help develop solutions, or advocate for BUFDG members and H E finance issues (we attended more than 200 in 2025/26!). You can also find the consultation responses and other evidence and documents we submit on your behalf on the Advocacy page. In 2025/26 we engaged in a wider range of advocacy with more organisations than ever before, including submitting written evidence to parliamentary committees and being invited to attend an oral hearing as a result, and building relationships with research funders and related bodies (along with all the usual advocacy with regulators, other H E sector bodies and groups, banks, HMRC, etc.).
Other particular advocacy highlights this year have included responding to the CUC consultation on the H E Code of Governance, supporting work on the International Student Levy for Universities UK and the Russell Group and submitting our own International Student Levy consultation response, and a joint response with AUDE (the Association of University Directors of Estates) and CUBO (the association for commercial and campus services professionals working in H E and FE) to the Visitor Levy (England) consultation, as well as providing members with updates on the Welsh and Scottish Visitor Levies.
The image above shows a scatter graph of the number of BUFDG users per institution against the 'engagement score' (a proxy for the amount of use of our resources) per institution for the period covered by this report. Almost all institutions are at or very close to the average line plotted across the graph, which is great to see as it means all our member institutions are getting pretty much equal value from their membership. (The different colours just relate to the different membership bands/size of institution).
2026 saw the introduction of the new FEHE SORP which came into effect for all accounting periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. This has been a significant project for BUFDG over the past two+ years, involving multiple stakeholders in both the H E and FE sectors, as well as the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and our delivery partners, KPMG, and it is great to see it published.
In addition to the SORP itself, we have provided lots of guidance documentation (including on revenue recognition, leases, tax, service concession arrangements, donations and endowments, and government grants), and new model financial statements. We also provided in-person workshops around the country, various webinars (all recorded so they can be watched anytime), and our regular SORP Implementation Forum meetings.
All our SORP materials and links to recordings or events can be accessed from our SORP webpage.
This was the first time we had undertaken this project, working with ex-university CFO and now consultant, Jeremy Hartley. Given the feedback we’ve had from members over how useful it has been we are considering repeating this work every year. The project produces a dataset which includes key figures from the published financial statements of all our member universities and H E Providers, and applies a number of key financial metrics. This provides benchmarking data for members, improves understanding of institutional finances, and makes this data easily accessible at an earlier point in the reporting cycle.
You can find information about the project here, including a link to the dataset which can be downloaded by CFOs, FDs, and Deputy FDs.
BUFDG's working groups are the engines of BUFDG - composed of members from a range of HEPs, and supported by BUFDG staff, these groups help set the agenda for BUFDG's work programme and contribute to and scrutinise the outputs. BUFDG's networks provide communities for members to share ideas, best practice and the latest updates with peers across the country. See what networks you've got access to at your fingertips, and see what our groups and networks have been up to this year by expanding the boxes below.
We merged the Smaller HEPs and Larger HEPs CFO/FD groups into one this year, with the first meeting of the new CFO/FD Group taking place at our Annual Meeting in Edgbaston at the end of April.
To complement this single group, we’ve set up some more specific Teams channels to support CFOs/FDs who want discussions with those in more similar institutions. We’re experimenting to see whether these are popular and will either continue or remove them depending on how it goes.
We’re also providing local networking ‘space’ by inviting CFOs/FDs to lunches with Karel throughout the year. To meet the combined objectives of value for money and supporting the education sector, these lunches are hosted at catering college restaurants.
Subjects discussed at CFO/FD meetings throughout the year so far include mergers, cost saving, the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, USS and LGPS valuations, shared services, regional procurement, finance system implementations, the cost of postgraduate study, SLC payments changes, and planning/forecasting, among others.
The Scottish Universities Finance Directors Group and the Welsh Higher Education Finance Directors Group continue to meet regularly (in-person twice a year for Scotland, and in-person or online three times a year for Wales), with BUFDG staff in attendance.
We held a number of Time to Talk sessions exclusively for CFOs/FDs throughout 2025/26 including the following topics:
Deputy Finance Leaders (FDs and Deputy FDs) continue to have their regional meetings with the support of the individual regional chairs and co-chairs. We have made one change to bring together the Southwest and Southeast groups for a selection of meetings. This has enabled some new connections for members. We will be losing two co-chairs this year, so this will open up opportunities for other members. We do encourage all Deputy FDs and FDs to attend these sessions – we know there are a variety of job titles out there, but deputy finance leaders in all their forms are very welcome.
Presentations or discussions at the regional meetings included: transformation, efficiencies, cost savings, cash management and cash workflow, financial systems implementation, personal development, the Gillies report (re: the University of Dundee), Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), income collection, and financial planning and analysis, to name just a few.
The Future Finance Leaders work continues to be relevant for aspiring finance leaders. We will be bringing back Action Learning Sets later in 2026 and are looking at additional development sessions for deputy finance leaders later in the year.
Deputy finance leaders also continue to receive their weekly summary email ensuring they have captured any relevant events, activities and information for themselves and their teams.
The Tax Group continues to be well supported by members both at regional meetings and at the National Tax Group, with the NTG helping to guide Andrea and Julia to concentrate on the most pressing issues and provide the most useful content for the sector.
In 2025/26 TaxHE (our comprehensive round-up of all things H E tax) switched from being a fortnightly to a monthly publication to enable our tax ‘team’ (all 1.6 of them!) to spend more time working on tax issues. But never fear, news updates are still added to the discussion boards and News page to keep members updated in as ‘real time’ as possible.
We have noticed a disappointing change in tone/direction in HMRC’s engagement with the H E sector (as well as all other sectors). After a number of years of useful engagement between BUFDG and HMRC with benefits to both the sector and HMRC, this is frustrating. Nonetheless, we continue to work as best we can with HMRC, whilst we still see some benefit, but are also trying not to waste too much of our very limited (and precious!) resources on those discussions and engagement which appear to be fruitless.
Throughout 2025-26 Andrea and Julia’s support of tax staff in universities has included:
The guidance and content issued by BUFDG on tax during the year included:
There has been collaboration with and assistance provided to a number of government departments and other organisations throughout the year in relation to H E tax including:
The Payroll and Employment taxes Group continues to operate in the new format introduced last year of annual regional meetings across the UK, and online meetings three times a year, which has proved a successful arrangement.
Julia has arranged and hosted 27 global mobility, payroll, and employment tax-related member meetings, working group meetings, webinars, and other events for BUFDG members throughout the year. She also hosted a joint roundtable meeting with UHR regarding National Minimum Wage technical failures, as well as presenting an employment status session to internal auditors (via CHEIA) and preparing an internal audit checklist for their use.
The guidance and content issued by BUFDG on payroll, employer duties and people taxes during the year included:
And the guidance and content issued by BUFDG on global mobility during the year included:
The main focus for the FRG and BUFDG support this year has been getting the new SORP published in good time for its effective date of 1 January 2026 (for all accounting periods starting on or after that date), as well helping members prepare for the transition with relevant guidance, technical information, and liaison with relevant sector bodies. We’ve been working with KPMG and ex-Deputy FD from the University of Lancaster, Peter Fielding (to whom we are extremely grateful for his help), and it has been quite the project!
Fortunately, it has resulted in not only the new SORP being finalised, approved by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and published, but also plenty of guidance for members, as well as opportunities to ask questions and discuss implementation. The new SORP and all additional guidance is published by Universities UK, as secretariat to the FEHE SORP Board. You can find links to download all SORP documents from UUK, along with a wealth of useful materials on our SORP Knowledge Hub webpage. You can find dates for future SORP Implementation Forum meetings and notes from previous meetings here.
The Group also undertook a review of its membership and Terms of Reference to ensure it meets the requirements of updated FRC SORP-making policy, as a recognised standing group of the FEHE SORP Board. The Group welcomed Sally Crabb (University of Southampton) and Matthew Knight (University of Surrey) as co-deputy chairs. As a result of additional feedback from the FEHE SORP Board, the FRG will shortly be expanding its membership to include small/specialist representation. And it will be updating the format of its financial statements webinars in May to include information on the new SORP as well as feedback on financial statements reviewed during the Financial Information And Trends (FIAT) project that we undertook to collate all results for the H E sector earlier this year.
The 2026 Audit Survey report was published on 11 March, with responses from 117 HEIs, representing 61% of BUFDG’s membership.
After the introduction of the Procurement Act (for England and Wales) last year, the big change for us this year was removing the HEPA name/brand and moving all our procurement resources onto the BUFDG website, as well as transferring all member accounts to BUFDG etc. This project also gave us an opportunity to tidy and update our procurement resources - we hope you’re finding everything you need via our shiny new procurement webpages. Details of the new Procurement Working Group can be found here.
Useful member meetings took place this year to discuss Contracting Authority status, as well as the Heads of Procurement meetings for universities in similar turnover bands, and a couple of roundtable discussions on specific topics.
The Responsible Procurement Group (RPG) held an in-person workshop at the University of Edinburgh in September which discussed topics such as calculating carbon emissions from procurement and tracking and monitoring progress using supplier assurance tools. The day was a great success and the RPG is planning something similar for the autumn, probably in London.
The Higher Education Supply Chain Emissions Tool (HESCET) was updated and released in October. The HESCET may move to a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code methodology for emissions calculations in the near future as these provide a truer calculation as they are rooted in industrial classifications (rather than the domestic/household classifications used at present).
The Procurement Value Survey (PVS) report was published on 2 March with 74 responses from across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, covering a total impactable spend of £8bn, and total gross efficiencies of £340m.
Formed just two years ago, the RFF has gone from strength to strength! Member meetings are very well attended and lively discussion of numerous operational issues always ensues. But not only discussions, solutions, which is fantastic to see – sometimes these solutions come from other members, often they come from liaison between BUFDG (largely Joni) and the relevant research bodies with whom we have been building strong relationships over the past two years.
Regular meetings between BUFDG and Research England, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA), along with occasional attendance of these bodies at RFF meetings with members, have kept the sector’s operational concerns around research finance and administration on the table. This has often resulted in changes that make our members’ lives easier. We also get involved in discussions with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and are developing a new relationship with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) around research as well.
We’ve been able to raise some pretty ‘niche’ finance issues that would have been difficult to communicate without these relationships, including around the REF rules which prevent universities from using Employer of Record rules (which can provide tax/social security savings when research employees are overseas), and TRAC treatment of shared ownership of facilities, as well as the old chestnut of VAT on cost sharing…
A particularly useful innovation (pardon the pun) this year has been regular surgeries for BUFDG members with Innovate UK, where issues can be raised, and are often solved or taken away for consideration.
Members of the forum are also happy to get involved in small working parties or act as champions in wider discussions, and as a result meetings regarding TRAC facilities have also been held with the TRAC Development Group, Jisc, Russell Group IT (RUGIT), and UKRI.
Joni met with representatives of a new National Research Organisations group, coordinated by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, who are open to collaboration.
We’ve also assisted Research England in raising financial awareness among their team, by providing useful documents and places on our training.
Our Financial Information And Trends (FIAT) data, which collates university financial statement information, has been shared with Research England to assist with some research they are undertaking.
There are exciting changes coming up over the next few months including creating a Research Strategy Group at the request of the BUFDG Exec. This group will include CFOs and research finance managers and will look at research funding and finance issues at a more strategic level. The Chair of the new group will represent the group on the BUFDG Exec, and the existing Research Finance Forum will link into the new working group as well.
There was lots of change for the Counter Fraud Working Group (CFWG) this year, with a new Chair in Justin Smith, CFO at SOAS, the new Failure to Prevent Fraud offence, and new Counter Fraud Forum meetings for all interested BUFDG members to get together, hear updates, and discuss issues and best practice related to fraud.
The new Failure to Prevent Fraud offence came into effect from the 1 September 2025 under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA). We launched our ECCTA - Failure to Prevent Fraud E-learning course to help members understand and navigate the legislation and H E Providers’ responsibilities within it. We also provided additional resources including a summary of the ECCTA legislation, a webinar on the new failure to prevent fraud offence from CIFAS (the cross-sector membership organisation aiming to help eliminate fraud and financial crime), as well as a webinar from Pinsent Masons covering Fraud Risk Assessments in the ECCTA Era in conjunction with fellow PHES organisation, AULP (the Association of University Legal Practitioners).
The 2025 Fraud Survey report was published in January. With 108 responses, around 60% of BUFDG membership, this is a fantastic response rate and provides lots of information on the types of fraud seen across the sector, as well as fraud preparedness.
The Student Income and Collection Management Working Group has approved the new Chair as Glenn Ruane from LSE. We have taken the opportunity to formalise the group more in line with our other working groups. The new group has been meeting since early 2026 and our priorities for the group are knowledge sharing (including case studies), collaborative problem solving, policy guidance, benchmarking, advocacy and policy influence, and risk management.
Last year, outputs from the group included the Student Income and Collection Survey Report, the first survey for this functional area with insight into the approaches taken by nearly 70 HEPs. This has been utilised by many members to support Income Collection policies presented to senior university leaders at their individual HEPs.
The group supported webinar sessions, and the regular Income Collection Time to Talk meetings. This year we have started to engage with the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) to see how we can collaborate for the benefit of members. The group is keen to build on the current activities, hopefully including a larger event for our members in the next academic year.
Whilst still informal, the Financial Planning and Analysis Time to Talk sessions have allowed members across finance to get into some targeted discussions. The sessions have been led by different members across the year, and we are grateful to those who have hosted.
Topics discussed include financial targets, calculation and impacts to target setting, timeframes, monitoring and measuring, financial indicators, course costing, collaborative working – finance and planning, student planning, and scenario planning.
Time to Talks will continue, and we have seen an increased interest in these topics across the deputy finance leaders' networks as a result.
We assisted with the Scottish Universities Finance Conference in May 2025, held at the University of Strathclyde, which was a well-attended, successful event. We are aiming to provide something similar in England in the next few months so watch out for news of that.
We launched several new E-learning courses throughout the year (all of which can be accessed by logging into Moodle from our E-learning webpage) including:
We also reviewed and updated a number of our E-learning courses throughout the year (Introducing VAT in H E, VAT on Purchasing in H E, Benefits in H E, Expenses and Benefits Reporting, and Finance for Non-Finance Managers). New modules are in the pipeline for 2026, including Introduction to Sanctions, Introduction to Strategic Planning and Global Mobility.
Our annual conferences for TRAC and Management Accounting both took place online last autumn.
We continue to work collaboratively with organisations, for example hosting the Introduction to Professional Services for HE event and a new event this year with Advance HE - Financial Oversight in HE Governance.
We worked with external consultant Simon Perks to provide some finance training for the Executive and senior leaders of a university, as well as providing some high-level finance awareness information for new governors there. This received excellent feedback from the CFO and the attendees, and we have now developed this into a proposal to provide this ‘Financial Fitness Training’ to other institutions in a variety of different ways (e.g. in-person, online, in one day, over two half days etc.) to provide flexibility for different member HEPs. (For more details, contact Rachel).
We have taken the opportunity to review the Finance for Non-Finance Manager E-learning module at the same time.
While we no longer have an investment-related working group, we still carry out some lower-level work in this area.
We produced a series of asset class information video resources with Barnett Waddingham.
We also stayed up to date with the Cambridge-led Banking Engagement Forum which now has 80 co-signatories, and is working on a quasi-money market fund and a bond index project. And we continue to engage with the Responsible Investment Network for Universities (RINU).
We don’t currently have a Pensions Group, and we leave most pensions work to UCEA, but our involvement has been increasing due to membership need, from CFOs to Heads of Payroll and Pension.
Julia is our pensions contact and she has been keeping up to date with pensions advisers Mercer and Isio throughout the year, staying in touch with USS for valuation updates, and publishing a regular Pensions Update newsletter (find the latest here).
We also hosted a meeting of CFOs earlier in 2026 to discuss post-valuation options for USS.
We’ve mentioned several of them in the specific sections above, but in case you are wondering about the breadth and number of meetings and events that we hold or support, here is a list of our events over the past year.
|
Name |
Date |
|
Time to Talk - Income Collection Management (March 2026) |
26 March 2026 |
|
CFO/FD Networking Lunch with Karel - Birmingham |
26 March 2026 |
|
Employment Status/IR35 Surgery (member-only) |
26 March 2026 |
|
CFO/FD Networking Lunch |
26 March 2026 |
|
BUFDG Regional Tax Group Meeting - South West |
25 March 2026 |
|
Time to Talk: Navigating UK University Collaborations in India |
24 March 2026 |
|
South Deputy Finance Directors Meeting |
20 March 2026 |
|
Time to Talk: Mitigating VAT on the sharing of costs with Big For Tax |
19 March 2026 |
|
Welsh Deputy Finance Directors Meeting (March 2026) |
19 March 2026 |
|
VAT/Imports/Exports Issues Surgery (Member-Only) |
18 March 2026 |
|
FEHE SORP Implementation Forum |
17 March 2026 |
|
BUFDG Regional Tax Group Meetings - Northern Tax Group |
17 March 2026 |
|
Innovate UK monthly drop-in (Horizon Guarantee only) |
17 March 2026 |
|
Employment Tax Surgery |
17 March 2026 |
|
BUFDG Tax: Employment Taxes Quarterly Update (March 2026) |
17 March 2026 |
|
Global Mobility Surgery (member-only) |
11 March 2026 |
|
BUFDG Regional Tax Group Meetings - Wales |
04 March 2026 |
|
Tax Automation Roundtable Discussion |
03 March 2026 |
|
CFO/FD roundtable discussion of USS post-valuation options and UCEA's consultation |
02 March 2026 |
|
Time to Talk - Fraud Risk Assessments in the ECCTA Era |
26 February 2026 |
|
Singapore: Indirect tax considerations for non-resident education providers - update from Grant Thornton Singapore |
26 February 2026 |
|
Research Finance Forum - February '26 |
25 February 2026 |
|
Scottish Deputy Finance Directors Meeting |
25 February 2026 |
|
KPMG Global Mobility Workshop - Short Term Business Visitors |
25 February 2026 |
|
Innovate UK monthly drop-in (Horizon Guarantee and all IUK grants) |
17 February 2026 |
|
Midlands Deputy Finance Directors Meeting |
10 February 2026 |
|
Strategic Finance Business Partnering |
11 February 2026 |
|
FD/CFO-Only: Time to Talk Webinar with Gartner – Future of Finance Talent |
10 February 2026 |
|
Online Learning (Member-Only) Drop In Session |
10 February 2026 |
|
HMRC Session on Employment Status in the Higher Education Sector |
05 February 2026 |
|
Time to Talk: Global Mobility Taxes in China from Vialto |
04 February 2026 |
|
VAT/Imports/Exports Issues Surgery (Member-Only) |
03 February 2026 |
|
'Larger HEPs' Meeting - January 2026 |
30 January 2026 |
|
Member Roundtable - NMW technical failures |
29 January 2026 |
|
Member Roundtable - Prepare for Umbrellas |
22 January 2026 |
|
International Student Levy Roundtable (Members Only) |
21 January 2026 |
|
BUFDG South Deputy Finance Directors Meeting |
20 January 2026 |
|
Visitor Levy in England - discussion regarding joint response from AUDE, BUFDG and CUBO to HMT consultation |
20 January 2026 |
|
FEHE SORP Implementation Forum - January 2026 |
20 January 2026 |
|
FD/CFO-Only: Time to Talk Webinar – Student Transfers During Course Closures |
16 January 2026 |
|
Employment Status/IR35 Surgery (member-only) |
15 January 2026 |
|
Global Mobility Surgery (member-only) |
14 January 2026 |
|
International Student Levy Roundtable (FD/DFD Only) |
14 January 2026 |
|
BUFDG Regional Tax Group Meetings - Midlands |
14 January 2026 |
|
CERN roundtable |
13 January 2026 |
|
Tax Automation Roundtable Discussion |
13 January 2026 |
|
Visitor Levy in England - discussion regarding joint response from AUDE, BUFDG and CUBO to HMT consultation |
12 January 2026 |
|
TNE Series - Big Picture - China |
12 January 2026 |
|
VAT/Imports/Exports Issues Surgery (Member-Only) |
07 January 2026 |
|
Tax Implications of the new FEHE SORP |
16 December 2025 |
|
International Student Levy Roundtable (Members Only) |
15 December 2025 |
|
Online Learning (Member-Only) Drop In Session |
15 December 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - Income and Collection Management |
12 December 2025 |
|
Introduction to HE for Professional Services Staff |
11 December 2025 |
|
VAT/Imports/Exports Issues Surgery (Member-Only) |
09 December 2025 |
|
Welsh Deputy FD Meeting (online) |
09 December 2025 |
|
South-West Deputy Finance Directors Meeting |
05 December 2025 |
|
Time to Talk (FD/CFO only): Whistleblowing in HE – what it is, why it’s important, and how to start with an (external) implementation and operation |
04 December 2025 |
|
Payroll & Employment tax Group (PEG) - Scotland |
04 December 2025 |
|
Payroll & Employment tax Group (PEG) - Midlands/North |
03 December 2025 |
|
Autumn Budget 2025 member-only roundtable discussion |
03 December 2025 |
|
KPMG Global Mobility Workshop - Key Budget Announcements |
02 December 2025 |
|
Payroll & Employment tax Group (PEG) - Wales & South-West |
02 December 2025 |
|
Payroll & Employment tax Group (PEG) - London/SE |
01 December 2025 |
|
Demystifying Finance and Budgeting in the HE sector (for Non-Accountants) |
1 - 8 December 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - Financial Planning and Analysis |
28 November 2025 |
|
Time to Talk (FD/CFO only): A new era for higher education: how vice-chancellors are looking beyond growth - PA Consulting |
27 November 2025 |
|
Northern Deputy Finance Directors Meeting |
27 November 2025 |
|
Welsh Tax Group Meeting |
20 November 2025 |
|
Management Accountants' Summit 2025 |
19 - 26 November 2025 |
|
Global Mobility - Roundtables (Autumn) - SCOTLAND |
19 November 2025 |
|
Non-Contracting Authority Session, for those who are currently a Contracting Authority |
18 November 2025 |
|
Scottish Deputy Finance Directors Meeting - online |
18 November 2025 |
|
Lease Management Solutions for SORP 2026 |
18 November 2025 |
|
Time to Talk (FD/CFO only): Themes and findings from OfS institutional engagement on Financial Sustainability |
18 November 2025 |
|
Employment Status/IR35 Surgery (member-only) |
18 November 2025 |
|
Global Mobility Surgery (member-only) |
13 November 2025 |
|
London and South-East Tax Group Meeting - Online |
12 November 2025 |
|
Global Mobility - In Person Roundtables (Autumn) - NORTH |
12 November 2025 |
|
Global Mobility - In Person Roundtables (Autumn) - BIRMINGHAM |
11 November 2025 |
|
Counter Fraud Forum |
11 November 2025 |
|
Tax Automation Roundtable Discussion |
11 November 2025 |
|
FEHE SORP Implementation Forum - November '25 |
11 November 2025 |
|
Global Mobility - In Person Roundtables (Autumn) - LONDON |
10 November 2025 |
|
Time to Talk (FD/CFO only): Radical collaboration in HE - with KPMG and Mills & Reeve |
10 November 2025 |
|
Time to Talk (FD/CFO only): Restructuring a University - What We Were Told, What We Found, and What We Did |
04 November 2025 |
|
VAT/Imports/Exports Issues Surgery (Member-Only) |
03 November 2025 |
|
Scottish and Northern Ireland Tax Group Meeting |
28 October 2025 |
|
BUFDG Tax: Employment Taxes Quarterly Update (October 2025) |
23 October 2025 |
|
Employment Tax Surgery |
23 October 2025 |
|
Online Learning (Member-Only) Drop In Session |
21 October 2025 |
|
Worktribe discussion - Post Award and task management |
17 October 2025 |
|
Research Finance Forum - October 25 |
15 October 2025 |
|
Time to Talk: Strategic Efficiency Gains - Transforming Recruitment at Southampton |
14 October 2025 |
|
Northern Tax Group Meeting |
14 October 2025 |
|
Midlands Tax Group Meeting |
14 October 2025 |
|
WHEFDG |
10 October 2025 |
|
South-West Deputy Finance Directors Meeting |
10 October 2025 |
|
South-West Tax Group Meeting |
08 October 2025 |
|
Deep Dive (member only) session: Short Term Business Visitors |
06 October 2025 |
|
Time to Talk: Lessons learnt from the University of Dundee Investigation (FD/CFO only) |
03 October 2025 |
|
Employment Status/IR35 Surgery (member-only) |
01 October 2025 |
|
Global Mobility Surgery (member-only) |
30 September 2025 |
|
Welsh Deputy FD Meeting (online) |
30 September 2025 |
|
CERN roundtable |
29 September 2025 |
|
Non Contracting Authority group meeting |
23 September 2025 |
|
TRAC Practitioners Conference 2025 |
23 - 24 September 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - EY India - Tax Update |
16 September 2025 |
|
HEPA Head of Procurement group meeting: £100m to £200m |
15 September 2025 |
|
'Larger HEPs' Meeting - September 2025 |
10 September 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - Financial Planning and Analysis |
09 September 2025 |
|
FEHE SORP Implementation Forum - September '25 |
09 September 2025 |
|
Time to Talk: Lifelong Learning Entitlement with the SLC |
08 September 2025 |
|
Strategic Finance Business Partnering |
04 September 2025 |
|
Online Learning (Member-Only) Drop In Session - EU issues specific session |
29 July 2025 |
|
London and South East Deputy Finance Directors Meeting (in person) |
15 July 2025 |
|
HEPA Head of Procurement Group meeting: (< £100m) |
14 July 2025 |
|
HEPA Head of Procurement Group meeting: £600m+ |
14 July 2025 |
|
HEPA Head of Procurement Group meeting: (£300m to £600m) |
11 July 2025 |
|
South-West Deputy Finance Directors Meeting |
11 July 2025 |
|
Introduction to Financial Reporting in HE |
10 July 2025 |
|
HEPA Head of Procurement Group meeting: (£200m to £300m) |
09 July 2025 |
|
London and South-East Tax Group Meeting |
09 July 2025 |
|
Midlands Deputy Finance Directors Meeting (in person) |
09 July 2025 |
|
FEHE SORP Implementation Forum |
08 July 2025 |
|
Welsh Tax Group Meeting |
02 July 2025 |
|
National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance and awareness with HMRC |
02 July 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - Financial Planning and Analysis |
26 June 2025 |
|
Time to Talk: Failure to Prevent Fraud |
26 June 2025 |
|
Welsh Deputy FD Meeting (online) |
24 June 2025 |
|
Introduction to HE for Professional Services Staff |
23 June 2025 |
|
Northern Deputy FD Meeting |
20 June 2025 |
|
Time to Talk – Income Collection and Management |
20 June 2025 |
|
WHEFDG - Swansea |
20 June 2025 |
|
Northern Tax Group Meeting |
19 June 2025 |
|
Strategic Finance Business Partnering |
19 June 2025 |
|
Chart of Accounts discussion |
13 June 2025 |
|
Research Finance Forum |
11 June 2025 |
|
BUFDG Tax Conference: Wednesday 11th & Thursday 12th June 2025 |
11 - 12 June 20205 |
|
New FEHE SORP Workshop - Belfast |
10 June 2025 |
|
New FEHE SORP Workshop - London |
09 June 2025 |
|
Chart of Accounts discussion |
09 June 2025 |
|
Learning to Prevent Fraud: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act |
05 June 2025 |
|
New FEHE SORP Workshop - Bristol |
05 June 2025 |
|
Finance Business Partnering Foundations |
05 June 2025 |
|
Demystifying Finance and Budgeting in the HE sector (for Non-Accountants) |
03 June 2025 |
|
New FEHE SORP Workshop - Birmingham |
03 June 2025 |
|
Scottish Deputy Finance Directors Meeting - online |
28 May 2025 |
|
International ‘deep-dive’ online roundtable - China |
27 May 2025 |
|
Global Mobility online roundtable |
22 May 2025 |
|
Employment Status Roundtable |
21 May 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - Certificates of Coverage with HMRC |
21 May 2025 |
|
New FEHE SORP Workshop - Edinburgh |
21 May 2025 |
|
BUFDG Financial Statements webinar (21 May) |
21 May 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - Unlocking India: A Broad Guide for UK Universities on Campus Regulations, Taxation and Opportunities |
21 May 2025 |
|
Time to Talk- Flywire 101 |
21 May 2025 |
|
New FEHE SORP Workshop - Leeds |
20 May 2025 |
|
Imports/Exports Issues (Member-Only) Roundtable Discussion |
20 May 2025 |
|
BUFDG Financial Statements webinar (16 May) |
16 May 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - FIG (Foreign Income & Gains regime) implications for employers with Deloitte |
15 May 2025 |
|
I-Trent payroll roundtable – member only event |
14 May 2025 |
|
Scottish Universities Finance Conference 2025 |
14 May 2025 |
|
Scottish and Northern Ireland Tax Group Meeting |
13 May 2025 |
|
HEPA Roundtable: Centralising the raising of Purchase Orders |
12 May 2025 |
|
Oracle Users (Member-Only) Roundtable Discussion |
12 May 2025 |
|
South-West Deputy Finance Directors Meeting |
09 May 2025 |
|
Midlands Tax Group Meeting (In Person) |
07 May 2025 |
|
Preparing for the new FEHE SORP |
07 May 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - Understanding Fraud along the Student Payment Journey |
07 May 2025 |
|
Payroll & Employment tax Group (PEG) Spring update |
07 May 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - EV Salary Sacrifices with NHS Fleet |
07 May 2025 |
|
Introduction to TRAC |
06 May 2025 |
|
Vialto/BUFDG Global Mobility in-person roundtable - London |
01 May 2025 |
|
Vialto/BUFDG Global Mobility in-person roundtable - Edinburgh |
30 April 2025 |
|
Vialto/BUFDG Global Mobility in-person roundtable - Manchester |
29 April 2025 |
|
BUFDG Annual Meeting 2025 |
29 - 30 April 2025 |
|
Vialto/BUFDG Global Mobility in-person roundtable - Birmingham |
28 April 2025 |
|
Online Learning (Member-Only) Drop In Session |
08 April 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - An overview with the USS |
03 April 2025 |
|
Time to Talk - Medical or Veterinary VAT Relief |
01 April 2025 |
|
BUFDG Finance Festival 2025 |
10 - 12 March 2025 |
You can view BUFDG's Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31 July 2025 by selecting the link below.
BUFDG is on track to return to a budget surplus in 2025/26, but plans for the next couple of years include deficit budgets utilising our excess reserves, which will partly be used on our new staffing roles (one of which is temporary in the first instance).
The pre-tax result for 2024/25 was a £50,800 deficit (against a deficit budget of £69,000), and we expect a pre-tax surplus of approximately £32,000 for the 2025/26 financial year (against a deficit budget of £27,000 – the difference is due to changes in staffing, and stronger E-learning and conference sales than expected).
Despite the current excess reserves position (which we are budgeting to utilise over the next three to four years), with rising costs and our commitment to cover core costs with subscription income, the Executive Committee has proposed increasing subscription fees for 2026-27 in line with inflation (CPI 3% Jan 2026). (The SORP levy remains at £250 for each institution that uses the FEHE SORP).
Subject to confirmation therefore, rates for 2026-27 will be:
|
Turnover band |
Subscription rate for UK HEPs |
Standard £ excl. VAT |
Inc. BUFDG Pro £ excl. VAT |
Levy for FEHE SORP users £ excl. VAT |
|
7 |
Turnover >£750 millions |
7,750 |
9,300 |
250 |
|
6 |
Turnover >£400 millions |
6,200 | 7,650 |
250 |
|
5 |
Turnover >£200 millions |
5,150 | 6,300 |
250 |
|
4 |
Turnover >£100 millions |
4,650 | 5,600 |
250 |
|
3 |
Turnover >£25 millions |
3,850 | 4,700 |
250 |
|
2 |
Turnover >£10 millions |
2,475 | 2,950 |
250 |
|
1 |
Turnover <£10 millions |
1,650 | 2,080 |
250 |
* The SORP levy enables us to set these funds aside to ensure the next SORP project can be properly funded. The was approved at the 2024 AGM. The levy receipts are set aside in the accounts for when the next FEHE SORP is required.
Find out more about BUFDG and its umbrella company, Professional HE Services Ltd (PHES), by expanding the section below. You can also find out more about our three strategic objectives, take a look at our risks and challenges, and read this year's staff profile of Andrea, our Tax Specialist.
You can read more about the structure of PHES by following the link below, but perhaps the biggest benefit is the collaboration between staff from different Special Interest Organisations within PHES (ACOP, AUDE, AULP, BUFDG, CHEIA, CUBO, HESPA, SCHOMS and UHR). As there are many similarities between these membership organisations, and our joint initiatives and the familiarity of staff allow each of the organisations to learn and benefit from all the others. We often work on joint projects with other PHES organisations, and there are joint PHES team meetings four times a year, as well as multiple working groups to facilitate the cross-PHES benefits on specific issues.
BUFDG aims to support university finance managers and their teams by providing them with up-to-date information, analysis, guidance, and comment on financial news, strategy, and management in H E by:
Despite the increasing emphasis on competition between universities, the collegial culture of UK higher education can be harnessed for the advantage of the whole sector without contravening competition law through:
BUFDG will lead and catalyse partnership working among the wide range of professional associations, think-tanks, mission groups, and membership organisations, in the best interest of all its members. Before launching any project or service, BUFDG will ask, “who can we work with?” We will:
BUFDG continues to benefit from stable finances, and support from members.
However, the team is currently going through a period of change. Our longest serving member of staff, our Events Manager Gill, left BUFDG in September and we took on two new part-time staff to cover that role. However, one of the new staff decided this was not the job for her and left BUFDG in February. Managing events is therefore currently a bit of a juggle among the team during this period of upheaval and change whilst we go through more recruitment.
We are also in the process of expanding the team to include two new roles – a full-time Deputy Executive Director and a part-time Accounting Specialist to allow us to provide an even better service to members.
We know from what our members tell us that BUFDG is considered a valuable, helpful, supportive asset to university finance teams – BUFDG is like “an additional team member” and the “5th emergency service”! But we understand how difficult things are in some parts of the sector at the moment and that significant change is continuing in various institutions, which means the size, shape, and needs of the sector are in something of a state of flux. So BUFDG, and our Exec Committee, continues to think about how our services might evolve to meet the changing needs of our members.
If ‘mergers’ and even ‘market exits’ become more common over the next couple of years, we are alive to the fact that this could significantly impact our subscription income and/or operating model and we may have to pivot to something different, provided our services are still required.
Andrea Marshall - BUFDG Tax Specialist
For those who don’t know me, I’m the Tax Specialist at BUFDG, focusing primarily of VAT, Corporation Taxes, overseas GST/VAT issues and levies. I am privileged to work with a great team, especially my tax partner in crime, Julia Ascott, who specialises in Employment Duties and Global Mobility. It’s hard to believe that I have been at BUFDG for six years now. How time flies!
I regard my key roles as being somewhere between a filter (identifying the HMRC issues and updates that are relevant to the sector and weeding out those that are not) and a sort of dating agency.
The role of a tax specialist within a university can be lonely, so having a strong network that you can call on is crucial and this is where BUFDG comes in. I love working with our members (and regard many as friends). I am so lucky to work with such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable group of people who are so willing to share their expertise and time with others. A special shout-out here must go to our National Tax Group, who provide so much support to Julia and me.
So, what does a day in the life of Andrea look like? Well, I can honestly say two days are never the same. I usually start the day with a quick scoot through my diary to see what the day has in store (most days, I have a few meetings or calls) and a check of the BUFDG discussion boards and emails.
Julia and I arrange tax related meetings and events ranging from the annual tax conference, regional tax group meetings (supported by our excellent group of regional chairs and deputy chairs), Time to Talk webinars on a specific technical issues (supported by members and our fantastic network of advisors), right the way through to topic-based round table discussion groups that might only have a few people on the call. Sometimes, all it takes is to chat through a topic with a colleague to solve it, and if there is no solution, there is comfort in knowing that others are in the same boat as you! So, a good proportion of my time is spent in face-to-face or online meetings with our members. Julia and I also have regular quarterly update calls with HMRC – you can find minutes of these meetings on the Tax Group Page under “Tax Group Documents”.
Between meetings, I spend time updating the website discussion boards and answering queries raised by members…some of which are rather left field! Memorable ones include queries on the importation of medieval tarot cards, rat blood (kept on dry ice, of course) and bags of soil…
There are some days when I block out time to work on specific projects, such as preparing resources for our members, papers for discussion with HMRC, and responses to government consultations. Most of these are accessible via the tax discussion board or the Tax Knowledge Hub.
Finally, once a month, Julia and I prepare our tax magazine, TaxHE. This is a one-stop shop for those interested in university tax issues – you can find a summary of topics that have hit our tax pages in the past month, new resources, and up and coming events. So, if you want to keep up to date, update your preferences on the BUFDG website and it will be delivered straight to your inbox! You can find some back issues here.
Amongst all of this, I do take time over lunch to walk my Parsons Terrier, Wilma, who has been known to appear and contribute to the odd call….especially if it is bin day.
So that is what I do…I wake up on a Monday morning, blink and the week has flown by and it is Thursday evening and I am signing off for the weekend!
You can find previous Annual Reports on our 'About Us' webpage.
