01 June 2022 
Ashley Shelbrooke, HEPA and Project Specialist
TECH WEEK – SAVE THE DATE
BUFDG is running what we’re calling ‘Technology Week’, which takes place 3-7 October 2022. As the name suggests, it’s a week-long, free event for BUFDG members to hear about trends and themes, issues and challenges, and new and existing products in the HE sector, all in or related to the technology / digital / software space. The week is made up of lots and lots of different sessions, all run as hour-long webinars via MS Teams.
We’ve invited companies and organisations in the sector to submit session proposals, but we’d also be keen to hear of ideas (or even volunteer sessions) from members. If you’d like to find out more, or how to propose a session, please drop Matt or Ashley an email. And, in the meantime, save the date in your diary!
BUFDG
BUFDG is looking for a Projects Manager, to act as the lead liaison between BUFDG staff and/or members and external service providers on a number of interesting projects. Typical projects will have impact beyond BUFDG, influencing other management and academic functions in higher education providers, providers of services to the HE sector, government departments and policy. The role is based at home (although we do have access to an office in Loughborough too if you prefer). More information, and all the documentation to download, is available here. The closing date for applications is Monday 6 June but if you would like an informal chat before then, contact Karel, who is happy to talk to you over the Bank Holiday weekend.
A reminder that the BUFDG Payroll & Expenses Group (PEG) is seeking a Chair for their national chair meetings, held 3 times a year, where the latest employment taxes and payroll issues are discussed between regional chairs and trusted advisers with a view to agreeing agendas for regional meetings. We are seeking an individual with a finance background and an interest in tax, to host these meetings and ensure proper conduct of the attendees. The Chair is supported by the BUFDG Employment Tax Specialist, Julia Ascott. Contact Julia for more information.
The HEPA Responsible Procurement Group is also seeking a Chair. Meetings are held quarterly and the Group exists to address the issues surrounding Responsible Procurement in Higher Education. Topics covered include Modern Slavery, Scope 3 and Carbon Reduction, Sustainable and Ethical Procurement, with an aim to increase awareness, improve working practice and encourage collaboration between universities and their suppliers. This is an increasingly important role as everyone seeks to reduce their Scope 3 emissions. HEPA provides secretariat to the Group. Contact Ashley for more information.
FINANCIAL REPORTING
The Financial Reporting Group (FRG) together with the audit firms delivered their annual Financial Workshop on-line. The workshop covered a wide range of updates, as well as looked at what is coming down the line, and best practice from last year’s Financial Statement reviews. Members who couldn’t attend can watch the recording of the workshop via this link.
As part of the continued process of consolidation in sustainability reporting, the Chairs of the IFRS Foundation’s International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) announced plans for the two boards to work together to agree on how to build and integrate the Integrated Reporting Framework into their standard setting projects and requirements. You can find all the information on the IFRS website.
The long-awaited response to the BEIS consultation “Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance” has been published. Unless you are drawn to read the 197 pages over the Bank Holiday, read the reactions of the audit firms for a summary. BDO says, “some HEIs will be caught by the reforms and become PIEs. The number is very limited. The criteria are:
Those ‘caught’ may well already be PIEs because of listed debt.”
BDO is running an online seminar on 10th June – if you are a client you may have been invited, but non-clients can contact James Aston for an invitation.
The Financial Times notes, “FTSE 350 companies will be told to hand part of their audit work to a mid-tier firm from outside the Big Four”. The potential impact is being talked of privately amongst the Big Four and mid-tier firms, and with some universities still struggling to appoint auditors, there may be some [unintended] consequences.
PROCUREMENT
Shakespeare Martineau has published an explanatory blog of the Procurement Bill 2022, and how it impacts on the HE sector. It outlines the key changes – particularly that “the Bill consolidates the current Public Contracts Regulations, Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations, Concession Contracts Regulations and the Utilities Contracts Regulations into one handy Act.” It also covers issues of transparency, streamlined procedures, and below-threshold contracts, among other areas.
HEPA represents the sector on the Cabinet Office Transforming Public Procurement L&D Working Group. The third meeting of the Working Group took place last week, and you can read Ashley’s notes from that meeting on the discussion board here.
The next set of HEPA Head of Procurement Groups are due to take place on the following dates and times:
The agenda for each meeting will be made up of the items prioritised for discussion at the December meetings, as well as a slot from HEPA Chair and Director of Finance Manchester Metropolitan University, Andrew Hewett. Contact Ashley if you have any questions.
TAXES
On 28 April, Mazars joined BUFDG to give a Time to Talk session to our members on many practical considerations of tax/social security/other when employees are working overseas. If you were unable to attend or would like to refresh your knowledge, you can watch the recording and access the slides here. Mazars will be following up this Time to Talk with a session at the BUFDG tax conference where members will be able to discuss specific areas with Andreas and Robin.
We were also thrilled to host Vialto experts Gemma Buxton, Louise Nicholls and Laura Mee for an on-line roundtable with over 50 BUFDG and UHR members talking about their experiences with international taxes, specifically on global mobility. Whilst the session was not recorded to allow open discussions, we were provided with really useful slides from the Vialto team that you can download here.
Members can access a copy of HMT's February 2022 Consultation entitled, "Online sales tax: Assessing an option to help rebalance taxation of the retail sector", as well as BUFDG's response. Thank you to the members who reviewed and commented on the draft version. If you have any questions, please contact Andrea.
BUFDG has been working with David Miller and Jack Atkins from The Customs People to prepare the attached table. This outlines the Customs Procedure Codes (CPCs) relevant to the H E sector for imports and exports when using CHIEF. A further table will be prepared for the equivalent codes within the Customs Declaration Service (CDS) when more information is available. This table will help members to identify the CPC that should be used when import duty and/or VAT reliefs are being claimed in relation to, for example, Temporary Imports, Returned Goods Relief, Inward and Outward Processing and when relief is being claimed for medical research or training. If you have any questions, please contact Andrea.
PENSIONS
Hot on the heels of the USS Responsible Investment report came the news that “Interim monitoring of the scheme yielded a technical provisions deficit of £1.6bn as at March 31 2022, representing a significant shift from the deficit of £14.1bn two years prior.” This prompted a flurry of comment, including one from USS Employers and an “explainer” in the Financial Times. If you would like to go back to basics to brush up your pensions knowledge, try the BUFDG Guide to Accounting for Pensions.
OTHER
This is a plug for two BUFDG reports. Firstly, we’re pleased to share the BUFDG Annual Report for 2022, which covers BUFDG activities since April 2021. As always, our aim is not to produce a glossy brochure for your virtual coffee table, but rather a balanced report of how BUFDG is run, the challenges we’ve faced, how we’ve adapted, and what our plans are for the coming year. What we hope it also captures is all the hard work that so many of you, our members, have put in to making BUFDG a success over the last 12 months.
Secondly, Our newly revised BUFDG Guide to UK Universities and Tax is now available! The document provides a high-level overview of the many areas where tax impacts on UK universities, looking at taxes relating to people, income, and expenditure. There is a myth that universities, as charities and/or public bodies, simply do not pay tax, and so tax is not an issue. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as the guide demonstrates. So, wherever you work in HE, we hope that you will find the new guide useful. And please forward this link to anyone who needs a little bit more background.
A reminder as well of our latest blog comes from Ravi Sibal at Homelease – a new approach to financing existing or new student accommodation, whilst retaining control of the assets. In the blog Ravi talks about the challenges facing the sector, the Homelease approach and its benefits, and what makes it unique. Homelease are also hosting a Time to Talk session to explain and to discuss with universities in more detail, on the morning of 9 June. Registration is here.
Finally, our Jobs of the Fortnight are both at the University of Sheffield. They are looking for a Head of Tax to be responsible for “implementing an efficient and effective tax strategy, providing tax related services, advice and support across the University including international corporate income taxes, overseas employment taxes and social security, completing statutory tax filings, developing policies and procedure, reviewing commercial agreements and University spin out structures for tax matters and overseeing complex IR35 cases.” Phew, but they are also recruiting a Finance Manager Off-Payroll / Engagements and Contracts Specialist to help.
As usual, there are lots of other vacancies listed on the BUFDG jobs page.
