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Optimise your NHS Financial Planning Return with LOGEX Budgeting

Populating the annual NHS Financial Planning Return (FPR) can be a daunting task. Reconciling budgets and feedback from multiple departments often results in an iterative and time-consuming process. However, with LOGEX Budgeting, you can significantly save time and improve accuracy.

Simplifying the NHS Financial Planning Return (FPR) with LOGEX Budgeting

What is the Annual Financial Planning Return?

The Annual Financial Planning Return (FPR) is a financial plan (budget) that every NHS Trust must submit. It involves two submissions: a first draft at the end of March and a final plan in May. This return translates the NHS priorities and operational planning guidance into a financial budget. A high-level budget is assigned as a guardrail for the internal budgeting process, ensuring alignment with overall NHS goals.

Typically, Trusts follow these steps to create their budgets:

1. Baseline Budget Creation: Start with a high-level master file as a rough first draft.
2. Departmental Submissions: Individual departments (medical and non-medical) submit their budgets to the Finance team, usually in Excel.
3. Budget Reconciliation: The Finance team consolidates all departmental budgets into one central budget.
4. Comparison and Discussions: The consolidated budget is compared with the baseline, leading to individual budget discussions.

Steps 2-4 are often repeated multiple times, making the process cumbersome.

Transforming the FPR Process with LOGEX Budgeting

LOGEX Budgeting simplifies this process by enabling your entire Trust to work on the same budget simultaneously. Here’s how:

1. Collaborative Budgeting: Using “section-based” access, department leads can work on relevant parts of the budget in real-time, ensuring consistency and reducing errors.
2. Integrated Data: LOGEX Budgeting integrates your costing outputs and inputs, providing a unified and accurate financial overview from day one.
3. Automated Calculations: Automatic salary calculations for NHS contracts streamline personal planning.
4. One Source of Truth: Combining healthcare portfolio data, personal planning, and financial budgets results in a coherent and reliable budget.

Benefits of LOGEX Budgeting

• Time-Saving: No more repetitive reconciliation steps. LOGEX Budgeting ensures everyone works from the same data, drastically reducing the time spent on budget preparation.
• Accuracy: Real-time updates and integration with LOGEX SLR Costing models allow for precise budget comparisons and adjustments.
• Convenient Exports: Monthly export functionality makes it easy to use the newly set budget for the Annual Financial Planning Return, Internal Financial Planning Return (for ICS), and internal reporting systems.

By adopting LOGEX Budgeting, you can make the annual financial planning return process more efficient, accurate, and less stressful for your entire Trust. Simplify your budgeting process today and experience the benefits of a unified, collaborative approach.