XfE & DfE AAR Update: Key Takeaways, Replay, and Slides
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Our latest XfE × Department for Education (DfE) webinar was a fantastic success - and we want to thank everyone who joined us live!
Over 30 school and trust finance professionals tuned in to hear from Sam King (Head of XfE) and Nicola Summers (DfE) as they explored the future of finance automation in education and shared a live demonstration of how the XfE–DfE Academy Accounts Return (AAR) integration works in practice.
If you couldn’t make it on the day, don’t worry - you can watch the full session and download the slides below:
A quick look at what we covered
The session focused on how schools and multi-academy trusts can use XfE to simplify and speed up their Academy Accounts Return (AAR) process.
Key highlights included:
- AAR automation explained - how XfE maps data directly from Xero into the DfE’s AAR portal.
- Preparing for the January 2026 deadline - what finance teams can do now to make submissions easier.
- Practical tips from both sides - Sam demonstrated the process in XfE, while Nicola shared what happens next inside the DfE system.
- FAQs from trusts and auditors - covering data accuracy, permissions, and how updates flow between systems.
- Best practice for clean data in Xero - how a few small tweaks can save hours during audit season.
Why this matters
The Academy Accounts Return is often one of the most time-consuming tasks after audit season. This session showed how automation through XfE removes much of the manual entry, reduces errors, and helps schools and trusts stay ahead of their compliance deadlines - while still giving auditors everything they need for review.
It also demonstrated how this collaboration between XfE and the DfE supports the Department’s wider goal of modernising financial reporting across education, ensuring accuracy and consistency from school-level data all the way through to national reporting.
Catch up anytime
If you couldn’t join live or want to share it with your team, you can access everything here:
What’s next
This webinar is just the start. The XfE team will continue working closely with the DfE to improve automation, simplify reporting, and support schools through every part of the finance cycle.
Keep an eye out for upcoming sessions and updates as we roll out even more tools to make school finance smarter, faster, and easier to manage.
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