10 ways MATs can reforecast mid-year without losing strategic momentum

In a MAT, there’s no getting away from reforecasting. But how reactive does it feel, and how happy are you with the result?

Thankfully, reforecasting doesn’t have to mean being on the back foot. Nor does it mean that you have to downgrade trust outcomes. With the right approach and tools, it can become an opportunity to refocus, strengthen teams, and protect high standards.

So, if you want to make the best of reforecasting, where can you start? This blog is a good place. It draws on real-world expertise from our Smarter Schools: Budgeting for Impact webinar, where sector leaders shared winning strategies. We will also look at how a tech-driven approach can make reforecasting in MATs a lot easier.

The top 10 ways MATs can reforecast for more success (and less stress)

1. Put your trust’s vision at the centre of everything

If there’s one thing that’s utterly essential to a MAT, it’s clarity of purpose. If you need to rebudget, it’s your North Star. So, before reforecasting, ask yourself: “What are we here to achieve?” Let your trust’s vision guide every adjustment, ensuring that reforecasting is about realigning – not abandoning – your strategic direction. 

Peter Hughes, CEO, Mossbourne Federation, said, “If you don’t know what’s important to you, you’ve got no chance of managing your resources. For me, that’s teaching and learning – and I want my kids to be in a high-quality building, so I leave money over for that.”

How can digital tools help?

You can protect a MAT’s aspirations with modern, digital tools, such as IRIS Financial Planner. That way, you can build multiple budget scenarios and compare their impact before committing.

2. Be transparent and inclusive

If there is one thing that can work wonders during reforecasting, it’s transparency. It builds trust and helps everyone focus on the same goals.

So, bring your team into the process. Share the numbers, the challenges, and the rationale behind each decision.

How can digital tools help?

It’s very important to democratise data, which means providing access and clarity. With the right software, finance leads can share consolidated reforecast views, while school leaders get role-appropriate access to assumptions, allocations, and variances. If your solution integrates with the rest of your system, it can bring together finance, attendance, outcomes, and HR data.

3. Use data to reduce reactivity

When you’re reforecasting, how can you make sure you’re not being too reactive? Use real-time data and anticipate where adjustments may be needed. Timely diagnostics allow you to make thoughtful, strategic changes rather than rushed, reactive cuts. 

Benedicte Yue, CFO, River Learning Trust, said, “Being strategic means looking at different investment horizons. Skate to where the puck is going to be and not where it has been.”

How can digital tools help?

If ever there is a sign you’re using good technology, it’s in how well it presents current information. The best tools can spot overspends or savings early. Automatic updates also have a part to play, because they keep you aligned with the latest pay scales and NIC rates. That way, diagnostics aren’t skewed by outdated assumptions.

4. Be prepared for any new realities

There is more to reforecasting than trimming budgets. Sometimes, for example, the process also needs to re-evaluate how your organisation operates. Do you need to redesign roles, operating models, and even curriculum structures to fit new realities?

How can digital tools help?

Sometimes, you need tools to help you reorganise. Good digital solutions like IRIS Financial Planner can do this. For example, they can help you move between using GAG pooling, top-slicing, or hybrid budget models. You can safely test structural shifts, such as centralising certain costs or redesigning roles, while keeping your organisation agile and focused on impact.

5. Build relationships and join forces – even with other trusts

Teamwork makes the dream work… and that includes between “rival” trusts. Working with other organisations can go a long way to saving money. Just make sure you have a solid plan first. During reforecasting, look for opportunities to combine efforts, exchange skills, and build partnerships that enhance your trust’s ability to deliver on its goals. 

Cori Bateman, CEO, Pioneer Learning Trust,said, “Relationships have been a huge thing in helping prevent us from spending more, while bringing in the highest possible level of skillset into our schools and our trust.”

How can digital tools help?

If you want to create a strong foundation for a partnership, data will provide much needed support. It pinpoints where there’s a need, where money could be saved and where resources might be shared by your trust in return for help.

6. Save time with technology

The gold dust of a MAT is time and resources. So how can you protect them? Use technology to streamline reporting, automate routine tasks, and provide real-time insights. This allows leaders to focus on strategy and improvement, even when budgets are tight. 

How can digital tools help?

If you’ve ever imagined a life without busywork, then good digital tools will get you there. For example, our connected suite (IRIS Central, Invoice Matcher, PlusPay, Every HR and Every Payroll) automates routine tasks and broadens real-time insight, giving leaders more time for strategic priorities.

7. A modern-thinking culture can embrace change

If you want your teams to adapt to financial change more easily, then building a culture of innovation and improvement will better equip staff. Encourage your team to see reforecasting as an opportunity to learn, innovate, and improve. 

How can digital tools help?

If you want staff to think about the future, they need information. Using digital technology, you can run monthly or termly reforecasts. Comparing “plan vs reforecast vs actual” helps teams look ahead and adapt quickly.

8. Be smart with your cuts

Taking action is important, but sometimes restraint is just as essential. Avoid the temptation to make heavy-handed, across-the-board cuts. Instead, use data and benchmarking to identify where adjustments will have the least impact on your mission – and where investment is still needed to drive progress. 

Stephen Morales, CEO, Institute of School Business Leadership, said, “The thing that we see so often is people taking a very blunt approach to efficiency savings. So they just cut things.

“But have they cut in the right place at the right time?”

If not, he said, cuts will “bite them later on, and you can find yourself in a downward spiral.”

How can digital tools help?

It’s time to see the big picture and the fine detail. Trust-wide roll-ups and school-level drilldowns help you direct savings where impact is lowest and protect priority investments.

9. Empower your people

If you want to nurture school-level initiative, then those leaders need agency. Give them control, but within defined parameters. This keeps energy and innovation alive, even as you adapt to new financial realities. 

How can digital tools help?

MAT-level parameters can help you set the boundaries, while principals and SLT adjust within their context. Permissions-based sharing ensures the right people see the right data and can act quickly without losing governance control.

10. Discover IRIS Financial Planner

You’ve heard a lot of great insights from our webinar’s industry expert guests – here is one tech tip from IRIS.

IRIS Financial Planner helps multi-academy trusts (MATs) reforecast with confidence and strategic clarity.

Make scenario planning simple

Build and compare multiple budget scenarios that align with your trust’s goals. Whether you prioritise SEND provision or curriculum investment, it shows the impact of each approach before you decide.

Get synchronised, real-time accuracy

IRIS Financial Planner links directly to IRIS Financials, keeping your plans reconciled with actual spend. Automatic updates ensure your data reflects the latest pay scales and rates, so analysis and forecasts are always accurate.

Drive transparency and collaboration

Share views and assumptions easily with your team to support transparency and inclusive decision-making. Role-based access ensures everyone sees the information relevant to them.

Enable quick thinking and continuous improvement

Run monthly or termly updates, compare “plan vs update vs actual,” and adapt quickly to changing circumstances.

With IRIS Financial Planner, reforecasting becomes a strategic opportunity, and trusts can stay focused on great outcomes.

Click here to discover more.

Watch the webinar, get the insights

Smarter Schools: Budgeting for Impact, Not Just Survival, is available now, on demand.