Software systems from Hoge 100
The DfE Chart of Accounts, made easier
The DfE chart of accounts
A standard approach. Fewer complications.
The Department for Education's Academies Chart of Accounts provides a common financial structure designed specifically for academy trusts. It underpins key DfE financial returns, including the Academies Accounts Return and Budget Forecast Return, and provides a consistent framework for recording and reporting academy financial information. HogeFinance fully supports the DfE Chart of Accounts, helping trusts take advantage of a standard structure without sacrificing the flexibility they need to manage their own organisation.
Why use the standard Chart of Accounts?
Adopting the DfE Chart of Accounts gives academy trusts a common financial language across their schools and central team. For multi-academy trusts in particular, this can make financial management considerably simpler.
It helps to:
- standardise coding across every academy
- make consolidation and trust-wide reporting easier
- improve consistency when schools join or move between trusts
- simplify comparison of financial information between academies
- reduce reliance on locally developed account structures
- align financial data more closely with DfE reporting requirements
- make it easier for finance staff, auditors and advisers to understand the structure of the accounts
The DfE itself identifies standardisation, easier benchmarking and simpler reporting among the benefits of adopting its Chart of Accounts.
Built into HogeFinance
The DfE Chart of Accounts isn't an add-on to the way we work with academies. It is firmly established within HogeFinance and is used by a substantial proportion of our academy trust customers. That experience matters.
With more trusts using the DfE Chart of Accounts through HogeFinance than through most individual finance system suppliers, we have considerable practical experience of how the standard works in trusts of very different sizes and structures. We can therefore help not only with implementing the Chart of Accounts, but with the practical questions that arise once it is being used day to day.
Keeping pace with the DfE
The Chart of Accounts continues to evolve. For 2026/27, for example, the DfE introduced new account codes, removed others and changed mappings and descriptions.
We maintain regular contact with the DfE and reviews proposed changes so that we can understand their implications for our customers and for HogeFinance.
When significant changes are introduced, we also hold webinars for our users to explain what is changing, what it means in practice and what, if anything, they need to do.
Our objective is simple:
Make following the DfE standard as straightforward as possible for trusts that use HogeFinance.
Want to find out more?
Call us and find out all about the DfE chart of accounts. You don't have to be a customer - we will be pleased to help.