BACS

Bank Automated Clearing System. An automated system for making payments and transferring money from one bank account to another.

BACS Creation Date

The date the BACS file is first created.

BACS ID Code

A code issued by the bureau to the establishment in order to identify them and the source (e.g. the software) that generates the BACS file.

BACS Originator Identification Number

A six digit identifying number issued by BACS, also attached to the bureau being used.

BACS Processing Date

The actual processing date of the BACS file contents.

BACS Purge Date

The date on, or after which, the file is deleted from the BACS system.

Bank Reconciliation

The process of matching entries made and recorded to the system with entries recorded in the bank statement.

Budget Management

This allows you to enter information about amounts allocated to your budget and to allocate expenditure and income to cost centres. From this section, you may also transfer funds to your local bank account and enter the relevant journal accordingly.

Capital Expenditure

Capital expenditure is an amount allocated for projects involving large sums of money. An example of this might be an allocation of funds for building an extension to the school or for the purchase of a new minibus for field trips.

Capital Income

Capital income is the amount received from public sources that is managed by the governing body. It can also be money received from the sale of

assets.

Cash Book

This records receipts and payments made in cash or by cheque, i.e. bank transactions.

Catering Return

A report produced and sent to the LA in SIMS Dinner Money, stating the number of pupil meals paid for, free meals provided and the number of meals provided by the pupils themselves. Adult meals (paid for and free) are also recorded.

CBDS

Common Basic Data Set. This is produced by the DfE to specify the data items that may be required for various statutory and local returns. This specification enables software houses to specify statutory lookups and the said required data items.

Central Processing

Where an organisation has their finances controlled by a central source such as the LA, then the function of this section is to allow invoice/credit note authorisation and payment to be recorded and for locally held records to be reconciled with those provided by the LA.

Charge

An amount of money due for a predefined service or item for sale.

Charge Codes

A unique identifier for a pre-defined charge.

Chart of Accounts

The section of the General Ledger where all transactions may be reviewed according to the mapping of ledger codes to cost centres. It is also possible to review transactions according to the cost centre, ledger code or fund they have been assigned to.

Comma Separated File (.CSV)

A file used for importing data. All data contained within each ‘field’ (item name) is separated with a comma.

Cost Centre

Cost Centres are set up in the main part of FMS, allowing income and expenditure to be assigned as appropriate to your establishment's requirements.

Cost to Establishment

The actual cost to the establishment. If VAT is recoverable then this value is the net value. If VAT is non-recoverable then this value is the gross value.

Course Manager

School users of SIMS are familiar with courses through the use of Assessment, Profiles, Analysis and Examinations Organiser. In these applications, access to classes is provided through the courses which they serve. In addition, the course is used, where appropriate, as the most natural point of attachment for such entities as a Comment Bank in Profiles, or an Award in Examinations Organiser.

Cover

Cover forms part of the SIMS suite and deals primarily with arranging cover for absent classroom staff in your school. The development of Academic Management and Nova-T6 has led to the need for a Cover system in SIMS. The National Agreement relating to teacher's working hours introduces new requirements, as does the growing practice of schools employing adults who are not teachers in classroom support roles. Cover also benefits from the time-aware nature of the SIMS SQL database, so it allows for the creation of dated records, both in the past and in the future.

Credit Entry

A credit entry has the effect of increasing the balance of an Income or Liability ledger type and decreasing the balance of an Expense or Asset

ledger type.

Credit Limit (FMS, Accounts Receivable)

The maximum amount you are prepared to allow a Debtor to owe to your establishment.

Credit Note

Credit Notes may be issued to take into account products not supplied or not satisfactory to the customer. The supplier may then agree to issue a

Credit Note for the full amount on the Invoice or only part of the amount.

Credit Terms

The negotiated period of time allowed before payment is required.

Creditor (Supplier)

A person or organisation to whom money is owed for goods or services supplied.

Creditor Account

A facility provided by a creditor allowing the establishment to purchase goods or services without paying for them on receipt. The account will have

a regular billing period, a credit limit, and a period after the receipt of an invoice, within which payment must be made.

Creditor Control

A control account providing the outstanding balance for all creditors.

Creditor Reference

A means of uniquely identifying the account of a creditor.

Curriculum and Lesson Planner (C&LP)

Curriculum and Lesson Planner (C&LP) has been designed to enable schools to create annual curriculum delivery plans and to create and deliver lesson plans. It also allows teachers to access the teaching plans, activity sheets and websites that are related to the lessons, etc. from the SIMS Home Page.

Days to be kept BACS

The number of days the file should be kept by BACS after the processing date. This generates the BACS purge date.

Debit Entry

A Debit entry has the effect of decreasing the balance of an Income or Liability ledger type and increasing the balance of an Expense or Asset

ledger type.

Debtors (Accounts Receivable)

The customers who purchase products and/or services from your establishment and as a result owes money to your organisation.

Debtor Account

A facility provided by the establishment allowing a debtor to purchase goods or services without paying for them on receipt. The account will have a

regular billing period, a credit limit, and a period after the receipt of an invoice, within which payment must be made.

Debtor Account Balance

Total Value of Invoices minus (Total Value of Receipts with a status of only Posted and Printed + Credit Notes + Refunds + Write Offs).

Debtor Control

Debtor Control is a mechanism for indicating the total owed by Debtors.

Debtor Reference

A means of uniquely identifying the account of a debtor.

DeMinimis Value

The DeMinimis value is the amount set to govern whether expenditure is classified as capital or revenue expenditure. Amounts above the DeMinimis value are classed as capital expenditure, with amounts below the level classed as revenue expenditure.

Dialogs

A temporary window which demands an action before another function can be performed. A dialog can also be closed by clicking the Cancel button.

Dinner Money

Dinner Money is an integrated part of the SIMS suite and facilitates the effective management of school meals:

• All pupil and staff information is derived from the core SIMS database.
• Attendance data is extracted directly from Attendance 7, removing task duplication and saving school administration time.
• Customised statements, letters and reports can be produced quickly and easily.
• An audit trail of all financial transactions is maintained.

Direct Debit

A mandate to a bank to pay a specified creditor a sum of money that they may demand.

Discount (FMS)

Either a percentage reduction of the invoice total, or a percentage reduction for item(s) on a specific invoice line.

Discontinued Charge (Accounts Receivable)

A charge that is not to be used in the future. It is not normally visible within the system.

Discontinued Debtor (Accounts Receivable)

A Debtor no longer to be used. The Debtor will not normally be visible within the system.

Discover

Discover has been developed to enable schools to analyse their SIMS data and to display the results in a variety of graphical formats, e.g. bar graphs, progression line graphs, pie charts and Venn diagrams.

Double Entry Book Keeping

This is a method of recording transactions where for every credit entry there is a corresponding debit entry. Similarly, for every debit entry, there must be a credit entry.

EAL

An acronym for English as an Additional Language.

Equipment (Equipment Register)

Any material item not recorded in Estates Manager or regarded as a stock item.

Equipment Register

Equipment Register is used in conjunction with FMS and assists you in keeping a complete inventory of all the equipment in your school. This includes records of equipment details, stock takes and disposals.

Establishment Details (FMS)

This section found in the Tools menu, allows you to record the information, address and logo, that is to be included on FMS documents, e.g. purchase orders.

Examinations Organiser

A version 6 type application that processes exam entries, seating and results.

Extended Services

Schools open for extended hours provide services and activities to children, young people, their families and their local community during the school day, before and after school hours, at weekends and during the school holidays. These services might include health and social services, childcare, adult and lifelong learning, sports and arts facilities, breakfast and after school clubs including homework clubs, parenting support and facilities for community use.

As part of this growing trend, schools will be required to record information of services that they provide on the school site, either directly by themselves, in partnership with other schools, or by a third party. Any services provided by the school on another school’s site will be excluded. As there is a requirement for all services provided by the school to be recorded, the system will allow one or more services to be recorded.

EYFS

The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) is a statutory assessment of children at the end of the Foundation Stage. It is used as a measure for calculating a child's development and learning at the end of the Reception year.

Fees Billing

A separate process used by schools to send bills to parents for tuition fees and extras provided by the school.

FFT

In conjunction with Fischer Family Trust, functionality is available that  enables secondary schools to reproduce their Key Stage 4 Estimates in SIMS. These are used by Local Authorities, Ofsted and the Welsh Government to measure performance in schools by comparing the estimates against the actuals achieved.

FMS

Financial Management System: the Financial Management package currently offered by SIMS. FMS has a separate SQL database from the SIMS Database.

Fully Matched (Accounts Receivable)

A transaction that is fully accounted for by it's associated transactions. For example, an Invoice can be fully matched when all monies due have been received from the Debtor.

Fund Code

Each fund that an organisation uses should be recorded. Several sources of funding may be defined and each fund must have a unique code assigned.

General Ledger

The heart of the finance system, sometimes known as the Nominal Ledger. Transactions recorded in Accounts Receivable can be reviewed through the General Ledger Chart of Accounts.

General Message

Notification on a person’s home page that a general message has been received that is not necessarily related to a specific student.

Grade Set

A Grade Set defines the set of valid grades that can be recorded for a Grade Aspect. Before creating Grade Aspects you must have previously created any required Grade Sets.

Gross Value

The sum of the net value and the VAT value for a document line or the whole document.

Hold (Accounts Receivable)

A Debtor or a Product can be placed On Hold.

If there is a dispute between the establishment and the Debtor, e.g. the Debtor is refusing to pay Invoices raised by the establishment, then the

Debtor may be placed On Hold. Should this occur, you will not be able to raise an Invoice against the Debtor. Receipts, however, can still be entered.

If you are preparing Products in advance, e.g. preparing the summer uniform in the Autumn term for sale in the Spring term, the Product can be

placed On Hold.

Holder (Equipment Register)

A member of staff who is responsible for an item or items of equipment.

Home Page

Each person logging on to SIMS will be presented with their Home Page, which they are able to configure to show details that correspond to their role within the establishment.

IEP

Individual Education Plan, these plans are drawn up by the class teacher and/or special needs co-ordinator within a school to provide individual support for children deemed to have needs over and above that of other children within the class either through learning difficulties or because they are considered to be exceptionally bright or gifted children.

Item (Equipment Register)

A piece of equipment held in Equipment Register. It can be an asset or non-asset.

Invoice

An Invoice is issued to request payment for products or services provided.

Invoice Gross Total

The sum of the Invoice net total and the Invoice VAT total.

Invoice Net Total

The sum of all line net totals. This does not include VAT totals.

Invoice Outstanding Balance

The Invoice gross total less the sum of all matched receipts, all attached posted credit notes, and all attached Write Offs.

Invoice VAT Total

The sum of all VAT applied on the invoice.

ISCIS

The Independent School Council Information Systems.

Journals

All transactions are recorded in journals, which may be reviewed through the General Ledger. A journal is created when an invoice is entered or

cheque payment made. Some journals can be created directly through the General Ledger.

Julian Date

A date format consisting of YYDDD where YY is the last 2 digits of a year e.g. 2011 = 11; DDD is day count within the year e.g. 28 February = 059

Hence 28/02/2011 = 11059 in Julian format.

Ledger Account

A named area within a ledger file where all debits and credits relating to a specific item are recorded, e.g. in the Sales Ledger, the Ledger Account

would be in the Customer or Parent name.

Ledger Code

Ledger Codes are set up in the main FMS Module and may be linked to specific Cost Centres. Each has a unique identifier relating to ledger

accounts, e.g. ledger account name = lettings, ledger code = L2000.

Ledgers

Books or files for keeping records of a similar type, e.g. Purchase Ledger (Accounts Payable), General Ledger.

Liabilities

Consists of money owed by the organisation. This could be for goods supplied, expenses or for loans. To date, FMS supports Liabilities Short,

which translates into money owed to Creditors and for Accruals.

Licence Keys

Technically these are patches which enable additional functionality if purchased by the customer e.g. InTouch, Fees etc.

Line Gross Value

The sum of the net value and the VAT value for a line.

Line Net Value

The value of the line calculated from item rate, number of items and discount (which will normally be used except when calculating the

commitment for an order). VAT is not included.

Line VAT Total

The amount of VAT calculated from the line net value and the line VAT rate.

Location (Equipment Register)

Any place where an item of equipment can be found. This would typically consist of a site + building + room combination.

Lookup Item

An individual Item that a user may select from a lookup. For example Christian is a lookup Item that may be selected from the list of items held in the Religion Lookup.

Lowest Open Period

The earliest financial period which has not yet been closed.

Marksheets

Data can be entered and reviewed in SIMS Assessment using marksheets. A marksheet is a grid, similar to a spreadsheet, where pupil/students are listed in rows and the areas of assessment (aspects) are listed in columns. A marksheet can be likened to a teacher’s mark or record book.

My Marksheets are marksheets associated with a group or course for whom the Teacher has some responsibility. The Teacher is:

• the single Main Class Teacher or any one of the Class Teachers of an Academic Class.
• the Head of a Department running one or more Courses.
• the nominated second in a Department running one or more Courses.
• the person nominated as the Course Co-ordinator for one or more courses.

The Head of Faculty can see Course Marksheets for the Course(s) for which they are the Head of Faculty plus Class Marksheets.

The Curriculum Manager can only see Course Marksheets for which they are the Curriculum Manager.

The Supervisor can only see Course Marksheets for which they are the Supervisor.

Matched Balance of an Invoice

The sum of all Credit Notes, matched Receipts and Write Offs attached to the Invoice, should be a positive value or zero.

Matching

The option to match Receipts to Invoices and Refunds Cheques.

Multiple Timetables

The SIMS Multiple Timetables functionality has been provided to augment the existing SIMS Curriculum software suite. It has been specifically designed to enable you to create an individual timetable for each school tier so that you can manage different timetables across the school.

Net Value (FMS)

The value of the line of a document, or the value of the whole document, which is calculated from the item rate, the number of items and the

discount. VAT is not included.

NEWBES

Non English Welsh Based Education System

Non-Invoice Income

This type of Invoice is entered and a Receipt automatically generated for Income derived from, for example, donations and contributions. Non-

Invoiced Income is processed through the main FMS module.

Non-Order Invoice

If you have purchased items of equipment or other services without first raising an order, you are able to record the appropriate invoice through

selecting this option in Invoice/Credit Note processing.

Non-Recoverable VAT

VAT charged on goods or services. This VAT can not be reclaimed from Customs and Excise by the establishment, even if they are registered for

VAT purposes.

Not Started (FMS)

The state of a financial year that has been defined on the system but which is not yet available for entering financial data into.

Nova-T

An application which deals with creating and processing timetables.

OAA

Acronym for Own Admissions Authority School.

On Hold

A Supplier can be placed On Hold.

If there is a dispute between the establishment and the Supplier, e.g. there is a problem with the Supplier concerning items ordered, then the Supplier may be placed On Hold. Should this occur, you will not be able to raise any further orders until the On Hold flag has been removed.

On-Roll

On-Roll is a term given to describe a pupil/student that has been admitted to the school and therefore will appear in the schools Admissions Register or Roll Book. Within SIMS, On-roll is generally used as a filter to retrieve a set of pupil/students that are registered to attend the school on a particular date or between a set of dates. A pupil/student is considered to be on-roll on a particular date if the following is true:

• Their date of admission (DOA) is equal to or prior to the date in question.
• Their date of leaving (DOL) is a date after the date in question or a DOL has not been recorded.
• Their Enrolment Status is either Single Registration, Main – Dual Registration, or Subsidiary – Dual Registration.

Options

An application linked to Nova T which allows option blocks for timetables to be set.

Over Deliveries

The excess of items delivered by a supplier over and above those that have been ordered.

Part Delivered

The state of an order when some of the ordered goods, but not all, have been delivered to the establishment by the supplier.

Part Matched (Accounts Receivable)

A transaction that is not fully accounted for by it's associated transactions. For example, an Invoice is part matched when some of the monies due have been received from the Debtor and there are no other transactions (e.g. credit notes) to account for the monies not yet received.

Patches

Software fixes issued by Capita SIMS to fix either generic or site specific software issues.

Pay In Slip

The Pay In Slip is entered when a Debtor has paid an amount against an Invoice for goods or services provided. This will detail the amounts received, the Receipts issued and payments paid into your bank account.

Penny Write Offs

Small amounts left owing on Invoices, usually less than 100 pence, may be written off using this process.

Period

The Accounts Receivable Periods is the same as those in the FMS system. Period end and Year end are actioned through the appropriate options on the Tools menu in FMS.

Period Close

Functionality that validates that the transactions posted to a given period balance and that there are no transactions yet to be posted to that period. If validation completes, the period is flagged as closed and no further transactions may be posted to that period. Only the lowest open period may

be closed.

Permissions

This refers to permissions that can be granted to users enabling them to carry out the day to day tasks that they are required to do. This applies to version 7 applications only. Access areas have already been set up prior to assigning permissions (Edit, Run, View, Add, Delete).

NOTE: Some permissions are not possible for certain information domains/areas chosen. For this reason these options are not available for selection.

Petty Cash

This is used to record small, incidental cash transactions, e.g. small item of equipment needed for a specific project.

PLASC

Acronym for Pupil Level Annual School Census Return.

Post (Accounts Receivable)

Once a Receipt or Pay In Slip has been saved and you are satisfied that the information is correct, select the Post button from the Focus Bar for the

entries to be permanently recorded in the relevant ledger accounts.

Posting Date

The date on which a financial transaction is recorded in the general ledger.

Posting Period

The financial period to which the transaction is assigned within the general ledger.

Preliminary Closure (FMS)

Associated with year end. A state where no further transactions can be entered for posting to the financial year with the exception of some journals

used to ensure that the general ledger is a true reflection of the years trading. Files received from the LEA for may be reconciled after preliminary

closure.

Profiles

Profiles enables the production of <ps> reports (also known as ‘profiles’), using the functionality of Microsoft Word.

Pupil Referral Unit

Any school established and maintained by a local authority which Is specially organised to provide education for children who are excluded, sick or otherwise unable to attend mainstream school and Is not a county or special school.

Quick Reference Sheet

A  concise summary of the functionality and instructions for common tasks within SIMS, usually on a double-sided A4 sheet.

Receipt (Accounts Receivable)

A receipt is issued when money has been received from a debtor in payment of an Invoice for products or services provided.

Refund Cheques (Accounts Receivable)

If a credit note has been recorded or a debtor has overpaid, you are able to record any refund cheques that have been issued.

Registered Office

The office recorded at Companies House for an organisation trading as a legal company.

Retained Earnings

The difference between expenditure and income for the year.

It is calculated when a financial year is closed and the value is carried across to the next year as an opening balance figure.

Returned Goods

Goods returned to the supplier. These may not have been accepted by the establishment, or may have been accepted and are subsequently returned. This typically occurs when goods are faulty or do not match the specification of the ordered goods.

Scheduled Reports

A person is able to schedule certain reports to run at a set time, either for themselves or for people they designate should view the report. Part of the schedule includes determining the number of days information that is to be available in the report.

Schema (CFR)

A schema contains the XML tags defined for a specific purpose. For example, the CFR schema contains the tags defined specifically for producing the CFR report.

School Establishment Number

A non unique four digit Number allocated to schools within a Local Authority in England and Wales. The number is unique within the authority. Many Nursery and Early Years schools are not allocated a number.

Selection Criteria

A component of the selection process administration. When applied to pupil/student information processing, it is used to facilitate the process of elimination of a pupil/student, entry qualification or disqualification during the course of the registrations and admissions administration. Selection Criteria is the basis for which an offer or rejection is made to a pupil/student.

SEN

Special Educational Needs. This denotes any child that has been identified as having some form of educational need either as a result of learning difficulty or if they are deemed as particularly bright or gifted. These children receive additional support either from within the school or outside agencies.

SEN Reminders

The SEN Co-ordinator in particular, has the ability to set the number of days when a reminder should be displayed for when the SEN Review is Due, the next SEN Review, the SEN Provision and any SEN Events.

SIMS

Acronym for Schools Information Management System.

SIMS Database

The central SQL database for all SIMS applications. It is possible to host multiple databases on one Instance of SQL server.

SIMS System Manager

A high level pre-defined role that has access to system functions only within SIMS.

SIMS User

A user of SIMS who has a user account and a username, and in most cases also a password. Users employ the user interface to access systems, and the process of identification is often referred to as log in.

SIMS Workstation

A computer which has SIMS software installed on it. SIMS workstations are members of Workstation groups.

SLASC

The School Level Annual School Census (SLASC) is is a school level statutory return collected from registered independent schools and general hospital schools in England. The return is requested by the Department for Education (DfE), once each year (traditionally January). The data collected includes information on pupil/students, teachers, new staff members and proprietors.

SLG

Acronym for SIMS Learning Gateway.

SORP

Acronym for Standard of Reporting Practice.

Standing Order

A mandate to a bank to pay to a specified recipient an initial fixed sum of money on a specified date, and subsequently a fixed sum of money on

subsequent specified recurring dates. There may or not be a specified number of times for the payment to be made.

Started (FMS)

The state of a financial year defined on the system and which is available for the entry of financial transactions.

Statement (Accounts Receivable)

A list of financial transactions for a single Debtor which is usually sent to that Debtor. The list should show the current outstanding balance of the

Debtor’s account.

By selecting Reports | Statement | Statement Run, you can produce statements for your Debtors detailing Invoices paid, unpaid, etc.

Status (Accounts Receivable)

This will indicate the current position relating to the processing of invoices, credit notes, receipts and pay in slips. The current status of products

supplied will also be recorded.

System Date

The date returned by the computer on which FMS is running.

Tab Separated Value File (.TSV)

.TSV file extensions specify where columns are separated with a tab. This type of file can be used for importing data into the Equipment Register

module.

Tax Point

The date on which VAT liability occurs.

The Tax Point date is created at either the date of delivery of the service or product, or the date the Invoice is printed, whichever occurs the earliest.

Tax Point dates may be set in advance. However, if an Invoice is printed earlier than the Tax Point date, the date is changed to the printing date.

Trade Address

The address to which correspondence to a sole trader or business is normally sent. This is not necessarily the home address of a sole trader or a

partner in a partnership.

Trade Name

The name under which a sole trader or business transacts business.

Transaction ID (Accounts Receivable)

The Transaction ID is automatically assigned to Invoices and Credit Notes, when new transactions are saved to the system.

Transfer Receipt (Accounts Receivable)

If a Receipt has been incorrectly assigned to a Debtor, you are able to transfer it to the correct Debtor.

Trial Balance

Several types of Trial Balance report may be produced in FMS. You can decide to list ledger account balances, cost centre account balances or a

combination of the two. The Trial Balance is used as a check to ensure that the total debit items equal the total credit items.

ULN

Unique Learner Number.

UPN

Unique pupil number. A number given to a pupil/student on entering schooling.

Unmatched Balance of a Receipt (Accounts Receivable)

The total value of the Receipt, less the sum of all amounts matched to Invoices from the Receipt, should be a positive value or zero.

Unmatched Balance of an Invoice (Accounts Receivable)

The total value of the Invoice less the sum of all Credit Notes, matched Receipts and Write Offs attached to the Invoice, should be a positive value

or zero.

Unmatching (Accounts Receivable)

As well as being able to match Receipts to Invoices and Refund Cheques, the matching option also enables these transaction types to be un-matched.

Un-posted

The state of a transaction before posting to the general ledger.

User Defined Reports

Selecting this option from Reports | General Ledger, allows you to define row and column sets to be used in your own report definitions.

VAT Code

A single character short form for a VAT ledger code.

VAT Periods

These will need to be defined in Tools | Define VAT Reports. You can decide whether your Vat Periods will be monthly, quarterly, or consist of a

specified number of days. A record will be kept of the dates each VAT Submittal Report is submitted.

VAT Reimbursement

The return of VAT spent by a centrally funded establishment from the LA which has reclaimed the VAT from Customs and Excise.

VAT Value

The amount of VAT for a document line or document, calculated by summing the net value and the VAT rate.

Workstation Group

A collection of SIMS Workstations.

Workstation groups are used for organizational purposes. A group can be assigned permissions via System Manager. By default workstation groups have full access.

Write Offs (Accounts Receivable)

If an Invoice remains unpaid for a specified amount of time, then the debt incurred can be written off. An assumption is made that payment is unlikely. The system enables you to define your own Write Off period.

XML

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language and is the means used for exporting both the preliminary and final CFR report, plus the Income and

Expenditure report.

Year End

The end of the financial year when certain processes take place in preparation to closing the year. Balances will be copied forward and Ledger

Codes, Cost Centres and Funds updated.