<p>In this final briefing of 2025, we cover urgent and practical updates for independent school business leaders—starting with a fraud alert on a payroll scam targeting school offices. We also unpack new legal requirements for Companies House ID verification, share how you can benefit from ISBA’s enhanced benchmarking tool, and outline how to correct VAT return errors. Plus, inspection trends, conference highlights, and key training dates for the new year.</p><br><p><strong>What’s Inside:</strong></p><ul><li>🛡 <strong>Fraud Alert</strong> – Payroll scam attempt flagged by a member school</li><li>🧾 <strong>Companies House</strong> – New identity verification rules for directors</li><li>📊 <strong>Data Navigator Relaunch</strong> – Benchmarking made better (and free for early birds)</li><li>💷 <strong>Correcting VAT Errors</strong> – Don’t panic; here’s how to fix them</li><li>🏫 <strong>ISI Inspections</strong> – Trends in non-compliance and how to prepare</li><li>📅 <strong>Key Dates</strong> – Webinars in January and Finance Conference 2026</li><li>🎄 <strong>Festive Sign-Off</strong> – A thank you from ISBA and a look ahead to 2026</li><li><br></li></ul><p><strong>Useful Links:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/verify-your-identity-for-companies-house" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Verify your identity with Companies House – GOV.UK</a></li><li><a href="https://www.gov.uk/submit-vat-return/correct-errors-in-your-vat-return" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Correcting VAT errors – GOV.UK</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theisba.org.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Finance Conference 2026 – Book your place</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Key Deadlines:</strong></p><ul><li>🐦 Early Bird: Submit Data Navigator responses by <strong>16 January 2026</strong></li><li>📊 Final deadline for Data Navigator: <strong>12 February 2026</strong></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Contact ISBA Advice &amp; Guidance:</strong></p><p>📧 [email protected]</p><p><strong>Subscribe for Weekly Briefings:</strong></p><p>Stay updated with ISBA sector insights every Friday at 4pm. Available wherever you get your podcasts.</p><p>Email: <strong>[email protected]</strong> – we’d love to hear from you. </p><br><p>The Bursarcast is produced by RAFIKI STUDIO</p><p>www.rafikistudio.com</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>