Preliminary Market Engagement: Financial Management System Issued by: Tove Learning Trust (TLT) Target Audience: Financial Software Providers and ERP Vendors 1. Overview and Purpose Tove Learning Trust is looking to upgrade its core finance software across our central team and our growing community of academies. We are running this pre-market engagement exercise to let prospective suppliers know what we need from a system and to see what solutions are currently available in the market. We need a modern, resilient, cloud-hosted platform that can handle multiple school entities seamlessly. The system must make life easier for our staff by cutting down on repetitive administrative tasks, while providing clear, straightforward financial tools for both our core finance teams and non-specialist staff like Headteachers and budget holders. This Preliminary Market Engagement exercise is issued for information gathering purposes only. It does not constitute a call for competition, invitation to tender, or any commitment by Tove Learning Trust to commence a procurement process. Participation in this exercise will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement. Contract Dates (estimated) 01/04/2027 to 31/03/2030 OR 01/09/2027 to 31/08/2030 Main procurement category Goods/Services Engagement Deadline 15/09/2026 Engagement Process Description Interested suppliers are invited to submit an expression of interest via email to procurement@tovelearning.org.uk no later than 15th September 2026. Please outline within your expression of interest how you believe your product can deliver on the requirements detailed below. We intend to open a booking calendar for suppliers to hold online or in person demonstrations to key stakeholders during September/October 2026 (dates to be confirmed). These slots will be limited and we will select suppliers for demonstration based on how well their expression of interest matches our key requirements. 2. Core System Requirements Following an internal review across 15 of our schools, our finance staff, School Business Managers, and leaders highlighted several essential operational priorities. Any prospective solution must comfortably meet these standards: 2a System Stability and Performance Reliability: System downtime disrupts day-to-day operations meaning we require an exceptionally stable platform with minimal downtime. Fast Loading Times: The software needs to be highly responsive. Slow page loading and lagging click transitions create frustration and impact on productivity. Accessibility: The platform must be fully cloud-based. As well as desktop use, it would be beneficial if it was also compatible with mobile devices so users can easily manage tasks and complete approvals remotely. 2b Data Visibility and Navigation Easy Transaction Drill-Down: Finance staff should be able to click through transactions naturally-moving from a supplier record straight to relevant invoices, purchase orders, and audit histories without navigating away. In-System Analysis: Staff need to view and drill down into detailed transactional data directly within the system interface, rather than having to export data to external spreadsheets just to read it. 2c Purchasing, Automation, and Approvals Integrated Purchasing Portal: We require a user-friendly, school-level portal that handles the entire procurement cycle: requisitioning, multi-level approval workflows, purchase ordering, goods receiving, and budget checks. Paperless Approvals: The system should automatically email approvers with direct links for simple approvals.A configurable tiered approval process should be built into the software as standard. Automated Document Dispatch: The software must automatically email purchase orders, invoices, and payment remittances directly to suppliers and internal stakeholders. Invoice Scanning (OCR): To save time and reduce manual entry errors, the system should scan uploaded PDF invoices and automatically populate the transaction details. Preferred Supplier Indicators: A simple visual indicator is needed to show school-based users which suppliers have already been vetted and approved by the central Trust procurement team. Other Document Scanning and Parsing: contract reading capabilities with AI identification of contract terms including renewals, terminations and indexation. 3. Core Accounting and Reporting Modules The chosen software must include robust, established modules for standard school accounting operations. These must be thoroughly developed and uniformly capable across the board: Cost Centre and Budget Holder Reporting Trial Balance and Ledger Code Reporting Aged Debtor and Aged Creditor Reports Bank Reconciliation (ideally with direct bank feeds or straightforward file imports) Budgeting, Cashflow, and Forecasting Management Tools Supplier and Customer Master Files with secure bank detail audit logs Full Management Accounts direct from the system 4. Specific Operational Feedback and Integration Needs Based on hands-on experience, our finance teams have highlighted a few critical operational expectations: 4a Parity Between Purchase and Sales Ledgers Many school finance systems focus heavily on the Purchase Ledger while providing a basic, limited Sales Ledger. Consistent capability and reporting depth on both sides would be highly beneficial. 4b IMP Software Integration The Trust uses IMP for budget planning and forecasting and integrated curriculum financial planning. We are particularly interested in hearing from suppliers whose financial systems can either integrate dynamically and effectively with our existing IMP environment to keep our data consistent and prevent double-entry OR demonstrate an embedded or directly linked Integrated Curriculum Financial Planning (ICFP) module built into the platform that can pull real-time finance and staffing data to run multi-year strategic scenarios natively. 4c Security Roles To match our internal organisational structure, the system must allow us to set up specific user roles and permissions. 4d Direct Support When technical issues arise, school-based users need to be able to raise their own tickets directly with the software provider´s help desk without having to route these through the central Trust finance team. The Central Team should have access or reporting capabilities related to these tickets in order to oversee the KPIs of the contract. 5. Next Steps for Interested Suppliers Interested suppliers are invited to submit an expression of interest via email to procurement@tovelearning.org.uk no later than 15th September 2026. Please outline within your expression of interest how you believe your product can deliver on the requirements detailed