Welcome to the August 2026 release of Access Education Budgets.
This update brings improvements to Excel exports across budget reports, modernised file formats, a new way to import your PS Financials chart of accounts from the web interface and clearer error details in Access Education Links.
What's new
Excel export improvements across budget reports
Figures exported to Excel from budget reports are now formatted as ‘Number’ rather than ‘Text’. This means cells sum, sort, and filter correctly in Excel without triggering the "number stored as text" warning, and you no longer need to manually convert values before analysing your data.
Percentage values, such as % of Budget Spent on the snapshot export, are now written as a numeric fraction with a ‘Percentage’ format rather than as ‘Text’.
This change has been applied across all report types.
Legacy Excel file format updated to .xlsx
Several reports that previously exported as the older .xls (Excel 97–2003) format now produce modern .xlsx files. The content, formatting, and print setup of each report are unchanged. You will no longer see a compatibility warning when opening these files.
Import your PS Financials chart of accounts in the web UI
If your school uses Access Education Budgets alongside PS Financials, you can now import your chart of accounts directly from the web interface, without needing to use the separate Access Education Links desktop application.
Upload your PS Financials workbook (.xls or .xlsx) on the Import Account Codes tab and the import runs immediately. A confirmation message tells you whether the import was successful or whether an error occurred.
The import maps your codes into Nominal, Ledger, and Account levels and replaces the school's existing codes, so run it when you intend to refresh the full chart of accounts.
⚠️ Important: The import replaces all existing account codes for the school and rebuilds mappings. Only run it when you want to fully refresh your chart of accounts.
Clearer error details when Access Education Links cannot connect
When the Access Education Links desktop application fails to connect on launch, the error dialog now shows the actual service URL it attempted to reach. A ‘More details’ option is also available, which reveals the full underlying error message.
This makes it easier to diagnose connection problems and share the relevant information with support, without needing additional back-and-forth to identify which endpoint was being used.
How to access this update
These improvements were released to customers throughout August 2026.
To access the updates:
Excel export improvements: No action is required. Open any affected report and use the existing Export to Excel or Print/Export to Excel button. For Budget Monitoring Snapshots, open a snapshot in Budget Monitoring and select Export to Excel from the snapshot grid toolbar.
Updated .xlsx file format: No action is required. Open the relevant report from the Reports area, select your options, and click the export button. The file now downloads as .xlsx.
PS Financials chart of accounts import: Navigate to the Account Coding page. If your school has an active PS Financials link, an Import Account Codes tab will appear. Select PS Financials Chart of Accounts as the import type, choose your workbook, and click Upload.
Access Education Links connection errors: No action is required. The improved error dialog appears automatically when the Links desktop application fails to connect on launch.