“This system is the worst I’ve worked with in my 28yrs with the DOE. Support is extremely slow to obtain. The system makes me feel completely incompetent, stressed, it’s taking a toll on my health so much so I am considering leaving the DOE.”

“Over the years the eFPT has made me feel so inadequate and useless. I feel so stupid when my Principal asks me questions about the eFPT and I honestly don’t know the answers. There has got to be a better way to know how much money you have!”

“The whole system defeats its own purpose, as ultimately, we have no idea of our actual financial position. We do our best to run the school in a financially efficient way and, along with all the other tasks required, trying to figure it out is extremely demoralising.”

“I am tired of the Finance people they have never worked in schools, have no idea of the dynamics of a school. Nothing is ever that black and white, they talk as if I am supposed to know what they are saying.”

“As a new SAM, I have found this to be very frustrating to have to sit on hold for EdConnect to get any sort of support. Finding things in the portal is not easy. There are too many applications, no one stop area for support. Every time you ring Ed Connect, they have to keep transferring as it’s not their section. I was nearly in tears today trying to get some assistance. I have been in the job for 6 weeks and to hear I am going to lose funding before spending it has given me a lot of anxiety as I do not want to let the Principal or School down.”

“I have done plenty of training but as I work in a small school for 4 days a week on my own I find it difficult to spend quality uninterrupted time putting what I have learnt into practice. I also have very little support from my principal and I think she doesn’t have much idea on what to do as she rarely looks at it, set and forget really. I don’t find it is at all accurate to what we have at the end of the year. I have been so stressed this year as we come to the end and I am trying to be accurate with the funds we have remaining. There must be an easier way.”

“This system is hard to follow and doesn’t give a real indication of funds you have left to spend in your cost centre. The Entitlement title is completely confusing I have no idea why we have unutilised days. I have tried to get the answer from edConnect but they aren’t really able to help me.”

“The daily stress and anxiety generated by eFPT processes are untenable. Reading administrative emails related to the system is an ongoing source of frustration. Members frequently express that they are not accountants and should not be expected to manage this level of financial oversight as part of their roles.”

“It is a complete joke of a system that I hate using. When we attend information sessions I feel like we are talked down at instead of listened to, it really is disheartening and makes me less engaged overall”

“We are set up to fail and also made to feel as though this is our problem however as you already know it is not fit for purpose unless you run as tiny school with minimal funding, staff and casual. I’m a critical thinker and I am confident in my role over the past 17 years however this tool and online learning is not the answer to our problem. Schools are not a business we are empathetic, student focused space that is proudly driven by equity and inclusion.”

“The system is broken .. a major overhaul is required and equity in pay for those who manage / work with EFPT. Some low FOEI schools do not have the funds available to increase a SAM to BM for these tasks.”

“I’ve attended all the training and still find the system confusing. I don’t trust the data and it’s a stress at the end of the year trying to figure out how much money we have to spend. Trying to make sure staff are being paid from the correct area with SAP IDs, OMSEE IDs in the EFPT and then which code links with SAP payroll. I’m never confident I’m doing it correctly and I’ve been in this job for 17 years.”

“I have had so many sleepless nights regarding two years of inconsistent data and re-entering information over and over again to correct issues. I don’t even call Ed connect as even they know it is not a fit for purpose tool and regularly tell me that my school is so big and hard to track changes in staffing […] I cannot keep up with the amount of data entry required to get this tool correct. I have let WHS and site manager roles suffer due to the time and mental capacity this tool draws from my body and mind.”

“I have been using the EFPT since its inception, including attending at least eight different training sessions with multiple principals and executive staff across four schools I have been BM at over the past seven years. The workload increase caused directly by the “Simplified School Budget”, which was a direct outcome of removing FTE staffing dollars from our budget lines, is unmanageable, unrealistic and unsustainable”

“eFPT causes lots of anxiety, frustration and is complex. As schools are understaffed in administration with ever increasing workloads to support student learning and administration in the reality of every school day and to have a financial planning tool that causes the above is not supportive of staff wellbeing. Administration staff are so time poor and exhausted in trying to complete our role statement tasks and are going above and beyond to support student learning and administration tasks.”

“I have only been in the SAM role for the past 2 years and have found it very difficult to learn the eFPT system and have now resulted in returning to and looking for a SAO position as I look like I dont have any finance experience. Horrible experience for me”