The government today launched a website to help headteachers and local authorities plan their budgets, as education experts said the funding system needed to be simplified.

Launching the site, www.teachernet.gov.uk/schoolfinance, schools standards minister David Miliband said it should help headteachers plan their budgets by calculating how the minimum per pupil increase will affect their school. They will also be able to compare their income and expenditure with schools in similar circumstances.

Last month the government announced plans to recruit city accountants to help headteachers manage school budgets as well as a minimum funding increase of 4% for each pupil for next year. The most cash-strapped schools are to be given funding boosts to avoid a repeat of this year's crisis - but the education secretary, Charles Clarke, also demanded that education authorities and heads take responsibility for restoring financial stability.

The new website was launched today with a pledge to provide further support to headteachers. The site has been developed in partnership with the independent schools inspectorate, Ofsted, and the Audit Commission. It contains income and expenditure information on over 22,000 schools to help schools understand how they compare.

All data contained in the website is anonymous so individual schools cannot be identified. However it does give schools the option to be contacted and engage in dialogue with other schools if they so wish.

Mr Miliband said: "This benchmarking website is good news. It will give headteachers the opportunity to make the most informed decisions on school budgets and to plan confidently for the future.

"I recognise that the last few months have been difficult for schools. I want to praise schools and local education authorities across the country who have worked hard to address these difficulties."

He added: "This is not just about money. New guidance being designed by KPMG and the National College for School Leadership will help headteachers plan and manage budgets effectively."

But a group of education experts, who today published research on the funding crisis through thinktank Politeia, said what is needed is a simpler system.

With four parts to school budget coming from three different sources, it is no wonder the system can break down, said the lead author, Adrian Bulter, assistant director of education at Wandsworth council.

"A system is needed which is simple and stable, and places more emphasis on success in distributing funding. [This] could be achieved by a single grant in place of the current four and linking funding closely to success rather than factors such as low attendance and poor attainment.

"Schools should be funded by one basic grant, which could be distributed through a simple national formula using set factors. With a clear simple formula, schools would know exactly where they stood," he said.

Up to 2,000 teachers lost their jobs and some schools set a limit on teaching hours after the funding crisis hit schools earlier this year. It was blamed on changes in the funding mechanism, falling rolls and increasing teacher costs.