GUIDELINES TO FINANCIAL REPORTING. COSME Finance Sector C1.2 SAG meeting 14 October 2016

Transcription

1 GUIDELINES TO FINANCIAL REPORTING COSME Finance Sector C1.2 SAG meeting 14 October 2016

2 Main speaking points: - A few reminders - Guidelines for the final financial reporting - "What's new", and so what will be requested from the partners?

3 - The near future (change in Financial Guidelines + some tailor-made trainings!) - Questions?

4 Eligible vs. Non-eligible costs: = description of the "general" eligibility criteria (see article 5 of the SGA) + examples of non-eligible costs (debts, etc )

5 Budget transfers: Since the budget in annex II is an estimate and transfers may occur during the project implementation: Transfers between partners and/or budget categories are allowed without a formal amendment, if the action is implemented as described in Annex 1 to the Specific Agreements. However, the partners may not add costs relating to subcontracts not provided for in Annex 1 to the Specific Agreements, unless such additional subcontracts are approved in accordance with

6 no more treshold/limitations. please note that a budget transfer can have an impact on the total amount of eligible costs Note: we cannot go above the treshold of total eligible costs, and the total grant amount).

7 Certificates on the Financial Statements ('CFS'): This certificate, to be prepared by an independent auditor, gives an additional assurance as to the eligibility of the costs claimed by the partner for the project, because the auditor must certify that the costs declared in the financial statement are accurately recorded in the partner s accounting system, that they are eligible and that all receipts have been declared.

8 A 'CFS' is required for all partners, if - it requests a total contribution of EUR or more as reimbursement of actual costs and, - the maximum EU contribution indicated, for that partner, in the estimated budget (see Annex 2) as reimbursement of actual costs is EUR or more.

9 The CFS must be issued by a qualified external auditor, using the template in Annex 4 to the GA, which is composed of 3 parts: - Terms of reference, - Report on Factual Findings, and - the agreed upon procedures to be performed. Finally, the cost related to the CFS is an eligible cost + template is foreseen in annex IV.

10 Periodic reporting module different steps How will this work for the partners? We use the Horizon2020 IT applications (SYGMA/Compass). At the end of the reporting period/project all partners receive a notification and can log on to the Participant Portal (PP). All partners access the application and complete (online) their own Financial Statement including the explanations on the use of resources.

11 Partners e-sign and submit their Financial Statements to the project coordinator within 60 days after the end of the project/reporting period (i.e. before the end of February 2017).

12 If the partner e-signs a financial statement, this means he/she agrees and confirms that: " The information provided is complete, reliable and true. The costs declared are eligible (see Article 5 SGA). The costs can be substantiated by adequate records and supporting documentation that will be produced upon request or in the context of checks, reviews, audits and investigations (see Articles 23, 24 and 28 FPA). For the last reporting period: that all the receipts have been declared (see Article SGA). "

13 After having completed and saved all the data, click on "Lock for Review". This action will freeze the data (prevent changes) and generate a pdf-document. The Financial Statement can be reviewed by clicking on the pdf icon. Only users with the roles Participant Contacts, Project Financial Signatories and Task Managers can perform this action.

14 To electronically sign & submit the Financial Statement click the button " Sign & Submit ". Only users with the role Project Financial Signatory (PFSIGN) can perform this action. At this point the task of Financial Statement drafting is completed. The statement has been electronically signed & submitted to the Coordinator.

15 The Coordinator approves the elements of the periodic report & submits to the Agency. The Agency reviews the submitted Periodic Report and accepts or rejects it. The Agency executes the interim/final payment within 90 days after the submission of the final report.

16 The coordinator will be notified of the end of the payment process and will receive a payment letter and the supporting reports with the details of any cost rejected and the reasons for rejection. The coordinator or the partner concerned may within 30 days of receiving the notification - formally notify the Agency of its disagreement with any rejected costs and provide the reasons for disagreement.

17 Periodic Reporting Financial report Financial Statement Some costs have an editable field others have a link to click. Some have a Use of Resources to complete Link to 'How to complete your financial statement' in the PP. 17

18 CONTENT It contains three fields: 1.Financial information from contact "No contribution requested" is information coming from the signed grant, so this field is "read only". Requested EU contribution: the standard amount proposed is the same as the maximum EU contribution (calculated as the reimbursement rate multiplied by the total costs declared). But the requested EU contribution might be lower than the maximum EU contribution..

19 "Click to change the requested contribution", which will make the field editable (the Grant Agreement specifies the fact that the EU contribution needs to be requested) + Confirm that you want to change the requested EU contribution! 2.Financial statements All financial statements (each period has one financial statement) for the current periodic report are displayed here.

20 3.Financial statement for the selected period. The detailed costs of the selected financial statement are visible here. The partner will have to introduce the actually incurred costs here.

21 Periodic report - financial report The financial report consists of structured forms from the grant management system, including: -Individual financial statements (template is the Annex 3 to the GA) for each partner. -Explanations on the use of resources and the information on subcontracting from each partner for the reporting period concerned. Report generated automatically by the IT tool based on the information entered through the Periodic Reporting module.

22 -A periodic summary financial statement including the request for final payment. -A certificate on the financial statements ('CFS'), if required.

23 All needs to be completed and submitted electronically This means no original supporting documents to be sent to the Agency! This also means that partners no longer need to send copies of invoices (highest amounts) by express delivery or post. All eligible costs need to be declared on the financial statement; even if they exceed the amounts indicated in the estimated budget (see annex II to the GA).

24 The different cost categories (see article 4 of the SGA): -Direct personnel costs:

25 In this screen above every partner needs to click "Add detail" to add the total number of person months spent per Work Package (WP). What we (normally) will not ask at the reporting stage: Timesheets, the names of staff, salary slips of staff or copy of contracts.

26 Periodic Reporting Financial report Financial Statement (actual costs) 26

27 -direct cost of subcontracting:

28 Subcontracting costs -Subcontracting and its characteristics: Minor/limited tasks description in annex I - "Business" best value for money (price/quality) - direct supervision of the partner responsibility stays with the partner concerned no rights/obligations from the subcontractor to the EASME Reminder that subcontracting to another Network partner is not allowed.

29 -If foreseen by the annex I: the partner indicates only the total cost, and makes the reference to the DoA. -If not foreseen by the Annex I: Click "Add detail" to add the details of the costs.

30 The total costs incurred for subcontracting have to be broken down per subcontract, and the following details must be included in the use of resources: -Description of the activities subcontracted, and indicate the dates and the amounts. -Indication of the subcontractor by the name of the person, or the company. Costs must be broken down into the costs of individual subcontractors.

31 We will not ask for supporting documents related to the subcontracting procedure.

32 Other direct costs -Travel (and subsistence) costs (usual practice) should be in line with the partner's usual practice on travel costs. -Depreciation (accounting standards and again usual practice). -Costs for other goods/services (consumables, supplies, CFS, bank guarantees, publications..)

33 Other direct costs (simplification!) -If costs are equal to or less than 15% of claimed personnel costs for that reporting period, then no explanation needs to be provided (but partners must in any case keep all justifications in order to prove the costs they declare as eligible in case of check and audit). -If costs are higher than 15% of claimed personnel costs for that reporting period, then, other major direct costs items need to be explained by the partner. The explanations must be up to the level that the remaining costs are below 15% of personnel costs. Explanations should be given starting from the cost item of highest value in terms of cost amount.

34 When a partner's total other direct costs exceed 15% of their personnel costs, they must provide details of the cost items, starting with the most expensive item and until the 15% threshold is reached. If other direct costs items are reported, and if foreseen in the DoA: the partner must provide the simple reference to the DoA.

35 If costs were not foreseen in the DoA: cost per item, short description of the item, nature/category (travel, equipment or other goods and services), associated WP, project relevance/explanation need to be provided.

36 Periodic Reporting Financial report Financial Statement (other direct costs) 36

37 Indirect costs - Cannot be directly linked to the performance of the action. Automatically calculated by the IT tools on the basis of a 25% flat rate to the total eligible direct costs of the partner, from which are excluded direct costs of subcontracting. - All partners will use a flat rate for the calculation of the indirect costs.

38 In case an EEN partner has received an operating grant (received under another EU funding programme) during the reporting period, this partner cannot claim any indirect costs under the EEN grant. In that case the amount is still editable for legal entities which also have an operating grant with indirect costs for the same period.

39 Receipts/revenues Taken into account by EASME at the payment of the balance (final payment) declared in the final report may lead to a reduction in grant amount (if GA amount + receipts > total eligible costs) Typical examples: conference fees, sale of project equipment,

40 - to be reported in the last reporting period according to article of the SGA. -insert the name of the organisation and/or the name of the event. -provide a short description about the source of revenue, with the dates and the amount..

41 Periodic Reporting Summary of the process Partners (including the coordinator) Financial statement: insert data Technical Report: insert data Coordinator Financial statements: Check Technical Report: Check

42 QUESTIONS?

43 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!