Contractors’ Day, June 2008 to the Framework Partnership Agreement & the Specific Grant Agreement Financial Guidelines for co-ordinators and co-partners
Eligible Costs Eligible Direct Costs Eligible Indirect Costs
To be eligible for Community funding, costs must satisfy the following criteria: 1.related and connected to the subject of the SGA 2.included in the estimated budget 3.necessary for the fulfillment of the action 4.generated during the duration of the action 5.reasonable, justified, consistent with your usual internal rules 6.identifiable, verifiable and determined in accordance with the relevant accounting principles 7.actually incurred by the beneficiary and recorded in the accounts 8.be substantiated by proper evidence Eligible Costs What are eligible costs?
Eligible Costs Categories Direct CostsIndirect Costs Personnel Travels and subsistence Sub-contracting Other specific costs Eligible Indirect costs
Ineligible Costs
Any costs that do not satisfy one of the criteria of eligibility: Examples - value of contributions in kind; "return on capital employed", including dividends and other distributions of profits; interest owed; costs declared in another Community-funded grant; Value Added Tax (VAT) cannot be claimed unless the partner can show that he is unable to recover it. More specifically, the partner must obtain from their local tax authority a document justifying why the partner cannot claim the reimbursement of the VAT. Ineligible Costs What are ineligible costs?
Ineligible Costs Indirect costs which are not eligible when beneficiary is in receipt of an operating grant financed from the Community budget during the duration of the action mentioned in the SGA. Any amount that exceeds the flat rate of maximum 30% for the total eligible personnel costs.
Cost categories in detail Direct CostsIndirect Costs Personnel Travels and subsistence Sub-contracting Other specific costs Eligible Indirect costs
Cost categories in detail Direct CostsIndirect Costs Personnel Travels and subsistence Sub-contracting Other specific costs Eligible Indirect costs
Personnel Cost categories in detail Eligible direct costs Permanent and temporary staff that are registered under a payroll system of the partner in question and are charged to its employment costs Such persons must be: directly employed by the co-ordinator or co-partner in accordance with his/her national law; under the partner’s sole technical supervision; remunerated in accordance with the normal practices of the partner provided these are acceptable to the EACI Type of staff not included in the category “Personnel” consultants including in-house consultants Persons, employed under a temporary staffing agreement
Cost categories in detail Eligible direct costs Personnel Personnel costs include: remuneration; social charges (pensions, health insurance and other employment costs); by the persons directly carrying out the work under the action The number of hours worked must be recorded in “timesheets” throughout the duration of the action Timesheets: personnel's time spent on the action and all other time on a daily basis signed and verified by the staff member signed by superior staff member as authorisation on a regular basis
Cost categories in detail Direct CostsIndirect Costs Personnel Travels & subsistence Sub-contracting Other specific costs Eligible Indirect costs
Cost categories in detail Eligible direct costs Travel and Subsistence Should be in line with the partner’s usual practices on travel costs Or should not exceed the scales of daily subsistence allowances approved annually by the European Commission Must be foreseen in the partner’s budget table (Annex II of SGA) Travel costs of sub-contractors, if applicable, should be included in the sub-contracting
Cost categories in detail Direct CostsIndirect Costs Personnel Travels and subsistence Sub-contracting Other specific costs Eligible Indirect costs
Cost categories in detail Eligible direct costs Sub-contracting May only cover the execution of a limited part of the action Awarded with the conditions set out in Article II.10 of the FPA Must be identified in the Work Programme of the SGA : if not foreseen and exceeding EUR 25,000 : subject to prior written authorisation of EACI Copies of the invoices, certified by the partner, are to be submitted to the EACI with the corresponding financial statement (cost statements) Supporting documentation should be kept in the partner’s files and provided at the EACI’s request
Cost categories in detail Eligible direct costs Sub-contracting Costs entailed by sub-contracts awarded by a partner are : Cost (in-house) consultants, the consultants costs may not exceed 20 % of the sum of all other eligible costs Cost of communication and promotion of the action Costs of events, organised by partners in the context of the action and costs for participation to events organised by third parties.
Cost categories in detail Direct CostsIndirect Costs Personnel Travels and subsistence Sub-contracting Other specific costs Eligible Indirect costs
Cost categories in detail Eligible direct costs Other specific costs cost of the financial guarantee cost of the audit cerficate Any other costs may be considered eligible provided that they are strictly necessary for carrying out the action and subject to prior written approval of the EACI.
Cost categories in detail Direct CostsIndirect Costs Personnel Travels and subsistence Sub-contracting Other specific costs Eligible Indirect costs
Cost categories in detail Eligible indirect costs Definition Costs considered un-identifiable as specific costs directly linked to the implementation of the action Model is a flat rate of maximum 30 % of the total eligible personnel costs. Example: Partner A Total eligible personnel costs = 2.6M€ Indirect cost = 23% of the total eligible personnel costs If Partner A declares more than 23% for indirect costs, the difference is considered as ineligible costs
Contractors’ Day, June 2008 Thank you for your attention That concludes the financial guidelines presentation