Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May AER CENTURIO CONFERENCE Centurio Partner Regions’ Meeting 5 May 2005 Azores

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Experiences of the first semester from financial aspects AER CENTURIO CONFERENCE Partner Regions’ Meeting Azores, 5 May 2005 Orsolya Farkas

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Achievements o Intermediate Financial Report o Preparation Cost Report o Common Progress Report

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Intermediate Financial Report

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May INTERMEDIATE FINANCIAL REPORT o Intermediate Financial Report covered expenditure from 12 July to 30 November 2004 o Submission date to the JTS was: 6 December 2004 Only expenditure actually paid out No confirmation was necessary by independent auditor No payment took place from the Paying Authority to the Lead Partner

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May INTERMEDIATE FINANCIAL REPORT: EXPERIENCES o First Financial Report of the Centurio Program o Only few Reports at a time o Late answers IMPORTANT: keeping the given deadline IMPORTANT: contact the LP IMPORTANT: sending complete Reports

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Preparation Cost Report

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May PREPARATOION COST REPORT o Preparation Cost Report about the expenditure of the Centurio Partners‘ meeting on 16 February 2004, Strasbourg o Submission date to the JTS was: 8 March 2004 Report of the Region of Alsace and the AER Confirmation was necessary by an independent auditor The payment already took place from the Paying Authority to the Lead Partner and from the LP to the Region

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Financial Report

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Financial Report: General Principles Part of the Progress Report : oThe PR consists of Activity Report and Audited Financial Report. oHas to be submitted every six-months to the JTS On 1 September: covering reporting period from 1st January to 30th June. On 1 March: covering reporting period from 1st July to 31st December.

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Financial Report - Reporting and Financial Flows check INTERREG IIIC West Zone check Lead Partner Every six months: One Activity and Audited Financial Report on all costs of the network to the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) Activity and Audited Financial Report on expenditure to Lead Partner Paying Authority (PA) effects payments to the Lead Partner Lead Partner effects payments to Partner Regions

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Explanation of the model: o Partners, including Lead Partner, implement their part of activities in the operation, cover related costs and retain the accounting documents constituting the audit trail, as well as output documents evidencing the implementation of the operation’s activities. o Partners report to the Lead Partner, who compiles the common Progress Report. o When reporting, Partners ensure that an independent auditor’s verification is performed on their part of the reported activities and expenditure. o Lead Partner’s auditor performs the checks on Lead Partner’s activities and expenditure, as well as verifies that the information provided by the Partners is accompanied with the auditor’s statements and that it has been accurately reflected in the common Progress Report. o For the audit trail the Lead Partner retains the inputs to the Progress Report received from the partners. o Lead Partner submits the common Progress Report to the Joint Technical Secretariat. o Joint Technical Secretariat, Managing Authority and Paying Authority perform the controls on the submitted Progress Report and approve it. o Paying Authority executes payment to the Lead Partner. o Lead Partner transfers the funds to the Partners.

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Financial Report: Experiences - Difficulties o TIME: AER received only a few Reports at a time o COMPLETENESS: Some Reports were incomplete, we had to ask for additional documents o LANGUAGE: Some documents had not been translated into English o COSTS: Some expenses had been booked by two different Partner Regions o NATIONAL FEATURES: Some Regions did not take into account the country specific regulations o DEADLINES: Most of the Regions could not keep the given deadlines

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Financial Report: Results o DEADLINES: Several different deadlines for the submission of the PR to the JTS: 1st of March, 29th of March, 11th of April, 30th of April o SUBMISSION: 29th April 2005 o TIME: Time-consuming for all participants o PROCEDURE: Complicated, who bears the responsibility, not waiting for other Regions, flexibility of the LP and the JTS

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Financial Report: Suggestions for improvement I. o COMPULSORY DOCUMENTS: o Confirmation by Un independent auditor o Affirmation of the independent auditor o Checklist (signed and filled in by the independent auditor) o Worksheets (clearly cross-referenced and translated) o Invoices (certified and translated) o Certifying document about the exchange rate (common source - ECB) o COUNTRY SPECIFIC AUDIT REQUIREMENTS: o Austria, Greece, Italy, Portugal o New Member States o For further information please refer to the section "country specific information" on the website: www. interreg3c.net

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Financial Report: Suggestions for improvement II. o PROCEDURE: o No «Lead Partner» in the Partnerships, every Region has to send its Report directly to the AER o Before sending, make a checklist to be sure that the Report contains all the necessary documents o Send the Reports as soon as it is ready o Already make arrangements for the audit, collect the necessary documents

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May o DEADLINE: o End of the semester: 30th June 2005 o Date of exchange rate to be used: 30th June 2005 o Final deadline for Regions to submit their Reports to the AER: 22nd July 2005 o Official information will be sent out to the Regions o No delays are accepted: o The JTS will be strict concerning the deadline o The AER as LP will not be allowed to ask for extension o The KPMG (AER’s independent auditor) will refuse to include the expenditure of those Region who can not keep the deadline or will not send complete Report Financial Report: Suggestions for improvement III.

Centurio Partner Regions' Meeting 5 May Thank You For Your Attention! Orsolya Farkas Phone: +33 (0) Fax: +33 (0) Website: