Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 1 B2N Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas Management and coordination

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 2 WHERE WE ARE NOW?

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 3  B2N project submitted on the  Project approved under conditions on the in Stockholm by the INTERREG IVC Monitoring Committe  Participation of PART in the Lead Partner Seminar in Brussels on the  Conditions fulfilled and sent to the Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) on the  Final approval of the project on the  Paper version of the Subsidy contract sent to the LP on the  1st Steering Committe Meeting in Warsaw, 26/27 January 2010  Signature of the Subsidy Contract and Partnership Agreement

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 4 B2N project:  11 Partners  9 countries

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 5

6 SUMMARY 1.B2N General information 2.INTERREG IVC Programme management and first level control 3.B2N Budget and reporting guidelines 4.INTERREG IVC Monitoring and reporting 5.INTERREG IVC Information and publicity guidelines 6. B2N Decision-making 7. B2N Partnership Agreement

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 7 1) B2N General information

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 8 General information (1/2) PROJECT’S SECRETARIAT AT PART:  Malgorzata Steckiewicz – Project Manager  Magdalena Wątorska-Dec – Technical Manager  Magdalena Ragus – Project Expert  Jolanta Jurczewska – Financial Manager

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 9 General information (2/2)  For financial/eligibility issues, please be in contact with your First Level Controller  Use the Programme Manual and Application Form as reference documents  In case of any doubts, possible deviation from the project´s activities or budget, let us know immediately to our or phone!!!

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 10 2) INTERREG IVC Programme management and first level control

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 11 Reporting and Financial Control System Project Partner Lead Partner (LP) Managing Authority Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) Certifying Authority Project Partner Payment to LP Payment to PPs 4. CA checks and initiates payment 3. Progress Reports checked by Project Officer and Finance Officer in JTS 2. LP compiles the joint progress report, collection of the partner control confirmations and expenditure controlled by LP-controller 1. Expenditure controlled by PP-controller

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 12 All expenditure reported by a project has to be certified by an independent controller, before submission to the JTS = first level control (FLC) First Level Control Centralised First Level Control central public controller central private controller Decentralised First Level Control chosen from a shortlist proposed by partner and approved by MS  INORDE  PERUGIA  AUVERGNE  POWYS  GRAN PARADIS  ADRAT  VELIKO TARNOVO  PART  WARMIA-MAZURY  OSTERGOTLAND  PIVKA

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 13 Selection of a first level controller and obtaining an approbation certificate (decentralised system) 1.Select a first level controller, respecting public procurement rules. 2.Propose this first level controller to the central approbation body of the Member State. A specific checklist for approving the FLC will be provided by the MS. 3.The MS checks the information and independence of the controller. If OK, the MS issues an approbation certificate to the partner. 4.This approbation has to be finalised before the end of the first reporting period (30 th of June 2010) so that FLC can be carried out after end of reporting period. 5.PP provide approbation certificate to LP.

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 14 Approbation certificate for first level controllers (only in case of decentralised system) – issued by the MS – no official template of document – before 30th of June 2010 Issued by the MS on request of the PP! Send to LP-PART!  INORDE  PERUGIA  AUVERGNE  POWYS  GRAN PARADIS  ADRAT  VELIKO TARNOVO

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 15 The first level controller... (1/2) checks, that the costs are eligible the costs are definitively borne by the partner the payment date of the costs reported that all necessary documents concerning receipts, payments and activities are correctly recorded to ensure the audit trail The delivery of the co-financed products and services That progress made is reflected in the report The compliance of such expenditure with community rules, programme rules (subsidy contract referring to programme manual + Application form) and national rules

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 16 The first level controller... (2/2) Control of Accounting documents Project documentation 100% check confirms the expenditure and signs the 1) Partner Control Confirmation 2) Control Report (incl. control checklist)

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 17 1) Partner Control Confirmation - ANNEX 5b programme manual Issued by your FLC! Send to LP-PART!

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 18 2) Control Report (incl. control checklist) – ANNEX 6 programme manual Issued by your FLC! Send to LP-PART!

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 19 The Lead Partner first level controller checks, that the project expenditure is related to the project the figures in the progress report coming from the individual partners are correctly summed up the partner control confirmations are signed by a controller in compliance with the country specific control requirements on the basis of Partner control confirmations Control reports confirms the expenditure for the whole partnership and signs the Lead Partner control confirmation

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 20 Project Partner 2 Lead Partner (LP) Managing Authority Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS) Certifying Authority Project Partner 3Project Partner 1 First level controller (PP1) First level controller (PP3) First level controller (PP2) 1) Partner control confirmation 2) Control Report First level controller (LEAD PARTNER) 1) Accounting documents 2) Project documentation 1) Lead Partner control confirmation Payment to LP

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 21 What documents should you prepare for your FLC? list of expenditure invoices bank statements procurement documentation: procurement note, terms of reference, offers/quotes, order form, contract documentation of calculations (if only a share was allocated to the project) time sheets, employees’ contracts, pay slips proofs for delivery of services and goods (studies, brochures, newsletters, minutes of meetings, translated letters, participants’ list etc), record of assets

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 22 3) B2N budget and reporting guidelines

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 23 B2N – APPLICATION FORM – APPROVED PROJECT’S BUDGET

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 24 PAYMENT FORECAST – B2N APPLICATION FORM  Forecast of costs paid out during reporting periods: January - June July – December  Projects not reporting in time and in full risk losing funds

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 25 BUDGET PER PARTNER PartnerBudget original AF Budget without shared costs ( euros each) Shared costs for LP ( euros) Adjustement (-400 euros for each partner except for PP04) Budget AF approved LP PART € € € € P2 WARMIA € € € P3 INORDE € € € P4 OSTERGOTLAND € € € P5 PERUGIA € € € P6 AUVERGNE € € € P7 POWYS € € € P8 PARADIS € € € P9 ADRAT € € € P10 VELIKO TARNOVO € € € P11 PIVKA € € € TOTAL BUDGET , ,93 ERDF FUNDING , ,68

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 26 Project Partner Lead Partner (LP) Project Partner Payments to PPs – euros to be reported

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 27 Example (1) List of expenditure – template 1

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 28 Example (1) List of expenditure – template 2

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 29 STAFF COSTS – important aspects  Employed directly by the partner’s institution  Must be properly documented:  Working contract  Pay slips  Payment proofs  Time recordings  Time sheets

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 30 Example (2) Monthly timesheet - template 1 esheet.xls

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 31 Example (2) Monthly timesheet - template 2

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 32 HOW TO REPORT STAFF COSTS IN B2N? (1/3)  Look at your individual budget  Staff costs have been distributed equally between semesters  Only the total amount (per semester) counts! You do not have to stick to the previous calculations for staff costs  Report your staff costs according to the expenditure/payment forecast  Expenditure not reported in time and in full as indicated in the payment forecast above may be lost!

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 33 HOW TO REPORT STAFF COSTS IN B2N? (2/3)  Remember to fill in the time sheets (preferably on a daily basis)  How to distribute hours work on the project between components?  B2N Component 1: 15%  B2N Component 2: 25%  B2N Component 3: 60% This rule must be met for every 6-months reporting period. However, we suggest you to follow this rule for each month and for each employee

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 34 REMEMBER! Component 1: 15% Component 2: 25% Component 3: 60% Example: Member of staff: 50% involvement  22 working days (176 hours)  50% - 11 working days (88 hours)  88 hours: B2N C115%14 hours B2N C225%22 hours B2N C360%53 hours

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 35 HOW TO REPORT STAFF COSTS IN B2N? (3/3) Description of tasks fulfilled in the monthly timesheets – EXAMPLES: C1 – MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION  Consultations with LP concerning Subsidy Contract and Partnership Agreement  Internal meeting – division of tasks within the project  Analysis of project’s budget  Preparation of the presentation for the kick-off meeting in Warsaw  Kick-off meeting in Warsaw C2 – COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION  Preparation of information about our institution for the project’s website  Contribution to the preparation of the 1 st brochure

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 36 Example (3) How to calculate staff costs…

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 37 ACCOUNTING FOR PROJECT’S EXPENDITURE –Set up a separate account for project expenditure (or separate costs center in accounting system) –Computerised form Programme Manual, p. 40 This clear identification is usually ensured through: –the opening of a specific bank account for the project payments and/or –the introduction of project specific cost-accounting codes to record project costs by budget line, component and payment date/reporting period in the accounting system and/or –recording costs in expenditure lists by budget line, component and reporting period and/or –noting the allocation (project title, cost share, budget line and component) on the invoices.

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 38 B2N Administration costs  AF: included as a percentage of the staff costs, but when reporting they have to be properly documented  Direct costs: stationery, photocopying, telephone, fax, internet  Indirect costs – overheads related to the project’s activities  Must be calculated on the basis of actual costs and capable of verification

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 39 Accounting for project expenditure – for partners located outside the euro-zone It applies to: PL, UK, SE, BG One option for converting national currency into euro must be selected from the selected: 1) The market exchange rate of the day the invoice was paid is used. 2) The market exchange rate of the last day of the reporting period is used. 3) The average monthly exchange rate set by the Commission of the month the invoice was paid is used. 4) The average monthly exchange rate set by the Commission of the last month of the reporting period is used.

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 40 3) INTERREG IVC Monitoring and reporting

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 41 Monitoring and reporting Monitoring based on: Application Form Basic document for procedures: Programme Manual Reporting and monitoring documents: Progress Report Internal reporting: Regional Progress Report

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 42 Progress Report - Pre-filled Excel file sent JTS to Lead Partner ( ) - Completed document sent back by LP at given deadline by and by post (only the printable summary) Deadllines  has to be submitted for the first time: - on 1 October 2010 (at the latest) covering the reporting period from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2010  has to be submitted every six-months to the JTS - on 1 October (at the latest) covering the reporting period from January to June - on 1 April (at the latest) covering the reporting period from July to December

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 43

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 44

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 45 Timing for ERDF reimbursement Submission of PR by LP to JTS (confirmed by LP controller) 30/06 End of reporting period 01/10 15/08 Submission of PP input to PR to LP (incl. PP controller’s confirmation) 01/11 Feedback on PR by JTS to LP, clarification request 22/11 Approval of PR + clarificati on by JTS 22/12 Payment by Certifying Authority ~ 4 weeks 3 months

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 46 Changes in project’s budget (1) Budget Flexibility (a) Rule 1: €/10 % flexibility rule – possible through the progress reports, with explanations of why budget lines, components budgets or partners’ budget are exceeded, e.g..: Budget lineOriginal amount in the application form Possible overspending on this line Administration costs € 50,000€ 20,000 Staff costs€ 500,000€ 50,000 as long as overall the ERDF funding budget is not exceeded Ask the LP when you need to introduce budget changes!

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 47 Budget Flexibility (b) Rule 2: 20%-flexibility rule (with prior JTS approval) - formal request to the JTS to approve budget changes within the limit of 20% of the total budget of the operation – only once during the project lifetime Example : total project budget = = EUR maximum increase of each budget line, CP, partner = EUR as long as the overall ERDF funding budget is not exceeded Changes in project’s budget (2) Ask the LP when you need to introduce budget changes!

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 48 Expenditure/Payment forecast Payment forecast The payment forecast by year cannot be modified. “Expenditure not reported in time and in full as indicated in the payment forecast above may be lost.”

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 49 B2N support to project’s implementation  B2N Project Handbook  Context and rationale for B2N  Management structure  Partner’s description  Guidance on technical aspects  Reporting and deadlines  Names and details of contact persons  B2N Monitoring and Evaluation Plan  Internal system for monitoring and evaluation of project’s outputs  Provision of documents/models  Changes in project’s implementation

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 50 INTERNAL REPORTING (1/2)  Regional Progress Reports of activities and expenditure incurred  Preparation and submission of partner’s progress reports by PPs to LP every 2 months  First internal Regional Progress Report corresponding to January-February period  Date for submission to LP: 15 March 2010

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 51 INTERNAL REPORTING (2/2)  Content of the Regional Progress Report:  Contact information  Separate activity report sheets for each project component  Expenditure and breakdown of eligible expenditure per project component and budget line  Timesheets  List of standard indicators

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 52 5) INTERREG IVC Information and publicity guidelines

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 53 Information & Publicity guidelines (1) REQUIREMENTS 1. EU flag emblem including text ’European Union European Regional Development Fund’ 2. INTERREG IVC logo with slogan 3. Information on the ERDF contribution, «co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and made possible by the INTERREG IVC programme 4. Electronic information: hiperlink to INTERREG IVC and DG REGIO websites 5. EU flag displayed in meeting rooms, at conferences etc

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 54  Please send to the LP before printing the final version of each document to be published! – to make sure that it complies with all publicity requiremets. If not, you are risking that the related costs will not considered as eligible  Send to LP 3 copies of each project publication (brochures, press releases, advertisement) – to be sent to the JTS later on  Document all your activities in pictures – but not just meetings – even if these are activities not planned in the AF  Scanned version of all articles on B2N project in the press in your country, any media apparitions Information & Publicity guidelines (2)

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 55 6) B2N Decision-making

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 56 Decision making – Steering Committee Group  13 members:  1 Project Manager (acting as chairperson of the SC meetings)  11 Partner Coordinators  1 Financial Manager  7 SC meetings during project’s implementation  Each B2N partner will have one vote (11 votes in total)  Decision-making will be based on consensus. Each B2N partner will have one vote (11 votes in total). In case an agreement cannot be reached, decisions will be made by a majority of votes in the SC (more of 50% of the SC partners present).  In case of an equal number of votes in favour and against there will be a decisive vote of the chairperson.

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 57 7) B2N Partnership Agreement

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 58 Partnership Agreement Between the Lead Partner (LP) and the Project Partners Determines the rights and responsibilities of the Lead Partner and the Project Partners Required by Council Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006, Article 20 (1) Has to be adjusted to the individual needs, the legal and administrative framework Draft provided for download on the INTERREG IVC Webpage

Business to Nature: Interregional Approach to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Natural Areas 59 Thank you!