1. ESSnet Training Part 3 – Financial Issues M. Prigent
26-27/05/2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

2. Eligible Costs Criteria
incurred during the duration of the action, with the exception of costs relating to final reports and certificates on the action’s financial statements and underlying accounts
connected with the subject of the grant agreement and they are indicated in the estimated overall budget of the action;
necessary for the performance of the action covered by the agreement;
identifiable and verifiable, in particular being recorded in the accounting records of the partner and determined according to the applicable accounting standards of the country where the partner is established and according to the usual cost-accounting practices of the partner;
comply with the requirements of applicable tax and social legislation;
are reasonable, justified, and comply with the requirements of sound financial management, in particular regarding economy and efficiency
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

3. ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest
Eligible costs
Only costs generated during the lifetime of the action can be eligible. The period during which the action runs determines the period of eligibility of the corresponding costs.
Costs related to preparing and submitting the proposal can never be charged to the action.
No grant may be awarded retrospectively for actions already completed;
A grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun only where
the applicant(s) can demonstrate the need to start the action before the agreement is signed, (stated in the grant application and formally accepted by the grant evaluation committee)
then the period of eligibility of costs will start no earlier than the date on which an admissible grant application is submitted.
Exception for costs incurred in relation to final reports as well as audit certificates on the final financial statements. These last costs may be incurred during the period of submission of reports and other documents referred to in Article I.5 – Submission of reports and other documents.
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

4. Eligible costs categories (1)
staff assigned to the action
permanent or temporary staff employed by the partners
provided that this does not exceed the average rates corresponding to the partner's usual policy on remuneration
An effective time-recording system (a system which certifies the reality of the hours worked) is a requisite for the eligibility of the costs - Working time to be charged must be recorded throughout the duration of the action (contemporary registration needed) by any reasonable means (e.g. timesheets).
indication of number of working days per year
Number of days in the year 365
Weekends
Annual holidays -25
Legal holidays
Illness/other
Workable days in a year 210
the salary costs of personnel of national administrations are eligible to the extent that they relate to the cost of activities which the relevant public authority would not carry out if the project concerned were not undertaken
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

5. Eligible costs categories (1)
staff assigned to the action
When filling in the application:
In the excel file: please insert the staff function as indicated below.
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

6. Eligible costs categories (1)
staff assigned to the action
When filling in the application:
In the table showing the distribution of manpower (4):
please make sure that the person months or hours declared in this table are coherent with the person hours or days declared in the excel file. There must be coherence of person months or days between these two tables
please also specify under this point the average number of hours/day and days/month for your institute
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

7. Eligible costs categories (2)
Travel and subsistence costs
directly linked to the project
clearly identifiable and pertaining to the implementation of the action
based on the real costs incurred
Travels outside EU should have prior agreement of the Commission unless referred to in the technical proposal
In case the partner has no usual practices on travel costs, the travel and subsistence allowances for staff taking part in the action shall not exceed the scales approved annually by the Commission
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

8. Eligible costs categories (2)
Travel and subsistence costs
When filling in the application form please make sure:
- In the deliverables of the work package concerned: to clearly indicate all meetings involving travel by specifying the meeting n°, date/year (if known), destination, participating countries.
- In the excel file: for each travel add the WP and Meeting number as follows:
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

9. Eligible costs categories (3)
Purchase cost of equipment
Only the portion of the equipment's depreciation corresponding to the duration of the action and the rate of actual use for the purposes of the action may be taken into account by the Commission.
Partners shall inform the Commission about their internal rules on depreciation of equipment
partner must detail in the "application form" the price of purchasing of the equipment, the rule of depreciation and the rate of actual use for the purposes of the action
equipment expenses = (A / B) x C x D
A = duration in months during which the equipment has been used within the framework of the project
B = depreciation period
C = real cost of the material excluding VAT
D = percentage of use of the equipment on the project
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

10. Eligible costs categories (4)
Costs of consumables and supplies
provided that they are identifiable and assigned to the action
cost of consumables and supplies supported by the co-ordinator for to the management of the project or dissemination costs are eligible if they can be identified
Costs entailed by other implementation contracts
costs of subcontracting or provision of services as part of the action (consultancy fees, provision of external staff, hire of material or specific equipment, production of documents, studies, etc.).
Core elements of the project cannot be subcontracted
The partner must, at least, be in a position to demonstrate that he has chosen the subcontractor offering the best value for money in compliance with the principles of transparency and equal treatment of potential contractors and taking care to avoid any conflict of interests . National public bodies have to follow their national public procurement rules
Extensive explanations are necessary when the value of the subcontract exceeds 20% of the total estimated value of the action (in 2010: value per partner!)
external experts or consultants who work on the action and are fully paid by the partner on the basis of an invoice shall be considered as a subcontracting cost
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

11. Eligible costs categories (5)
Costs entailed by other implementation contracts
When filling in the application:
In the excel file: please put any subcontracting as indicated below
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

12. Eligible costs categories (6)
Any other direct costs
dissemination of information, specific evaluation of the action, audits, translations, reproduction, cost of events organised by partners in the context of the action
costs for participation of National Statistical Institutes not participating in the ESSnet project to conferences or training events organised by the ESSnet partners and costs for participation to events organised by third parties, etc.) subject to the prior written approval of the Commission
a sufficient level of detail has to be indicated in the application form to enable the verification of the estimations made
specific costs incurred by the co-ordinator for fulfilling his responsibilities in his capacity of body responsible for the overall management of the action and the coordination of the co-partners
costs relating to the preparation of final technical and financial reports and costs relating to audit certificates but not later then the date required for submitting the final report as determined in the grant agreement
if the Community contribution is EUR or more a certificate on the financial statements and underlying accounts, produced by an approved auditor or in case of public bodies, by a competent and independent public officer is compulsory
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

13. Eligible costs categories (6)
Any other direct costs
When filling in the application:
In the excel file: please detail any other direct costs as indicated here
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

14. Eligible costs categories (7)
Indirect costs of implementation
Flat-rate funding fixed for 2011 applications at not more than 30% of the total staff cost assigned to the action
2009 rule : However in cases where the cost of subcontracting represents more than 20% of the total cost of the action the indirect costs should be calculated from all other direct costs excluding subcontracting
2010 rule: However in cases where the cost of subcontracting per partner represents more than 20% of the total cost of the partner the indirect costs for the partner should be calculated from all other direct costs excluding subcontracting
Important: All costs in the excel file should be justified in the technical part of the proposal just as any costs appearing in the technical part must be detailed in the excel file.
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

15. ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest
Commission grant
Maximum amount of any grant is the total amount of actual eligible costs
Co-financing is obligatory
The minimum co-financing percentage is indicated in the invitation letter to submit proposals
The minimum requirement co-financing applies only at the project level. Similarly, the budget must be balanced at the project level, not at the level of each individual partner.
Estimate of costs and income
All costs must be given in euro and should exclude value-added tax (VAT)
Estimation of eligible costs of the action must be shown in detail in the estimated budget included in the "Eurostat Multi beneficiary grant application form" and subsequently in Annex II of the MBGA
The pro rata rule requires that, where actual allowable expenditure is less than the estimate of action costs, the Commission grant will be limited to the percentage indicated in the agreement.
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

16. ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest
Payments
Pre-financing
Will not normally be made for Community contributions of less than EUR 100 000.
However, at the specific request of the co-ordinator, pre-financing may be paid for grants of more than EUR
where applicable, 40% of the amount of the grant awarded.
Automatic after signature of the contract.
Final Payment
A copy of the final situation of the income and expenditure for the action, certified as being true and correct by a duly authorised representative of the co-ordinator, is to be submitted within the deadline laid down in the agreement (normally 45 days).
Actual expenditure and income shown in the financial statements in national currency are converted into Euros at the exchange rate established by the Commission and published in the Official Journal of the European Union applicable on the first working day of the month following the end of the action
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

17. Payments - Ex ante Control
Control obligations and financial actors laid down in the Financial Regulation (Art. 58 to 63);
Controls are conducted to
- ensure the legality and regularity of financial transactions;
- detect and help to avoid errors;
- provide basis for the annual declaration of assurance the Director General has to give as part of its Annual Activity Report;
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

18. Payments - Ex ante Control
Chain of control
Ex ante controls must be performed before each final payment
The beneficiary is informed either by or letter
Suspension of the payment is applied if necessary
A quick reply from the beneficiary’s side allow avoiding cumulative suspensions of payment requests
Future ex ante controls will be simplified for beneficiaries using the scales of unit costs
Cost Claim
Operational
verification
Financial
AOS
validation
Payment
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest

19. Part 3 – Financial Matters
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
For further questions:
26-27 May 2011
ESSnet Training Session - Bucharest 19