Contractors’ Day, 16-17 June 2008
to the Framework Partnership Agreement & the Specific Grant Agreement
Financial Guidelines
for co-ordinators and co-partners
Eligible CostsEligible Costs
Eligible Direct CostsEligible Direct Costs Eligible Indirect CostsEligible 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 Costs Indirect Costs
PersonnelTravels and subsistenceSub-contractingOther specific costs
Eligible Indirect costs
Ineligible CostsIneligible 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 Costs Indirect Costs
PersonnelTravels and subsistenceSub-contractingOther specific costs
Eligible Indirect costs
Cost categories in detail
Direct Costs Indirect Costs
PersonnelTravels and subsistenceSub-contractingOther 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
PersonnelPersonnel 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 Costs Indirect Costs
PersonnelTravels & subsistenceSub-contractingOther 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 Costs Indirect Costs
PersonnelTravels and subsistenceSub-contractingOther 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 Costs Indirect Costs
PersonnelTravels and subsistenceSub-contractingOther 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 Costs Indirect Costs
PersonnelTravels and subsistenceSub-contractingOther specific costs
Eligible Indirect costs
Cost categories in detail Eligible indirect costs
DefinitionCosts considered un-identifiable as specific costs directly linked to the implementation of the action
Modelis 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, 16-17 June 2008
Thank you for your attention
That concludes the financial guidelines presentation