EC Payments, Reports
and Audits in H2020
Reykjavik, 7th of May 2015
Nicole Schröder
EU‐Bureau of the BMBF, PT‐DLR
Overview
 Financial Management & Payment Modalities
 Financial Rules
 Budget (Annex II)
 Stipulations in the Consortium Agreement NET4Society
 Reporting/Audits
 Financial Report (Annex IV)
© EU-Büro des BMBF
2
Financial management principals
•
Priority of European rules valid concurrently as usual accounting
and management principles
•
Grant Agreement and Consortium Agreement shall not contradict
each other
•
Budget of partners and payment modalities should be clarified
within the Consortium Agreement
© EU-Büro des BMBF
3
Payment modalities in the GA
•
EU contribution is paid to the coordinator
•
Coordinator distributes contribution without
unjustified delay among the beneficiaries
•
Distribution in accordance with

Annex I of the grant agreement

Consortium agreement


© EU-Büro des BMBF
4
Distribution in accordance with the GA and the CA
The Grant Agreement says:
41.2 Internal division of roles and responsibilities
…
(b) The coordinator must:
(v) ensure that all payments are made to the other beneficiaries without
unjustified delay (see Article 21);
41.3 Internal arrangements between beneficiaries —Consortium agreement
…These internal arrangements must be set out in a written ‘consortium agreement’
between the beneficiaries, which may cover: …
-
distribution of EU funding; …
© EU-Büro des BMBF
5
Payment modalities foreseen in the GA
•
Sum of pre-financing and interim payments shall not exceed 90%
of EC contribution
•
5% of pre-financing directly transferred to Guarantee Fund
- These 5% are considered paid to beneficiaries as they are part
of the pre-financing
•
Final payment has two components:

10% retention

5% contribution to guarantee fund
Important: only 85% cash flow during project
© EU-Büro des BMBF
6
Payment Modalities foreseen in the GA
Pre-financing to be paid by Commission within 30 days (whichever
is the latest date)
•
after grant agreement enters into force (art 58 GA) or project
start (Art 3 GA)
Interim payments to be paid within 90 days after receipt of reports
•
Consortium has autonomy in budget administration
•
Consortium can shift budget between beneficiaries/ activities (Art.
4.2. GA)  amendments where applicable
© EU-Büro des BMBF
7
Task: Identify the cash-flow in your own project
According to the consortium agreement NET4SOCIETY4:
1. When have you received how much pre-financing in your project?
2. When will you receive the interim payment?
3. When will you receive the payment of the balance (final payment)?
4. What will happen if you need more money than expected?
5. What will happen if you need less money than expected?
© EU-Büro des BMBF
8
Net4Society4 Provisions: Pre-financing
1. When have you received how much pre-financing in your project?
7.3.2 Payment schedule
….Pre-financing:
60% of the amount will be paid without undue delay after receipt from the Funding Authority.
The remaining 40% are paid after the Coordinator has received the technical and financial input
for the internal report (of the first (Month1-9), second (Month19-27) or third period (Month 37-42))
from the Parties and if the reported data proves the demand for payment.
In case that the demand for payment occurs earlier than Month 9, 27 or 42, the respective Party
can provide an internal report to the Coordinator at any moment. Under the condition that the
report proves that previous payments have been entirely used and work, as defined in the
Consortium Plan, is yet to be completed, the Project Management Board may decide then that
the Party gets paid the remaining 40% within undue delay.
© EU-Büro des BMBF
9
Net4Society4 Provisions: Interim Payments
2. When will you receive the interim payment?
7.3.2 Payment schedule
…Interim Payments: 100% will be forwarded to the Parties without undue delay after receipt of the
amount from the Funding Authority.
…. If a Party has received more EC Funding than it actually needed and than it was approved by the
Funding Authority during the reporting periods, the Coordinator- after decision of the Project
Management Board- is entitled to offset or to withhold payments of the following interim payment or
the payment of the balance or to recover the surplus from that Party.
© EU-Büro des BMBF
10
Net4Society4 Provisions: Interim Payments
3. When will you receive the payment of the balance (final
payment)?
7.3.2 Payment schedule
…Payment of the Balance: 100% will be forwarded to the Parties without undue delay after
receipt of the amount from the Funding Authority.
If a Party has received more EC Funding than it actually needed and than it was approved by
the Funding Authority during the reporting periods, the Coordinator- after decision of the Project
Management Board- is entitled to offset or to withhold payments of the following interim
payment or the payment of the balance or to recover the surplus from that Party.
© EU-Büro des BMBF
11
Net4Society4 CA provisions
4. What will happen if you need more money than expected?
7.1.3 Funding Principles
A Party which spends less than its allocated share of the budget as set out in the Consortium Plan
will be funded in accordance with its actual duly justified eligible costs only.
A Party that spends more than its allocated share of the budget as set out in the Consortium
Plan will be funded only in respect of duly justified eligible costs up to an amount not
exceeding that share. In case of the availability of unspent funding in the budget, this Party
may ask for an increase of its share in the budget. The Project Management Board has to
decide upon this….
© EU-Büro des BMBF
12
Net4Society4 CA provisions
5. What will happen if you need less money than expected?
7.1.3 Funding Principles
A Party which spends less than its allocated share of the budget as set out in the Consortium
Plan will be funded in accordance with its actual duly justified eligible costs only.
A Party that spends more than its allocated share of the budget as set out in the Consortium Plan
will be funded only in respect of duly justified eligible costs up to an amount not exceeding that
share. In case of the availability of unspent funding in the budget, this Party may ask for an
increase of its share in the budget. The Project Management Board has to decide upon this….
© EU-Büro des BMBF
13
Reporting (Art 20 GA)
•
all reports and deliverables shall be delivered by the coordinator
•
Periodic Reports and final report must be submitted within 60
days after the end of a reporting period respectively at the end of
the project


© EU-Büro des BMBF
14
General principles
1.
Scientific‐technical reporting •
Checking project progress against work plan
•
Checking adequacy of resources used
2.
•
2.
•
Financial reporting
Checking eligibility of costs
Data gathering for key indicators
For fulfilling programme reporting obligations and for policy analysis
(publications, patents, innovation, gender, socio‐economic impact…)
© EU-Büro des BMBF
15
Reporting (Art. 20 GA)
Periodic Report
•
periodic technical report
 explanation of the work, overview of the progress, summary
for publication and questionnaire
•
periodic financial report contains.:
 individual financial statement (Annex 4), an explanation
on the use of ressources and a Periodic summary financial
statement
© EU-Büro des BMBF
16
AGA - Article 20.3: Reporting – Payment Requests
The periodic report must include the following:
(a) a ‘periodic technical report’ containing:
(i) an explanation of the work carried out by the beneficiaries;
(ii) an overview of the progress towards the objectives of the action, including milestones and deliverables
identified in Annex 1. This report must include explanations justifying the differences between work
expected to be carried out in accordance with Annex 1 and that actually carried out. The report must also
detail the exploitation and dissemination of the results and - if required in Annex 1 - an updated ‘plan for
the exploitation and dissemination of the results’
(iii) a summary for publication by the [Commission][Agency];
(iv) the answers to the ‘questionnaire’, covering issues related to the action implementation and the
economic and societal impact, notably in the context of the Horizon 2020 key performance indicators and
the Horizon 2020 monitoring requirements;
© EU-Büro des BMBF
17
AGA - Article 20.3 : Reporting – Payment Requests
•
(b) a ‘periodic financial report’ containing:
(i) an ‘individual financial statement’ (see Annex 4) from each beneficiary [and from each linked third party], for
the reporting period concerned. The individual financial statement must detail the eligible costs (actual costs, unit
costs and flat-rate costs [and lump sum costs]; see Article 6) for each budget category (see Annex 2).
(ii) an explanation of the use of resources and the information on subcontracting (see Article 13) and in-kind
contributions provided by third parties (see Articles 11 and 12) from each beneficiary [and from each linked third
party],
(iv) a ‘periodic summary financial statement’ (see Annex 4), created automatically by the electronic exchange
system, consolidating the individual financial statements for the reporting period concerned and including - except
for the last reporting period - the request for interim payment.
© EU-Büro des BMBF
18
Reporting (Art. 20 GA)
Final Report:
•
final technical report
•
final financial report incl. a final summary report and a certificate
on the financial statements, (Annex 5) from each beneficiary, if
it requests a total EU-contribution of 325 000 EUR or more
© EU-Büro des BMBF
19
Financial Statement (Annex 4)
•
•
Financial Statement must be filled out by each beneficiary
individually
In H2020 the financial statement must be submitted electronically
only via the Participant Portal by the Financial Statement
Authorised Signatory (FSIGN)
•
FSIGN is mandatory for the GA
•
Summary Financial Report is created automatically
The structure of Annex 4 is currently revised by the COM
© EU-Büro des BMBF
20
Financial Statement
© EU-Büro des BMBF
21
Budegt table Annex 2
(D) Art. 15 special
cases: Cascading Grants
(A) personnel costs
(C) subcontracts
(F) indirect cost
(E) in‐kind contributions of
third parties not on the
premesis of the beneficiary
funding rate
(B) Travel costs; consumables, deprication rate of equipment, goods, services (art. 10), in‐kind contributions of third parties (art. 11, 12 ) © EU-Büro des BMBF
22
Certificates on the Financial Statements (CFS/Audit)
(Art 20.4 GA & Annex V)
•
Certification that all costs declared in the financial statements are
accurately recorded in the beneficiary´s accounting system, eligible
and all receipts have been declared
•
in H2020 needed only once at the end of the project if a beneficiary
requests a total EU-contribution of 325 000 EUR or more
•
Only costs declared in Annex 4 are relevant
•
If a beneficiary does not reach 325.000 € EU-contribution, a CFS is
not necessary
•
No certification on flat-rates
© EU-Büro des BMBF
23
Audits
First-Level-Audit
• must be issued by an external auditor or an independant public officer (if
applicable for public bodies)
Second-Level-Audits
• external audits of the COM
• COM Kommission can carry out audits using own staff or using external
persons or bodies appointed to do so
Third-Level-Audits
• European Court of Auditors audits the EU-institutions and as such audits
carries out audits on recipients of EU funds, investigations by OLAF (EU
anti-fraud office)
© EU-Büro des BMBF
24
Research Enquiry Service
http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=enquiries
© EU-Büro des BMBF
25
http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/support/national_contact_points.
html
© EU-Büro des BMBF
26
German National Contact Point for Legal & Financial Matters
Financial Matters
ALEXANDRA BURGHOLZ
LIANE LEWERENTZ
BASTIAN RAUE
CHRISTIN KULKE
Tel.:
Tel.:
Tel.:
Tel.:
0049 30-67055 -737
0049 228-3821-1652
0049 30-67055 - 665
0049 228-3821-1565
Tel.:
Tel.:
Tel.:
Tel.:
0049 30-67055 -788
0049 30-67055 -737
0049 228-3821-1652
0049 228-3821-1565
Tel.:
0049 228-3821-1633
Legal Matters
NICOLE SCHRÖDER
ALEXANDRA BURGHOLZ
LIANE LEWERENTZ
CHRISTIN KULKE
General Information on Legal and
Financial Matters
MONIKA SCHULER
Internet:
www.nks-ruf.de
www.horizont2020.de
E-Mail: [email protected]
© EU-Büro des BMBF
27
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 633563.