LIFE Platform meeting

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LIFE Platform meeting
Denmark 2008 Tommy Sejersen, Financial DesksEC
DG ENV LIFE Unit Telephone [phone] E-mai
l tommy.sejersen_at_ec.europa.eu
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• Legal Framework
• Grant Agreement
• Common Provisions (CP)
• Application guide
• Financial Forms

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Grant Agreement

• Maximum grant amount
• Funding rate
• Project period
• Common Provisions (integrated in GA)
• Approved proposal (Annexed to GA)
• Project participants
• Budget of the project

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Common Provisions

• Project Actors
• Beneficiary (Art 4)
• Partner (s) (Art 5)
• Co-financer (s) (Art 7)
• Subcontractor (s) (Art 6)
• Art 6.4 Public tenders obligatory for public
  beneficiary/partner Competitive tenders for
  private beneficiary/partners
• Art 6.5 Clear reference to the LIFE-project
  shall be included in the invoices/order form
  (also in Art 4.8 5.6)
• Amendment to the agreement (Art 13)
• Art 13.2 8th bullet point 10 and 10.000 rule

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CP define Eligible costs (Art 21.1 -21.12)

• Provided for in the provisional budget/ Directly
  necessary for the project
• Incurred during the lifetime of the project
• - Legal obligation to pay (the cost) has been
  contracted after the project start and before the
  end date
• - Execution of corresponding action starts
  after the project start and is completed before
  the end date
• - Full payment before submission of final
  reports
• - Incurred by the project participants
• ExceptionCosts for independent audit Art 27 can
  be executed after project end date but must be
  terminated, invoiced and fully paid before
  submission of final report, and auditor is given
  the assignment before the project ends

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CP define Ineligible costs (Art 22)

• Some examples
• Exchange rate losses
• Debtors interest/interest on borrowed capital
• Services in kind (e.g. voluntary work)
• Licence or patent fees related to the protection
  of intellectual property right

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CP define Payments (Art 23)

• The First pre-financing payment (40)
• The Second pre-financing payment (30)
• ? at least 150 of the first pre-financing used
• New from 2005 (other conditions for the
  projects of 2004 and earlier)
• The Balance ? final payment

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Application guide

• Section How to fill in the financial application
  forms
• Example
• Personnel costs and calculation of annual number
  of working days,
• Information requested in the financial reporting

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FINANCIAL FORMS

• Where to find the model of financial forms
• http//ec.europa.eu/environment/life/toolbox/finan
  cial_sheet.htm
• Excel based model offering conversion facility
• New on-line financial reporting tool - FIRE

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Statement of expenditure and income

• To be delivered
• Project consolidated statement of expenditure,
  completed and signed by beneficiary
• Participant statement of expenditure, completed
  and signed by each participant
• In balance
• Project income (profits generated by the project
  Art 20.4)
• No profit for beneficiary/partner (Art 20.3)
• Interest accrued on the pre-financing amount (Art
  20.6)

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FIRE
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Financial check list

• General principles
• Analytical accounting system (cost centre).
• Identifiable and exclusive person to approve
  costs.
• Costs incurred by non-participants (Company
  groups) Legal entities
• Mention of the project on the invoice received

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Financial check list

• Personnel costs (Art 21.2)
• Time registration (time sheets). Model - monthly
  time-sheet
• http//ec.europa.eu/environment/life/toolbox/time
  sheet.htm
• Signature and approval of time sheets.
• Annual number of working days.
• Actual annual gross salary.
• Public staff

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Calculation of personnel costs
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Financial check list

• Travel and subsistence (Art 21.3)
• Internal rules for re-imbursement of travel
  expenses
• Prior approval by Commission for ex-EU travels
• Detailed specification of travel expenses, two
  lines if necessary.
• Group low value travel expenses (supported by
  accounting documents)

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Financial check list

• External Assistance Art 21.4)
• Tender requirement of Art 6.4.
• Mention the project in the invoice (Art 4.8, 5.6
  6.5)
• Subcontractors not project participants.

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Financial Check list

• Durable goods (Art 21.5 21.8)
• Purchased in the project period (Art 21.8)
• Actual depreciation (internal accounting
  standard) up to 25/50 ceiling (Art 21.6)
• Inventory
• Clearly identifiable
• Nature projects
• 100 eligible approved
• 25/50 - not approved, but technically justified
• Prototype not used for commercial activities (Art
  21.7)

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Financial check list

• Overheads (Art 21.12)
• 2005 projects 7 flat rate maximum
• Earlier projects overhead costs should be
  explained.

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Financial check list

• Partnership agreements (Art 4.7)
• Is there signed a partnership agreement
• Clear rules for collecting partners costs

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GENERAL HINTS FORFINANCIAL REPORTING
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• Study carefully the Common Provisions (CP) and
   re-read  them whenever a problem of
  administrative-financial nature occurs
• Distribute the CP to all project partners and
  make sure that CP are applied by them
• Oblige your partners to forward their project
  accounting data to you regularly.
• Respect the classification of the budget

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• Keep the project accounting up-to-date, including
  regular update of the financial forms
• Introduce all data requested, i.e. complete all
  cells of the financial forms, or explain why
  they remain empty
• Describe with sufficient detail the types of
  purchased services/goods and their link with the
  work programme or action
• Keep all appropriate supporting documentation for
  all expenditure and income including copies of
  the partners supporting documentation
• Supporting documentation - Examples e.g.
  purchase orders, invoices, payment proofs, public
  tendering documents
• for personnel monthly salary slips,
  presence/time sheets, calculation of social
  charges if not included in salary
• Commission staff have made a confidentiality
  promise

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• VAT
• For VAT charges to be considered eligible the
  beneficiary must provide a declaration from the
  relevant national authorities that it and/or its
  partners must pay and may not recover the VAT for
  the assets and services required for the project.
  
• Currency of the reports only the Euro (), Art.
  25.4 Payments made in different currencies use
  the exchange rate applied by the European Central
  Bank on the first day of the month in which the
  financial report is presented to the Commission
• Where to find
• http//ec.europa.eu/budget/inforeuro/index.cfm

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INDEPENDENT AUDIT

• New from 2005
• Maximum amount of grant 500.000
• pre-financing (s) gt 750.000
• Final payment request gt 150.000

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External/Independent
Auditors Report

• Find a model of the standard audit report at
• http//ec.europa.eu/environment/life/toolbox/stand
  ardaudit.htm

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• Thank you for your attention !