Cost Accounting of Projects in Horizon 2020
In Horizon 2020, funding recipients are obligated to prepare reports on the progress of the project and the use of funding.
The reporting requirements, for example deadlines and similar issues, are specified in the Grant Agreement (GA).
Reporting must be handled exclusively online via the Participant Portal. The partners in the consortium submit their reports digitally to the coordinating body of the project. The coordinator must ensure that all reports are received by the Commission in a bundled and timely manner (60 days after the end of the reporting period).
The Online Manual in the participant portal contains detailed information on the reporting obligation.
Periodic reports have to be prepared regularly during the course of the project. The final report is due at the end of the project. Reporting templates in PDF format are available on the Participant Portal under the section "Templates & Forms":
Financial Statement Forms
The online forms for reporting will be activated by the Commission.
You will find a PDF version of the financial statement form in the "Model Grant Agreement" under the section "Annex 4 Model for the financial statements":
All reporting tools are available via "Funding & tenders opportunities":
Information on Financial Regulations
The EU Liaison Office has compiled a leaflet on financial regulation in Horizon 2020:
Information on Personnel Costs
Most project costs in Horizon 2020 are regularly allocated to personnel costs. Several prerequisites must be fulfilled when billing personnel costs.
Personnel costs are eligible, if they are related to personnel working for the funding recipient under a written employment contract (or equivalent appointing act) and if the personnel is supervised by the funding recipient. Staff can be employed on a fixed or permanent basis. It is important that the remuneration of staff is in line with the usual practices of the funding recipient. You can deduct the gross wage (Arbeitgeberbrutto) including social insurance contributions, such as pension or health insurance contributions and other statutory expenses included in the salary.
Personnel costs are billed based on the hourly rate.
Timesheets
Only the hours actually worked on the project are eligible for reimbursement and have to be documented by a reliable time-recording system (either on paper or in a computer-based time recording system). Here you can find a template prepared by the EU Liaison Office:
Information on Electronic Signatures in Reporting
Financial reports are submitted electronically via the Participant Portal. They must be signed with an electronic signature. For this purpose, you must choose an authorized person in a special procedure. This person will be "Financial Statement Authorised Signatory" (FSign) for your project. Only the person assigned to a project as FSign can send a financial report with their electronic signature via their access in the Participant Portal. FSigns are appointed by the "Legal Entity Appointed Representative" (LEAR) of the respective institution.
For detailed information, please read the EU Liaison Office leaflet:
Certificate on Financial Statements (CFS)
In Horizon 2020, the number of required audit certificates on the correct use of funding has been significantly reduced. Audit certificates shall be issued only once at the end of the project if a grant amount of 325,000 euros (minus indirect costs) per funding recipient is reached or exceeded.
Contact
30169 Hannover
Wed. in the morning
Thu. all day
30169 Hannover
