Erasmus Project Reports

(Interim and Final)

Katia DE SOUSA, Project Adviser
Guido DI FIORE, Financial Coordinator
Overview of the presentation

• Purpose, structure and requirements

• Assessment of the reports
• Common strenghts and weaknesses
• Financial reporting requirements
• Checks and audits
 Purpose of the reports
For the benefit of the entire project consortium
 Measure the state of progress
 Adopt solutions to improve certain aspects
 Improve visibility in the consortium and in the wider community
 Reinforce the dissemination strategy
For the Agency's benefit and use
 Monitoring by the Agency through external expertise
 Decision on evaluation – next payment
 Identification of good practices or projects needing following up
 Feedback to the Commission for policy-making
 Reporting period
Projects selected in 2010
CONTRACTUAL DATES

Length of eligibility period Event Deadline

 

Starting period of eligibility 1/10/2010

End date of period of eligibility 30/09/2012
24 months
Submission of the progress report 31/10/2011
Submission of the final report 30/11/2012
Starting period of eligibility 1/10/2010
End date of period of eligibility 30/09/2013
36 months
Submission of the progress report 30/04/2012
Submission of the final report 30/11/2013

*For projects with other eligibility periods, please consult your grant agreement
 Reporting period
Projects selected in 2011
CONTRACTUAL DATES

Length of eligibility period Event Deadline

 

Starting period of eligibility 1/10/2011

12 months End date of period of eligibility 30/09/2012
Submission of the final report 30/11/2012
Starting period of eligibility 1/10/2011
End date of period of eligibility 30/09/2013
24 months
Submission of the progress report 31/10/2012
Submission of the final report 30/11/2013
Starting period of eligibility 1/10/2011
End date of period of eligibility 30/09/2014
36 months
Submission of the progress report 30/04/2013
Submission of the final report 30/11/2014

*For projects with other eligibility periods, please consult your grant agreement
 Structure of the reports

Public part (including Confidential part

executive summary)
1. Declaration Page
1. Project objective 2. Concrete Outcome / Results / Products
2. Project Approach 3. Implementation of the work plan / tasks
3. Outcomes and Results 4. Impact
4. Partnership 5. Involvement of partners
5. Plans for the future 6. Involvement of Staff
6. Contribution to EU Policies 7. Management Aspects
8. Dissemination and Exploitation
9. Annexe 1 – Financial reporting Table

Number of copies to be sent: 1 original and 2 copies on CD or USB key

Final reports
• Final is final!
• Prove that the contractual obligations
have been fulfilled
• Present project’s results for accountability
(both parts) and dissemination purposes
(Public part)
• Prove that hopefully products/results are
able “to live their own life” – are valid,
relevant , meet quality standards and/or
are transferrable to other areas/fields of
higher education
Progress and Final reports
Progress reports
• Monitoring after which corrective
measures can still be applied
• Allows stocktaking of the project’s
achievements up to date – stop and think!
• Coincides with the project’s turning point
from preparatory stages to
implementation
• Allows evaluation of how the project
corresponds to original objectives and is
responding to implementation realities
• Allows to EVALUATE and DO
dissemination (public Part)
 Processing the reports

• Submission to the Agency: report must reach the Agency not later than the
date appearing on the contract

• Eligibility check (e.g. signed by the Legal Representative, all requested

documentation provided)

• Analysis of the Report: by external experts (peer review)

• Request for supplementary information on content or financial matters if

necessary

• Decision and feedback on the report to the beneficiary including

recommendations from the Agency
 7 assessment criteria – not only results but also process

●
Are results/outcomes available
Objectives, results, products ●
Are they in accordance with aims as in original application

Coherence between workplan and ●

Are activities in accordance with the project’s work plan of the original application
activities carried out to date ●
Have variations been justified

●
Are all partners involved
Partnership ●
Do all of them contribute to the project
●
Are there any changes in partnership

●
Mechanisms used for effective monitoring
Project management ●
Are decision making and problem solving adequate
●
Internal communication strategy (video conferencing, etc..)

Financial management ●
Are expenditures in line with project’s activities

●
How evaluation strategy is being implemented (internal & and external)
Evaluation and QA ●
How recommendations of the PR and monitoring have been implemented

●
What is the quality of dissemination activities do they start from the beginning
Dissemination ●
How the issue of exploitation of project’s results is addressed
 Common strengths and weaknesses

Weaknesses:
1. Needs analysis not prominent;
2. over ambitious work
programmes; 3. underestimated
accreditation; 4. Impact too vague;
5. inability to get rid of “project
speak” in web and dissemination
information; 6. Standard and
loosely targeted dissemination
activities ; 7. Staff costs cat. 1

Strengths:
1. balanced leadership of work
packages; 2. partners used
according to their competences;
3. clear added value (countries
languages, curricula, cross
sector cooperation); 4. specific
and tangible progress indicators;
5. in some cases well developed
and targeted web-site
 Impact of scoring – Final report
Final Assessment
Corresponding reduction in eligible staff costs
Grade Rating within the final Community contribution

10 0%
Very Good
9

8
Good
7

6
Acceptable
5

4 25%
Weak
3 50%

2 75%
Very Weak
1 85%

A second expert opinion will be asked before reducing the eligible staff costs.
 Progress report and 2nd pre-financing (1)
Projects lasting up to 18 months:

- No progress report, no 2nd pre-financing.

24 month duration projects:

- Progress report but no 2nd pre-financing.

- Payment arrangement 70% - 30%.

36 month duration projects:

- Progress report and 2nd pre-financing if at least 70% of 1st pre-

financing payment is reported/spent (if less than 70% of the 1st pre-
financing payment is reported/spent, the 2nd pre-financing is reduced
by the unspent part of the 1st pre-financing).
- Payment arrangement 40% - 40% -20%.
 Progress report and 2nd pre-financing (2)

Example:

Grant: 100.000 € (40% - 40% - 20%)

1st pre-financing: 40.000 € (70% of 1st pre-financing = 28.000 €)

Total expenditure reported in progress report: 26.000 € (< 28.000 €)

Not spent from 1st pre-financing: 40.000 € - 26.000 € = 14.000 €
2nd pre-financing (max 40%) = 40.000 € - 14.000 € = 26.000 €

If expenditure reported were 29.000 €, 2nd pre-financing = 40.000 €

 Progress report and 2nd pre-financing (3)
• Approval of the Progress report does not imply a confirmation
of the eligibility of expenditures declared in the financial
reporting tables at the end of the project.
• A complete financial analysis on the eligibility of the
expenditures declared will be made at the Final Report stage
only.
• Comments following the analysis of the financial reporting
table (annexed to the approval letter of your progress report)
must be taken into consideration for the final implementation
and final reporting of your project.
 Final report - Financial analysis (1)
• Covers full eligibility period
• Deadline for submission: end of eligibility period + 2 months
• Report all actual expenses (even if they exceed the ceiling)
and revenues (costs must be incurred during the eligibility
period but can be paid after but before submission of the
final report)
• Use EACEA excel financial reporting 2010/2011 templates.
• Only provide supporting documents upon request by the
Agency staff or in the framework of an audit.
 Final report – Financial analysis (2)
• Total expenditures = total revenues (i.e. sources of financing)

• Any ineligible cost will be deducted from the total amount of

expenditures reported, in order to calculate the total eligible
costs of the project (max 10% equipment, 30%
subcontracting, 7% indirect costs will be based on this latter
amount)

• Bank interests generated (bank statements should allow clear

calculation) on pre-financing payment(s) must be declared if
pre-financing exceeded 50.000 EUR. Interests will be deducted
from the final grant

• Queries or objections must be submitted not later than 60 days

after receipt of the closure letter of the final payment or pre-
information letter of a recovery order.
 Calculation of the final grant
The final grant is determined as follows:
Declared expenditures from the Excel financial reporting table
LESS
Ineligible costs found during the financial analysis
EQUAL
Eligible costs of the project

Final grant = Eligible costs of the project X percentage of EU co-

financing stated in the agreement

Calculated Final grant is the lowest of 3 ceilings:

Eligible expenditures x EU co-financing percentage
Maximum EU contribution amount (agreement)
Final grant cannot result in any profit (non profit rule)

 Calculated final grant > pre-financing payment(s)  FINAL PAYMENT

 Calculated final grant < pre-financing payment(s)  RECOVERY ORDER
 Checks and audits (1)
• The coordinator undertakes to provide any detailed information requested by the
Agency or by any other outside body authorised by the Agency. In case of a multi-
beneficiary agreement a co-beneficiary can also be asked directly to do so

• The beneficiaries shall keep at the Agency’s disposal all original documents (or, in
exceptional and duly justified cases, certified copies of original documents), accounting
and tax records relating to the agreement for a period of 5 years from the date of
payment of the balance/debit note

• The beneficiaries agree that the Agency or the Commission may have an audit of the
use made of the grant carried out either directly by its own staff or by any other outside
body authorised to do so on its behalf

• The beneficiaries undertakes to allow Agency or the Commission the appropriate right
of access to sites and premises where the action is carried out and to all information
 Checks and audits (2)

• Project are selected either based on a risk analysis made

by the Agency or chosen randomly, for a check or an (ex-
post) audit

• An ex-post audit can result in an (additional) recovery

order (even if a final balance payment was made by the
Agency)
• The European Anti Fraud Office (OLAF) may also carry
out on the spot checks and inspections
 Original documents to be kept (examples only: please refer
also to Handbooks 2010/2011)
• Staff costs: pay slips and time sheets, employment
contracts;
• Travel and subsistence: (e-)tickets, (e-)boarding pass,
minutes of meetings, travel agency invoices, signed
receipts by travelling staff receiving an allowance;
• Equipment costs: invoices, proof that procurement rules
were complied with;
• Subcontracting costs: invoices, proof that procurement
rules were complied with (invitation to submit an offer,
offers received, minutes of evaluation/selection of the best
offer);
• Other costs: invoices.
 Time sheet minimum requirements

• Time sheets  to document the number of working days x person

• Title and reference number of the EU project

• For each staff member working on the EU project

• Minimum on a monthly basis

• Mention the hours and project activities spent on the EU project

• Signed by the staff member and by an authorised person

• Dated
 CONTACTS
María Luisa GARCIA MINGUEZ (coordination)

EACEA-ERA-MULTILATERAL@ec.europa.eu
Gilles GERVAIS, Natalia RIESGO, Alba PRIETO GONZALEZ, Misia COGHLAN,
Mireia FABREGA-IGLESIAS, José MATOS MARTINS, Magalie SOENENS

EACEA-ERA-NETWORKS@ec.europa.eu Katia DE SOUSA

EACEA-ERA-ACCOMPANYING@ec.europa.eu Natalia RIESGO