Help with the financial report
You will be assisted with preparing the financial report by the responsible financial administrator in your department. Together, you are responsible for:
- the report adhering to EU rules as well as internal procedures;
- submitting the report to the European Commission – or to the coordinator if Umeå University is involved in the project; and
- allocating funds to other parties in the consortium if Umeå University is coordinating the project.
Reports are submitted electronically in the Funding & Tenders portal, the EU’s system for applications and project management. The financial report must include the project expenses and the number of person-months worked for the project period. Before the report can be signed in the portal, you must send it to the Research Support and Collaboration Office for review.
Download the audit template from the finance and reporting templates
Base your figures on the European Central Bank’s average exchange rate for the reporting period: ECB exchange rate statistics (ecb.europa.eu)
Responsibility for time reporting
All those involved in the project must continuously document their hours worked in the time reporting template. As project manager, you are responsible each month for:
- collecting participants’ time sheets; and
- passing them on to the responsible financial administrator.
Time reporting allows you to monitor the project, fulfil EU requirements, and avoid financial corrections.
Download the time reporting template from the finance and reporting templates
Save supporting documentation throughout the project
To enable correct reporting and show how the project’s resources have been used, it is important that you keep records and save the supporting documentation within the project. For example:
- The application and budget
- Agreements with the European Commission and between the parties in the project
- Approval from head of department, researcher approval, and the terms and conditions for participation
- Correspondence with coordinator or agreement parties
- Employment contracts, payroll data and timesheets
- Purchasing and procurement supporting documentation, invoices
- Project monitoring, accounting and the Certificate on the Financial Statement.
Tip: Read through the implementation requirements in Annex 5 (Article 18) of your Grant Agreement. Also ensure that the documentation is accessible and stored in a way that allows others to follow up, evaluate and implement an audit, should the need arise.
In preparation of an EU project audit
Do you need support?
If you have any questions during the course of the project, please contact the Research Support and Collaboration Office. They can also assist you in liaising with the European Commission or provide a coordinator if needed.
Contact the Research Support and Collaboration Office via rso@umu.se.
