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Reporting requirements

All H2020 funding requires us to submit periodic financial and technical reports to the European Commission (EC) using the EU Funding and Tenders Portal.

Article 20.2 of the Grant Agreement details when reports are due. The EU post-award team also keep an up to date claims and audit timetable to ensure reporting deadlines are met in a timely manner. We have 60 days following the end of each reporting period to submit our reports to the EC. However in most cases, where we are a beneficiary of a project, we will be required to submit our reports earlier to the project coordinator.

In some instances a 'Certificate on the financial statements' (i.e. audit certificate) will also be required to support our financial reporting. If the total direct costs of a project exceed €325,000 an audit of the project must also be carried out by our external auditors LEES Chartered and Certified Accountants. This audit will be prepared by the EU post-award team with support from the lead Academic and Faculty Research and Innovation Office (FRIO).

Financial reporting

All financial reporting is completed on the EC's portal by the EU team.

When a financial report is due the EU team will email the relevant Faculty Research & Innovation Office (FRIO) and Principal Investigator (PI) with the following information:

  • a detailed breakdown of the project costs from the KRISTAL Foreign Currency Module
  • a list of the documentation required to evidence the costs for all personnel and non-personnel costs
  • initial observations on any ineligible costs or costs that might need some investigation
  • a clear deadline for when information should be returned.

The FRIOs are responsible for:

  • checking all items charged to the project are eligible under the EC rules
  • checking and collating timesheets and declarations of exclusivity
  • collecting 'purpose of travel' documentation from PIs e.g. minutes of meetings/presentations/agendas etc.
  • updating the KRISTAL foreign currency module to either add or remove costs to/from the claim
  • setting the status of KRISTAL to final review once all FRIO checks are done

Please find attached a H2020 claims checklist for reference when working on a H2020 financial report.

Please also find attached some guidance from the EC 'how to avoid errors on H2020 claims'.

All financial reporting is submitted to the EC in Euros based on an average exchange rate for the reporting period. For information, these rates can be calculated using the ECB exchange rate tool.

Once a financial report has been submitted to the EC, the EU team will update the KRISTAL foreign currency module and change the status to 'submitted'. After this has been done, FRIOs can then post the necessary internal journals to bring the project account up to date following closure of the reporting period.

Technical reporting

Technical reporting to the EC is the responsibility of the PI and again must be completed within the 60 day deadline set by the Commission.

For multi-beneficiary projects the project coordinator has overall responsibility for completing the technical reporting, with input from the project beneficiaries.

All reporting templates can be found on the Funder and Tenders Portal

Please also find guidance on how to navigate the Funding and Tenders Portal and submit your technical report

Audit requirements

As mentioned previously an audit is needed if the total direct costs reported to the EC exceed €325,000 by the end of the project. LEES Chartered and Certified Accountants will audit the project and this process will be coordinated by the EU team. Our current audit costs are £3375 plus VAT per project and this cost can be included in our financial claim to the EC, in the final reporting period.

Please find attached an audit checklist for H2020 audits.