In this post, Eirini Souri, Deputy Research Finance Manager – EU & International, shares a training webinar made available by the European Commission to provide support to beneficiaries in their preparation of their Certificate on the Financial Statements as part of their final report on Horizon 2020 projects.
For Horizon 2020 (H2020) projects, a Certificate on Financial Statements (CFS) needs to be submitted as part of the final report to the funder if direct costs are above a specific threshold. The European Commission (EC) recently ran a training webinar aimed at providers of the CFS and beneficiaries contacts involved in the CFS preparation. The webinar provides an explanation of the funder H2020 rules, aiming to improve the quality of the CFS and reduce potential issues identified by the funder at their final project financial review and assessment.
The webinar provides help for those involved with the preparation of the CFS by detailing:
- an introduction to the CFS
- comparisons with EC Audits (funder-led audits)
- the most common errors found in audits (personnel costs, subcontracting, other costs etc.)
- general procedures for all cost categories
- personnel costs – main eligibility criteria and audit procedures
- subcontracting and other direct costs – main eligibility criteria and audit procedures
While aimed primarily at the providers of Certificates on Financial Statements, the resources are also relevant to beneficiaries’ contacts who are involved in the preparation of a CFS as part of the final report to the funder, including PIs and local school/centre research contacts.
The recording of the webinar as well as accompanying slides have been made publically available and can be accessed on our website:
Further resources
You can find more information and guidance on preparing for audits on our audit and assurance webpage.
