Finance & PRESAGE Presentation

URBACT II – Training Session
Finance & PRESAGE-CTE

Introduction


Introduction to the URBACT team
 Adele BUCELLA – Finance Manager
 Céline ETHUIN – Finance Officer
 Sabrina TEMIME – Technical Assistant



Roundtable introductions by person (10 s. per person)
 Project
 Name Firstname Partner / Finance Officer
 Partner institution (city, country)



Structure of the session
 Finance & Presage: procedures, main messages
 Practical exercises
 Wrap-up

Thursday 30 January 2014

Eligibility of costs
 costs are eligible from 1 December 2013 until 31 May 2015
 if costs are linked to activities implemented between the project’s start date and
end date and
 if paid by the Partners/Lead Partner’s institution

 2 exceptions: are also eligible until 31 May 2015
 costs for personnel and FLC to administratively close the project after project
end date
 costs linked to final outputs and dissemination after project end date if such
activities:
- contracted and started before the project end date
- finished by 31/05/2015
- costs related to them paid and certified by the end of the 2-months closing period
- exceptionally and only after consultation with the URBACT Secretariat

Eligibility rules
Expenditure actually paid out that complies with all of the relevant
rules:
 EU:

(EC) 1080/2006
(EC) 1083/2006
(EC) 1828/2006

 National:

eligibility rules laid down by MS
(national contacts in DMCS)

 Programme: Factsheet 6b, Programme Manual
Factsheet , Pilot Transfer networks
 In case of complicated or unclear eligibility criteria, the Secretariat can
answer eligibility question (even via its contact to EC)


Eligibility of Expenditure
 Eligible expenditure is that outlined in the approved budget
as presented in the AF

 Need to respect the amounts presented per budget category

 Can exceed by max. 20% from one budget category to
another

 Shall remain within the total approved budget


Eligibility per Budget Category
Factsheet 6b of the Programme Manual outlines in detail the types of costs
which are considered to be eligible by budget category:
1) Project coordination (incl. Overheads)
General costs, administrative costs, legal costs, etc.
2) Personnel
Costs for the personnel employed by the partner/lead partner’s institutions
officially listed in the AF (time records incl. timesheets)
3) Meeting organisation
Costs for the organization of meetings, conferences and seminars (venue,
interpretation, catering, etc.)
4) Travel and accommodation
Costs for travel and accommodation of personnel and experts involved in project
activities
5) Communication and dissemination
Costs for newsletter, brochures, other communication and dissemination tools
6) External expertise
Costs for external experts (excluding Lead/thematic experts paid by the Program)


Requirements for record keeping
Documents to be archived at the partner’ premises :
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

contractual documents (incl. audit trail doc.) ;
bank account statements ;
original invoices ;
time records of personnel working for the project (including timesheets) ;
copies of all contracts with external experts and/or service providers ;
documents relating to public procurement, information and publicity ;
proofs for delivery of services and goods (studies, brochures,
newsletters, minutes of meetings, participants’ list, travel tickets, etc.) ;
– calculation of administrative costs, records of costs included in
overheads ;
– etc


Audit Trail requirements
Publicity
•



Regulation (EC) 1828/2006 Articles 8 and 9 (and its amendments)

Audit trail and record keeping

•
•



and information requirements

Keep a record of where all the documents supporting the
expenditure are stored at LP and PP level – see Audit Trail doc
Retention period : at least until 31 December 2020

Second Level Control and audits
•

Potential audits in 2015 and in 2016 for expenditure declared to the
EC respectively in 2014 and in 2015

PRESAGE-CTE


Presage-CTE: Financial management and
monitoring system
› On line monitoring tool https://urbact.presage-cte.org
› The system is secure and access is restricted by
personal log-in and password (user types: LP, PPs,
FLCs)
› Each project must undertake an official reporting using
Presage–CTE :
 Accounting and validation of expenditure
 Certification of expenditure and FLC certificates
 Production of a payment claim
 Submission of a progress report
› Monitoring project expenditure and ERDF payments

Accounting
and Validation
of Expenditure


Accounting of Expenditure
 Decentralized financial management system
 Each LP/PP is responsible for
 Spending and accounting its own costs (liability for its own
activities) – through Presage-cte
Both LP and PP enter expenditure so need to ‘train’ the
PP
in doing this
 Provide them with the guide developed by URBACT
 Foresee this shortly after the kick-off meeting



Accounting and Validation of Expenditure (cont.)
› Guidelines prepared by the Secretariat – available on website
Programme/Technical documents/
› Demonstration on how to enter expenditure

› Use the dot (.) for registering decimals


Logging into PRESAGE-CTE
Link:

https://urbact.presage-cte.org

You can reach it from the URBACT website

Access codes as LP/PP:

Nom d'utilisateur: indicate your login
Mot de passe:
indicate your password

Project for exercise:
Your Project Acronym

Mains sections in PRESAGE-CTE
3 main chapters:


Access application form data



Access expenditure data



Financial monitoring


Practical exercise in PRESAGE-CTE

Practical exercise to enter expenditure


Common Problems in Accounting Expenditure
 Dates and eligibility period – attention that payment date is within
eligible period (from start date to the end of each reporting period)
 Double recording – attention to save data only once

 Miscalculations – attention when accounting costs: develop a
calculation method (esp. for project coordination or personnel costs) and
put explanation in the comment box +attention when saving amounts


(cont.)
 Date when the expenditure has actually been paid out
– when the amount is debited from the PP/LP’s institution bank account
 EC monthly exchange rate (automatic calculation) – attention should
be paid to the month during which the cost has been debited from the
LP/PP institution’s bank account
 Invoice original amount vs. Expenditure amount – the global amount
of the original invoice can be either equal or higher than the expenditure
amount (e.g. if in local currency other than €)


(cont.)
 Work plan – WP
– attention to account the expenditure on the correct Work Package of
the project Work Plan
 Budget category and/or line
– attention to account the expenditure on the correct budget line
 Invoice document type invoice / certificate
– in most cases ‘invoice”, for staff costs “certificate”
 Expenditure type in cash / in kind
– staff costs are considered as a cash contribution (and not in-kind
contribution) as they are actually paid by the partner institution


Validation of Expenditure
 LP must validate the expenditure of PPs
attention that they are not:
› making a mistake with budget line + WP
› exceeding the budget allocation (total + per budget
category)
 Allows for LP to manage budget and control what is being
claimed
 Only expenditure that has been validated by the LP can be
certified by the FLC of each PP in PRESAGE-CTE


Practical exercise in PRESAGE-CTE

Practical exercise for LPs
to validate expenditure entered by PPs


Accounting and Validation of Expenditure
Hints and tips
› Possibility to monitor the project in Presage-CTE
› Guidelines prepared by the Secretariat – available
› Demonstration where to find the link in Presage-CTE for:


: Financial monitoring allows LP to
have an overview on the declared and certified expenditure
against the amounts forecasted in the budget of the project



: Exporting expenditure allows LP/PP to have
detailed information usable in Excel tables about all expenditure
entered in the Presage-CTE system by each project partner

Any Questions?


Certification
of Expenditure
and
FLC certificates


First Level Controller:
What is FLC?
The implementation of first level control is outlined in Article 16
of Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006
In order to validate the expenditure, each Member State shall set up
a control system making it possible to verify:
• the delivery of the products and services co-financed ;
• the soundness of the expenditure declared for operations or
parts of operations implemented on its territory ;
• the compliance of such expenditure and of related
operations, or parts of those operations, with Community
rules and its national rules.
For this purpose each Member State shall designate the controllers
responsible for verifying the legality and regularity of the expenditure
declared by each beneficiary participating in an operation.

First Level Controller :
Who can do it?
2 different control systems have been proposed by Member States
(see Member States and Partner States' control system descriptions):
›

centralised control at MS level :
 controllers already designated by the Member State
 no need to be proposed by the project partner

›

decentralised control through
 internal or external controllers proposed by the project partner
 need to be approved at national level as long as (s)he is
qualified and from a unit independent of operation’s activities
and finances
 costs can be included in your budget – eligible cost for ERDF

Member States and Partner States'
first level control systems
CENTRALISED

DECENTRALISED

BELGIUM –WALLOON REGION

AUSTRIA

BULGARIA

BELGIUM –BRUSSELS CAPITAL REGION

CZECH REPUBLIC

BELGIUM –FLANDERS REGION

ESTONIA

CYPRUS

GREECE

DENMARK

HUNGARY

FINLAND

IRELAND

FRANCE

LATVIA

GERMANY

LUXEMBOURG

ITALY

POLAND

LITHUANIA

ROMANIA

MALTA

SLOVAKIA

NETHERLANDS

SLOVENIA

NORWAY

SWEDEN

PORTUGAL

SWITZERLAND

SPAIN
UNITED KINGDOM


First Level Controller:
Validation
In a decentralised control system, each first level controller has to be
approved at national level:
1) The PP/LP fills in a checklist concerning the proposed controller with
specific selection criteria related to independence and competence and
sends it duly signed to its national contact (see Member States and Partner
States' control system descriptions)
2) The national contact confirms the proposal by sending a letter to the
URBACT Secretariat and to the concerned Project Partner with the filled in
and signed « checklist for approbation of first level controller » in annex
3) Only after the choice of the controller is confirmed by the MS central
approbation body, the controller can assume the role of independent
project controller and can have access to PRESAGE-CTE
4) Deadline to submit the approbation letters to the Secretariat:
28th February 2014 at latest

Certification of Expenditure by FLC (1)
The main aim of the certification is to provide a guarantee that
projects costs are accounted for and claimed in accordance with the
legal and financial provisions of :
 the EC Regulations;
 the URBACT II rules (Programme Manual);
 the Subsidy Contract;
 the Joint Convention (optional);
 the applicable national legislation in the fields of public
procurement, state aids, equal opportunities, the
environment, etc.;
 the approved application form (incl. breakdown of
expenditure per main budget category and per WP)


Certification of Expenditure by FLC (cont.)
› Once validated, it is the role of First Level Controller to check and, if
eligible, certify the expenditure incurred by the controlled project
partner
› The controller has to check 100% of expenditure based on all
documentary evidence (pay slips, invoices, proof of payment, etc.)
 clearly identify in PRESAGE-CTE the amounts of non-eligible expenditure
deducted from the partner’s claim explaining the reason of non-eligibility
(using the dedicated “comments” section for each item of expenditure)
 clearly note in PRESAGE-CTE any additional comment and information
which might be considered relevant in the framework of the first level control

› On-the-spot checks (vs. desk base) can be carried out if necessary
› The controller has to produce an “interim” or “final” certificate
› All of this is carried out in Presage CTE – special profile for controllers

Certificate of Expenditure
› It is signed by the first level controller of PP/LP

› It certifies the eligibility of the declared expenditure

› It is produced in Presage CTE by the first level controller
(with a checklist filled in by the controller in annex)


Certificate of Expenditure (cont.)
ATTENTION:
› LP responsible for checking FLC certificates:
- correctness (“interim/final” status, FLC answers to certificate control

checklist, etc.)

- completeness (signature by the approved controller of the
LP/Partners certificates)


› Certificate control checklist (annex 3)
- use guidelines provided by the Secretariat


ATTENTION:
› Certificate of expenditure: common errors in the control checklist
completed by the FLC:
› VAT eligibility: answer yes or no to section 7.3 Q3 and add a
comment which states very clearly VAT status in the current reporting
› Annex 1: take note of the amount rejected – if costs are rejected
should be reported in the checklist section 7.3 Q11
› Annex 2: check certificate expenditure breakdown per category to
complete control checklist
› When a section is not applicable or there are no costs in the period
then the answer should be ‘no’ with comment saying n/a

› Demonstration in Presage CTE


Payment claim
by LP


Payment Claim by LP
› What is a payment claim?
 Request for refund : it claims globally the expenditure
incurred by the project at the end of the reporting period
 It regroups the certificates produced by several partners to
make a cumulative claim for ERDF
 It is produced in PRESAGE-CTE and signed by the LP
ATTENTION:
- LP responsible for checking FLC certificates
WE CANNOT PAY ERDF WITHOUT IT !
> Demonstration in PRESAGE-CTE

Payment Claim by LP (cont.)


Payment Claim by LP (cont.)
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO MAKE PAYMENT CLAIMS?

• Obligation to follow the financial plan outlined and
approved within the Final Application
• Risk of decommitment – N+3 – all projects have a role
to play in avoiding any decommitment
• At a local level need for expenditure to be refunded due
to cashflow problems – crisis making this situation worse


Progress Report
by LP


Progress Report by LP
› To ensure that the project’s activities are progressing in
accordance with the work plan and the budget approved by the
Monitoring Committee
› The Progress Report shall be produced and submitted through
PRESAGE CTE – to be signed by LP and LP FLC
› Structure of the Progress Report shaped on the work plan
included in the Application Form
› Demonstration in Presage-CTE


Progress Report by LP (cont.)


ERDF refunding


ERDF refunding
•

Claim, certificates and PR are reviewed by the Secretariat

•

Once all is clarified, payment request transferred to the CA
– via MA certificate (in PRESAGE-CTE)

•

THE LP AND PP TO DO
– the LP to transfer the ERDF to PPs
– the LP to complete Presage-CTE with date of receipt +
amount and dates of ERDF transferred to PPs
– the PPs to complete with date of receipt on bank account

›

Demonstration where to find the link in Presage-CTE for
ERDF payments

Actions required from the LP


Transfer to PPs – Once ERDF received, the LP is responsible
for transferring the correct amount of ERDF due to the PPs



Actions required in Presage CTE – the LP needs to report
the amounts redistributed to each PP in Presage-CTE in section
« Show received payments » (see guide developed by the
Secretariat)

Click here to add a transfer to a PP


Actions required from the LP (cont.)

Choose the PP in the list of your
partnership

Add payment references and
explanation about calculation of the
amount transferred
Indicate the amount
transferred using the dot
(.) for decimals

IMPORTANT! Do not forget to save

Actions required from the PP


Actions required in Presage CTE – Once received, each PP
needs to report the dates when the amounts been received on
bank account in section « Show received payments » (see
guide developed by the Secretariat)

Click here to add date of receipt


Getting the best
from Presage CTE


PRESAGE CTE additional functions




Monitoring project and partner activity - the chapter
“Financial monitoring” will allow you to have an overview on
the declared and certified expenditure against the amounts
forecasted in the budget of the project.

Practical exercise


PRESAGE CTE additional functions




Exporting data - By going to chapter “Show expenditure
list”, you have to go at the bottom of the screen. You will find
the button “export expenditure”.

Practical exercise


Wrap-Up


Flow of documents


Common problems

• Claiming ineligible Value Added Tax (VAT)
• Not respecting the appropriate Public Procurement Rules
• Lack of awareness of Programme and national eligibility
rules if stricter (e.g. alcohol, taxi, etc.)

• Revenue generated by projects
• Internal recharge costs

Common problems points
in the project payment cycle


Hints and tips

•

Keep a table to monitor costs claimed per PP (action /
budget category)

•

Reporting of costs not in euros – ensure there are
comments outlining the details

•

Fix earlier internal deadline for partner to ensure Programme
deadline is respected

•

Notify and report ERDF refunds to PPs – see guide to
Presage


Certificates of expenditure
 Allow time for certification



internal project deadline
local deadline (FLC PP) incl. additional requests

 The FLC to submit in Presage with INTERIM / FINAL status


print PDF – NEW! wait in a queue
sign



keep an original and send to PP/to LP



 Check by LP




INTERIM / FINAL version
control checklist – use guidelines on how to be completed
ask a scan to gain some time

Payment claim



The LP to submit in Presage with INTERIM /
FINAL status






print PDF – NEW! wait in a queue
sign
keep an original

TIP


submit before Progress Report then the figures in the PR
should update automatically


Transfers of ERDF



Ensure that the ERDF received by the Lead Partner
for the project is redistributed to partners



The LP to complete the information in Presage-CTE



The PPs to indicate the date of receipt in
Presage-CTE


Audit Trail requirements
Publicity
•



Regulation (EC) 1828/2006 Articles 8 and 9 (and its amendments)

Audit trail and record keeping

•
•



and information requirements

Keep a record of where all the documents supporting the
expenditure are stored at LP and PP level – see Audit Trail doc
Retention period : at least until 31 December 2020

Second Level Control and audits
•

Potential audits in 2015 for expenditure declared to the EC
respectively in 2014

Project financial management resources
Templates & Guidelines provided by the Secretariat

 Key project management documents
•
•
•
•
•

URBACT II Programme Manual, Factsheet 6b
Factsheet Pilot Transfer Networks
Template Subsidy Contract
Template Joint Convention
Template Audit Trail

 Accounting and Claiming of Expenditure
•
•
•
•

Guide for Accounting Expenditure – in Presage-CTE
Guide for Financial Monitoring – in Presage-CTE
Guide for production of Payment Claim – in Presage-CTE
Guide Transfer ERDF Refunds to PPs – in Presage-CTE


Project financial management resources
(cont.)
Templates & Guidelines provided by the Secretariat

 First Level Control
•
•
•
•
•

Member and Partner States’ Control System Description
Template Checklist Approbation FLC
Template Letter Approbation FLC
Guide for Certifying Expenditure – in Presage-CTE
Guidelines Control Checklist (Annex 3 to the Certificate)


Contact Details
Adele BUCELLA – Finance Manager
a.bucella@urbact.eu
Tel – 01.49.17.47.36
Céline ETHUIN – Finance Officer
c.ethuin@urbact.eu
Tel – 01.49.17.47.08


contact@urbact.eu
www.urbact.eu

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