FINANCIAL GUIDANCE
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OVERVIEW
1. Project Budget
2. Payment of Grant Aid
3. Eligibility of Expenditure
4. Procurement & Tendering Guidelines
5. Audits
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PROJECT BUDGET
 The budget is outlined in Section 2.3 of the Grant
Agreement and must be strictly adhered to.
 Any changes to the budget must be requested in writing
and approved by Pobal in advance.
 The Grantee should monitor actual spend against the
budget on an ongoing basis throughout the lifetime of the
project.
 The offer of grant aid is up to the amount stated in the
Grant Agreement. Any unspent monies at the end of the
project will be decommitted and will not be available to
the project.
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PAYMENT OF GRANT AID
The following documentation must be submitted and approved
by Pobal prior to the release of the initial payment of your grant
aid: Executed Grant Agreement
 Details of dedicated bank account / Details of cost centre
approach
 Evidence of compliance with all relevant project specific
conditions and pre-payment conditions as detailed in your
Grant Agreement (Sections 3 & 4)
 Tax Clearance Certificate (Refer to Guidance Notes for Grantees Section 6)
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PAYMENT OF GRANT AID
ADVANCE PAYMENT
 Advance Payments are considered on a case by case basis.
REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENITURE CLAIMED
 Grantees will be required to submit 4 quarterly claims for
payment annually. Payments to be made on a
retrospective/reimbursement basis.
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CLAIMS PROCESS
 Completed claims comprise: Signed Declaration by Grantee (Template included in pack)
 Expenditure Report (Template included in pack)
 Progress Report (Template included in pack)
 All relevant original supporting documentation e.g.
invoices, procurement documentation, bank statements
etc.
 Any individual item of expenditure must be claimed within 6
months of expenditure been paid.
 The final claim must be submitted within 3 months of Project
end date.
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CLAIMS/PAYMENT PROCESS
Pobal reviews
completed claim
Queries
Pobal informs Grantee of any issues; these
must be addressed within 10 working days
Queries not addressed by
Grantee within 10 working days
Queried expenditure is
rejected and cannot be
reclaimed.
No Queries
Queries addressed by Grantee within
10 working days
Payment authorised
by Pobal
Verification
completed,
Verification Report
issued and original
documentation
returned
ELIGIBILITY OF EXPENDITURE
Proof of expenditure is always required; therefore expenditure
must be supported by receipted invoices or accounting documents
together with bank statements. There must also be a proven link
with the projects operations .
(refer to Guidance Notes for Grantees Section 2)
The following types of documentation must be submitted/retained
to support expenditure claimed;
STAFFING COSTS:



Payroll records - Tax Deduction Cards
Contracts of Employment
Rates of pay should be linked to relevant payscales
Timesheets must be submitted where staff are working less than 100%
on the DACT Project. These should clearly outline total number of
hours worked, number of hours allocated to the DACT Project and
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number of hours allocated to other areas of work.
 STAFF RECRUITMENT – When new staff are recruited,
documentation to support the recruitment process from start
(advert) to finish (contract of employment) must be retained.
 STAFF REDEPLOYMENT - When staff are redeployed, evidence of
approval of the redeployment together with confirmation of the
redeployment to the individual staff member must be retained. Any
redeployment of staff must be in line with the organisations
redeployment policy.
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TRAVEL & SUBSISTENCE: Claim forms signed by the claimant and authorised at the
appropriate level to be submitted
 Original receipts must be submitted to support claims where
relevant.
 Claim forms should clearly state the name of claimant, work
and home base of claimant, date of travel, time of departure,
time of return, purpose of travel detailing how it relates to
this project.
 Payments must be in line with the organisation’s approved
travel and subsistence policy.
 When planning travel, economy & efficiency should be
considered at all times.
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OVERHEADS : Only costs directly related to project activity are eligible eg.
mobile phone or direct telephone lines.
 Apportioned costs are not eligible.
EQUIPMENT: Equipment costs under the Disability Activation Project must
not exceed €1,000 (including VAT) per single item.
 Maintain an asset register which details the following: Type of Asset
 Serial Number (if applicable)
 Location of Asset
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PUBLICITY COSTS: Financial support received by you is fully and clearly
acknowledged in all aspects of publicity & promotion.
 All publicity documents must contain the appropriate logos
etc for the cost to be eligible.
 A sample of publicity material must be submitted with
expenditure claims to support costs claimed
 Failure to adhere to the publicity regulations will result in part
(or all) of the publicity related expenditure being deemed
ineligible for funding. EU = zero tolerance.
(Refer to Appendix 3 of the Guidance Notes for Grantees – European Social Fund
Information & Publicity Guidelines.)
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PROGRAMME COSTS:These are costs that arise directly from the delivery of the
project and are detailed in the Budget Details in Section 2.3 of
the Grant Agreement
In the event of hospitality costs being incurred the following
should be noted: They must be directly relevant to the project objectives.
 The level of hospitality should not be lavish or ostentatious,
with cost-effectiveness key.
 The following documentation MUST be available to support
hospitality costs: List of attendees (sign in sheet)
 Details of the purpose of the event
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INELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE
The following costs are not eligible for funding under ESF: Equipment costs exceeding more than €1,000 (including
VAT) per single item.
 Apportionment of Overheads
 Bank interest payable, referral charges, litigation fees
 Recoverable VAT
 Fines and penalties
 Costs resulting from the deferral of payments to creditors
 Depreciation
 In kind Contributions
 Sub-contracting costs
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REVENUE/INCOME/RECEIPTS
As a general rule any revenue / income / receipts generated
from an EU co-financed operation must be deducted from the
eligible expenditure of the operation.
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PROCUREMENT & TENDERING
 The EU Commission places a high priority on compliance with
procurement procedures so it is essential that not only are
correct procedures followed but that back up documentation
to this effect is retained to verify this.
 You are responsible for compliance with the public
procurement procedures and must ensure rules on
procurement are strictly adhered to.
 Guidelines are available at www.etenders.gov.ie
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PROCUREMENT & TENDERING
BELOW EU THRESHOLDS
Less than €5,000
Obtain verbal quotes from one or more
competitive suppliers. Select lowest
price/most suitable. Record must be retained.
€5,000.00 to €25,000
A minimum of 3 written quotations sought
from competent suppliers who ordinarily
supply the relevant service.
€25,000.00 to € EU threshold
Full Tender Action
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PROCUREMENT & TENDERING
 Failure to comply may result in expenditure being declared
ineligible and/or financial penalties being imposed. Details on
level of penalties are outlined in the COCOF 07/0037/03-EN
document. (Copy included in pack)
 Any retrospective creation of documentation will
automatically result in the tender competition being declared
null and void, and the expenditure will be declared ineligible.
IF IN DOUBT, SEEK ADVICE
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AUDITS
1. POBAL ON THE SPOT CHECK: Each Grantee will receive at least one ‘On the Spot’ visit by Pobal
staff during its lifetime.
 The aims of the ‘On the Spot’ check are to: Verify the regularity and reality of activity, assets and expenditure;
 Ensure compliance with the EC Regulations, National Legislation, Programme
Guidance/Guidelines and the contract for funding;
 Ensure that the Grantee has established robust systems for management of
expenditure and activity;
 Ensure that an audit trail is being maintained;
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AUDITS
2. Department of Social Protection
3. The ESF Financial Control Unit
4. European Court of Auditors
5. Controller and Auditor General
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RESOURCES AVAILABLE
 Managing Better Tool Kits
 DACT Guidance Notes
 Templates  Expenditure Returns
 Declaration by Grantee
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