2.4 Progress Reporting: The Financial Report

This image shows categories of direct costs: personnel costs, subcontracting, and all other costs; and indirect costs.

Direct Costs: Any type of expense necessary to carry out the project, directly attributable to it, arising directly from its implementation, and charged proportionally to actual use.

• • Personnel Costs: Costs of the staff involved in the project, directly employed by an institution which is part of the consortium
    • For example, gross salaries of staff from an institution involved in the project 
  • Subcontracting: Costs related to limited tasks that are outsourced to specialists, covering the execution of a limited part of the project.
    • For example, specialised services (outsourced) 
  • All other costs: 
    • Equipment- Any equipment or small infrastructure that is specific to the project and absolutely necessary during its duration. Only amortisation costs are allowed. Any standard office equipment, e.g., desktop computer, laptop, printer, is not accepted.
    • Consumables- Any non-durable, disposable goods whose end-of-life is reached after a single use or more during the project, e.g., blood cells, certain chemicals, raw materials, wood, paper.
    • IPR and audits- Legal protection costs, eg., patents, copyright, trademark, trade secrets; “Certificate of Financial Statements” (audit certificates); regulatory compliance costs, e.g., ISO standards, medical/security/energy/environmental certifications.
    • Travel and dissemination- Flight tickets, public transport tickets, e.g., train, tram, subway, bus, taxi;  on-demand pick-up services; accommodation, e.g., hotel, AirBnB, guesthouse, business flats; subsistence, e.g., daily meals and snacks. Premium services are generally not allowed.

Indirect costs: All indirect general costs necessary for carrying out the project, e.g., administration and management, building rental and office equipment, water, electricity, telecommunication and postal charges, office supplies. This also includes an estimate to cover any unforeseen costs, e.g., hiring extra staff. Indirect costs correspond to a fixed percentage of the total budget, normally from 7% to 25%.

These can be either fixed or variable, overhead, not directly related to production