By Lillian Irene Stormo, HiB SW-Vircamp Consortium Meeting – Liepaja 2-3 September 2010 Budget and Account By Lillian Irene Stormo, HiB

Budget – revisions The original project budget of SW-VirCamp has been revised three times: May 2009, February 2010 and July 2010 The revisions have been based on the amended resource plans and meeting plans. The amended plans have been results of changed needs in the project, which have demanded reallocations of resources. Expenditures realised on a lower level than set in the original budget (changed conditions) have made reallocations of resources possible.

Budget – starting point The budget plan in the application approved by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) was the starting point for the revisions. The deliverable number 4.3 of the project description stated the following: A transparent yearly budget, including accountability requirements, money transfer regulations etc. will be defined and presented to partners. The first revision split the original budget into yearly budgets. The yearly periods were 1st October 2008 through 30th September 2009 and 1st October 2009 through 30th September 2010.

Budget – starting point In addition there were some discrepancies between the budget plan and the project description in the application: The breakdown of travel and subsistence costs. The number of working days for the categories of manager and teacher. The first revision of the budget adjusted the breakdown of travel and subsistence costs among the partners to be in accordance with the original meeting plan. The resource plans of the different work packages in the application was amended to be in line with the original budget, in order to make yearly budgets for the project.

Budget – changed conditions The original budget was based on staff cost ceilings and subsistence ceilings, in other words maximum eligible daily rates by category and country set by the EACEA. Staff, travel and subsistence costs have to a great extent been realised on a lower level than the ceilings used in the original budget. The reduced costs of staff, travel and subsistence have enabled us to add elements of other costs, working days and meetings to the project throughout the revisions.

Budget – changed conditions and needs Staff costs: Throughout the budget revisions the daily staff cost rate for most partners has been changed from the maximum eligible rate set by EACEA to a daily rate based on real staff cost increased by a guessed percentage of wage increase. In the last revision the general wage increase was set to be 5 percent. The last revision of the budget is based on the following amendments in working days: Category 1 Manager + 20 days Category 2 Researcher, teacher and/or trainer + 174 days Category 3 Technical + 42 days Category 4 Administrative + 3 days Total amendments + 239 days

Budget – changed needs Several physical meetings have been added: SWSC meeting in Mannheim in June 2009 to plan for the Progress Report. Three meetings for the project leader with the EACEA in Brussels. Consortium meeting in Amsterdam in April 2010 which was cancelled. The project had to cover some cancellation costs. Consortium meeting in Lisbon in June 2010. Wp 2 teacher meeting in Liepaja in September 2010. Subcontracting costs were increased from EUR 6.250 to EUR 6.350 according to the contract with Lund University.

Budget – changed needs Other costs: The cost of the web hotel for the whole project period was added to the budget with EUR 200. Rent for 2009-2010 for the VITERO Conference room used for online meetings was added with EUR 2.970. Print costs for pamphlets, posters and information material have been increased from EUR 1.200 to EUR 2.035. Conference fee for 2 participants at the EDEN Conference in Valencia and conference fee for 1 participant at the IASSW conference in Hong Kong, both in June 2010, was added with the total of EUR 1.400.

Budget – breakdown among partners The breakdown of costs among the partners has been adjusted to be in accordance with: The amended meeting plans (travel and subsistence costs). The amended resource plans (staff costs). Added elements of other costs. Equal share of subcontracting costs was increased from EUR 520 to EUR 529 (for HiB EUR 531) according to the increased total costs of subcontracting.

Budget – last revision Original budget Last revision Amendments All figures in Euro Original budget Last revision Amendments Staff costs 288 638 277 673 -10 965 Operational costs 117 150 128 115 10 965 Travel and subsistence 107 700 113 646 5 946 Subcontracting 6 250 6 350 100 Other costs 3200 8 119 4 919 Total project expenditures 405 788

Budget – last revision The grant from LLP covers as before 73,93 % of the total project expenditures. Own funding of the partners will still be 26,07 % of the total project expenditures. Every budget revision has been approved by the EACEA. No formal amendment request to the EACEA has been necessary due to the fact that the amendments to each budget category have neither been more than 10 % nor more than EUR 5.000.

Account – status by august 2010 All figures in Euro Budget last revision Account Unused funds Staff costs 277 673 201 651 76 022 Operational costs 128 115 76 840 51 275 Travel and subsistence 113 646 70 409 43 237 Subcontracting 6 350 Other costs 8 119 6 431 1 688 Total project expenditures 405 788 278 491 127 297

Final report – financial statement The final report shall cover the entire period of the project. The final report must include: Request for payment of the balance. Final financial statement of the eligible costs actually incurred, following the structure of the estimated budget. A full summary of the receipts and expenditures of the project. The final report must be delivered to the EACEA within 2 months following the project end date. The project end date is 30th September 2010 and the deadline for the final report will then be 30th November 2010.

Final report – request deadlines The partners must send in request for reimbursement of all their outstanding claims of travel and subsistence costs immediately after this consortium meeting and no later than 20th September 2010. The project end date of 30th September 2010 will be the last date for the partners to register working hours and staff costs. The exception is work related to the final report by members of the Steering Committee. The deadline for sending in request for reimbursement of staff costs is 15th October 2010.

Final report – last reimbursement Remember to enclose receipts and time sheets for the costs you request being reimbursed to the reimbursement forms! The last payment of staff costs will be conducted after the EACEA has approved the final report and paid the balance. The amount finally determined for the partner`s own funding will be deducted from the last payment of staff costs.

Final report – payment of the balance If the EACEA does not request additional supporting documents or information the EACEA shall pay the balance within 90 days of the reporting date. If the EACEA does request additional supporting documents or information the payment of the balance may take longer time. The EACEA will pay the balance on the basis of the costs actually incurred by the consortium in carrying out the project, within the maximum level of costs set in the project budget.

Final report – final grant The EACEA may reduce the amount of the final grant: By judging some of the reported costs to not be eligible. By taking into consideration the final assessment of the project outcomes, based upon the opinion of external experts. The final assessment will be done by rating values running from 0 to 10. If the rating falls between 0 and 4 a reduction of grant will be applied to the total eligible staff costs according to a scale from 25 % to 85 %. If the total eligible costs are lower than the total eligible cost in the budget, the grant will be limited to the amount obtained by applying the Community grant percentage (73,93 %) to the actual eligible costs approved by the EACEA.

Final report – afterwards The partners shall keep at the ECAEA`s disposal all original documents, especially accounting and tax records, or, in exceptional and duly justified cases, certified copies of original documents relating to the agreement for a period of five years from the date of payment of the balance.