Audit Certificates MariFish Steering Group Meeting 17 th January 2006 Rob Evans Defra Internal Audit

Purpose of Audit Certificates Required under Annex II.26 of the EC Contract Certification of costs (and if relevant receipts) claimed under the project for a specific period of time Pre-financing becomes a settled payment Not to be confused with an audit the Commission may still launch at any time and up to 5 years after the end of the project

Eligible Auditors Performed by eligible external auditor or competent officer for public bodies - contractor free to choose Independent from the audited contractor Auditor works without any direction or interference from the audited contractor Auditor applies unbiased judgement and objective consideration

Eligible Auditors External Auditor: Must be qualified to carry out statutory financial audits Competent public officer:  Has not been involved in processing Financial Statement (Form C)  Independence should be established at a national level  Public body must prove auditor’s qualification is established by relevant national authority

Timing of Audit Certificates Audit certificates of all contractors must be submitted by the coordinator to the EC together with reports within 45 days after end of reporting period Any problem in the audit certificate process will have important consequences!!!! Therefore… Advance preparation with auditor is key

Timing of Audit Certificates Example schedule: t – 60agree on schedule and procedure with auditor t - 0end of reporting period to be audited t + 5provide auditor with documents t + 15final check with auditor t + 20contractor sends audit certificate to coordin. t + 45coordin. sends all audit certificates to EC

Documents needed The audit certificate is carried out on the basis of the following original documents:  Form C (financial statement)  Time sheets  Salary slips  Invoices  Receipts Everything must be recorded in contractor’s accounts according to usual accounting rules

Format of audit certificate No standard format BUT The auditor should follow the model proposed by the Commission in Annex 7 of the FP6 Guidelines to Financial Issues Signed (signature and stamp) and dated by the external auditor (or competent public officer)

Audit Certificate Cost The professional judgement of the auditor Find the right balance between:  Providing a reasonable level of assurance; and  Audit work required (and the directly related price) The cost of the audit certificate is a direct eligible cost under the “Management of the consortium activities”