Budget specification

The budget shall be specified on partner level as well as under each cost category depending on the reporting method.

Staff costs

• the planned costs registered in the budget in the application phase shall be based on estimated real costs never mind which of the reporting methods one chooses in Min Ansökan. The social fees you calculate in your budget shall be the specific percentage used in the partner organisation respectively.
• staff costs shall be specified for each role (e.g project leader, researcher, project administration, communicator) and partner with the monthly salary, the percentage of social fees (%) and the level of assignment in the project (full time or fixed part time as a percentage of full time) as well as how many months of the project time this role is engaged to work.
• add one line per role per partner e.g “project leader, 4 000 euros per month, social fees 30%, working 50% for 36 months”. Total cost in column for the intended partner = 93 600 EUR (calculated as 4 000 *1,30 * 36 * 50%).

• When applying for the payment of an approved grant one reports the real costs based on full time or the fixed part time.

Other costs – flat rate 40%

• this is a flat rate based on staff costs to cover “all other costs” and cannot be used in combination with the flat rates for “Office and administrative expenditure” and “Travel and accommodation” nor in combination with real costs for external expertise, equipment costs and infrastructure.
• the use of this flat rate is mandatory in regular projects with a budget up to EUR 200 000 and optional in projects with larger budgets.
• when applying with the 40%-method you only need to specifiy the Staff costs and a flat rate of 40% will automatically be added on top of that.
• when applying for the payment, you only need to specify the Staff costs, however, as for now, you need to add the 40% flat rate manually.

Office and administrative expenditure – flat rate 15%

• a flat rate based on staff costs.
• the system will add and calculate this budget line automatically once the staff costs have been registered when choosing the method “all cost categories” in Min Ansökan.
• this budget line is always a flat rate, and one cannot choose to register real costs.
• this budget line is not possible to use in combination with the 40%-flat rate.
• when applying for the payment, you need to specify the Staff costs and all other real costs, however, as for now, you need to add this 15% flat rate manually.

Travel and accommodation – 15% flat rate

• a flat rate based on staff costs.
• the system will add and calculate this budget line automatically once the staff costs have been registered when choosing the method “all cost categories” in Min Ansökan.
• this budget line is always a flat rate, and one cannot choose to register real costs.
• this budget line is not possible to use in combination with the 40%-flat rate.
• when applying for the payment, you need to specify the Staff costs and all other real costs, however, as for now, you need to add this 15% flat rate manually.

External expertise and services costs

• the planned costs registered in the budget in the application phase shall be based on estimated real costs.
• the costs shall be specified for each partner with a description of the planned purchases.
• add one line per purchase and partner e.g “expert speaker, 1 000 euros, event xxx”. Total cost in column for the intended partner = 1 000 EUR.
• this budget line is not possible to use in combination with the 40%-flat rate.
• when applying for the payment you shall report the real costs paid for external expertise and services costs.

Equipment expenditure

• the planned costs registered in the budget in the application phase shall be based on estimated real costs.
• the costs shall be specified for each partner with a description of the planned purchases. Add one line per item and partner e.g “laboratory equipment, 1 000 euros”. Also indicate whether this is a purchase or a depreciation cost for already bought items. Total cost in column for the intended partner = 1 000 EUR.
• this budget line is not possible to use in combination with the 40%-flat rate.
• when applying for the payment you shall report the real costs paid (or depreciated) for equipment expenditure.

Costs for infrastructure and works

• the planned costs registered in the budget in the application phase shall be based on estimated real costs.
• the costs shall be specified for each partner with a description of the planned purchases. Add one line per purchase and partner e.g “xxx, 1 000 euros”. Total cost in column for the intended partner = 1 000 EUR.
• this budget line is not possible to use in combination with the 40%-flat rate.
• when applying for the payment you shall report the real costs paid for costs for infrastructure and works.

Project revenue

• Projects are expected to share outputs and results widely and free of charge. But a budget line for project revenue is available for projects planning to have some kind of revenue.
• Unexpected revenue not foreseen in the budget in the application stage shall be reported in payment applications to avoid double financing of the expenditure.

Co-financing

• You must specify who the intended co-financiers are (which organisations will contribute with financing to the project?). This can be the partner itself or other external financiers. It is not necessary to submit documentation of approved grants from external financiers nor regarding own financing.
• You will need co-financing corresponding to 35% of the EU-costs and 50% of the Norwegian costs. 
• If you find out that the financing plan differs from what you presented in the application for support, please contact the joint secretariat to change the financing plan.
  
  – If an external co-financier will not be able to finance the project as intended, the project partner will cover the lack of funding itself. This is confirmed by the applicants in the signing document.
  
  – But, if you find out that external co-financing will not be approved, and the project partners are not willing to cover the lack of funding with own financing – please contact the joint secretariat regarding either a withdrawal of the application or a reduced budget so that all planned costs are covered. 

EU-funding and IR-funding

• The EU-funding (65%) and IR-funding (50%) will be calculated automatically by the system once you have added the costs and co-financing.
• In case the EU-share is larger than 65% and/or the IR-share is larger than 50% you will need to add some more co-financing or lower the costs.