All purchased equipment will be appropriately insured and kept in good working order. Prior to the completion of the final accounts, any major project equipment will be sold at the best possible price and recognised in the final accounts as income. [Project to fill in] State where and how fixed assets are recorded for the project. The assets register will be maintained in an Excel spreadsheet or in a book and will include ID or serial number, acquisition date, description of asset, location and acquisition costs. Store register/inventory list A store register has been established e.g. for research materials. [Project to fill in] State where and how research materials (item number, location, date of purchase, invoice number and value) are stored and recorded. A store register/inventory list must be established if e.g. research materials for the project are stored. Transport register A transport register is kept covering the transport elements of the project, e.g. maintenance of logbooks, requisitions, maintenance plans and transport running costs of the project. [Project to fill in] State how the transport components of the project are recorded and managed. It must be possible to follow the cost of transport/the project vehicle (when such exist) per km including fuel and maintenance, and to charge transport costs as relevant to different activities or components within the project according to budget. A transport register must be established covering the transport elements of the project, including maintenance plans and logbooks. Logbooks for project vehicles are obligatory to ensure proper registration of the use of the vehicle. All logbooks must be authorised by the project coordinator. Also transport related costs in connection with rental of vehicle or other transport costs of the project including airfares must be part of the transport register. Payroll system/register A payroll system/register must be established covering salaries, tax issues,
Controls A control function responsible for all financial transactions has been established for the project. Transactions to be checked every month will be listed. They may include payroll, reports from transport section, stores, imprest accounts, etc. [Project to fill in] State the time frame (e.g. every month) and list the types of transactions and routines relating to the monitoring and control of those transactions. The emphasis on budget control must be used to ensure that expenses conform to approved budget limits and financial plans. One important parameter when controlling the budget is to compare records and ensure that no budget variances exist between the records. Authorisations/Signatories The project has established procedures for authorization of financial transactions based on the four eyes principle. Authorization will be done on all documents supporting an expense. Special note shall be made of authorization to sign procurement orders. [Project to fill in] State the names and designation of the signatories and indicate for each signatory the types of expenses and amounts the signatory can approve. A sample of the signature, a sample of the initials, the date from which the signatures are valid, must be attached to the manual. It must be clearly defined who has the authority to sign on behalf of the project regarding incurred expenditures (to approve expenditures, sign cheques, pay cash and collect cash from the bank) and who can approve the different types of project expenses. In the presence of the project he/she must always be one of the signatories regarding expenses incurred. The list of signatories must include the name and designation of the signatory, a sample of the signature and, a sample of the initials as well as indicate the date from which the signatures are valid. The list must be signed by the project coordinator and attached to this manual. Any person authorised to expenditure on behalf of the project must be stated, and any limitations to that authority (types of expenses and amounts) must be clear. Bank reconciliation Accounts statements are received from the bank and reconciled to the cash In case of differences such will be investigated with the bank. [Project to fill in]
State how often bank reconciliations must be made (at least monthly), who should validate and approve them and how to follow up on differences in the reconciliations. At least monthly bank reconciliations are important to ensure cash flow management and to ensure that the project never exhausts the cash funds on the project account. Annual Accounts The project will submit the project accounts for the previous fiscal year to DFC electronically. The format for annual accounts to DFC is available as Appendix 5 to the General Conditions. Reporting deadlines Internal deadlines are defined for internal accounts reporting in order to meet the external deadline for the presentation of annual accounts. [Project to fill in] the deadline for internal accounts reporting in order to meet the deadline for submission thereof to DFC (e.g. two weeks before DFC’s deadline). State possible sanctions if accounts are not submitted within the deadline. The deadline for submitting annual accounts to DFC is April 1. It is the responsibility of the project coordinator to ensure that the annual accounts to DFC are submitted on time. In order to meet the deadline, the project coordinator has agreed on some internal deadlines with the project researchers, collaborating institutions and the Danish research partners. The annual accounts to DFC include: annual accounts (covering the RI and Danish research partners’ part of the budget) signed by the project coordinator. Annual accounts of the RI covering the RI part of the budget signed by the project coordinator and the RI’s relevant accounting officer. With his/her signature, the RI accounting officer endorses that the annual accounts are true and accurate, that the total amount transferred by DFC The project coordinator (together with the project accountant) must ensure sufficient time to validate and accumulate the accounts. The internal deadlines should be communicated to all project researchers and should be part of the partnership agreement with the Danish research partners. Possible sanctions for not reporting as agreed could also be defined. The accounts must also contain a report on the amount of funds unused at the end of the year, and any interest earned must be declared separately. The Danish research partners subject to the Danish Audit of the State Accounts are only required to have their final project accounts audited by an external auditor.