To assess the total costs in externally funded research projects at the University of Agder (UiA), the TDI model with cost centers is used. The finance department has created a dedicated training package for externally funded activities.
There is a minimum standard for monitoring project finances, which divides the process of managing project finances into three phases:
1. Application phase
Project categorization - contributions/commissioned projects (BOA)
As soon as the project manager decides to apply, the project economist/controller should be involved to clarify the project category, ensure the quality of the application budget, and ensure that the project's finances and academic relevance are approved by the project owner (faculty director/department head). This should be done before the application is submitted.
Draft application budgets should be quality assured by the project economist/controller at the faculty at least 2 weeks before the deadline for NFR projects and 1 month before the deadline for EU projects. For more information, see the quality assurance procedure for external projects (in Norwegian).
Definitions
In the state’s financial regulations and internally at UiA, externally funded activities are referred to as "contribution and commissioned activities (BOA)." There is a distinction between different types of BOA:
- Contribution-Funded Activity: Projects where the institution receives support from national and international funding sources for its own activities, without an obligation for delivery from the institution when the support agreement is made. This can include support from NFR, EU, or HK-DIR, for example.
- Commissioned Activity: Projects carried out by the institution in return for payment from external client(s), with an obligation for delivery from the institution when the agreement/contract is made.
- Other income:
- Sales: Activities that, by their nature and scope, cannot naturally be classified as commissioned activities can in most cases be classified as sales. This will apply to smaller-scale activities where transactions occur but where it is not natural or appropriate to establish the formal documentation required for commissioned activities.
- Gifts: Funds that are received by the institution with the intent of strengthening it financially. There must be no conditions on the gift that mean it is considered payment for services delivered to the donor.
Different types of BOA are handled differently in accounting. Before agreements are made and projects are set up in UiA’s accounting system, the BOA type must be determined and remain consistent throughout the project period.
For more information, see the Ministry of Education and Research’s regulations for contribution and commissioned-funded activities (in Norwegian) and UiA's BOA regulations (in Norwegian).
Contribution
In contribution-funded projects, costs are calculated using the TDI model, which stands for time, direct, and indirect costs. Indirect costs are costs that do not appear as direct costs in UiA’s project accounts, such as space, electricity, and administration. Indirect costs are referred to at UiA as overhead.
Rates for Indirect Cost Markups in 2024
For scientific full-time equivalents, total overhead (indirect costs) is 515,000 NOK, divided into three rates:
- Indirect Costs, Faculty: 105,000 per scientific full-time equivalent in the project.
- Workplace Rate: 188,000 NOK per scientific, technical, and administrative full-time equivalent in the project.
- Indirect Costs, Central Administration: 222,000 NOK per scientific full-time equivalent.
Special rates have been developed for doctoral candidates, see doctoral student costs.
Budget templates
Budget templates have been created for budgeting externally funded projects. There are specific budget templates for, among others, NFR and EU.
Education projects:
- For SIU projects, the TDI model (in Norwegian) should also be used.
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology projects should be budgeted without indirect costs.
Cost Centers - Infrastructure Costs
Infrastructure costs constitute a direct cost in the form of cost centers.
Commissioned Projects
In commissioned projects, the scientific and administrative hourly rates are budgeted according to UiA's hourly rates 6-3.
An assessment must be made to determine whether the project is subject to taxation.
2. Initiation and implementation
Before the project begins, kick-off meetings should be held to review the contract and conduct a detailed review of the budget.
In the initiation phase, the project manager, in dialogue with the financial controller at the faculty, should establish the plan for the financial monitoring of the project throughout its duration, including reporting.
The financial controller is responsible for setting up the project and forwarding the project number to the project manager.
Project setup
The faculty is responsible for ensuring that the project description, project budget, and contract are signed and sent for archiving.
The faculty's project economist/controller sets up the project in UBW_prosjekt according to the following user guide. Required attachments include the signed contract and, if applicable, the VAT form.
The project economist/controller informs the project manager of the project number.
If there are changes to the original contract, the updated version must be sent to the accounting office.
If UiA is the coordinator for a collaborative project where the amounts are in euros, a euro account can be used as the payment account to prevent UiA from taking on the currency risk for the amounts to be forwarded. This must be agreed upon with the accounting department.
Implementation
During the implementation phase, the project economist/controller should provide the project manager with ongoing financial monitoring and support for external and internal reporting. For all projects, costs/hours must be recorded in accordance with the TDI model at a minimum each trimester, regardless of the funding source.
For Horizon Europe projects (as well as Marie Sklodovska-Curie), specific procedures have been developed for implementation (in Norwegian).
Similar procedures will be established for the various NFR categories, as well as for Interreg, Erasmus+, and SIU.
Timesheets - Horisont Europa (HEU)
If you have been awarded a HEU project, it is important to maintain daily timesheets for the project. The finance section has prepared a ready-made template that can be used for this purpose.
The hours are charged in UBW Project.
Purchasing in projects
When the university receives funding from externally funded projects, such as those from the EU or NFR, the laws and regulations on public procurement apply.
This means that all purchases of goods and services in such projects should, in principle, be subject to competitive tendering.
Transfers between project participants do not need to undergo competitive tendering and are also exempt from VAT. This assumes that, in the project funding application, it is clearly defined who is the Project Owner and who are the Partners in the project.
If a third party is mentioned in the application as a participant in the project but not listed as a Partner, the service offered by this third party must be competitively tendered unless other exceptions in the regulations can be applied.
Please note that only the procurement office is authorized to assess whether these exceptions can be used. It is therefore important to contact us early in the planning phase so that an assessment can be made.
When purchasing goods and services for the project, the university's standard procurement procedures should be followed. This means that the university's procurement agreements (e.g., IT equipment, flowers, travel agency) should be used. For purchases where the contract value exceeds NOK 100,000 excluding VAT, the Procurement Office must be contacted.
The contract value can either be a single purchase over NOK 100,000 excluding VAT or purchases over several years where the total value exceeds NOK 100,000 excluding VAT.
Following the university's procurement procedures ensures the acquisition of the right goods or services at a good price, based on a contract that ensures favorable commercial and legal terms. It also ensures compliance with the Public Procurement Act, which the university is obliged to follow.
For ordering goods or services, the university's ordering system should be used. Contact your faculty administration for more information.
3. Closure phase
In the closure phase, the project economist/controller at the faculty, in dialogue with the project manager, should determine whether the project can be closed or if there is a basis for an extension.
The project economist/controller must check the project's lifespan. This should normally be 6 months after the agreed end date (12 months for EU-funded projects). This allows for the inclusion of all costs associated with the project period.
Once project activity has been confirmed as completed, the project economist/controller should assist the project manager in preparing a financial final report for the project. For EU projects, the finance department must approve the financial final report (Form C).
Account closure
The faculty’s project economist/controller, in collaboration with the project manager, must ensure that all financial transactions have been recorded.
Responsibility: Faculty’s project economist/controller and project manager.
Deadline: Ongoing, in accordance with the funder's reporting requirements.
Final reorting to external funder
The academic and financial final reporting must be conducted in accordance with the funder's reporting requirements.
Responsibility: Faculty's project economist/controller and project manager.
Accounting closure of project
Projects are closed for posting transactions after the project's end date, unless changes have been reported.
The project economist/controller should create a closing voucher based on the provided template, "Internfaktura prosjektavslutning".
Once the voucher is recorded, the project economist/controller should email the accounting office to notify them that the project can be closed. The accounting office will then proceed to close the project.
Responsibility: Faculty’s project economist/controller and the accounting office.