Financial Audit
The Challenge
Enterprises that decide to participate in projects funded on public funds (European Commission, national authorities) need specific features and competencies. There are a variety of technique-administrative rules and a careful billing and tracking process is crucial in order to obtain funding and successfully conclude a project.
Financial audits required by funding authorities aim at verifying compliance with contractual and regulatory constraints. These checks are also carried out after the completion of the projects: it is therefore essential to preserve the historical memory.
The Solution
Numerous companies participating in funding programs approached Eurokleis in order to build a proper reporting system of eligible costs that would enable qualified auditors to obtain a certified audit (pursuant to Directive 2006/43 / EC of the Parliament European Council and Council Directives 78/660 / EEC, 83/349 / EEC, 84/253 / EEC).
Due to Eurokleis’ experience it is possible to develop a contract-based method that is both standard and flexible according to the needs of individual companies.
Eurokleis in particular assists companies in:
- Setting up the reporting system in accordance with the law, the financing agreement and the accounting system adopted by the beneficiary
- Constantly adapting the procedures to the requirements of the project and to the demands of the supplier
- Certifying the costs and issuing the certified audit
The right way to prepare for an eventual checkup is to provide all the useful documentation which demonstrates compliance with the financial rules and inherence of the expenses during the tenor of the project.
The checks
Our checks focus on the:
- Compliance with the terms of the contract;
- Nature, legality and regularity of costs declared on the basis of supporting documentation;
- Correspondence between the amounts paid and recorded in the accounting books of the contractor;
- The costs involved in the activities defined in the project and which are not related to activities for personal purposes;
- Eligibility of declared costs.
The Report
Activity reports provide details on:
- The analysis and control of the nature, legitimacy and regularity of the expenditure in accordance with the conditions laid down by the current legislation and the contract stipulated with the paying agency;
- Control over the use of advances;
- Control of accounts in relations with third parties;
- Control of corresponding expenditure with the project budget;
- Control of the registration in the books of accounts of the expenses incurred;
- Where documentary evidence is available for possible audits by the accounting authority and the accounting authorities (Court of Auditors, OLAF, etc.).
Author of the article
Francesco Bellini
senior partner & founder - Innovation & Finance
Chartered Accountant and Accounting Auditor
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