FAQ

A: There are following changes:

• The threshold for the mandatory external audit of projects is changed from the current EUR 10 000 to EUR 15 000 and will apply from the October 2024 call (for projects starting with 2243xxxx).
• The grantees should request the licensed auditor to prepare a Certificate on financial statements.
• Methodology shall be in line with the International Standard on Related Services 4400 (“ISRS4400 (Revised)”). This methodology prescribes specific procedures for the auditor to be applied (“Agreed-upon procedures”). These procedures are defined specifically for each type of cost declared in accordance with the grant contract. The auditor will report a confirmation or an exception for each specific procedure.
• According to the new rules, the Terms of Reference (‘the ToR’) are to be signed by the Grantee and the Auditor. Auditors will produce an independent report of factual findings concerning the Financial Statement(s) and issue a Certificate of Financial statements (‘CFS’) based on the compulsory reporting template (available on our website).
• The Grantee must submit the CFS to the Fund for approval within 30 working days after the Contract Implementation Period End.

A: The CFS is composed of two separate documents:

• The Terms of Reference (‘the ToR’) to be signed by the Grantee and the Auditor;
• The Auditor’s Independent Report of Factual Findings (‘the Report’) to be issued on the Auditor’s letterhead, dated, stamped and signed by the Auditor which includes:
• the Agreed-upon procedures (‘the Procedures’) with factual findings to be confirmed by the Auditor;
• Financial Statements (Summary table, Financial settlement)

The CFS must be included in the final report according to Article 4.1 of the Contract.

A: The auditor must be a holder of a license to provide audit services in accordance with the local legislation applicable in the country where the Grantee’s seat is located and must provide evidence of the license to the Grantee and the Fund upon request. An internal auditor will not be accepted. In case Grantees located in EU member states, the Auditor must be qualified to carry out statutory audits of accounting documents in accordance with Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council Directive 84/253/EEC or similar national regulations.

The following are links to national chambers of auditors in the V4 countries as well as to the IFAC:

• http://www.kacr.cz/vyber-auditora
• https://pana.gov.pl/ or http://kibr.org.pl/pl
• http://www.mkvk.hu/
• http://www.skau.sk/
• https://www.ifac.org/who-we-are/membership

A: You should use an exchange rate published by the national bank of your (the grantee’s) country. You can choose one of two options:

• the exchange rate applicable on the date of receiving the grant tranches to the grantee’s bank account stated in the grant contract (If the grant is paid to an EUR account and is not converted to the local currency, the grantee can still use the exchange rate from the date of receiving the grant tranches).
• the monthly average exchange rate of the respective national bank in the last full month of the project implementation period.

If the grant is divided into three tranches, different exchange rates can be used for the Interim Financial Settlement (reporting costs incurred in the first phase of the project) and the (Final) Financial Settlement (reporting costs incurred in the second phase of the project).

A: No. The financial settlement should always be filled out in the currency of your organization's (the grantee’s) bank account(s). If you use several accounts for payments (e.g., one in EUR, one in your local currency), fill out one Financial Settlement sheet in each bank account currency, corresponding to the costs paid from the account in question. These should be created as separate sheets in one Excel file.

If you paid any foreign invoices, you should fill in the Financial Settlement with the amount deducted from your bank account in your own bank account currency. The exact amount can be found in your bank statement or bank transfer confirmation.

A: The Financial Settlement (FS) shall only list bank transfers made from your (the grantee’s) account. If your partners paid certain costs during the project implementation, you should fill out the FS with information about the reimbursement you made to your partners for these costs. Payments made to partners should be divided according to cost categories, even if you reimbursed all costs to them in one payment.

A: Yes, but you will have to consult it with the Fund's project manager in advance. If the delivery is delayed with more than a few working days, an official request letter must be submitted to the Fund for approval. The letter must be written on a letterhead paper, contain a detailed reasoning and specific date for the new delivery of the Interim Report. The request must be signed by the statutory representative and sent to your project manager in scanned form.

A: The Fund has 10 working days to review the Interim Report counting from the date of their postal delivery. If the report is incomplete or if further documents are needed, the deadline applies from the day of delivery of these additional documents. Once the Interim Report is approved the Fund has 15 working days to transfer the 2nd tranche of the grant. Therefore, the sooner you provide us with the Interim Report and Interim Financial Statement, the sooner you will know whether the Fund approves the continuation of your project and receive the next tranche from our side.

Please keep in mind that you are only eligible for the second tranche if you have already spent approximately 50% of the first installment by the given deadline. Otherwise the Interim Financial Statement cannot be approved and you will need to prepare another report complying with this criterion.

A: The Interim report is a textual summary of the preliminary progress and results of the project implemented within the marked period. When filling out the Interim Report, try to be as specific as possible. The Interim Report is not only a checklist of events and output that were implemented, but also serves as a means to evaluate your own work, different aspects of the implementation and the role of the partners in the cooperation. Describe whether the implementation is on track as you planned, highlight any changes that were made compared to the original plan and any obstacles that hindered your work.

A: No, we do not require additional documents by default, however, the assigned project manager may ask for them on an individual basis if some cost items or descriptions are unclear.

A: Instructions can be found on a separate sheet in the Interim Financial Statement XLS file. When describing the individual costs in Column 5 “Cost description”, be as specific as possible. The Fund cannot accept insufficient descriptions such as “expert fee”, “hotel” or “bus ticket” without the proper indication as to whom the cost was paid, for what reason, and for what output/activity.

A: If your expenses have been incurred in more than one currency, you must create a separate Financial Settlement sheet for each currency. Please do not forget, however, that the total sum should always be indicated in EUR (€) in each sheet.

A: When choosing the proper rate, you have two options. You may either use the exchange rate of the national bank (where the grantee resides) on the date of  converting the first installment into the local currency or the monthly average exchange rate of the respective national bank in the last full month in which the first (interim) period of the project ends.

A: Templates are found at https://www.visegradfund.org/archive/documents/visegrad-visegrad-strategic-grants/

A: The Interim Report and the Interim Financial Statement need to be uploaded to the online system, under the tab “Interim Report”, and sent to the Fund via post as well by the given deadline.

A: The following documents must be delivered to the Fund’s address 20 working days after the end of the implementation period.

FOR PROJECTS UNDER €10,000:

• Final Report – printed out from our online system, last page signed and stamped by the statutory representative of the grantee.
• Financial Statement – all pages and additional sheets filled out, signed and stamped by the statutory representative of the grantee.
• Copies or samples of promotional materials that cannot be uploaded to our system.
• Signed Transportation Costs Reimbursement Sheets (if applicable) – see instructions in Annex 2 of this document.
• Copies of all invoices connected to the costs described in the Financial Statement and their corresponding bank transcripts.

FOR PROJECTS OVER €10,000:

• Final Report – printed out from our online system, last page signed and stamped by the statutory representative of the grantee.
• Financial Statement – all pages and additional sheets filled out, signed and stamped by the statutory representative of the grantee and by the auditor.
• Copies or samples of promotional materials that cannot be uploaded to our system.
• Audit Report with all necessary annexes – signed and stamped by the certified auditor, indicating his/her credentials as member of the relevant national chamber of auditors.

A: If your expenses have been paid for in more than one currency, you must create a separate Financial Settlement sheet for each currency. Please do not forget, however, that the total sum should always be indicated in EUR (€) in each sheet.

A: When choosing the proper rate, you have two options. You may either use the exchange rate of the national bank (where the grantee resides) on the date of conversion of the previous installment into the local currency or the monthly average exchange rate of the national bank in the last full month of the project implementation period.

A: Instructions can be found on a separate sheet in the Financial Statement XLS file. When describing the individual costs in Column 5 “Cost description”, be as specific as possible. The Fund cannot accept insufficient descriptions such as “expert fee”, “hotel” or “bus ticket” without the proper indication as to whom the cost was paid, for what reason, and for what output/activity.

A: In 2020 the Fund introduced a web-based final reporting interface, which can be accessed in our online system (my.visegradfund.org). Grantees need to fill out all sections under the tab “Final Report” and click on SUBMIT on the last page. Once the electronic report has been submitted, you must print out the Final Report by clicking on the PRINT button. This printout shall be signed and stamped by your statutory representative and sent to the Fund via post.

After online submission, the report cannot be modified any longer. Should any problems arise, please contact your assigned project manager.

A: Yes, they can. This is the only cost that can be paid after the implementation period.