2.18. Project reporting

Most of the funding schemes lay down requirements for financial and content reports. The project manager or the principal investigator is responsible for content reports.

In order to ensure the eligibility of costs, it is essential that the eligibility rules (see also the chapter on kick-offs) and their compatibility with the internal rules of the university are reviewed with the action consultant immediately in the initial phase of the project.

In the case of research grants, the following shall be provided:

• for four-and five-year projects it will be necessary to submit an interim report during the third year. In 2021, the submission of the interim report took place via ETIS to 1 March until 17:00.
• the holders of the postdoctoral grant will have to submit the final report no later than two months after the end of the project.

The report must be approved by the university’s contact person; the report is not considered to have been submitted before it has been approved. Within a reasonable period of time before the deadline for the report, the Research Administration Office will send a notification letter to the mailing lists setting the university’s internal deadline for submission. This internal deadline is necessary in order for the person responsible for the action at the Research Administration Office to be able to verify the costs reported in the project’s accounting record, their amount and eligibility, the references in publications, the date of publication (according to the rules for research grants, a time period has been determined, during which the publications must be published in order to be taken into account) and to approve the report if accurate. If it is necessary to make corrections, the report will be returned to the submitter of the report, or the grant holder may provide access to the contact person who will assist in making the necessary corrections in the Estonian Research Information System ETIS.

In the case of both projects funded based upon fixed unit costs and projects where the funder does not require any supporting documents on the costs incurred, it is mandatory to follow the eligibility rules set out in the regulation on the measure concerned. Some items of expenditure (scholarships, etc.) or types of invoices (internal invoices, etc.) may be ineligible under the regulation.

In the case of both projects funded based upon fixed unit costs and projects where the funder does not require any supporting documents on the costs incurred, the funder has the right to perform follow-up checks.

In the case of projects funded by the Structural Funds, interim reports (as a rule, once a year) and financial reports (either quarterly or semi-annually) shall be submitted. Most of the reports on projects funded from the Structural Funds are entered via SFOS (Structural Funds Operating System). For information on financial statements, see the chapter “Financial statements and their presentation”. Most of the reporting of structural assistance is cost-based and supporting documentation must be provided in addition to the expense receipts and payment documents. Therefore, proper documentation of activities from the start of the project is essential, as it provides a good audit trail and evidential support in the confirmation of transactions for the funder.

The statements of expenditure (financial statements) shall be submitted on a fifteen- or eighteen-month basis in the case of projects funded by the European Commission and on a six-month basis in the case of Interreg projects. All the reports shall be submitted on the form provided by the funder. All the members of the research group involved in the process shall be listed in the deliverables in order to avoid the need for subsequent clarification.