{"id":4367,"date":"2026-10-02T15:47:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/fop-u-hrantovomu-proiekti\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T15:47:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:47:05","slug":"fop-u-hrantovomu-proiekti","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/fop-u-hrantovomu-proiekti\/","title":{"rendered":"Private entrepreneurs in a grant project: when donors accept"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<h2>Can you engage private entrepreneurs in a grant project<\/h2>\n<p>Yes, and most donors accept it. Yet this is the arrangement that produces the largest share of disallowed costs in audits, because organisations use a service contract for what is in substance employment. Below is the line beyond which a donor or the tax authority reclassifies the contract, and the document set that keeps you on the right side of it.<\/p>\n<p>A note on terms: a private entrepreneur in Ukraine is a FOP, an individual registered for business activity, usually on the simplified tax regime. Donors often see FOP contracts as the local equivalent of an individual consultant agreement.<\/p>\n<h3>When donors accept a FOP without questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The work has a deliverable, not a process.<\/b> A website built, a study completed, a training module, a translation. There is something to describe in the acceptance act.<\/li>\n<li><b>The contractor is independent.<\/b> Uses own equipment, sets own hours, has other clients.<\/li>\n<li><b>Payment follows the deliverable.<\/b> Per milestone or per volume, not the same amount twice a month.<\/li>\n<li><b>The contractor was selected through a procedure.<\/b> Three quotations or a tender, depending on the amount and the donor rules.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>When the donor disallows the cost<\/h3>\n<p>The problem is almost always the same: the person is in substance an employee. The indicators of an employment relationship are listed in Article 21 of the Ukrainian Labour Code, and the auditor looks at exactly those:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the contractor performs the work personally and cannot send a substitute;<\/li>\n<li>works to the organisation&#8217;s schedule and at its premises;<\/li>\n<li>reports to the project manager and receives day to day instructions;<\/li>\n<li>receives the same amount at the same intervals regardless of volume;<\/li>\n<li>is integrated into the structure: corporate email, a job title, listed in the team;<\/li>\n<li>the organisation provides equipment and materials.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Where several indicators are present, the contract is treated as employment by substance whatever its title. For the donor this is an ineligible cost; for the tax authority it means assessed personal income tax, military levy and social contribution; for the organisation it adds a fine for an unregistered employee.<\/p>\n<h3>What else the donor looks at<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Conflict of interest.<\/b> A FOP registered to a board member, the director or a relative is disallowed in almost every case. If such a contract is genuinely necessary, it is approved by the donor in writing before signature.<\/li>\n<li><b>Registered activity codes.<\/b> The activity codes in the register must match what the contract says. A mismatch is a formal ground to disallow.<\/li>\n<li><b>Income threshold.<\/b> If the FOP exceeds the annual income limit of its tax group, part of the payments may become problematic. Limits are revised annually and should be checked as at the contract date.<\/li>\n<li><b>Market rate.<\/b> The donor compares the rate with the market. The justification is either the selection procedure or a written comparison of several quotations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Documents required for every FOP<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Service contract describing the deliverable, deadlines and acceptance procedure.<\/li>\n<li>Terms of reference or scope of work, if the contract is a framework one.<\/li>\n<li>Acceptance acts for each payment period listing what was actually delivered. Wording such as &#8220;services rendered in full&#8221; without detail is not accepted by the auditor.<\/li>\n<li>Payment documents whose narrative refers to the contract and the act.<\/li>\n<li>Extract from the single tax payers register as at the contract date.<\/li>\n<li>Selection procedure documents, if the amount exceeds the donor threshold.<\/li>\n<li>The deliverable itself in tangible form: file, report, presentation, event photographs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>What the auditor checks<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Whether all seven documents exist and whether their dates are consistent.<\/li>\n<li>Whether the act describes a specific deliverable rather than general wording.<\/li>\n<li>Whether the contract terms and the payment pattern show indicators of employment.<\/li>\n<li>Whether the FOP is a party related to the organisation.<\/li>\n<li>Whether the selection procedure was followed and the price justified.<\/li>\n<li>Whether the deliverable exists in tangible form. Its absence turns the cost into an unsupported one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Five errors that cost money<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The same monthly amount for &#8220;consulting services&#8221;.<\/b> It looks like payroll and is tested like payroll.<\/li>\n<li><b>An act with no list of work.<\/b> The most common ground for disallowance and the easiest to fix before the audit.<\/li>\n<li><b>The FOP registered after the work started.<\/b> Contract dates and register extract must agree, or the contract must start later.<\/li>\n<li><b>No file with the deliverable.<\/b> The study was paid for and the text of the study does not exist.<\/li>\n<li><b>Selection carried out after the contract was signed.<\/b> Donors look at dates, and backdating is visible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>When an employment contract is the better option<\/h3>\n<p>If the person is needed permanently, works to the organisation&#8217;s schedule and performs a process rather than a one off deliverable, an employment contract is cheaper from the start. In the budget it is a personnel cost line, donors accept it, and the risk of tax assessments and disallowed costs disappears. Trying to save on taxes through a FOP in such cases costs more than the saving.<\/p>\n<details>\n<summary>Can we pay a FOP who is a board member of the organisation<\/summary>\n<p>There is no formal prohibition, but it is a direct conflict of interest and donors disallow such costs in almost every case. If the work genuinely requires this person, the decision is taken by the board without their participation and the contract is approved by the donor in writing before signature.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>What should the acceptance act say to be accepted<\/summary>\n<p>A specific list: what was done, in what volume, for which period, referring to the terms of reference. If there is a tangible deliverable, name it and attach it. The phrase &#8220;services rendered in full, the parties have no claims&#8221; without detail is not accepted by the auditor.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>How many quotations are needed before selecting a FOP<\/summary>\n<p>It depends on the threshold in the donor rules, commonly three quotations above a certain amount. The quotations must be collected before the contract is signed and kept together with the selection decision and its justification.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Is a FOP an administrative cost of the project<\/summary>\n<p>It depends on the role. A project accountant or office manager is an administrative cost and counts towards the admin ceiling. A trainer, researcher or developer is a direct activity cost. Misclassification leads to breaching the administrative cost ceiling and disallowance of the excess.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<h3>If you need a review<\/h3>\n<p>We have audited international technical assistance projects since 2000 and see FOP contracts in every project. Tell us the donor and the period, and we will say which contracts to look at first and which documents are missing. A proposal follows once we have reviewed the assignment.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The line between a service contract and employment, seven documents required for every contractor and five errors that cost money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4367","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.2.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can you engage private entrepreneurs in a grant project Yes, and most donors accept it. 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