{"id":4804,"date":"2026-11-13T22:46:57","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T20:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/uk\/sertyfikat-cfs-horizon-europe-erasmus\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T22:46:57","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T20:46:57","slug":"sertyfikat-cfs-horizon-europe-erasmus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/audit-mk.com.ua\/en\/sertyfikat-cfs-horizon-europe-erasmus\/","title":{"rendered":"CFS for Horizon Europe and Erasmus+: when it is required and who issues it"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

A Certificate on the Financial Statements (CFS) is an independent auditor\u2019s report that an EU grant beneficiary submits together with its financial statement. In Horizon Europe it is mandatory when the EU contribution you request for your costs reaches EUR 430,000. In Erasmus+ and other programmes that use the EU model grant agreement the threshold is EUR 325,000. It is calculated separately for each beneficiary, not for the consortium as a whole.<\/p>\n

For Ukrainian universities, research institutes, NGOs and companies this is now a practical question: Ukraine takes part in Horizon Europe as an associated country, and Ukrainian organisations join Erasmus+ consortia. Below: when you need a CFS, who can issue it and how to prepare so the final payment is not delayed.<\/p>\n

When is a CFS required?<\/h2>\n

The conditions are set out in point 4.3 of the Data Sheet and in Article 24 of your grant agreement. This is what the Commission\u2019s model agreements provide:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Programme<\/th>\nThreshold per beneficiary<\/th>\nWhen it is submitted<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Horizon Europe<\/td>\nRequested EU contribution to costs of EUR 430,000 or more; EUR 725,000 for beneficiaries that passed a systems and process audit (SPA)<\/td>\nFor most actions only with the final report; for EIT KIC actions also with interim reports<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Erasmus+ and other programmes on the EU model grant agreement<\/td>\nRequested EU contribution to costs of EUR 325,000 or more<\/td>\nWith the interim or final report once the threshold is reached<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Agreement texts: the Horizon Europe model grant agreement<\/a> and the Erasmus+ model grant agreement<\/a> on the Commission\u2019s portal.<\/p>\n

Two details people often get wrong. First, the threshold is measured against the requested EU contribution, not the total project budget, and in Horizon Europe it includes the 25 percent flat rate for indirect costs. Second, if your grant is a lump sum grant, there is no statement of actual costs, so a CFS is usually not required. Your own agreement has the final word: check point 4.3 of the Data Sheet.<\/p>\n

Who can issue the certificate?<\/h2>\n

The agreement calls for a qualified external auditor who is independent of the beneficiary and works to standards comparable to EU Directive 2006\/43. For an organisation from a third country, including Ukraine, that means an auditor entitled to perform audits under national law. Public bodies may use a competent independent public officer instead.<\/p>\n

The beneficiary chooses the auditor. There is no need to hire an auditor from the coordinator\u2019s country or from the EU, and the Commission keeps no list of approved firms. What matters is that the auditor did not take part in keeping the project accounts or preparing the financial statement.<\/p>\n

What does the auditor check?<\/h2>\n

The certificate follows a mandatory Commission template: terms of reference with a list of procedures and an auditor\u2019s report of factual findings. For EACEA programmes the template refers directly to ISRS 4400 on agreed-upon procedures. The auditor does not give an opinion on the statement as a whole but performs each procedure and reports what was found. We explain the format in our article on ISRS 4400 reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A typical set of procedures:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. personnel costs: employment contracts, time records or timesheets, hourly rate calculation, payroll taxes;<\/li>\n
  2. subcontracting and purchases: best value for money rules, absence of conflicts of interest;<\/li>\n
  3. travel, equipment, depreciation, other goods and services: supporting documents, link to the project, period;<\/li>\n
  4. exchange rates: conversion of hryvnia costs into euros under the agreement rule;<\/li>\n
  5. unit costs, if any: whether they were calculated correctly;<\/li>\n
  6. reconciliation of the financial statement with the accounts and bank statements.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How to prepare and how much time to allow<\/h2>\n

    A CFS is usually held up by documents rather than by the auditor. The advice is simple: agree on the auditor while the project is still running and look at how you record working time. Timesheets and the hourly rate calculation cause most findings in Horizon Europe projects.<\/p>\n