WIKI – For Projects starting before October 2022
This Wiki is intended for all EUKI grant recipients to assist you in the implementation of your project. You can use it at any stage of the project to find guidelines and get answers to key questions that arise during implementation. If you have any questions that are not answered in this Wiki, you can always get in touch with your EUKI contacts.
Please note that there are different versions of the Wiki, depending on whether your project started before or after October 2022.
Project Start
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General information
Before and during the project start, the preperations to be made can be slightly overwhelming. Therefore, going through the requirements step by step can be helpful.
The Financial Guidelines for Grant Agreements and Zuschussverträge should be read very carefully before the project starts.
At the beginning of your project, you will be asked to fill out your:
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General information
It is important to clearly distingish the Grant Agreement or Zuschussvertrag from the partnership agreement. The grant agreement is concluded between GIZ and the implementer which is why the implementer bears the responsibility for the technincal and financial implementation of the project.
The partnership agreements however, are conluded between the implementer and each implementing partner (Art. 5.1).
The necessity of a partnership agreement is based on the variety of obligations between the implementer and each implementing partner within the EUKI project.
Since GIZ is not part of the partnership agreement, there is no standardised template to set up the respective document. This gives you the flexibility to include the specifics of your cooperation.
Critical aspects to be clarified are e.g., the forwarding of funds, the reporting requirements of the implementing partners and questions on the technical implementation among many others.
Please notice that prior to any forwarding of funds, the implementer is required to conduct approriate due diligence to assess the integrity and suitability of each implementing partner. Please document this due diligence procedure. Guidelines on how to do this have been sent to you at the beginning of your project.
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General information
In the Schedule of Financial Requirements, you can specify at which time of the project you require which amount of the grant.
It is subdivided into periods of three months for Grant Agreements and two months for Zuschussverträge. The required amount for each period is divided into the different budget categories. The required amounts are linked to the Requests for Pre-financing Instalments.
„How to“
We prepared a video series explaining „How to Prepare a Schedule of Financial Requirements“ which you can find on our Learning Platform.
The template for the Schedule has been sent to you at the beginning of the project.
The filled in template must be signed and sent to the Financial Department of GIZ in Bonn.
DEUTSCHE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR
INTERNATIONALE ZUSAMMENARBEIT (GIZ) GmbH
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32 + 36
53113 Bonn
GermanyIt is important that, in case of any changes to your requirements, you inform your EUKI contact person for financial matters first.
Please make sure that Check at the far right of your Schedule never displays red numbers and that “correct” is displayed! (See graphic below)
Please always send updated versions of your Schedule first as an Excel file to your contact-person before sending it to Bonn.
Template for Schedule of Funding Requirements
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General information
Requests for Pre-Financing Instalments are the prerequisite for any disbursements to you. They state how much of the grant you need for the next period.
The requests always have to be in line with your current Schedule of Financial Requirements.
„How to“
We prepared a video series explaining „How to Prepare a Request for a Pre-Financing Instalment “ which you can find on our “For Projects” page.
Each pre-financing instalment constitutes an advance payment and shall be requested by using the ‘Pre-financing instalment’ template.
The first two Requests have to be signed and send to the the Financial Department of GIZ in Bonn right at the start of the project together with the Schedule of Financial Requirements.
DEUTSCHE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR
INTERNATIONALE ZUSAMMENARBEIT (GIZ) GmbH
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32 + 36
53113 Bonn
GermanyFor subsequent periods, the Requests have to be sent together with the latest Financial Statement, according to the graphic below. A disbursement must be requested promptly at the beginning of the respective disbursement period, provided that the corresponding funding requirement exists. If the available remaining funds exceed the estimated requirement for the disbursement period about to start, disbursement should not be requested until the next disbursement period.
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General information
At the beginning of your project, you have to hand in a confirmation by your bank that the bank account indicated on the Request for Pre-financing Instalments is held by your organisation.
This is also a prerequisite for any disbursements to you.
All funds made available under your Grant Agreement must be accounted for separately from any funds provided by other donors. For this reason, you need to hold either a special bank account or a sub-account to receive funds for the project.
„How to“
This confirmation can take the form of a digital bank confirmation deemed verifiable for audit purposes. The confirmation should preferably be in English or German.
We recommend to use the template provided here.
Instead of completing the template, your bank may prefer to submit an individual letter. In this case, please ensure that the letter contains all the information requested in the template.
The filled in and signed document must be sent to the Financial Department of GIZ in Bonn. Usually together with the first Schedule of Financial Requirements.
DEUTSCHE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR INTERNATIONALE ZUSAMMENARBEIT (GIZ) GmbH
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32 + 36
53113 Bonn
GermanyA new confirmation is required each time the bank account number changes.
Project Implementation
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Congratulations for successfully navigating through the project start. You are now a member of the EUKI community!
Our video on the financial implementation will give you a good overview.
General information
During the Project Implementation you have several recurring liabilities.
You have to regularly hand in:
Additionally, there might be upcoming challenges regarding the Implementation of your project.
For technical questions you can always contact your technical contact person at EUKI.
For all financial or contract related questions you can always contact your contact person for financial matters at EUKI.
For all questions on project communication, please contact Oliver Hölcke (oliver-andre.hoelcke@giz.de) and Anselm Bareis (anselm.bareis@giz.de).
In addition, you can always consult the Financial Guidelines for Grant Agreements and for Zuschussverträge.
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General information
By submitting financial statements, the implementer provides proof on how the funds provided were used. Therefore, submitting financial statements are the prerequisite for further requests for pre financing instalments.
Financial statements are compiled for each reporting period and have to be submitted 2 months after the respective reporting period ended.
Besides sending the financial statement to GIZ in Bonn please send an email to your financial contact person at EUKI to inform him/her on the submission.
Please note that once you‘ve submitted the financial report it can no longer be amended or supplemented. Corrections can be made in later financial statements as explained in the documents below.
It is important to be aware that incorrect financial reporting can result in significant reductions of eligible costs and a request of repayment to GIZ.
„How to“
You can find the template on our website, called Annex 3d-f here .
Furthermore, we produced a video tutorial explaining how to fill out the financial statement which you can find here: How to Prepare a Financial Statement – EUKI
A document with further assistance can be found on the GIZ website: Assistance for preparation financial statement
Moreover, it is required to follow the regulation within the financial guidelines on the GIZ website (here). To get directly to the paragraph for financial statements please look for Article 3.
The filled in and signed document must be sent together with the supporting documents to the Financial Department of GIZ in Bonn via regular mail.
DEUTSCHE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR INTERNATIONALE ZUSAMMENARBEIT (GIZ) GmbH
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32 + 36
53113 Bonn
GermanySubmitting hard copies is mandatory.
Additionally, you can also use GIZ File Transfer for the EUKI Finance Team
Please send your records as ONE PDF-file and sorted chronologically.
Using the GIZ File Transfer requires you to enter your name and the email address of your responsible financial officer mentioned in the GA, select the file that you wish to submit, and enter a password that is to be communicated in a separate email.
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General information
The awarding procedure as stated in Article 6 of your Grant Agreement is essential for a successful financial implementation of your project.
When awarding contracts for supplies and services for the EUKI project, the GIZ awarding process has to be followed and documented very carefully.
„How to“
For recipients of Grant Agreements (not Zuschussvertrag) please go through the following documents:
The procurement guidelines (Annex 4a) on our website show you the value thresholds and the respective documentation.
The documentation of contract awards (Annex 4b) has to be filled out in order to document that the procurement process is in accordance with the grant agreement.
As for the general implementation, it is the responsibility of the implementer to check and approve the award procedure of all implementing partners.
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General information
Implementers are required to report to EUKI on the progress of project implementation every six months. Unless stated otherwise in the agreement, narrative reports are to be prepared for every six months from the beginning of the project. The specific reporting dates are also stated in your Agreement. The reports are to be submitted two months after the respective reporting period has ended (e.g., Reporting period ends 30.06., then the report is due 31.08.)
The reports are to be limited to information directly related to the project implemented by the recipient. The reports should highlight key points of the project and where appropriate show solutions to problems. Key project findings such as studies and other supporting documents for the reporting period are to be added as supplementary documents and listed under the annex.
For each report, the latest template must be downloaded from the EUKI website. The recipient is obliged to submit the narrative report including annexes electronically via e-mail to the GIZ contact person.
At the end of the project, a final narrative report has to be submitted. Please find more information on this here.
Information on success stories prepared for the narrative report can be found here: Guidelines: EUKI Success Stories
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General information
Communicating your project comes with few obligations and multiple opportunities.
All project activities and publications must comply with the EUKI corporate design guidelines. You can download the English logo package here. Please make sure to use the logos appropriately and according to the guidelines.
Moreover, you can use EUKI as a multiplier and communicate your project activities through our channels. We encourage you to communicate your milestones, achievements, and event invitations on the EUKI website. Once your project starts, the EUKI communications team will provide you with log-in data and guidelines on how to upload your contributions.
Whenever you share posts about your EUKI project on social media, please make sure to tag EUKI on LinkedIn (European Climate initiative (EUKI)) and Facebook (@EUKIClimate) or X (@EUKI_Climate).
Finally, please send your project publications as toolkits, papers or guidebooks to Oliver Hölcke (oliver-andre.hoelcke@giz.de) and Laura Mueller (laura.mueller1@giz.de) and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any ideas or questions on communicating your EUKI project.
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General information
As contractually agreed, GIZ has the right to conduct an external audit of the EUKI funded project. External audits can take place during or/and after the project.
“How to”
In case your project will be audited, the EUKI secretariat will contact you and inform you on the date, the auditor, the reporting period to be audited, etc.
Furthermore, you will receive an email explaining which documents have to be prepared.
On-Site Visits
Among those projects which have been selected for an external audit, some are provided with a so-called on-site visit carried out by EUKI staff to give you additional support before the audit takes place. It is the goal of an on-site visit to facilitate the financial project implementation and to prepare the implementer for the actual audit with an audit simulation.
After the auditor has audited the project, a final meeting between the implementer, the auditor and an EUKI representative will take place. In this meeting the preliminary audit results are disucussed.
When the audit report is finalised, it will be sent to our financial department in order to incorporate the findings in the checking process. The amount of eligible costs will then be reduced accordingly.
It may be helpful to already know about audit findings which appeared to be rather common as e.g.: Missing and inadequate documentation, incorrect awarding procedure, ineligeble staff costs, reported expenditure not based on acutal costs, costs not budgeted or exceeding the budget.
It is important to be aware that incorrect financial reporting can result in significant reductions of eligible costs and a request of repayment to GIZ.
Fortunately, you can keep potential audit findings at a minimum by following the instructions provided, as e.g., on our Wiki page.
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General information
During the implementation of your project there might come up several challenges, problems or opportunities not planned for at the beginning of your project.
In your Financial Statements you can only report costs for items budgeted in your financial plan at the beginning of your project.
If you find that there may be differences between budgeted and actual costs in the future, or that you need funds for items that are not budgeted, please contact EUKI immediately such that we can discuss your options together.
For small shifts of funds between the different budget categories the so-called 20% rule (see Article 1.5 of your contract) can be used. It is possible to spend up to 20% more than the amount specified for each budget line, with the exception of administration costs and forwarding of funds if these items are contractually agreed. Any overspending must be compensated by corresponding lower spending in one or more of the other budget line/s.
For bigger budget changes or for example a potential prolongation of the project a contract amendment is necessary. Such contract amendments are only approved in exceptional cases when EUKI considers the proposed changes as essential for the successful completion of the project.
„How to“
In case of a potential Contract Amendment we require:
- An updated budget with all changes compared to the original budget highlighted in yellow (in case there are changes to the budget).
- An updated project proposal with all changes compared to the original project proposal highlighted in yellow (in case there are changes to the project proposal).
- A letter in pdf-format requesting the contract amendment adressed to GIZ including all major changes.
Project Finalisation
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General information
When the end of your project is coming closer there are a few things to bear in mind.
In the end phase of the project, it is important to think about the equipment that was inventoried during the project and owned by GIZ. Therefore, the process of handing over the equipment has to follow certain steps.
After the submission of your final financial statement our internal accountant will compare the amount of eligible costs claimed with the amount of funds you received from GIZ.
Please be aware that the finalisation of the EUKI project also includes the submission of the final narrative report.
Costs incurred outside the project period are not eligible and can not be claimed in the last financial statement.
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General information
You have to create an inventory of all items financed using the GIZ grant which cost more than EUR 800 to procure or produce.
Such items are according to the contract the property of GIZ, but since we consider it more reasonable that the items remain in possession of the projects, a handing over of ownership of these items at the end of the project is necessary.
„How to“
To create the inventory list please use this form. An up-to-date, continuously maintained inventory list must be submitted with each Financial Statement.
The transfer of ownership must be documented using the template in Annex 3g.1, which must be signed by both parties and submitted with the current inventory list at the latest with the final financial statement.
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General information
The final financial statement has to be submitted no later than two months after the project ended.
Please be aware that the submission of the last financial statement marks an important point of the financial project implementation since you now stated and claimed all costs incurred within the project period.
In case you had to inventory items during the project you are required to submit the inventory list and the so-called Record of surrender of equipment and materials (Annex 3g1 and 3g2) at the latest with the final financial statement.
In case your project is subject to an external audit initiated by GIZ the check of the last financial statement will take place only when the final audit report reached our internal accountant. That way potential findings are taken into account. The amount of eligible costs would then be reduced accordingly.
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General information
Unless stated otherwise in the agreement, a final narrative report is to be prepared for the entire project duration. The report is to be submitted two months after the project has ended. The latest template must be downloaded from the EUKI website. The recipient is obliged to submit the final narrative report electronically via e-mail to the GIZ contact person.
The final report is to provide information on the extent to which the targeted project objectives have been achieved. It should contain summarising and concluding recommendations for the countries of implementation and the donor(s). The final report encompasses the current report period and a review of the entire implementation period. Key project findings such as studies and other supporting documents are to be added as supplementary documents and listed under the annex.
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Retained amount
Regarding the last payment there is a difference between german and non-german recipients. Non-german recipients will still have the so-called retention amount which is paid after the last financial statement is submitted (two months after the end of the project) and checked. German recipients do not have a retention amount.
Reclaim
If: amount of eligible cost > amount of payments by GIZ -> In order to balance costs and payments GIZ will transfer the difference to you.
If: amount of eligible cost < amount of payments by GIZ -> In order to balance costs and payments GIZ requests the difference by sending a letter of reclaim / reduce the payment for the retention amount.
If a reclaim is necessary the letter you receive will contain the bank information to transfer the amount back to GIZ as well as the day until the transfer has to be made.