Cuenta justificativa: showing where every euro went
Winning the grant is half the work. The other half is accounting for it, and that is where grants already awarded get lost.
The file with which the recipient of a grant proves to the awarding body that the activity was carried out and how the funds were spent.
Article 30 of Ley 38/2003, General de Subvenciones, and articles 72 to 75 of its regulations set out three forms.
With supporting expenditure documents (article 72)
The full one. It includes:
- An activity report evidencing that the conditions were met.
- A financial report with a classified list of expenditure and investment, identifying the creditor, the document, the amount, the issue date and the payment date.
- The invoices and their proof of payment.
- A detailed list of other income or grants that funded the activity.
- Three quotes where applicable, and a receipt for the repayment of any unspent balance.
With an auditor's report (article 74) and simplified (article 75)
The simplified form is reserved for grants of less than €60,000, and only where the governing rules of the call expressly provide for it.
The three-quotes rule
Article 31.3 of the Act requires at least three quotes where the grant-eligible expenditure exceeds the thresholds for a minor contract. In the Public Sector Contracts Act, those thresholds are €40,000 for works and €15,000 for supplies and services.
An example
A grant of €18,000 for a project budgeted at €25,000. If the award decision grants it as a percentage of the total cost, you have to account for the full €25,000, not the €18,000. Accounting only for the grant-funded part is grounds for partial repayment.
The deadline is set by the grant call; if it says nothing, it is three months from the end of the period for carrying out the activity.
The mistake that comes up most
Accounting for the grant with delivery notes, pro formas or invoices without evidencing payment. It needs a full invoice and proof of payment within the eligible period. A real, properly documented expense paid outside the period has to be repaid all the same.
Where this carries on in Cairos: Non-profit bodies and their obligations.
Terms that go with this one
Almost no tax concept makes sense on its own. These three are the ones that most often turn up beside it.
Annual financial report
The document in which a non-profit body sets out its income and expenditure for the year, identified by category and by project.
InvoicingDelivery note
The document evidencing the delivery of goods and its date; it is not an invoice and has no tax effect on its own.
Non-profit bodiesEntidad de utilidad pública
The administrative declaration recognising that an association serves the general interest, with associated advantages and accountability obligations.
This, handled without thinking about it
Cairos keeps the invoices, the record books and Hacienda's forms from the same data, so the theory on this page turns into boxes that are already filled in.
No card and no minimum term.