Collaborative Research & Development Finance Guide

Transcription

1 Collaborative Research & Development Finance Guide Competition for Funding May 2010 Valid for Technology Strategy Board Competition: Integrating smart meters into systems in smart homes: Single Stage Competition Collaborative R&D Projects Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 1

2 Contents 1. Finance Full Stage submission (Full) process Introduction Optional Review Service - Finance Forms Finance forms Single Stage Finance Summary Form Completion of the Summary Finance Form Single Stage (Full) Application Finance Forms Completion of the Industry Partner Finance Form (Full Stage Applications only) Academic Collaborators - Je-S Forms Costs and ineligible expenses Costs Process after finance forms are submitted Further Information Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 2

3 1. Finance Full Stage submission (Full) process 1.1. Introduction The full stage application form contains a finance summary table. This should be supported by Industry Partner finance forms for each industrial partner and a copy of the Je-S submission output form for each academic partner. The totals of each form should match those in the summary finance table. In addition for academic participants, the output table of the Je-S submission provides the figures which should be input on the Technology Strategy Board Je-S finance form for any academic partners. Full Stage Finance required documents are: Finance Summary Table Industry Partner Finance Form (1 per partner) Je-S (academic - submission output pdf) Technology Strategy Board Je-S form Details on what is required for each stage and how to complete these forms are found in the following sections Optional Review Service - Finance Forms Each Industry partner has the option to submit their Finance Form for review prior to submitting the final version. If they wish to take advantage of the optional review service, they may submit their finance up to noon one week prior to the competition deadline. This should be submitted via the lead partner. Once they have completed the form, the lead partner can upload it for review via their secure upload area, following the instructions provided and marking their upload as DRAFT. The applicant will then receive comments on their form from the Technology Strategy Board via within four working days. The applicant may repeat this process as appropriate up until noon seven days prior to the competition closing. Please note that this is not the same as making a submission; the applicant will still need to submit their FINAL form to the application. 2. Finance forms Single Stage 2.1. Finance Summary Form The applicant will be required to complete a finance summary table at the end of the application form. This will outline the totals for each partner in the project and the grant sought from the Technology Strategy Board. This form will be reviewed by the assessment panel alongside the response to the specific questions. Incomplete or inaccurate tables risk being rejected or subject to further scrutiny. If the applicant is Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 3

4 unsure about the Finance Summary Table and how to complete this, please contact the Competition Helpline: Tel: or Any finance enquiries made at the deadline will not result in a time extension. All deadlines are absolute Completion of the Summary Finance Form Column 1 Organisation name Column 2 Postcode Column 3 Contribution to the project by each organisation ( ) Column 4 Funding sought from the Technology Strategy Board Column 5 Other funding from public sector bodies Column 6 Total ( ) Bottom Row Total ( ) Please provide the full names of the lead organisation and participants in the project consortium (organisation names as noted in Companies House). Please provide the postcode of the lead organisation and each of the partners in the project. Please ensure this is the accurate and full post code of the organisations. Please list the total contribution to be made to the project by each organisation as appropriate. Please enter the funding sought from the Technology Strategy Board for this competition. Please include any funding for the project from public sector bodies for which the applicant have applied for separately, and not as part of this competition. Funding from other Public Sector Bodies might include other applications to Research Councils, other Government Departments, Regional Development Agencies, Devolved Administrations, Public Sector Organisations and some Charities. The purpose of this column is to provide the Technology Strategy Board with information on the total funding for the project. The total cost of the project this is the sum of columns 3, 4 and 5 and will be entered automatically. The total of each column will be entered automatically Single Stage (Full) Application Finance Forms Each industry participant must complete an Industry Partner Finance Form available via the Competition website. Applicants will be able to obtain their Finance Form from their lead partner who will obtain it from the website. Once completed, each of these forms should be collected and then submitted on-line by the lead partner. Guidance on how to submit Industry Partner Finance forms is provided via the Competition website. Once the applicant has submitted an Industry Partner Finance form to the website it is possible to update it by re-submitting the form as many times as may be required, up until the deadline. Key Tips: Please be aware that the competition will only put forward the last submission uploaded at the competition deadline as all previous submissions will be deleted by the overwriting of the file. It is therefore the applicants sole responsibility to ensure they upload the application form they intend the competition Assessors to receive. It is the applicants responsibility to check they do not upload a blank or incomplete finance form. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 4

5 Finance forms must be submitted for every partner in the consortium, irrespective of the sums requested or the scale of their involvement. Each industry partner also has the option to submit their Finance Form for review prior to submitting the final version, as discussed in section 1.2 All Academic participants must submit an on-line Standard Proposal. This is an on-line Form which must be completed and submitted via the Research Councils Joint electronic submissions (Je-S) website by each academic partner. The applicant will need to provide the summary information from the Je-S form to the lead partner so that they can complete the finance table in the Application Form. The on-line Je-S submission Form should also be forwarded to the Technology Strategy Board once the Je-S application process has been completed before the competition deadline. For guidance on how to submit the on-line Form see the Je-S website at Once forms have been submitted via Je-S it is not possible to resubmit them, the lead partner is still required to submit the final version of each of the Industry Partner forms as described above by the deadline. Important Note: A one-page Justification of Resources should be submitted as an attachment to the Je-S application when applicable. In this document, applicants should describe the need for the resources they are requesting. The applicant will also be requested to complete a one-page Impact Summary plan, this is not a compulsory requirement but the document is reviewed by our Research Council stakeholders who utilise this form for their consideration of co-funding any applications coming through the Technology Strategy Board competition. Please refer to Appendix 2 for more details. For Sole Traders, Partnerships and Micro-Companies, additional details financial aspects of the applications and definition of the categorisation is contained within Appendix Completion of the Industry Partner Finance Form (Full Stage Applications only) The applicant may only use the Industry Partner Finance Form that has been obtained from the Competition website and provided to them by the lead partner. The form will have some data already entered including the unique reference number. The Form must not be altered, converted or renamed. The Industry Partner Finance Form is an Excel spreadsheet. Each industry partner completes their own Form for their own costs. Each form should therefore not include the costs of any other partner within the project. The following table provides guidance on the completion of each worksheet of the Finance Form. Once completed, each Finance Form should be collected and then submitted on-line by the lead partner. For a full explanation on costs, please see Costs, section 3. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 5

6 Worksheet Form Status Guidance Applicant Details Other Public Funding Other Projects Guidance This worksheet indicates the status of the applicants Form and provides the essential information that they must provide the Lead Partner with for inclusion in the finance table of the main Application Form. The worksheet includes an automated completion checker which notifies the applicant when they have entered information into all the required cells throughout the Form. Please note however, that the checker can only see that they have entered some data, it is not checking for the quality or the eligibility of their costs. This worksheet contains information on which costs are eligible and not eligible and other essential information. Please read this page before completing the Form. Enter the information requested about the company and the project. It is particularly important that the name of the organisation is completed with the full legal name of the organisation as this is what will appear on the Offer Letter if they are successful. There is a list of SIC codes on the final worksheet. If the applicant is not aware of the correct one, consult this list and enter the most appropriate code. The applicant must provide details of other public funding that they are currently applying for or have already applied for, for this particular project. Do not include grants that have been used to reach this point in the development process and are now completed. This data is important as other public sector support may count as part of the grant the applicant can receive for the project. Provide the TP numbers of all the competition projects their organisation has been involved with in the past and any other applications they are making to this competition. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 6

7 Labour Costs In the top section, complete the table to calculate the number of working days in each year. This is used to automatically calculate the day rate for each given salary. Note that sick days are not eligible as part of the deduction. For each individual within the project provide their gross salary and the total number of days they will work on the project. The cost is automatically calculated. The gross salary should include the employer s NI, any company contributions to pension, life insurance or other package costs. If there is more than one individual on the same pay grade, indicate the number of staff and sum the total days worked by all staff on that rate. Two methods of declaring overheads are available. Applicants can complete the Overhead Rate worksheet or provide their own detailed explanation on this worksheet. If the applicant chooses to provide their own working, provide equivalent detail to that used in the Overhead Rate worksheet such that the Technology Strategy Board can check the eligibility and appropriateness of all costs included in the calculation. If the applicant is claiming a rate that was approved in an existing project, they must provide the TP number of that project in addition to providing the full calculation. There is no guarantee that historic rates will be acceptable. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 7

8 Overhead Rate (optional) Materials Costs Capital Equipment Costs Sub Contract Costs Travel & Subsistence Costs Other Costs This worksheet can be used to calculate the applicant s overhead rate. Complete the form using figures from the latest accounts. Materials costs are those items that are consumed during the project but that are not included in any general stores that may form part of the overhead calculation. Provide details of the items of materials, the quantity and item costs. Capital items are items that cannot be written off on purchase. Provide details of the items, whether they are to be purchased new or they are already owned by the organisation. Provide a value for the item at the beginning and at the end of the project. Provide an estimate of its utilisation within the project. For example, if a piece of equipment will only be used by and for this project, then the utilisation is 100%. If it is to be shared with another activity, then the utilisation will be the percentage of its total use by this project. Sub Contract Costs include work carried out by third party organisations that are not part of the project or the collaboration. Provide estimates of the travel and subsistence costs involved in the project. This worksheet can be used to include eligible costs that are not easily described by any of the preceding worksheets. Please check the guidance for lists of eligible costs but note the following common mistakes: Project audit or legal costs are ineligible costs and should not be included; IP protection costs are only allowable for SMEs and limited to 5,000 per partner; Chemicals, supplies etc., should be described under Materials Costs. RTOs wishing to carry out Wider Business Benefit Activities (WBBA) should also provide details and the costs of these activities on this worksheet. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 8

9 Project Costs Summary The costs entered throughout the spreadsheet are automatically transferred to this worksheet. Provide an estimate of how the costs will be spent across the financial year(s) of the project. Provide the amount of grant assistance sought from the Technology Strategy Board. This figure should not include any amounts sought from other sources as detailed on the Other Public Funding worksheet. Note that the minimum grant that can be requested by an industry partner is 10% of their eligible costs SIC Codes A complete list is provided to assist the applicant in completing this field on the Applicants Details worksheet Academic Collaborators - Je-S Forms All academic collaborators must calculate their project costs on the basis of Full Economic Costs (FEC) as defined by the Research Councils. Technology Strategy Board funding for successful projects will be provided at 80% of Full Economic Costs, in line with Research Council Funding. All academic collaborators must use the Research Councils Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system, to calculate and submit their financial information. Project costs should be calculated at year one levels without indexation. Indexation will be added to academic costs by the Technology Strategy Board sponsors. The remaining 20% of FEC does not constitute a contribution to the project by the academic partner and must not be included in any total project costs provided by the academic. Academic participants must submit an on-line Standard Proposal. This is an on-line Form which must be completed and submitted via the Research Councils Joint electronic submissions (Je-S) website by each academic partner. The applicant will need to provide the summary information from the Je-S form to the lead partner so that they can complete the finance table in the Application Form. The on-line Je-S submission Form should also be forwarded to the Technology Strategy Board once the Je-S application process has been completed before the competition deadline. For guidance on how to submit the on-line Form is provided in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 for the Je-S requirements see the Je-S website at Once forms have been submitted via Je-S it is not possible to resubmit them. The lead partner is still required to submit the final version of the Je-S form along with each of the Industry Partner forms as described above by the deadline. Important Note: A one-page Justification of Resources should be submitted as an attachment to the Je-S application when applicable. In this document, applicants should describe the need for the resources they are requesting. The applicant will also be requested to complete a one-page Impact Summary plan, this is not a compulsory requirement but the document is reviewed by our Research Council stakeholders who utilise this form for their consideration of co-funding any applications coming through the Technology Strategy Board competition. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 9

10 Organisations eligible to be considered as academic collaborators are: Universities and similar HEI organisations; Government Research Establishments; Not-for-Profit Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs). Not-for-Profit RTOs are: RTOs that are, or that are constituent parts of, a charity registered with the Charities Commissions; or Associations that are eligible for exemption from corporation tax under section 508 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988; or RTOs that are wholly owned subsidiaries of an association approved under section 508 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act whose articles of association require that all profits are returned (gift-aided) to the section 508 association. RTOs should refer to the specific RTO guidance provided in Appendix 4 of the Guidance for Applicants document. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 10

11 3. Costs and ineligible expenses 3.1. Costs A range of different components make up the overall costs related to a project that are considered, the following table outlines key areas: Eligible Costs If the applicant is unclear how to record the likely costs they should contact the Competition Helpline. The cost estimate must include the costs for the total project, i.e. all collaborators and participants involved in the project. Technology Strategy Board funds are paid on the basis of audited actual eligible costs incurred and defrayed. Industry Participants: The following headings show the main costs that the Technology Strategy Board is prepared to support: Labour Costs Overheads Materials Consumed This includes the costs of personnel working directly on the project. Applicants should provide the total man-days effort and cost required for the staff required to work on the project, briefly describe the role of each person within the project and provide their gross direct employment cost (salary, employers NI and other package costs) and the total labour effort in man days for each role within the project, together with the total number of working days per year for the organisation (365 days less weekends and holidays etc.). In calculating the labour costs, reasonable overheads can be included. The overheads must exclude the costs of land, buildings, and other operational costs not directly attributable to the project. Reasonable overheads can be included, as stated above. Two methods of providing information on overheads are available. The applicant can either complete the overhead calculator worksheet provided with the Industry Partner Finance form or may submit their own overhead rate calculation. If they choose the latter option, include a detailed summary showing the calculation method of overheads that their auditors will use when verifying the grant claims including a full list of the items believed to be included as indirect or overhead costs. Note that if previously agreed overheads rates are quoted; the applicant must still describe the methodology and include references to the previous project(s). These will be the materials to be consumed on the project, not included in the overheads, purchased from third parties. Materials supplied by subsidiaries or associated companies should exclude the profit element of the value placed on that material. If waste or scrap material has a significant residual / resale value the figures should reflect this. Foreseen cost increases, such as on specific materials, may be considered by the Technology Strategy Board. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 11

12 Capital Equipment Sub-contracts, Consultancy Fees (including Fees for Trial and Testing) Travel and Subsistence Other Costs Patent Costs (SMEs only) The applicant should provide details of capital equipment and tools to be bought or used on the project, giving the purchase cost (or value at the start of the project if they already own the equipment), its expected residual value at the end of the project and utilisation within the project. The form will then calculate the depreciation value applicable to the project. The applicant should show any work that is essential to the success of the project where the expertise does not exist in the collaborative group. For example, they may wish to demonstrate that it would not be cost-effective to develop in-house skills for this one project. The same rules governing the use of subsidiaries and associated organisations with regard to supply of materials apply here. Attention will be paid to the size of this contribution when assessing eligibility and level of support. The applicant should only include reasonable costs that are justified and will be incurred exclusively for the progression of this project. Note that if any general travel and subsistence is included in the overhead calculations, this proportion should be subtracted from the Travel and Subsistence expenditure during the claims process. Other costs should include costs not accounted for in the above sections. Some examples follow. The applicant should ensure that a case is made for the other costs within the application form. Training Costs These costs are eligible for support where they are specific to and necessary for the project. The Technology Strategy Board may consider support for management training specific to the project but will not support ongoing training. Preparation of Technical Report(s) For example, where the main objective of a project is the support of standards or technology transfer. Applicants should demonstrate how this report is above and beyond what would normally be produced through good project management. Market Assessment There is some scope for support of market assessments studies in order to more fully understand the applicability of the project results to the intended market and to help steer the project towards exploitable ends. Licensing in New Technologies Exceptionally, the Technology Strategy Board may consider support where it makes sense to do so, for example, to avoid reinventing the wheel. Where imported technology makes up a large part of a project (where technology is valued at more than 100,000) then it will be expected that there is development of that technology as part of the project. The Technology Strategy Board may support some of the costs of protecting foreground Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for SMEs up to a total of 5,000 per partner. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 12

13 Project Management Software Certification Receipts and Residual Values for Energy Projects Legal and accounting costs Wider Business Benefit Activities (WBBA) Contribution in Kind Cash Transfers The costs of project management by a lead organisation on behalf of the consortium are eligible and should be included with the labour totals. In cases where management is sub-contracted, a strong case should be made for the necessity and benefits of this approach. In this case the costs should be included in the Sub-Contract costs section. The provision of software licences by members of the project consortium must only reflect the true costs of supplying that software to the project and not the commercial rate, the inclusion of any profit element or the amortisation of previous development costs. The preparation of disks, manuals, installation, customisation, training and lost opportunity costs may be eligible. For EUREKA projects only, reasonable certifications may be eligible for support where it will improve market acceptance. Receipts from electricity generation and residual values of prototype plant will be addressed by the Technology Strategy Board under standard Treasury rules whereby a proportion of the revenue or displaced electricity costs will be recovered and a discounted residual value of a generating plant will be calculated similarly. The legal costs of setting up the project or the collaboration and costs associated in conducting audits, accountant s reports or making grant claims are ineligible and must not be included as an Other Cost. Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) may include WBBA costs which can attract up to 100% funding. Note that this is only available to RTO collaborators that satisfy that definition and only their WBBA costs can attract this level of funding. WBBA costs must be described in details and justified as dissemination efforts above and beyond what would normally be expected within the project. These are contributions made to the project from outside of the consortium. They can be in the form of access to facilities, supply of materials, labour or expertise but must not include a profit element. Contributions of this type should be shown as a positive value in the other costs section of the form with their value contributing to the total eligible costs of the receiving partner. Grant can be claimed against such contributions. If a cash contribution is being made to the project from outside of the consortium, this should be shown as a negative value in the other costs section of the form, thus reducing the eligible costs for the receiving partner and reducing their grant application. It is possible for partners to make cash contributions to other partners in the project, such transfers are cash neutral to the total eligible costs of the project. The donating partner should show the cash value in their other costs as a positive value. The receiving partner should show an equal negative value in their other costs section. Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 13

14 Ineligible Project Costs The following costs are ineligible and should be excluded from any part of the project costs and any overhead calculations: Input VAT, Interest charges, bad debts, profits, advertising, entertaining, Hire purchase interest and any associated service charges, Advertising and marketing costs or activities, Profit earned by a subsidiary or by an associate undertaking work subcontracted out under the project, Inflation and contingency allowances expressed as an overall arbitrary percentage, additional to eligible costs. However, reasonable inflation rates can be included in labour and material cost estimates, The value of existing assets such as IPR, data, software programmes and other exploitable assets that any of the collaborators contribute towards the project, Project audit or legal fees, Any of the remaining 20% of FEC costs from academic collaborators Process after finance forms are submitted The applicant will be able to see if the upload of the document(s) has been successful by reviewing the secure login area. If the applicant experiences any difficulty, please contact the Competition Helpline on During the assessment process the lead partner and/or the other participants in the consortium may be contacted by the Technology Strategy Board or its agents, to seek further detail and clarification of certain aspects of the application, e.g. the eligibility of project costs. This will not form part of the assessment of the application and this information will not be provided to the assessors. It will be for the purpose of clarifying, if necessary, the details provided in the Finance forms, so that if the application is successful, any unnecessary delays in issuing an Offer Letter are avoided. Being contacted for this information does not indicate either success or failure in the assessment process. Following the submission of the application forms the Technology Strategy Board will undertake financial viability checks on applicants. These are carried out as soon as possible after the Application Form submission deadline and are based on the latest independently audited accounts filed on the Companies House database. To ensure that the best available information is used to make a judgement on the financial position of an organisation, the accounts must have their period end within the last 21 months of the application deadline. The purpose of the viability check is to: a. Assist in understanding if the organisation is likely to be able to bear the cost of the additional research proposed over an extended period of time since grant payments are made in arrears of actual incurred sums expended; b. To establish the organisation s ability to meet its current obligations, whilst at the same time participate in the collaborative research project; c. To establish the organisation s balance between internal long term funding and external funding; Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 14

15 d. To establish the project s impact on the organisation s normal trading. If an organisation fails one or more of the test criteria, or if specific ratios cannot be worked out because of limited information due to abbreviated accounts, or if the applicant is not required to file its accounts with Companies House, then additional information may be requested directly from the applicant. This may be one or more of the following: A set of Management Accounts; Summary trading forecasts and a quarterly cash-flow forecast for the total period of the project s planned duration; Details of bank overdraft facility, bank loan or funding from other sources. 4. Further Information For further information on the Technology Strategy Board and the competition, application, finance and assessment process, please refer to the following: Competition Website: provides comprehensive information on the Technology Strategy Board including an up-to-date list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ s); Competition Helpline: All enquiries regarding competitions are to be directed to the Helpline, as Technologists and/or Competition Officials are, by nature of their work generally out of office conducting their duties and not instantly available to respond to queries. However, the Competition Helpline is in place to receive and respond to all queries, information requests, and points of clarity regarding competitions. Any queries can be submitted in the following methods: competitions@tsb.gov.uk Tel: Previous Competitions / Live Competitions / Forthcoming Competitions: There is a range of competition Briefs, presentations, forms, information available on the archive secure section of a secondary website engaged for the Technology Strategy Board. The applicant can refer to the following link for any immediate point of reference information that may be require, but should note this data will at some point in the future be transferred over to the Technology Strategy Board website: Technology Strategy Board Competitions Page 15