Financial auditing services

Tender description

The University of Edinburgh was awarded around 440 European Commission Framework Programme 7 research projects as either co-ordinator or partner. Those projects which have a contribution from the EC of more than 375 000 EUR have to be certified by an independent auditor at the end of the project. There were around 178 projects that required or will require an audit. The University is currently involved in around 200 European Commission Horizon 2020 Framework projects as either co-ordinator or partner. It is estimated that, over the life of the H2020 programme, the University will participate in around 350 — 400 of these projects. There are currently around 50 FP7 and 64 H2020 projects that require an audit over the next 5 years with the figure expected to increase as more projects are awarded throughout the Horizon 2020 Programme. We estimate that we will require around 30 to 35 audits per year over the next 5 years. The audits for these projects will not be split evenly throughout the year, therefore the contractor must have flexibility to be able to vary staff input according to the number of audits required each month. Where possible the University of Edinburgh will provide a forecast of the number of audits due each month over the following 12 months, this forecast would be updated and sent regularly to the contractor. For each FP7 project, where it is required, the auditor will need to provide a Certificate on the Financial Statement CFS. The purpose of this report of factual findings is to give the Commission relevant elements necessary to assess whether costs and, if relevant, the receipts and interests generated by the pre-financing charged under the project are claimed by the beneficiaries in accordance with the Relevant legal and financial provisions of the FP7 model Grant Agreement. In a change from FP6, the auditor's role is limited to reporting only factual findings as opposed to forming an independent opinion on the eligibility of costs. The Commission specifies in detail the procedures to be undertaken, and the auditor reports the factual findings observed as a result of performing those procedures as a basis for the Commission to conclude on the eligibility of the claims. The University already has a Certificate on the Methodology for FP7 projects. One of the benefits of this is that, where a project does have a contribution from the EC in excess of 375 000 EUR, only one audit is required at the end of the project and no interim audits are required. For each H2020 project, where it is required, the auditor will need to provide a Certificate on the Financial Statement CFS. Each project usually has more than one Reporting Period and a Financial Statement is required for each Reporting Period. The auditor will have to certify costs claimed on each Form C. However, no matter the number of Form Cs being audited, this is looked upon by the University as one audit.