Time Recording System in Horizon Europe

Calculating personnel costs in Horizon Europe projects can sometimes be quite the nightmare. However, using a trustworthy time recording system is key to avoid losing some of your well-needed grant.

Time recording is an essential part of your project management within the Horizon Europe programme. When purchasing consumables for example, invoices are used to prove that you did indeed incur certain costs. Similarly, when declaring personnel costs, there needs to be a system that allows the EC and an external auditor to verify that the resources were indeed allocated to the HE funded project; payslips alone are not sufficient proof.

What system should I use then?

Once the employees are assigned to the project, whether they are full-time or part-time, working exclusively on the funded project or not, you can choose:

• to implement reliable time records (timesheets) to track either on paper or on the computer, all the time passed on the project.

or

• to prepare and print a monthly declaration of the days spent on the project.

Whichever you choose – timesheets or declarations – they should be printed out and signed every month. If your time recording system is fully digital, electronic signatures can be used. However, it’s best to have a documented and secure process for managing user rights and a verifiable log of all transactions.

You should also make sure that all the information you include in the timesheets matches your internal records of annual leave, special absences, and work-related travel.

You can also choose to record days or hours – depending on what better suits your internal standards and past practice. However just keep in mind, if internally your records track working hours (instead of days), you will have to convert those hours into days to properly calculate and report the personnel costs in Horizon Europe.

To learn more on how to calculate personnel costs in Horizon Europe, go to our article How to calculate personnel costs in Horizon.

Once you choose the system that best works for your organisation and familiarise your employees with it, these timesheets can then be easily included as part of the administrative workflow in your company.

And don’t forget, you’ll need to keep all these documents to justify the costs claimed, especially when it comes time to obtain your CFS or in case of an audit – but that’s a topic for another day.

Do you need help in developing your time recording system for your HE funded project? Contact us via hello@getpolite.eu for more information or guidance.