What costs can be declared in Horizon Europe?

Horizon Europe grants only reimburse eligible costs, i.e. costs that comply with the specific conditions set out in the Grant Agreement and correspond to tasks in the Description of Action. All costs must be actually incurred, identifiable, verifiable, and recorded in the company’s accounts.

The costs are normally broken down according to the following budget categories: personnel costs, purchase costs, subcontracting, and indirect costs.

Personnel costs

The cost of personnel assigned to the project (full-time or part-time, temporary or permanent).

Normally the project budget contains the estimated working time (so-called “person-months”) and the corresponding amount of the labour costs, including gross salary, social security contributions, taxes, benefits, and any other costs that may arise from national laws and the employment contract.

In Horizon Europe, the personnel costs are calculated for every person separately using a specific methodology which is based on a daily rate and day equivalents. The time the person works on the project may be either documented by a time-recording system or monthly declarations.

Subcontracting

Cost of services to implement a specific task described in the project Work Plan. In case the company lacks core competencies or needs crucial expertise, it can decide to subcontract to an external provider. Beneficiaries must choose subcontractors on “best value for money” competitive selection procedures, requesting several offers.

Examples of subcontracting

• A clinical trial execution
• Validation trials of the newly designed prototype
• Contract for a specific website creation
• Preparation of a full IPR strategy for your project

Purchase costs

Goods, work, or services to support the beneficiary in the implementation of the project tasks, divided into three categories:

• Travel – all travel related to the project,
• Equipment – the depreciation costs, cost of renting or leasing, and in some specific cases also full equipment costs,
• Other goods and services

Examples of typical purchase costs

Travel	Travel to events, conferences Travel to meet clients and partners Travel related to the technical work and/ or subcontractors/ contractors, external experts
Equipment	Moulds for prototype elements production Lab equipment Machine for components production
Other goods & services	Materials Consumables IPR protection Support in communication Support in commercialization Dissemination activities

Indirect costs

The indirect costs are a fixed amount charged at a flat rate of 25% of the eligible direct costs, excluding costs of subcontracting. Normally this budget category covers all the materials and supplies for which the exact share in the project cannot be exactly established. For more info see our blog post Indirect costs in Horizon Europe.

It is possible that the project budget does not include all the above-mentioned categories, however, the original budget may be adjusted by adding new categories and/or transfers of amounts between different budget categories. Just note that these adjustments cannot lead to an increase in the total grant amount.

Still have doubts about costs in Horizon Europe? We can help! Contact hello@getpolite.eu for more information and advice.