FAQ
FAQ navigator (select a topic from the list below)
■ The Programme Manual in moving images
■ Login
■ Creating the joint payment claim (relevant for the lead partners only!)
■ Payment claim module: Financial progress
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The Programme Manual in moving images
Q. Closure: How can you close your project correctly?
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General questions
Q. Where can I find information about how to work and what to do in the SL2014 system?
A. The Programme website has a specially dedicated section to the SL2014: Implementing projects -> e-reporting. Supporting documents to the SL2014 are available for download:
- SL2014 Beneficiary Manual (version 5)
- The Quick Guide to the SL2014
- Interactive Beneficiary Manual
Q. If I have a SL2014 related question, whom should I contact?
A. If answer to your question is not provided in the beneficiary manual, the quick guide or in other e-reporting material, please contact the SL2014 administrator at the JS at ami.sthb@southbaltic.eu.
Q. I have an error or issue with SL2014, which I cannot solve myself. How should I report it?
A. Please send an e-mail to ami.sthb@southbaltic.eu. In the subject please try to shortly describe the problem. In the content of the e-mail, please always indicate:
- project number (or acronym)
- partner number (or name)
- employee (only if problem is related to Project staff module)
- description of the problem (if required – steps, which led to occurrence of the problem).
The more specific you are in the description, the better. It is always helpful to illustrate your problem with print screen(s) from the system.
Q. Is that a lead partner who is bearing responsibility for all actions performed in the SL2014 system connected with the project?
A. The lead partner is not responsible for actions performed by all authorised people in the SL2014 of the project but only for work of the authorised people on its behalf. It is an individual responsibility of each partner and persons authorised to work in the SL2014 system on its behalf.
Q. What is the procedure of adding a person to the list of authorised people to work in SL2014?
A. In case there is a change in the people authorised to work in the SL2014, a new 
Application for granting access for the person to work in the SL2014 (docx) 243.0 KB should be filled in (and/or Application for withdrawal of the granted access of the person authorised to work in the SL2014 (docx) 243.0 KB). The 
List of people authorised to work in the SL2014 (xls) 80.0 KB should be updated by the relevant partner accordingly; changes should be communicated immediately to the lead partner. The lead partner should send updated documents in paper to the JS. To speed up the process of granting access to the system for new people, scans of respective documents should be sent by the LP to the JS using communication module of the SL2014.
Q. What is the reporting period for my project? When should I report?
A. All projects should follow and report according to their reporting cycles specified in the Subsidy Contract (paragraph 9, point 2). The partial payment claim should be submitted to the respective FLC within 15 days after the end of the reporting period. The joint payment claim for the project should be submitted by the LP to the JS no later than 120 days after the end of the reporting period. Detailed information on reporting deadlines can be found here: https://southbaltic.eu/documents/18165/104291/Reporting+deadlines.pdf/afa094f6-8831-4387-a733-b0233df77804?version=1.0
Q. Where should I report ineligible costs?
A. Ineligible costs should not be reported in the SL2014. When submitting the partial payment claim for the FLC verification, usually the amount under ‘Total expenditure’ should correspond to the amount under ‘Eligible expenditure’ and ‘Public support’ (will be different if ineligible costs were detected by the FLC and corrections are needed to be introduced).
Q. What is the official exchange rate for conversion of the expenditures into EUR?
A. The official Commission’s page for currency conversion can be accessed here: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/index_en.cfm
Q. When should I send the Partnership Agreement? Which module to use?
A. The Partnership Agreement should be send the latest with the 1st payment claim. It has to be attached under the module ‘Attachments’.
Q. Beneficiaries from Poland are obliged to publish their requests for price quotations on a specific national website (https://bazakonkurencyjnosci.funduszeeuropejskie.gov.pl/). However, it is not possible to do it until the Subsidy Contract is signed. Is there a way to implement projects with observation of the public procurement rules in time when the Subsidy Contract is not yet signed?
A. Where due to the specific nature of the project an entity begins to implement the project at its own risk before signing the Subsidy Contract , in order to publish the request for quotation such entity should send the request for quotation to at least three potential contractors, if three potential contractors for a given contract exist on the market, and publish the request at least on its website, if it has such website, or on another website used for publication of requests for quotation.
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Login
Q. I insert my email address as my login and password received after clicking ‘Send password’ (under ‘Login and password’), however the system does not let me in. Where is the problem?
A. After clicking a button ‘Send password’, the system automatically sends an email with information about the password. In the email the activation link is also provided. Only upon activating it (by clicking on it), the system will ‘recognise’ you as a user and ask to change the password. NB. Polish beneficiaries should log in through the Electronic Platform of Public Administration Services (ePUAP). Only if the system does not allow to log in via ePUAP, the Polish beneficiaries can use ‘Login and password’ profile.
Q. I forgot my password to the SL2014. How to restore it?
A. Go to the home page of the SL2014 and press ‘Send password’. The system will generate an automatic email with the new password. The access link provided in the email should be activated again, then the password can be changed.
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Creating the joint payment claim (relevant for the lead partners only!)
Q. I [lead partner] am trying to create a joint payment claim for the project. All partial payment claims are approved by the FLCs, however I can see only my own [lead partner] partial payment claim. How should I proceed?
A. Most probably the reason lies in the differently selected by the project partners’ types of the payment claim, for instance, ‘payment claim for reimbursement’, ‘payment claim for final payment’ etc. Make sure that in all partial payment claims same type is selected.
Q. Project partner X has not reported the progress of the project implementation in the previous reporting period (period A), then the partner submitted the partial payment claim for 2 periods (period A+B). When creating the joint payment claim, which reporting period should I indicate if the payment claim for period A has been already submitted?
A. The lead partner should indicate the period A+B, as only then the partial payment claimof partner X will be displayed. The lead partner then selects the partial payment claims that he would like to include in the joint report (for the partner B –partial payment claim for 2 periods).
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Payment claim module: Financial progress
Q. The FLC of the project partner from Denmark [same for Sweden and Poland] is asking to provide the List of documents in the national currency. Where should I attach the document?
A. In the module ‘List of documents’ only excel file with amounts in EUR should be attached. In the column ‘Comments’ the exchange rate used for currency conversion should be inserted. The List of documents with calculations in the national currency should be attached under the module ‘Attachments’.
Q. I filled in all data in the List of documents. When importing file to the SL2014, the system shows errors. What could cause the failure to import the document?
A1. Column K (contract number) is left blank – the system will not allow submitting the document. The column should be filled in either with ‘Not applicable’ (NOT ‘N/a’!) or with Contract number of the relevant contract registered under the ‘Public procurement’ module;
A2. The contract number indicated in the Column K does not match with the one registered under ‘Public procurement’ module;
A3. The contract number is filled in the column K, however the contract is not registered under the module ‘Public procurement’;
A4. Type of ID (column D) is left blank – usually it should be filled in with ‘Not applicable’(unless it is related to a contract registered under ‘Public procurement’).
A5. The dates (column F,G,H,I) have a different format than YYYY-MM-DD.
A6. The 'Document number' (column B) or 'Accounting number' (column C) are the same in two different rows, while the 'Gross amount in the document' is different in each of those rows. Also, the sum of values in the field “Total expenditure” for the same document (having the same document No, issue date, NIP of document issuer) may not be higher than the value in the field “Gross amount in the document”.
Q. How to round expenditures when calculating public support in the List of documents? Which formula to use to avoid errors in the calculation (due to rounding)?
A. To calculate public support (ERDF) use ‘ROUNDDOWN’ formula, add two decimals after the comma. To cross-check calculations, go to module ‘Project’ and check if public support do not exceed 75% (85%) of the eligible expenditure. Remember that any exceeding of 75% (85%) even if it is 0,01 EUR is not allowed and should be corrected.
Q. I could not report certain costs in the previous partial payment claim (reporting period A) and I would like to report them in the current period (reporting period B) after consulting with the FLC. When creating the partial payment claim should I extend the reporting period in a way to ‘include’ the costs (to the date when the costs were incurred)?
A. No extension of the reporting period is needed. When ‘sending’ the report, the system will show an orange error (acceptable, no correction is obligatory). For the costs concerned, in the column Comments (column P) explanation should be provided.
Q. How and when to report office and administration costs and staff costs if it is calculated on a flat rate basis?
A. Expenditures settled on a flat rate basis should be reported in each reporting period in the module ‘Financial progress’ – ‘Expenditures settled on a flat rate basis’. Calculation is NOT done automatically by the system.
Office and administration costs are always reported on a flat rate basis in regular projects. You should calculate it on your own as 15% of the staff costs reported in the given period.
Staff costs are only reported here if budgeted on a flat rate basis. In case you report your staff costs also on a flat rate basis, you should calculate it on your own as 20% of the direct costs reported in the given period (i.e. 20% of reported costs of budget lines 3-6: travel and accommodation, external expertise and services, equipment, infrastructure and works).
In seed money projects, so far, no budget is allowed in this budget line.
Q. When and where to report preparation costs?
A. Preparation costs should be reported with the first payment claim. Only lead partner reports preparation costs (the amount should be in line with the one mentioned in the Application Form) – under ‘Financial progress’ – ‘Expenditures settled on a flat rate basis’. The lead partner may decide to submit a zero-report to claim preparation costs only. 0-report can be submitted no later than 3 months following the date of signing the Subsidy Contract.
Q. If I [lead partner] plan to submit 0-report, do I need to have the FLC controller selected? As preparation costs is a lump sum, and there will be no costs to be verified?
A. If the lead partner intends to submit 0-report, the FLC controller must be selected. The report has to be ‘approved’ by the FLC even if no costs are to be checked.
Q. I am trying to save the partial payment claim, however, I receive an error message that there is a mistake in the source of financing. What to do?
A. Most probably, there is a mismatch between what source of financing (type of public funds or private fund) indicated for a certain partner in the Co-financing statement – check with the Subsidy Contract. If there is a mistake, inform the lead partner. The LP should report the error to the JS.
The other explanation is that the total and/or eligible expenditure in section sources of expenditure financing does not match the total and/or eligible expenditure upload in the List of documents and shown in section Project. It could also be advisable to cross-check the total of public support/EU-funding between the different sections.
Q. If my organization participates in more than one project, is that possible to use the same .xls file for filling in expenditures?
A. The List of documents template (.xls file) has to be exported from the SL2014, from the relevant project. It is not advised to use the same template of the List of documents as data (e.g. a number of work packages, budget lines etc.) could vary and this will cause errors when uploading the file to the SL2014.
Q. Which activities/ expenditures are treated as expenditures spent outside (Union part) the Programme area (column V in the List of documents)?
A. In exceptional cases provided for the benefit of the Programme area, some activities may be implemented outside the Programme eligible area or even in the territories of other EU Member States.
Specific rules apply for travel and accommodation costs. In case the partner organization is located outside the Programme area, travel and accommodation costs of such partners, regardless of the destination of their travel – event/ action located inside or outside the Programme area – are treated as those spent outside Programme area (and contribute to 20% rule).
For partners located inside the Programme area, travel and accommodation costs incurred in relation to travel outside the eligible area do not fall under the 20% rule (still are treated as those spent inside the Programme area), apart from costs of meals, accommodation and local transport if such costs are not covered by daily allowances.
If partners located in the Programme eligible area are implementing activities outside Programme eligible area, costs should be reported according to the 20% rule (e.g. seminar, conference located outside the Programme area).
If partners located outside the Programme eligible area are implementing activities in the Programme eligible area, related costs should be reported as a regular costs (not subject to the 20% rule). Project running costs (administration and staff costs) for the organization located outside the Programme eligible area should be reported under the 20% rule.
Q. What kind of expenditures should be reported in Reimbursement / Corrections section (Financial progress module)
A. The Reimbursement/Corrections section serves to apply corrections to the cumulative values in the “Summary” table. If you incorrectly assigned the expense to the WP, BL or category subject to the limits in the previously submitted partial payment claims it may be necessary to make appropriate adjustments in the values cumulatively. Values entered with the sign "-" will reduce the accumulated amount. Values entered without the sign "+" will increase the accumulated amount.
I.e. if a shift of already reported expense between WPs is needed, you can deduct the amount of expense by adding it under Reimbursement/Corrections with a “-“ and assign it to one WP. Then add it again with a “+” and choose the correct WP. In this case, the total balance of costs reported should be equal to 0.
Please note: This part does not serve to correct the amounts of ineligible expenditures reported in the former payment requests. In case an incorrect (inconsistent with the principles of the Programme) expenditure was accepted in the former report, it will be subject to the procedure for recovering funds. This part does not serve to manage this process.
Q. How to present own contribution on the financial documents supporting payment claims (e.g. invoices, payslips, etc.)? Does each invoice have to be split 15%/85% (25%/75%) or can the own contribution vary in case of different documents.
A. Neither the Programme Manual nor other Programme documents specify how beneficiaries should declare their own contribution on Interreg South Baltic invoices. Programme documents also do not impose the obligation to declare the proportion and the level of own contribution or of ERDF co-financing on every single supporting document. Beneficiaries are not obliged to declare on their documents the source the expenditure was paid from (or was accounted in a ledger).
For the controlling process, it is important to present the description of the accounting document that specifies the number of eligible expenditures and enables to assign the expenditure to the particular project. Throughout the reporting it is most important to keep the final proportion (own contribution / ERDF) resulting from the Subsidy Contract / Application Form – it is essential not to exceed the final amount of the ERDF co-funding from the Subsidy Contract.
Nevertheless, if the report is prepared directly in the SL2014 system, the system suggests the co-financing separately for each accounting/supporting document (85% or 75%). However, this calculation should be treated only as a suggestion and can be amended.
Beneficiaries must be aware that after examination of the project during the control/audit process, Managing Authority may launch the recovering procedure to recover funds (ERDF co-funding) in accordance to the percentage that was stated in the Subsidy Contract and the SL system.
Q. List of documents: Can I report a correction invoice in the payment claim?
A. A correction invoice can be included (with a negative value) on the list of documents only if it refers to the expenditure not yet reimbursed. It can be listed in two cases: either it refers to the original invoice also included in the same report or it refers to an invoice listed in a past report and this report is not yet reimbursed. In case the correction refers to expenditure already reimbursed – the FLC should be informed to proceed with the procedure of notification irregularly paid co-financing.
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Project staff module
Q. How to fill in Project staff module? Do I have to register planned working time of all persons employed for the project for the whole duration of the project?
A. Beneficiaries outside of Poland should consult the scope and method of registering the information about the staff involved in a project with the relevant FLC controller. It is possible to enter information about the staff only to a limited extent (depending on what information your controller needs in order to assess the eligibility of staff costs). For example, in Sweden you register the planned work time for one month only, for each person, which is necessary for the system to allow you to submit this person's data. There is no obligation to use the acceptance protocol. Depending on the type of engagement you should consult your controller on what supporting documents are needed. Beneficiaries from Poland should fill in planned time for each person working for the project for the whole duration of the project.
Q. Do I need to fill in Project staff module if I have selected method of calculation of the staff costs as a flat rate?
A. If a flat rate for calculation of the staff costs is used, there is no obligation to fill in Project staff module as long as the FLC controller does not demand so. Although you need to prove that the people working in the project are employed by the partner organisation, for example by submitting a copy of the employment contract.
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Public procurement module
Q. Which documents should I attach when registering a contract in the module ‘Public procurement’?
A. The scope of documents to be attached to the contract notice and contract itself should be consulted with the relevant FLC controller. Normally, those documents are Terms of Reference of the tender, documented announcement of the procurement etc.
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Payment schedule module
Q. How to fill in module ‘Payment schedule’? Does it have to be the same as indicative payment schedule provided in the Application Form? (table 4.6 in each project partner tab)
A. Payment schedule module in the SL2014 should be filled in right after the access to the system is granted. It serves as a base for the Managing Authority to prepare a forecast for the European Commission on Programme budget spending. Thus, the information provided by the projects should be as accurate as possible, and payment schedule should be updated every time before submitting payment claim. For detailed instructions on how to fill in Payment schedule please consult ‘Quick guide to the SL2014’ available on the Programme website.
Regardless of reporting cycle that your project follows (either January-June & July – December or April – September and October – March), the payment schedule in the SL2014 should be filled in according to quarters (4 quarters in a year).