General aid – Producing a financial report (e–report) for research and development and innovation aid

Summary In detail Forms Contact

Summary

Financial aid is one of the main tools used by the Walloon region to achieve its goals in terms of technological research, development and innovation.

Within the context of aid for research, development and innovation, the debt report is the document used to inform the administration of expenses incurred during a given period of time and a specific research agreement.

As the expenses incurred differ depending on the research project that has been conducted, this section refers to general aid.

Key points

You may return a debt report as long as you have first returned a technical report explaining the progress of the research for a given period of time.

In detail

Target audience – details

Any entity (company, research centre, institution) that has signed an aid agreement for research, development and innovation with the Walloon region.

Procedure

How to do it

First, upload an expense statement. This statement, which is drafted in accordance with the type of aid granted, is found at the bottom of the relevant page.
It is then necessary to complete this statement with the expenses incurred during a given period of time (six months). If necessary, an explanatory note is also found at the bottom of the page.
When this file is completed, it must be sent at the same time as the debt statement, as indicated in the explanatory note, by email to the Financial Management Department or my personal space: Personal space (wallonie.be)

These practical terms are linked to a precise financial control procedure and a clear definition of the eligible expenses summarised in a guide, which specifies the budgetary structure for research aid agreements and the supporting documentation associated with these. It also specifies the flat rates that are applied as part of the agreements, in order to simplify the justification of expenses.

This guide, which is known as the guide to eligible expenses, is strictly enforced. The research agreement signed with Wallonia explicitly refers to the applicable version of the guide.

Inspection and payment procedures

The expense statements are subject to consistency checks and targeted inspections. After this, any comments are sent to you. Once the inspections have been performed, an official email is sent to you to inform you of the amount to be paid. The determination of this amount will depend, in particular, on the advance received at the beginning of the research (working capital), the amount of expenses accepted during the period being analysed and the time frame for these expenses in relation to the duration of the research.

Budget-expenditure reconciliation checks and cross-checks (‘multi-project beneficiary’) are also carried out. Moreover, on-site inspections make it possible to check the accounts and verify that the items presented have been settled appropriately.

Inspections may be carried out for as long as the research file remains active and result in corrections to the previously accepted sums.

Legal references