Online services

1) Before applying for funding

Before writing the application, we recommend that you discuss the matter with a Business Finland adviser. Learn more on the page Become a customer.           

2) Apply for funding in the Online Service

Before submitting the application

• View the application questions beforehand in the funding application instructions.
• If you have previously used our Online Service, check that your contact details and especially your email address are up-to-date. Check and update your contact details in your personal information.
• You need a Finnish business ID in order to submit the application in the Online Service. Do not send the application until your company has been given a business ID.

Applications are public information

We process all information related to projects with full confidentiality. After submitting a funding application, however, the applicant's name, amount of applied funding and the application's reference number are public information. The applicant's name and amount of applied funding are public information even if the funding application is rejected. See our Online Service terms of use and privacy statement.              

3) Accept the funding decision in the Online Services

You will be notified by email of a new document in the Online Service. The notice is sent to the accountable project leader, the contact persons for the project and cost statements, and to the organization's official email address.

Funding by Business Finland may not begin until you have accepted the decision and its related funding terms and conditions in the Online Service. You can view funding decisions awaiting acceptance on the front page of the Online Service under section "Pending matters". If the decision involves special terms and conditions, the decision can be accepted in the Online Service once the terms are met.

Companies

Acceptance is possible via the Online Service if you are the Managing Director, Deputy Managing Director or an authorized signatory of the company. The Suomi.fi identification service will check these roles and authority of signature from the Trade Register when you log in to the Online Service. 

If a person named as an authorized signatory in the Trade Register holds another role in the company, the funding decision is accepted using a template. This template is also used in the event that the company name is signed simultaneously by two persons. Submit the template via secured email to Business Finland's record office.

If there are deficiencies in the Trade Register information of your company, these can be corrected by contacting the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. 

Research organizations, cities, municipalities

We kindly request that research organizations, universities, universities of applied sciences, minicipalities and cities report to the Business Finland record office (kirjaamo(at)businessfinland.fi) on persons who are authorized signatories of the organization or hold the right to accept the decision on behalf of the beneficiary on the basis of rules of procedure or other grounds. 

Learn more about accepting a funding decision.         

4) Notify Business Finland of any changes to the project

Even a well-planned project may encounter changes along the way, whether a change in accountable project leader, a time extension for the project, tasks planned as internal work have to be purchased from an external supplier, or the project costs exceed the original budget. For most project changes, you will need to ask Business Finland for consent in advance.

You can apply for a change in the Online Service in the following cases, among others:

• project schedule and significant changes to the project plan
• replacement of the accountable project leader
• change to the cost estimate
• change to the funding plan
• change to project terms and conditions.

Learn more on the page Changes to the project.

Learn more about project changes: Funding for Business Development in Disruptive Circumstances            

5) Report on the project's progress and costs

Business Finland pays out project funding on the basis of reports and cost statements. The beneficiary must keep a record of project costs in accordance with the funding terms and conditions. The funding terms and conditions instruct on what are eligible project costs and how to report on the project's progress. Read the funding decision and the terms and conditions carefully and review them with the accounting firm or accountant responsible for project accounts. If the funding terms and conditions applied to your project require that an auditor's report is submitted with the final project report, be sure to also keep the auditor informed immediately from the start of the project. The decision and the terms and conditions applicable to your project can be found in the Online Service.

Reports and cost statements can be submitted by more than one person in the Online Service, but not at the same time. The reports and cost statements of projects related to a company can only be submitted by the accountable project leader.

Learn more about reporting.

Learn more about reporting: Funding for Business Development in Disruptive Circumstances