Starting a project
Instructions for carrying out a project and monitoring the costs
Accepting a funding decision
You will be informed of a funding decision through the Online Service. The service includes the decision, funding terms and conditions, and other documents related to the project. Your contact person at Business Finland will also inform you of the decision by phone.
Accept the decision through the Online Service
The decision becomes valid only when you have accepted it and its related funding terms and conditions in the Online Service. Business Finland will not pay the funding until the decision has been accepted and any special terms and conditions related to the funding have been met.
You can view information on funding decisions awaiting acceptance on the front page of the Online Service under section "Pending matters". If the decision includes special conditions, a link to the accpetance notification will not be shown until the special condition has been processed at Business Finland.
The decision may only be accepted by an authorized signatory of the organisation.
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.
Appealing a decision
If you do not wish to accept the funding, please inform the Business Finland record office of this as soon as possible. If you are not happy with the decision, you can appeal it. Instructions for submitting an appeal are included in the decision.
Starting the project
Your project contact person at Business Finland will discuss matters related to carrying out the project and to reporting with you in a kick-off meeting. Read through the funding decision and terms and conditions carefully before the meeting, so that you can discuss any unclear items together. The funding terms and conditions also include instructions for carrying out the project and for reporting.
Topics covered in the kick-off meeting
- Main points of the funding decision
- Basics of project accounting and working time monitoring
- Eligible costs
- Project reporting and payment of funding
- Potential changes
Monitoring of costs and accounting
The funding terms and conditions are a fundamental part of a funding decision. The terms and conditions steer the execution of the project, as well as the reporting on the project and costs.
Project accounting must be arranged in accordance with the funding terms and conditions, so that the costs arising from the project can be itemized and their connection with the accounting and the cost statements can be verified.
Check the funding decision's funding terms and conditions to see whether an auditor's report is required with the final report. If the report is required, inform the auditor of the funding decision as soon as possible.
Project documents, personal working time monitoring records and other materials relevant to project auditing must be kept for at least ten years after the payment of the last instalment of the project funding.
Monitoring of working time
In projects funded by Business Finland, employees must keep a record of their working time, unless otherwise stated in the terms and conditions. Business Finland has the right not to accept salaries in part or in full if working time has not been monitored. Salaries are paid according to total working hours, and the share of hours spent on the project is declared to Business Finland.
Minimum requirements for monitoring working hours
- Working time is recorded on an hourly basis, and the hours allocated to the actual days on which the work was done.
- Working time must be marked as confirmed.
- In addition to hours worked for the project, working time monitoring must cover total working hours for individuals who do not fall within the scope of the Finnish Working Hours Act or who do not have a specified working time.
You can use the example table for working time monitoring:
- Example table for working time monitoring (in Finnish) (xlsx)
Procurement
Organizations receiving funding from Business Finland must comply with the Act on Public Contracts.
- See guidelines on compliance with the Act on Public Contracts in projects funded by Business Finland (pdf)
Reporting on the progress of a project
Business Finland pays out project funding on the basis of reports and cost statements. Progress with the project must be reported in accordance with the schedule announced in the funding decision. Submit the report and cost statement through the Online Service. Reporting guidelines have been collected on a designated page.