Subsidies

R&D feasibility study

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When will the subsidy be granted?

The payment of the R&D feasibility study subsidy occurs in two instalments. The timing of these payments will be agreed upon in the support agreement. 

In case of a positive decision, a support agreement is concluded between the ‘Fonds voor Innoveren en Ondernemen’ and the beneficiaries. 

The support agreement is a best-efforts obligation (It binds the partners to make every effort to achieve the described goal.) and mentions the amount of the support and the indicative timing of the payment of the support. Payment is conditional on proper compliance with the agreements and on performing the duty to report unanticipated changes to the project execution and the duty to report on progress. 

The first advance is paid after acceptance of the signed funding agreement and after fulfilling any possible conditions. The second instalment will occur after the final progress report has been submitted and after it has been evaluated by VLAIO, together with the final budget in which the actual costs are detailed. In this final report, you should mention the outcome of your study and the follow-up trajectory.

What are the steps for payment of the final instalment for projects after 1 July 2021?

  • 1

    Preparation of the final financial report by the main applicant and any business partners

    The main applicant and any business partners each prepare the final financial report (Excel cost template) separately. The final financial report (Excel cost template) to be uploaded includes the project costs that were approved with the application. Only these actual project costs are eligible and are added by cost category.

  • 2

    Substantiation of the costs by the main applicant and any business partners

    The actual costs included in the final financial report are substantiated by means of supporting documents. These actual costs could be: the staff costs, operating costs, costs of external services and investment costs.

    The supporting documents for these costs consist of:

    • Staff costs: individual accounts and/or pay slips.
    • Operating costs, if the ceiling was breached in both the approved budget and the final financial report:
      • a detailed statement (Excel) listing the costs recording the invoice date, invoice number, supplier, description, amount excl. VAT, amount incl. VAT, and (structured) notification where applicable;
      • the corresponding invoices with corresponding payment receipts bundled by supplier, provider and item;
      • and any other supporting documents.
    • Costs of external services:
      • a detailed statement (Excel) listing the costs recording the invoice date, invoice number, supplier, description, amount excl. VAT, amount incl. VAT, and (structured) notification where applicable;
      • the corresponding invoices with corresponding payment receipts bundled by supplier and provider.
    • investment costs: depreciation tables and the statement of balance sheet accounts (class 2).
  • 3

    Contact an accountant or auditor

    The main applicant and any business partners each instruct an accountant or auditor. Only an (internal) (certified) (tax) accountant or an auditor can perform the Engagement (the certification). The in-house accountant can perform the Engagement (the certification) if they are an internal (certified) (tax) accountant with an ITAA membership number.

    You can consult the public register of accountants and auditors at www.itaa.be and www.ibr-ire.be to check who is a member. 

  • 4

    Provide the necessary information

    Your accountant or auditor needs information to perform the Engagement (the certification). You therefore provide them with the following:

    • the final financial report (Excel cost template)
    • the supporting documents for the actual costs included in the final financial report
    • the URL to the 'Financial report with certification' requirement where the accountant or auditor performs the Engagement (the certification) (see Download frequently asked questions - 'Where can I find the URL to the 'Financial report with certification’ requirement where the accountant or auditor performs the Engagement?') 
  • 5

    Have the Engagement performed by your accountant or auditor

    The accountant or auditor can request the approved budget by sending an email to verificatie@vlaio.be. The accountant or auditor must thereby specify the dossier number and his/her membership number.

    The accountant or auditor then carries out the Engagement based on the following received information:

    • the final financial report (Excel cost template)
    • the supporting documents for the actual costs included in the final financial report
    • the URL to the 'Financial report with certification’ requirement
    • the approved budget

    The engagement involves performing agreed-upon procedures regarding financial information and any factual findings based on the final financial report (Excel cost template) incl. supporting documents and the approved budget.

  • 6

    View the summary of the submitted engagement

    After submission, you can find the summary under the same URL that you as the main applicant and any business partners provided to the accountant or auditor.
     

Exception!

In certain cases, you do not have to use an accountant or auditor, but the legal representative may submit the 'Financial report with certification'.

This applies to:
•    Companies and knowledge institutions that have previously reached agreements with VLAIO around the use of gross wages for staff categories.
•    Organisations that use government pay scales. 
•    In case interim financial statements have to be uploaded.
•    Companies that submitted the project application before 1 July 2021.

In these cases, you can submit the (final) financial report (Excel cost template) together with any supporting documents for the cost categories operating costs, costs of external services and investment costs  by selecting the 'legal representative’ option. 
The (final) financial report (Excel cost template)  to be uploaded will include the project costs that were approved with the application. Only these actual project costs are eligible and are added here by cost category.

Further information

Documents

 

To prepare the (final) report of an R&D feasibility study, please use the templates and explanatory documents below. The version date applicable to your R&D feasibility study is based on the date the project was submitted, and thus received at VLAIO.

ATTENTION! Be sure to read the explanatory document Implementation and  monitoring for all information regarding correct reporting.

 

Explanatory documents implementation and monitoring:

Substantive report:

Final financial report:

Innovation Aid General Terms and Conditions:

Contact

Address
VLAIO
Telephone
T0800 20 555
Mail
info@vlaio.be