{"id":3373,"date":"2026-06-22T14:54:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/2026\/06\/22\/practical-tips-for-planning-a-project-budget\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T15:15:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T12:15:44","slug":"practical-tips-for-planning-a-project-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/2026\/06\/22\/practical-tips-for-planning-a-project-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Practical tips for planning a project budget"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"xdj266r x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs x126k92a\">\n<p dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Budget preparation is one of the most important stages in drawing up a project proposal. During our consultations, we received numerous questions regarding expenditure, working with contractors, currency, infrastructure components and the specifics of lump-sum funding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">We have put together a list of the key points you should bear in mind before submitting your application.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>Who plans and pays for the expenditure?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">One of the main rules of the Programme is that the cost is borne by the partner in whose budget it is provided for.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">It is this partner:<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"auto\">carries out procurement;<\/li>\n<li dir=\"auto\">enters into a contract;<\/li>\n<li dir=\"auto\">makes the payment;<\/li>\n<li dir=\"auto\">is responsible for ensuring that the criteria for receiving the lump sum are met.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Is cross-border spending permitted?<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The programme allows for the cross-border provision of services. A Polish partner may enter into a contract with a Ukrainian carrier or expert, whilst a Ukrainian partner may do so with a Polish service provider. At the same time, international payments are governed by the national legislation of the relevant country. We therefore recommend that matters relating to exchange controls, taxation, international transfers or the application of double taxation agreements be discussed in advance with your accountant and bank.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Is subcontracting between partners permitted?<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Project partners may not act as contractors for one another, and contracts between beneficiaries of the same project are not permitted.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">All services must be provided by independent third parties.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>How does the lump-sum system work?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Under the Small Projects Fund, a lump-sum payment mechanism is used. This means that, when reporting, the focus is on the completion of the task, the achievement of results and indicators, rather than on each individual invoice. At the same time, for the purposes of any potential inspections and audits, the beneficiary must retain:<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"auto\">contracts;<\/li>\n<li dir=\"auto\">invoices;<\/li>\n<li dir=\"auto\">handover certificates;<\/li>\n<li dir=\"auto\">payment documents;<\/li>\n<li dir=\"auto\">other supporting documents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>How is the cost of expenses determined?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">If an item is listed in the Cost Catalogue (Annex 2), the price from the catalogue is used. If the item is not listed in the catalogue, its price must be confirmed:<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"auto\">market analysis (at least three written quotations); or a cost estimate in accordance with national legislation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>Important! <\/strong>Documents for the valuation must be prepared no earlier than 6 months before the application is submitted.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>VAT: a key difference between Ukraine and Poland<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">For Ukrainian beneficiaries, VAT is an unacceptable expense; therefore, amounts excluding VAT (net) are paid into the budget.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">For Polish beneficiaries, VAT is a deductible expense.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>How does the currency work in Generator?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">The European Commission\u2019s InforEuro exchange rate for the month in which the call for proposals is announced is used to draw up the budget.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">Amounts are entered in hryvnias (UAH) or zlotys (PLN), and the Generator system automatically converts them into euros.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">If the item is taken from the Cost Catalogue, it is already quoted in euros and does not need to be converted.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><strong>Important!<\/strong><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">All future exchange rate risks during the implementation of the project are borne by the beneficiary. Before submitting your application, we recommend that you review each budget line item and ask yourself three questions:<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"auto\">Is it related to the project\u2019s objective?<\/li>\n<li dir=\"auto\">Is it necessary to achieve the result?<\/li>\n<li dir=\"auto\">Will I be able to confirm that it has been carried out by checking the criteria for receiving the lump sum?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<p dir=\"auto\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is precisely the logical link between the problem, objectives, tasks, indicators and budget that is one of the key factors in a successful project proposal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Budget preparation is one of the most important stages in drawing up a project proposal. During our consultations, we received numerous questions regarding expenditure, working with<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3373"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3378,"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3373\/revisions\/3378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ternopil.agency\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}