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  • Evaluations
  • OpenCosmos

LIVE Course on financial management of European funded projects
&
​EC auditing
8-9 Oct 2021,
​Santorini

Summer in Santorini is still in October!

Step-by-step strategies for mastering Financial Management, budgeting and EC auditing of EU funded projects (FM-Open)

Master the strategies for rejection-free claimed costs in EU projects and an audit-proof approach​
​

Stress free purchase

In order to have a stress free experience with your purchase, in case you cannot attend  the session for any reason, you can always transfer your participation to another person or attend any other training that year or in the next one. ​
special price! register now before it expires

Exclusive training offer on mastering the financial management and EC auditing

We aim to offer you  a unique learning experience that stimulates brain as well as emotions and eventually to transform you into a much better person not only knowledge-wise in regards to EU financial management and EC auditing  but also feeling-wise.  We personally guarantee  that!! (check our 100% guarantee clause at the bottom).
We have combined a vibrant
 venue of unique beauty and energy, i.e. Santorini in Greece, one of the most famous islands in the whole world with its unique volcanic sceneries,  and sunsets,  along with one of the  best trainers in management of EU funded projects, Mr. Nikolaos Floratos (see testimonials and profile below) with his unique teaching approach based on the latest scientific results from his Phd Research on student engagement, 
Furthermore in order this face-to-face course to create an eye-opening knowledge for all our participants irrelevant to their expertise and equip them with the energy, the confidence and the step-by-step strategy to apply the acquired skills, we are limiting the participation  only to 15 participants. Places 
will be allocated on a first registered, first served basis. 

Confirm your seat before it is taken!!

REGISTER NOW | CLICK HERE

Dates: 8-9 October 2021

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This live course  has a duration of two days, 8-9 Oct 2021.  The structure of the course has been optimized consistently in order to achieve the highest effect at the least possible duration and includes also hands on practice in order to ensure that everyone  will acquire the proper knowledge for mastering the financial management and EC auditing of European funded projects. The ultimate aim of this course is for participants not only to understand the full recipe with detailed steps on how to apply sound financial management practices  but also to build them with confidence, energy and joy for developing an audit-proof approach. 

Venue: Santorini island at Megalochori, Greece

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Santorini doesn’t need any special references. It has been ranked as one  ofthe ten most beautiful islands in the world, and its volcanic landscape takes your breath away. Megalochori is located 7 km away from Fira, the capital of the island. It has kept its traditional colours and it is one of the few villages that have been declared “traditional settlements”. It is surrounded by vineyards and has many churches famous for their ornate bell towers, white Cycladic houses and narrow streets.
The training takes place at Helenic Culture Centre in Megalochori. 

Why this course will give you financial freedom and a fulfilling job for life

EU funded project coordinators & managers, administrators and assistants as well as financial managers should participate in this comprehensive course. In fact anyone that is involved in the management and administration of EU funded projects should participate in this unique training that will master them to financially manage  european funded projects including big ones such as Horizon 2020, COSME, External Aid, IPA,  projects based on sound and stress free principles as well as to develop the proper practices on dealing with an EC audit. Sound financial management and proper reporting is not only under the responsibility of the financial managers but for all the individuals involved in the management of the project (Coordinators, partner's project manager, administrators, assistants and support staff).
Apparently, acceptance of the financial reports by EC financial officer or an auditing firm is not enough. Any EU funded project can be audited by EC services and its agencies for up to five years up after its last payment and EC audits have been tripled since 2010. EC auditing identifies errors to 87% of audited beneficiaries that lead to rejection of claimed costs in their financial statements that have been approved initially by the financial officer of EC or an certified auditor.
A well-trained individual on financial management and EC auditing practices provides great value to their organisation and to the related EU funded projects. A financial manager of EU funded projects in contrast to proposal writers and managers of EU grants, should only apply some specific rules and practices for becoming one of the best and most attractive financial managers of EU funded projects. On the other hand proposal writers and managers should always find creative and innovative ways to plan and implement their EU funded project.
REGISTER NOW | CLICK HERE

Personalised Training

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 We expect to achieve the best ever learning experience fully adapted to the learning needs of each participant. Therefore, we keep the number of our course participants to the very minimum in order to facilitate direct interaction between the trainer and each one of the trainees and accommodate all their learning expectations without any compromise in sharing knowledge and networking with other peers. However, since places are limited to just 15, you should register now since there are a few places left.​

Learning Objectives

  1. become confident with the EU budget structure and its underlying mechanism and legislation
  2. get clarity on your responsibilities as a grant beneficiary but also on the responsibilities of the grant authority
  3. be able to estimate the budget for each of the suggested activities in your grant applications
  4. understand how to spot and deal with errors in financial reports
  5. master an approach for ensuring that all your reported costs will be accepted by the EC auditors
  6. ensure each of your reported cost items is eligible
  7. ​be able to prepare error-free financial reports of any EU funded project
  8. understand how the EU external audit works and where they give focus
  9. know what kind of information/documents are requested by the EU auditors and how they use them
  10. understand your actions before, during and after the EU audit
  11. know your next actions if you don't agree with the EU audit findings

Course Structure and Approach


Thursday 8 Oct 2021, 09:00-17:00
Module 1:
  • Fundamentals in Financing Rules: Funding types, Financial Liabilities, EC payments and auditing periods
  • How to use and take advantage of specific EU legislation  on european funds and apply it within your financial management practices and for defending your arguments to the EC officers and auditors in EU projects (e.g. Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, COSME, Life+, external aid, IPA, etc)
Module 2:
  • Eligible Costs/ Eligibility Check (ENA rule)
  • Ineligible costs / Conditions for ineligibility
  • Direct Costs Categories
  • Indirect Costs
  • Practices for eligibility of staff costs 
  • Time monitoring and recording free tools
  • Practices for eligibility of mission (travel and accommodation) costs 
  • Practices for eligibility of Equipment costs
  • Practices for eligibility of Subcontracting costs 
  • Practices for eligibility of Other costs
Friday 9 Oct 2021, 09:00-17:00
Module 4:
  • Strategy by the beneficiaries before, during and after the EC audit
  • Fundamentals on EC Auditing: Audit types, Contractual Provisions, EC audit outcomes and process
  • Preparing for the EC Audit
  • Pitfalls to avoid in EC audits
  • Familiarisation with all the documentation requested by EC Auditors​
Module 5:
  • Hands-on practice on all the above modules with ultimate aim to complete and check for each participant their own approach in financial reporting and  for dealing successfully with EC audits

REGISTER NOW | CLICK HERE

Specialisation Certificate

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All participants soon after attending the course will receive a specialisation certificate on "Financial Management of EU projects"  issued and delivered directly by Institute of Leadership and Management,  part of City and Guilds group.

Important Note

A competent financial manager of European funded projects and especially for research related projects with a large budget such as in  Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe  will add great value to the projects and to their organisation. More than never 80 billion EUR should be financially managed properly  by following the ENA rule. They need to be Economic, Necessary and Actual. 
However, acceptance of your financial reports by the EC officer or an auditing firm is not enough. Your project can be audited by EC services and its agencies for up to 5 years after its last payment and EC audits have been tripled since FP7.  EC auditing identifies errors to 87% of audited beneficiaries that lead to rejection of claimed costs in their financial statement that have been approved initially by its financial officer. 

Available Unique Resources

In addition, we will make available  to all participants the following powerful tools and templates that are based on best practices
  1. The Full-Module Training Handbook™ with the training slides for each one of the modules above
  2. The EU projects - Financial Manager toolkit™ that contains examples and resources for financially managing  and dealing successfully with EC audits
special price! register now!

Stress free purchase

In order to have a stress free experience with your purchase, in case you cannot attend  the session for any reason, you can always transfer your participation to another person or attend any other training that year or in the next one. ​

Course fee

The fee for participating in this course is just €697 without the specialisation certificate on Financial Management of European Projects or  €960 (20% discount) that includes also the certification. The fee includes
  • 2 days training,
  • all education material,
  • Attendance Certificate
  • Specialisation Certificate on "Financial Management of European Projects" issued by ILM part of City and Guilds Group (Applicable only to the ones that purchased the full fee)
  • Coffee breaks
  • Lunch on both training days in a traditional tavern with a choice of meat/fish or vegetarian main course
  • Use of the Internet and secretary facilities (Printing, photocopying, etc)
It doesn't include accommodation and any meals outside the training, travel insurance and transportation costs that you should arrange them on your own but we can suggest some affordable options.  It doesn't include the cost of  our cultural activities that you can choose to experience and we can arrange for you. Such cultural activities are guided and walking tours, ceramics hand-on lesson, wine tasting of the famous santorini wines, cooking class of greek foods, greek  dancing classes, greek singing lessons and music, santorini landscape hands-on painting lessons, iconography (Byzantine) painting lessons, etc and can take place right after the end of each training day. We can provide you more details during the first training day and their cost. 

100% Satisfaction Guarantee 

We are the only training organization that our approach is based on results and not on effort. We are so confident of the high value of our training that we personally guarantee on its quality, effectiveness and distinct value. In case, after our training, you  believe you haven't managed to experience the transformation we promise you, then we will return not only the course fee but also we will pay back all your other expenses (e.g. your accommodation, subsistence and travel costs)!! That confident we are on the quality of our training and the transformation experience we can create!
Who else can do that!!?
Even if some of the participants have already participated in a similar training session, we are committed to deliver an eye-opening session for all participants from novices to senior experts in the topic since we apply unique teaching approaches based on science. ​

Travel info

Travel by Plane
There are daily several flights from Athens to Santorini all year long with the following airlines including low cost ones  AegeanAirlines, Ryanair: ,  Ellinair, Volotea, Skyexpress . It is a 30-40 minutes trip. Prices depend on the period and they start from 15 euro. Check regularly for offers from the companies. In the summer there are also charter flights from more than 30 European cities.​
Travel by Ferry
The journey from Piraeus takes 6-8 hours and the tickets start from 37,50 EUR. During the summer period there are also fast ferries reaching Santorini in 4-5 hours. In the summer there are also ferries from and to Crete, Rhodes, Thessaloniki and most of the Cyclades. Check Blue Star Ferries,  and Hellenic Seaways, . 

Accommodation info

We can help you to find affordable accommodation near the training venue for all needs and desires but always at the most economical prices. According to your needs, we can arrange your accommodation  from a basic room in a clean and safe old hotel up to a more modern hotel with pool and breakfast but still at a fraction of what you normally pay for accommodation.

About the Trainer - Nikolaos Floratos

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​Nikolaos is ranked by Google and Linkedin in the top three positions as funding expert. The last 9 years, he has transformed hundrends of individuals into successful administrative and financial managers through science-backed and experience-based training and coaching practices. He has been involved as manager of european funded projects since 1997 and since 2010 supports organisations to develop an audit-proof approach in the financial management of their EU funded project. He has dealt with more  than 15 EC audits and his strong point is not only his vast experience in financial management and auditing practices but also his way to make people understand and master complex issues such as financial management and EC auditing by decomposing them into simple step-by-step practices. Through his PhD research that focuses on student engagement and his 10 years training experience, he has proved that anyone can master even complicated subjects very fast by receiving training and support in an engaging way and with the proper instruction strategy. He delivers all his courses and seminars based on continuous interactions with his audience and based on “recipes” and practical steps that allow them to absorb easily what they should master and achieve extraordinary results very quickly.

REGISTER NOW | CLICK HERE

What others say about Nikolaos

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