IAR reporting requirements
The frequency of the accountant's reports required is based upon the size of the funding being offered unless where a very short project (less than 6 months), where one would only be required upon completion.
This is summarised below:
- Grant offer in excess of £2,000,000
Report required with each claim - Grant of between £500,000 and £2,000,000
Report with first claim, last claim, and on each anniversary claim* - Grant between £100,000 and £500,000
Report with first claim and last claims only - Grant between £50,000 and £100,000
Report with last claim only
When preparing reports at these intervals, all costs that have not yet been reported must be included. For a "last claim only" grant report, this means that all costs incurred throughout the entire course of the project would need to be reported.
*Anniversary grants refer to cases where 12 months or four quarters have passed since the last accountant's report was submitted. For instance, as per the UKRI example, if a first-quarter report was submitted during the second period, the next report would be due in quarter 6 and would cover costs from Q2 through Q5.
One of the main issues we encounter when preparing reports is that clients are often unaware of when an independent accountant's report (IAR) is required. As a result, the need for an IAR may only come to light when the claim is being submitted, which can then delay receipt of funding for that quarter.
Your Project Monitoring Officer will be able to confirm when the reports are required, but below is a quick summary for standard IUK grants.