Grant closure: end-of-project forecast, costs at risk and no-cost extension

Flexibility: heading 3 is overspent by EUR 14,000, i.e. 15.6% of its initial amount, beyond the 10% (EUR 9,000) allowed without an amendment. But the overspend corresponds exactly to the generator bought without approval: without it, the heading is at EUR 90,000. The problem is therefore not flexibility but the eligibility of this purchase (question 2). The other headings are within budget. The balance is concentrated on activities (EUR 65,000), which corresponds to the delay in the water points.

Total at stake: EUR 53,400 of costs, of which 28,000 certainly ineligible (4 and 6), 14,000 ineligible unless retroactively approved (1) and 11,400 at risk (2 and 3), plus 1,350 of interest to declare.

Effect: removing costs from the report increases the grant's unspent balance but does not create money: the organisation has already paid these EUR 53,400 and will have to cover them from its own funds. The EUR 21,600 correction on heading 1 frees up room on this heading, which can then carry the staff costs of an extension. The direct balance rises from about 63,500 to 63,500 + 28,000 = EUR 91,500 (105,500 if the generator is also removed).

Yes: 8 of the 12 water points cannot be built before the end; they are key results for the population, and the balance exists.

Need: water points 8 × 5,500 = 44,000; staff 3 × 5,200 = 15,600; transport 3 × 1,200 = 3,600; total EUR 63,200, less than the direct balance of EUR 63,500 (even before the audit corrections, which increase the margin).

Headings: activities 545,000 + 44,000 = 589,000 ≤ 610,000; transport 134,000 + 3,600 = 137,600 ≤ 140,000; staff 515,000 + 15,600 = 530,600, i.e. an overspend of EUR 10,600 (2% of the heading, within the 10% limit), which disappears after the EUR 21,600 correction (493,400 + 15,600 = 509,000). The final evaluation (18,000) and the audit (9,000) must be rescheduled after the works are completed. Total direct costs: 1,396,500 + 63,200 = 1,459,700 ≤ 1,460,000.

Deadline: 30 days before the end of month 24, which in practice means the very first days of month 23: the request must go out immediately. It includes a justification, a revised work plan and a revised budget.

The EUR 60,000 of open purchase orders must be delivered and used for the action before the new end date.

"Subject: request for a 3-month no-cost extension. Dear Sir or Madam, as a result of the floods in months 18 to 21, construction of the water points has been delayed: 4 of the 12 points are complete. The remaining 8 require the dry season. We request a no-cost extension of 3 months, until [date]. The planned cost for the additional period is EUR 63,200 (water points 44,000, reduced team 15,600, transport 3,600), entirely covered by the available balance, with no increase in the total amount; transfers between headings remain within the 10% limit. The final evaluation and audit will be rescheduled accordingly. Please find attached the revised work plan and budget. We would also like to inform you that our internal review has identified costs that will be removed from the final report; the details will be given in the financial report. We remain at your disposal."

Purchase for the next project: no. Goods bought to be stored and used after the end, for another project, are not costs of this action: they are ineligible, and presenting them as such would be a false declaration. Returning a balance is not a failure: it is the rule, and the extension makes it possible to use most of the balance for the water points, which is far more useful. Signatures: no again. Getting households to sign today for a past distribution would produce misleading documents: it is falsification, even if the households did receive the money. We are looking for contemporaneous evidence (committee lists, post-distribution monitoring); failing that, the EUR 2,800 will be removed from the report and covered from own funds. I propose that we work together on the extension plan and on a procedure for checking lists on the day of each distribution.