Description
The seminar will cover all the essentials of Financial Planning and Management, Financial Control and Audit for Operational Programmes in the 2014-2020 period. The first part of the seminar is dedicated to programme finance and the new accounting year, looking at what goes into the annual accounts and the calculation of the annual balance. It also considers the process of interim payments in detail. This is followed by an in-depth examination of the new eligibility of expenditure rules and an analysis of the particular financial management challenges facing Managing Authorities, seen from a Member State point of view. This includes a review of good practice for financial planning and addressing n+3.

Day 2 starts by looking at financial control and audit, again from a Member State perspective, focusing on the new requirements for the various authorities. The seminar then examines how to use the range of Simplified Cost Options, designed to simplify financial management and control. Information on the content of European Union guidance documents will be referenced throughout the seminar. We hope to share experiences from Member State authorities. The seminar will compare the new rules for 2014-2020 with the situation for the 2007-2013 period.

Learning methodology
The speakers at the seminar will be high-level representatives of Member States’ authorities, as well as regional experts and consultants. The seminar will also include workshops and exercise sessions where examples and case studies will be presented, encouraging the participants to exchange practical examples, experiences and good practice in managing EU Structural Funds. 

As the seminar will be of a participatory nature, the participants will be strongly encouraged to actively take part in discussions throughout the entire programme. Moreover, they will have ample opportunity to informally exchange views on the seminar topics, both with the speakers and with each other.

Target group
This seminar is intended for practitioners from national and sub-national authorities and from other public bodies of the EU Member States (and associated countries) working with ESI Funds. The seminar is also open to economic and social partners working with the Structural and Investment Funds, such as universities, NGOs, employers’ associations, consultants.

Objectives
• Bring together practitioners and experts from the European, national and sub-national level, to enable them to share experiences and identify cases of good practice in financial management.
• Discuss ways of implementing financial management, control and audit rules, such as eligibility of expenditure, financial controls, audit practices.

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