You’ve just received a notification from the Funding & Tenders Portal saying “project monitoring planning” and have no idea where to start?

Let’s take a step back.

If you are running a Lump Sum project, reporting isn’t just a formality but tied to how and when you get paid. Typically, the project is split into 2 reporting periods and at the end of each period, you are given 60 days to submit the report.

The full evaluation is based on several complementary elements: the assessment of deliverables and milestones, a progress/review meeting with representatives of the granting authority (such as the Project Officer and external experts), and the periodic report itself. Together, these elements provide the basis for assessing project progress and approving the corresponding grant payment.

To make it clearer, let’s break down each of these elements in more detail:

1. Deliverables and Milestones. Although these are submitted throughout the project, their evaluation takes place only at the end of the reporting period as part of the periodic report. For Lump Sum projects, they are clear indicators and key evidence of the work carried out. As also explained in How Deliverables Drive Success in Lump Sum Projects, their quality and timeliness are crucial, as they directly determine how progress and results are assessed. If something slips or changes, it’s important to flag it early to your Project Officer rather than waiting until the reporting deadline.

2. Progress or review meetings. You will take part in at least two formal review meetings, one halfway through the project and one close to the end. These involve mainly your Project Officer and an external expert(s). You should be able to present the project, your role, what you achieved and how things are progressing. The clearest way to present this is by structuring everything around Work Packages and tasks.  In the Lump Sum funding scheme, the status of each work package is particularly critical, as it directly determines how progress and eligibility of payments are assessed. See also the related blog article Risks of Incomplete Work Packages  and How to Avoid Grant Cuts in Lump Sum Projects.

3. Periodic and final reports. At the end of each reporting period, you’ll submit a structured report through the Funding & Tenders Portal. This is more than a simple administrative step, you’re expected to provide a clear and structured narrative of your progress, explaining what activities have been completed, whether your deliverables and milestones have been achieved, what challenges arose and how you addressed them, the communication and dissemination actions you carried out, any intellectual property generated, and the overall impact of your project.

The final report follows the same logic but requires a more comprehensive narrative of everything achieved over the full project lifecycle.

And what about the financial part?

One of the biggest advantages of Lump Sum funding is the reduced financial reporting. You won’t need to justify every cost or submit detailed expense records. In Lump Sum projects, the “financial statement” is essentially limited to indicating the percentage of completion of each Work Package.

If the Work Packages are completed and accepted, the corresponding payment is released. The process remains far simpler than in traditional actual costs-based grants and doesn’t require detailed financial audits like a Certificate on the Financial Statements.

Although there is no obligation to keep financial records, you still need to demonstrate compliance with other non-budget-related aspects, which is why it’s important to be organized from the very beginning of the project.

Do you need more guidance on how to handle reports in Lump Sum projects? Don’t hesitate to get in touch at [email protected]