How to report expenses and results

If you are awarded a grant from Formas, you must report project expenses and results. This is done in Prisma. On this page, you can learn about the purpose of the report and what to include. You can also read a brief description of the Formas project catalog.

Purpose of reporting

We ask for project reports because we want to quality-assure Formas’ work and investments. We want to know that the funding has been used appropriately. The reports also help us to increase quality and to plan and develop Formas’ different types of investments and grants.

Nowadays all applications and reports are submitted in our application system, Prisma. Even if you applied via Formas Direct, you should also submit reports in Prisma.

If you have questions about your project, please contact your administrator. You can find out who your administrator is in Prisma.

What the report should contain

The report consists of two main parts: a financial report and a scientific report. The financial report is completed by a representative of the administrating organisation (the organisation that received the grant money for the project). The project manager then checks the content. The project manager is responsible for writing and submitting the scientific report.

You should not submit journals or books to us.

In the financial report, the administrating organisation reports all expenditure for the project funded by Formas. The administrating organisation has appointed a report manager in Prisma (often an accountant), and that person and the project manager receive emails from Prisma when it is reporting time. The report manager fills in the data in Prisma and registers the report. The report then goes to the project manager for verification before it is submitted to Formas.

See Prisma’s user support for more detailed reporting instructions: Instructions for financial reporting External link.

What expenses should be reported?

Read more about the financial information you must report in Financial reporting in Prisma pdf , 187 kB. (only in Swedish)

Keep in mind that you should report expenses excluding value-added tax (VAT) if the administrating organisation is entitled to deduct VAT on purchases in the project. Otherwise, you should report expenses including VAT.

In the case of grants to private companies and other organisations that engage in economic activity (according to Formas’ specific terms and conditions), all eligible costs must be reported excluding VAT. As a general rule, VAT is not an eligible cost. Only if you as a project partner can prove that VAT is an actual cost to you may VAT be recognised as an eligible cost.

How to manage excess funds

Do you have any excess funds you did not use in the project? If so, the administrating organisation must repay the excess amount when the final financial statement is created. This applies only if the excess amount is higher than a half price base amount External link.. The excess amount must be paid back in full.

Deposit it in Formas’ bankgiro account 5105-2140. Please indicate clearly that the payment is for unused funds and state your project number.

If the excess amount is less than a half price base amount, the administrating organisation may retain it and use it for research purposes similar to the one covered by the grant.

Your scientific report should describe the project results, project information and the activities related to communication and societal benefits. You as the project manager fill in and submit the report in Prisma. The report can be written in either Swedish or English. More detailed instructions on the maximum number of characters you can use and what to write in each field is found in the form, in both Swedish and English.

See Prisma’s user support for more detailed reporting instructions: Instructions for project managers about the scientific report External link.

What information should be reported?

Here, you can read about what the scientific report usually contains. However, depending on the type of project and the purpose of the call, you might need to report other information and address other questions than those we bring up here.

The scientific report for research projects has three sections: project information, project results and activities related to communication and societal benefits.

  • Project information means information about the project participants and research topic. This includes, for example, the areas of expertise of the project participants and different classifications of the project’s research topic and its link to the UN’s sustainable development goals. Some of the project information is retrieved automatically from the application and therefore must be verified or edited.
  • In the project results section, you present both the research questions and research results (scientific and popular science) and report the project results based on different classifications. Any intellectual property protection or new companies established as a result of the project must be described. You should also attach a pdf file containing a list of all publications that are related to the project.
    Template list of publications (doc) , 30 kB.
  • Communication and societal benefits refers to information about the project activities that aimed to benefit society or draw attention to the project and its results. Relevant private or public partner organisations that contributed in some way to the completion of your project should also be described.

The scientific report for ccommunication calls regards project information and a description of activities related to communication and societal benefits.

Updated:22 May 2023