EuropeAid Budget Development — PRAG-Compliant Budgets for Grants and Tenders
Expert EuropeAid budget development. We build PRAG-compliant grant budgets with full eligibility checks, indirect cost calculations and justification narratives.
Accurate, eligible, well-justified EU External Action budgets that pass administrative review.
An EuropeAid budget is not simply a spreadsheet of project costs. It must comply with the PRAG's strict cost eligibility rules, be built from a detailed work plan, use the correct EU budget format for the specific instrument, respect ceilings for indirect costs and contingency, and be accompanied by a detailed narrative justification. Errors in the budget — ineligible costs, incorrect calculations, unjustified line items — can disqualify a proposal or lead to cost rejections during project implementation. INTERALTER builds rigorous, PRAG-compliant budgets from your workplan inputs.
Common budget problems
- Including ineligible costs — taxes, bank charges, depreciation exceeding EU thresholds
- Calculating the 7% indirect cost ceiling incorrectly
- Budget that doesn't align with the work plan activities and staffing levels
- Overestimating unit costs in a way that raises assessor concerns
- Budget narrative that doesn't justify every line item sufficiently
Budget development services
Budget Construction
We build the complete EU-format budget from your work plan, staffing plan and cost inputs — using the correct format (PRAG Annex III or equivalent) for the specific instrument and call.
Cost Eligibility Review
We check all proposed costs against the PRAG cost eligibility rules for the specific instrument — identifying ineligible items, verifying indirect cost calculations and checking contingency limits.
Budget Narrative Writing
We write a detailed budget narrative justifying every line item — explaining how unit costs were derived, why specific activities require specific resources, and how the budget achieves value for money.
Budget-Workplan Alignment
We cross-check the budget against the work plan to ensure all activities are fully resourced, all budget lines correspond to concrete activities, and there are no unexplained budget items.
Partner Budget Consolidation
For multi-partner consortia, we consolidate individual partner budgets into the overall project budget, ensuring consistency and correct allocation across the partnership.
What you receive
- Complete EU-format budget spreadsheet (all required sheets)
- Cost eligibility analysis
- Indirect cost calculation
- Budget narrative and justification
- Budget-workplan alignment matrix
- Partner budget sheets (for consortia)
- Financial sustainability analysis
Budget development process
Work plan and staffing input
We collect your work plan, activity descriptions, staffing allocations and cost information as the inputs to the budget.
Budget construction
We build the budget in the correct EU format, allocating all costs to the appropriate budget headings and partners.
Eligibility review
We systematically review all cost lines against PRAG eligibility rules, flagging and removing ineligible items.
Narrative preparation
We write the full budget narrative, justifying unit costs with reference to market rates or standard institutional rates.
Final alignment and review
We cross-check the budget against the narrative and work plan, make any necessary adjustments, and produce the final version.
Who needs this service
- NGOs and CSOs applying to EuropeAid grants who lack EU budget expertise
- Finance teams preparing the financial component of a grant application
- Consortium leads responsible for consolidating multi-partner budgets
- Organisations whose previous budgets were rejected during assessment
- Any applicant wanting to ensure their budget is PRAG-compliant before submission
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are indirect costs in EuropeAid grants?
- Indirect costs (also called overhead or administrative costs) are costs that cannot be attributed directly to a specific project activity but support the overall operation of the organisation — rent, utilities, general administration. The PRAG caps indirect costs at 7% of the total eligible direct costs.
- What costs are ineligible in EuropeAid grants?
- Commonly ineligible costs include: taxes and duties recoverable by the beneficiary, interest and debt charges, provisions for possible future liabilities, exchange rate losses, costs of capital transfer, excessive or reckless expenditure, and costs not supported by documentation.
- Can we include equipment costs in the budget?
- Yes, equipment purchase can be an eligible cost if it is necessary for the project and the PRAG provides for it. However, equipment costs must be justified in terms of necessity and proportionality, and only the depreciation costs may be eligible in some instruments.
- Do you prepare the budget in the correct currency?
- EuropeAid grant budgets are typically prepared in euros. We build the budget in the required currency format and advise on exchange rate risk where applicable.
- Do partner organisations need their own budgets?
- Yes. In consortium applications, each co-applicant typically has their own budget section, and the consolidated budget combines all partner budgets. We prepare both the individual partner budget sheets and the consolidated project budget.
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