AS5: Accounting treatment and payment mechanisms

• Ensure that the requirements for each type of expense are clearly established, with appropriate accounting records to support the eligibility of the expense incurred, and which are retained in line with donor requirements.
• Ensure payments through authorised mechanisms for PROCEED program with all required traceability and authorised signatures.

The RTF financial experts of each Bureau must:

• Ensure that the required documentation for attesting eligibility of the expenses, are properly collected and stored, and ensure that others involved in the program are aware and compliant.
• Ensure that payment mechanisms are set up in line with this guidance and ensure that only authorised persons are involved in the processing of payments once the expense has been considered eligible for PROCEED program.

The Administrative Assistance provides assistance to implement good accounting practices.

• Approved budget (see Annex AS4)
• Procurement documents and contracts (see Annex ADM2 and Annex ADM2 – A2).

It is mandatory that all necessary documentation to support the eligibility of the expense be obtained prior to payment of the expense:

• Procurement documents (see Annex ADM2) with tenders’ documents, contracts, purchase orders.
• Invoices. Each invoice shall contain the following information: (i) date, (ii) name, address, and TIN number of supplier or organisation, (iii) name and address of the client with mention of the PROCEED, (iv) if any, reference to the contract or the purchase order, (v) Description of goods/services, (vi) total invoice amount with indication of VAT.
• Document evidencing the technical activity or results

After the payment, the proof of payment is the bank or telepayment account statement with the (i) owner Bank number and name, (ii) transaction period, (iii) list of transactions with dates and identification of the beneficiary (name and account number), (iv) Opening and closing balance for the period.

See Annexe Annex AS5 – A1 for a full description, for each type of expense, of the expected frequency of expenditure, accounting treatment, payment mechanism, technical process linked to the expense, supporting documentation, signatories and proof of payment.

All documents pertaining to an Eligible Expense (supporting documentation by expense type, procurement documentation, and proof of payment) must be kept at the regional sector bureau’s office, stored securely. All these documents are to be digitalized, stored in a secure online system and made available to the audit firms or to the AFD Agency upon request. All documents must be retained for a period of ten (10) years following the Deadline for Drawdown as specified in the Grant Financing Agreement.

Payments must be made by transfer – either bank transfer or via a Telepayment account; no cash payments are permitted. In both cases, the necessary accounting documentation must be prepared, reviewed and validated to ensure the eligibility of the expenditure prior to payment.

The Annexe Annex AS5 – A1 defines the transfer types, the required documents and the person responsible for authorising the transfer.

Direct payment by Region – bank transfer

• As detailed in Annexe Annex AS5 – A1, the required documents for each specific type of expense must be prepared.
• This documentation is then reviewed by the technical signatories, who validate the payment request.
• The financial signatories then validate and process the payment order (see the authorised signatories in Annexe Annex AS5 – A2).

Payment via Telepayment account

• A Telepayment business account is opened by each regional bureau and zone department involved in the program, entitled “PROCEED program: Bureau or Department Name”.

• These accounts shall be used exclusively for the purpose of payment of expenses for the PROCEED program set out in Annexe Annex AS5 – A1.
• The RTF/ ZTF financial expert is ultimately responsible for the funds in this account and any misplaced funds is reimbursed by the financial expert.

• Advances is made from the Region’s PROCEED program’s bank account to the Telepayment PROCEED accounts (see the authorised signatories in Annexe Annex AS5 – A2 and Annex AS5 – A1).

• The RTF/ZTF Coordinators and Finance experts prepare: (i) a reconciliation of the previous month advance compared to actual expenses, (ii) the current balance held in the Telepayment account, and (iii) the advance request for the current month.
• This documentation is then reviewed by the technical signatories who validate the transfer request.
• The financial signatories then validate and process the transfer order (Annexe Annex AS5 – A2).
• In the event of further one-off or unplanned funds being required in addition to the request made for a current month, a further request can be submitted following the same steps as the monthly request.

• Payments. Once all needed documents are prepared for the specific type of expense, payments are performed according to the payment mechanism described in Annexe Annex AS5 – A1.
• Month-end reconciliation.

• The RTF/ZTF financial expert prints the Telepayment account statement for the month and collates all invoices and supporting documents for each transaction in the statement, to ensure that the information is accurate and complete.
• These documents are transferred to the RTF finance expert for back up and recording.

• The RTF and ZTF financial expert and Coordinator prepare the request for the following month’s needs, taking into account the current available balance, to determine the transfer request amount. Note: The Telepayment account can be audited on request at any time.

• All needed documents required to demonstrate the eligibility of each expense (see Annex AS5 – A1)
• Traceability of transfer payments with relevant signatures (see Annex AS5 – A2).