Ordering and paying
Purchasing equipment and services
As the budget holder, you bear primary responsibility for expenditures from the material and/or investment budget.
In doing this, you are bound to the budget that NWO-I has allocated you. Orders should be realised in accordance with the procedures that apply within your institution. Your institution will pay the costs involved to the suppliers. Your institution will collect the costs incurred per project and per work order number. Your institution will regularly charge these costs incurred to NWO-I by means of a collective invoice. This collective invoice should be drawn up in such a way that NWO-I can determine the legitimacy of the costs.
You can delegate the ordering to the purchasing department of your institution, or you can do it yourself. In this case, you can ask the purchasing department for advice. You would be wise to inform the manager/director of the institution of this.
Expenditures above k€ 25
For purchases or services with a value greater than € 25,000 (including VAT) you should, in addition to what is described up here under 'Equipment and services' request a written quotation from at least two suppliers. A copy of the tender and the two quotations must be included with the invoicing of the price agreed on in advance in writing. Also here all costs should be included in the price. NWO-I will therefore not pay for separate man-hours and for the purchase of material. If you work with fixed suppliers, then submitting a quotation from the fixed supplier is also sufficient. Fixed suppliers can be external suppliers but also internal suppliers, such as workshops. If you work with fixed suppliers, then please notify the Financial Administration Department of NWO-I about who the fixed suppliers are. You must also state how the university periodically assesses that these suppliers are still the most appropriate suppliers.
University workshops that can supply the investment goods may also compete. You should document the arguments for the price/quality consideration.
Expenditures above k€ 209
NWO-I is subject to the rules concerning European and national tendering. This means that expenditures for goods and services above the threshold amount (currently k€ 209 excl. Dutch VAT) should be subject to a European tendering process. When the university declares the costs concerned to NWO-I, it should be demonstrated that the purchase was realised through a European tendering. If a European tendering did not take place, then the university should send a judicial legitimation that explains why the European tendering did not take place. This legitimation should be signed by both the lawyer concerned and the responsible workgroup leader BUW/budget holder.
If the justification of the legitimacy of the costs is not satisfactory, then NWO-I cannot reimburse the costs.
Furthermore, NWO-I assumes that the purchasing department of the university follows the correct purchasing procedures, and checks for European tendering, before an order above the threshold amount is placed.
For orders for investment goods the following aspects can also play a role:
- possible limitation of the Dutch VAT and/or import duties to be paid, for example for certain imports from outside the EU;
- the occurrence of credit risks (for example, in the case of advance payments). Bank guarantees in advance are compulsory in such cases.
For information and advice please contact the BUW administration at the NWO-I office.
Invoices and correction of entries
The timetable for supplying invoices is as follows:
Costs Q1 – submission no later than 31 May (if less than k€ 10 see *) below)
Costs Q2 – submission no later than 31 August (if less than k€ 10 see *) below)
Costs Q3 – submission no later than 31 October
Costs Q4 - submission no later than 31 January in the following year (however see **))
NWO-I no longer accepts requests for booking corrections and invoices submitted for closed financial years that arrive later than 31 January unless these have been submitted in good time as estimated costs.
*) The costs over Q1 and Q2 do not have to be declared to us if these are less than k€ 10 per work order. In such cases it is enough to submit all of the costs incurred for the first three quarters before 31 October (the Q3 deadline).
Costs Q4
We request you to submit the estimated costs (above k€ 10 per work order) with respect to Q4 no later than 22 November of that year.
**) If the deadline of 31 January is not feasible for you, then the following timetable is possible:
Supply estimated costs no later than 22 November.
Provide a revised estimate of the costs no later than 7 January.
Submit the invoice for costs in the fourth quarter no later than 28 February.
It is important that the estimate is as realistic as possible.
When projects are closed, shorter deadlines apply to the submission of invoices. You will find all of the necessary information in the closing letter. You will receive this letter from NWO-I when your project is going to close.