Grant management consulting for EU and German funding
Winning the grant starts a second job: agreements, reports, cost statements, payment requests and records that must survive an audit years later. BeFunded runs that work for startups and SMEs across Europe, with the fee agreed before we start.
Free 30-minute call, founder to founder. No obligation.
What is grant management consulting?
Grant management consulting covers everything between the funding decision and the last audit: the grant agreement, progress and financial reports, cost statements, payment requests, time records and the final proof of use. The aim is every payment released and nothing clawed back later.
Grant management consulting also covers the view across programmes. A company can run the Research Allowance, a national grant and an EU project at the same time, but the same costs may never be funded twice. We keep those streams apart and on schedule.
What do our grant management services cover?
After the award, the work moves from persuading evaluators to proving every euro. We take the reporting and documentation load off your team and keep each grant in line with its own rulebook.
Progress and financial reporting
We prepare the technical and financial reports each programme asks for, from Horizon Europe periodic reports to six-monthly Eurostars progress reports and German interim proofs, and file them before the deadline.
Grant agreement and kick-off
Before signature we check the budget, milestones and obligations in the grant agreement or funding decision, then turn them into a calendar your team can work with from month one.
Cost statements and payment requests
Quarterly cost statements, interim payment requests and the final claim, built from your payroll and invoices so each tranche is released on time and matches what an auditor will later see.
Time records and evidence
EU auditors keep finding errors in personnel costs claimed for research projects. We set up project time records, cost centres and an evidence folder at the start, so nothing has to be reconstructed at the end.
Reviews, audits and queries
When a certificate on the financial statements, a project review, a tax-office query or an audit is due, we prepare the evidence, answer the questions and stay with you until it is closed.
Several grants, one plan
We map which costs sit in which programme, check stacking and state-aid limits, and plan the next claims so a Horizon project, a ZIM grant and the Research Allowance never fund the same euro twice.
Objections and corrections
If a certificate is refused or a claim is cut, we check the decision, file the objection within the deadline and rebuild the evidence. One engineering client won back a twice-rejected Research Allowance this way.
Holding a grant already?
Tell us the programme and your next reporting date. We will tell you what is due, what is missing and what we would take over.
What do funding bodies check after the award?
More than most teams expect, and for longer. Reports run on fixed deadlines, payments depend on them, and records stay open to checks for years after the money has arrived.
3.2%
estimated error rate in 2024 EU spending on single market, innovation and digital; research is the main source of errors
European Court of Auditors, October 2025 (opens in a new tab)
60 days
to file each Horizon Europe periodic report after a reporting period ends
5 years
Horizon Europe records are kept after the final payment, 3 years for grants up to €60,000
Up to 10%
of a BMFTR R&D grant to a company is paid only after the proof of use is complete
A Horizon Europe grant, from signature to the last audit
Grant signed
Pre-financing paid, with 5% of the EU funding retained for the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.
Each reporting period
Technical and financial report due within 60 days.
Interim payments
Paid on approved reports; together with pre-financing, at most 90% of the maximum grant.
Final report
Certificate on the financial statements if your requested EU contribution to costs is €430,000 or more.
Final payment
Within 90 days of receiving the final report.
After the final payment
Reviews and audits possible for 2 years, records kept for 5.
Where do grants go wrong?
In the European Court of Auditors' checks, research spending remains the main source of errors, in particular ineligible personnel costs. In EU grants, systemic errors found in one audit can be extended to other grants and periods.
German grants have their own traps. ZIM requires time records for every project employee, BMFTR grants keep part of the money back until the proof of use, and GRW investment grants tie jobs and assets to the site for at least five years.
That is why our grant management consulting starts with the evidence, long before the first report is due.
What does good grant management look like in practice?
Six cases where structure, deadlines and documentation decided how much funding arrived and stayed. Practical examples based on real projects: anonymised, figures rounded.
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Research Allowance · Energy
€1.9M
allowance across both projects
Read the storyKey to the result: expenditure prepared fiscal year by fiscal year, with the caps and rates of each period applied.
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Research Allowance · Cybersecurity
€430k
allowance, fully claimable
Read the storyKey to the result: the final decision version was reconciled against the declared funding base, so all recognised costs took effect.
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Research Allowance · Engineering software
€70k
certified after appeal
Read the storyKey to the result: the objection was filed within the one-month window, with the state of the art documented as of the project start.
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GRW · MedTech manufacturing
€1.2M
non-repayable investment grant
Read the storyKey to the result: the grant stays non-repayable as long as the jobs and funded assets are kept for five years.
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BAFA EEW · Industrial decarbonisation
€2.5M
non-repayable investment grant
Read the storyKey to the result: the company committed to operating the funded equipment as intended for at least three years.
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Research Allowance · Enterprise SaaS
€1.4M
allowance over the term
Read the storyKey to the result: when part of the contract research was not recognised, the in-house work and the rest of the funding stayed intact.
What founders say about working with us
They got us cleanly through the SME research-grant jungle.
(opens in a new tab)
Prepared clearly despite the bureaucracy, and the full amount was paid out.
Professional and smooth from start to finish, they guided us through the whole process.
What does grant management involve for each programme?
Our grant management consulting covers twelve German and EU programmes, and each has its own payment and reporting rhythm. Pick one to see what is due and what we take over.
Europe
Horizon Europe
Actual costs or lump sum- How money is paid
- Pre-financing at the start, with 5% of the EU funding retained for the Mutual Insurance Mechanism. Pre-financing and interim payments together stay within 90% of the maximum grant; the final payment follows within 90 days of the final report.
- What you report
- A technical and financial report within 60 days after each reporting period. A certificate on the financial statements if your requested EU contribution to costs is €430,000 or more. Lump-sum grants report completed work packages instead of costs.
- Records and checks
- Records kept for 5 years after the final payment, 3 years for grants up to €60,000. Reviews and audits are possible for 2 years after it.
- What we take over
- Grant preparation, periodic reports and financial statements, and the evidence for any review or audit.
EIC Accelerator
Lump sum · milestones- How money is paid
- A lump-sum grant, with a first pre-financing payment when the grant agreement is signed.
- What you report
- Progress is reviewed against the milestones in your proposal, and the EIC expects regular updates. Reviews can lead to amendments, and a project that misses agreed milestones may be suspended or terminated.
- Records and checks
- As a lump-sum grant, you keep evidence that the work was done as described, rather than cost records.
- What we take over
- Grant agreement preparation and the milestone reporting that releases the money.
Eurostars 3 (German partners)
National grant · six-monthly reports- How money is paid
- Funds are requested every quarter against a cost statement for the previous quarter. Up to 10% is held back until the proof of use is complete.
- What you report
- Six-monthly progress reports to Eureka, an interim proof within four months of each year end, and the final proof of use within six months of the project end.
- Records and checks
- Documents kept for five years after the proof of use. A missing progress report can cost the Eurostars label and the funding.
- What we take over
- The consortium agreement, six-monthly progress reports and German cost statements.
EU Innovation Fund
No pre-financing · GHG monitoring- How money is paid
- No pre-financing. Up to 40% of the grant is paid until financial close, at least 60% after it, and generally at least 10% only after entry into operation.
- What you report
- Annual reports once the plant operates, GHG avoidance reports and knowledge-sharing reports. Below 75% of the planned emissions avoidance, the grant paid after financial close is reduced proportionally.
- Records and checks
- The plant must operate for at least five years after entry into operation, the minimum GHG monitoring period. In the 2025 call, small-scale projects and pilots need at least three years.
- What we take over
- The milestone reporting, so payments are released on time and correctly documented.
Germany
Research Allowance (Forschungszulage)
Tax credit · yearly claim- How money is paid
- The tax office sets the allowance, offsets it against your tax and refunds any surplus. Since 2025, tax prepayments can be reduced by the assessed allowance on request.
- What you report
- One claim per financial year via Mein ELSTER, after the BSFZ certificate. Claims stay open for four years; 2022 claims expire on 31 December 2026.
- Records and checks
- Contemporaneous time records per employee and project. Without them, the tax office cuts the assessment base even when the BSFZ has certified the project.
- What we take over
- Annual documentation, the BSFZ application and the yearly claim, and we deal with the BSFZ and the tax office. All covered by the success fee.
ZIM
Paid in arrears · quarterly- How money is paid
- No advance payments. Funds are called in arrears, usually every three months, each time with an interim proof (Zwischennachweis).
- What you report
- The final proof of use (Verwendungsnachweis) is due within three months of the end of the funding period. New applications have been paused since 7 July 2026; approved projects continue.
- Records and checks
- Time records for every project employee, and all documents kept for ten years for checks.
- What we take over
- Payment requests, interim proofs and the final proof of use.
KMU-innovativ
BMFTR grant · interim reports- How money is paid
- A non-repayable BMFTR grant for a research project that usually runs two to three years.
- What you report
- Interim reports during the project and a proof of use at the end, so funds can be called on time.
- Records and checks
- It combines with the Research Allowance only if the same costs are not funded twice.
- What we take over
- The interim reports and the proof of use.
Investment grants (GRW, BAFA EEW)
Commitments after the award- How money is paid
- GRW is paid in instalments on request, against paid invoices or interim proofs with cost evidence. Some Länder hold back a final tranche until the full proof of use has been submitted.
- What you report
- GRW: a proof of use after completion, within the deadline set by the Land rules and your funding decision, for example six months in Thuringia. BAFA EEW: the funded plant must run as intended for at least three years.
- Records and checks
- GRW: jobs and funded assets kept for at least five years after completion, and aid records kept for ten years.
- What we take over
- The payout, the proof of use with cost receipts and the reporting that releases the funds.
Also covered:
Rules summarised from the programme documents in force in October 2026. Your grant agreement or funding decision always takes precedence.
Tell us which grants you hold
Share the programmes, your role in each and the next reporting date. A funding advisor reviews it by hand, then comes back with feedback or a few follow-up questions. No obligation.
- What is due next, and when
- Where the risks sit in your current set-up
- What we would take over
How does our grant management process work?
Our grant management services follow the life of a grant, from the decision letter to the end of the retention period. You keep running the project; we keep its paperwork on schedule.
Your team's time, agreed upfront
Your engineers keep their time records and confirm the technical content; we write and file the rest. In the first call we estimate how many hours your team should plan for each reporting period.
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First call · free
Grant review
We read your grant agreement or funding decision, list every deadline and obligation, and check your current records against them. You see what is due and what is missing before anything is late.
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Month one
Set-up
Time-recording rules, cost centres, an evidence folder and a funding calendar, set up in GrantBite or your own tools. Where several grants run at once, we separate their costs here.
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Every period
Reports and payment requests
We draft the progress and financial reports, cost statements and payment requests on each programme's rhythm. Your team confirms the technical content and signs; we file.
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When asked
Reviews, audits and queries
Certificates on the financial statements, project reviews, tax-office questions and audits: we prepare the evidence, answer the questions and follow up until the file is closed.
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After the project
Close-out and next funding
We file the final report and proof of use, keep the retention period in your calendar and plan the next claim or call, so funding becomes a yearly routine.
Why choose BeFunded as your grant management consultant?
We have been on the client side ourselves, so we know where grant paperwork eats the time of a small team. Today technical founders and funding specialists stay with each grant from the first report to the last audit.
1:1
From application to audit
Where we wrote the application, reporting starts from our own proposal, so the promises made and the numbers reported match.
DE+EU
Every funding stream in one view
We track German and EU grants and the Research Allowance together, so the same costs are never claimed twice and state-aid limits hold across all of them.
✓
Audit-proof documentation
Documentation built to hold up under review, from time records to cost evidence, kept in order for the full retention period.
A→Z
We deal with the funding bodies
We deal with the funding bodies on your behalf, from the BSFZ and tax offices to project executing agencies and EU programme officers.
AI
Software plus people
Our own platform, GrantBite, tracks deadlines, payout tranches and documents for every grant. A consultant checks every figure before anything is filed.
€
Fee and effort agreed upfront
You know the fee and the hours your team needs before we start. For the Research Allowance, documentation and claims are part of the success fee.
€380k
average funding per client
60+
certified projects
96%
approval rate on Research Allowance applications
BeFunded compared with the alternatives
| BeFunded | Typical consultancy | In-house team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| After the award | We run reports, cost statements and payment requests | Support usually ends at submission | Your team learns each rulebook alone |
| Documentation | Audit-proof, kept for the full retention period | Often falls back on you | Built when the report is due |
| Several grants at once | One view, costs separated, no double funding | Usually one programme | One spreadsheet per programme |
| Funding bodies | We deal with them, from the BSFZ to EU offices | You manage your own account | Every query lands on your desk |
| Fee | Agreed upfront. Research Allowance: success-only | Often a fixed fee from the start | Looks free, but ties up your team |
BeFunded
- After the award
- We run reports, cost statements and payment requests
- Documentation
- Audit-proof, kept for the full retention period
- Several grants at once
- One view, costs separated, no double funding
- Funding bodies
- We deal with them, from the BSFZ to EU offices
- Fee
- Agreed upfront. Research Allowance: success-only
Typical consultancy
- After the award
- Support usually ends at submission
- Documentation
- Often falls back on you
- Several grants at once
- Usually one programme
- Funding bodies
- You manage your own account
- Fee
- Often a fixed fee from the start
In-house team
- After the award
- Your team learns each rulebook alone
- Documentation
- Built when the report is due
- Several grants at once
- One spreadsheet per programme
- Funding bodies
- Every query lands on your desk
- Fee
- Looks free, but ties up your team
If your team is developing something genuinely new, you should be able to claim what you are owed without it becoming a second job.
Kirill & Aydan, co-founders
Do you need grant management software or a consultant?
Usually both. Software keeps deadlines, tranches and documents visible; a consultant decides what can be claimed and defends it. That is why we built GrantBite, the AI funding platform from the BeFunded team, and use it next to our consulting.
- Grant Tracker
- Each application's status, owner, priority and due date, plus a payout view for disbursement, reporting and closure
- Document Vault
- Agreements, decisions and evidence in one place, assigned to a project or application, with AI summaries of long documents
- Permissions
- Project-level roles for viewers, editors and finance-only users
- Funding Expert
- A chatbot that answers eligibility and process questions from the programme's own text and your documents
Three separate pipeline boards, because writing and review before a decision are nothing like contracting, payout tranches, and reporting after one
Teams that want to run grant management in-house can use GrantBite on their own and bring us in for reporting peaks, audits or a second pair of eyes before filing.
GrantBite is operated by Wheels & Wings Lab GmbH, the company behind BeFunded.
How much does grant management consulting cost?
There is no price list, because a single Eurostars share and a multi-partner Horizon project need very different work. We quote per engagement, based on the programmes and how much your team keeps in-house, and agree the fee before work starts.
Grants we wrote with you
Post-award reporting is agreed as part of the same engagement, so there is no gap between the application and the first report.
Grants you won elsewhere
A separate quote for the reporting, documentation and audit support you need, agreed before we start.
Research Allowance
Annual documentation and claims are part of the success fee: 10% of the funding up to €500k per year, 5% above, invoiced after payout.
What shapes your quote
The programmes and their reporting rhythm
Number of reporting periods and partners
Whether a certificate or audit is due
How much your team keeps in-house
How many funding streams run side by side
The first call is free.
Grant management questions, answered
Last updated: October 2026
Grant management consulting is outside support for running a grant after the award: preparing the grant agreement, reports, cost statements and payment requests, keeping records audit-ready and handling reviews. At BeFunded it covers EU and German programmes and the Research Allowance.
A grant management consultant turns the grant agreement into a calendar, sets up time records and cost tracking, drafts each report and payment request, checks costs before they are claimed and prepares the evidence when an auditor or tax office asks.
It depends on the programmes, the reporting load and what your team handles. We quote per engagement and agree the fee upfront. Research Allowance documentation and yearly claims are covered by the success fee: 10% up to €500k a year, 5% above.
Yes. We start with a review of the grant agreement or funding decision and your records so far, fix gaps before the next report and then run the reporting with your team. Earlier is better: missing time records are hard to rebuild.
A periodic report with a technical and a financial part within 60 days after each reporting period. A certificate on the financial statements is needed if your requested EU contribution to costs is €430,000 or more. Lump-sum grants report completed work packages instead.
It depends on the programme. Horizon Europe: 5 years after the final payment, or 3 years for grants up to €60,000. BMFTR grants under NKBF 2017: 5 years after the proof of use. ZIM: 10 years. Your grant agreement or decision sets the binding period.
Yes, as long as the same costs are never funded twice and the total aid stays within EU state-aid limits. ZIM excludes projects with other federal R&D funding, while the Research Allowance can run beside Horizon Europe on different costs.
Ineligible costs are rejected or recovered, and payments can be reduced. In EU grants, systemic errors found in one audit can be extended to other grants and periods. Clean time records and cost separation from day one are the best protection.
For one small grant, a disciplined spreadsheet can work. Once several grants, partners or payout tranches run in parallel, software helps. Our own platform, GrantBite, tracks applications, payouts and documents, and we use it alongside our consulting.
Less than doing it alone, but not zero. Your team keeps time records, confirms technical progress and signs what is filed. We estimate the hours per reporting period in the first call and agree them upfront.
Further reading
Programme guides
From the BeFunded blog
Tell us about the grants you hold
Share the programmes, your next reporting date and what worries you most. We will look at your case by hand and tell you what we would take over. No prep, no obligation.