Frequently Asked Questions

The minute book is the ledger in which the decisions of the administration board of an association are written. Only permanent members can sign the minute book. A substitute member who attended the meeting should not sign it on behalf of permanent members. When writing decisions, headings must be indicated clearly. It’s advised to write decisions with the same pen and handwriting. A decision can last more than one page. However, signatures should be put right after each decision without leaving a space. If there is a space between the text and signatures in previous decisions, those spaces should be sealed by drawing a line. Any decisions can be written into the decision book. It doesn't matter whether it's implemented or not. 

Format of the decisions which will be entered into minute books, consists of number and date of decisions, agenda items and the participants of the board meeting. Please be noted that the minute book can also consist of certified A4 pages, instead of a printed notebook.

For more information on book-keeping, please check out the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Interior, DG of Civil Society Relations website (only in Turkish).

A sample project schedule/calendar can be found here. Please be noted that the sample can be revised in accordance with needs.

Note that the costs have to be related to and generated by activities carried out within the implementation period of the project. An exception is made for costs relating to final reports, including expenditure verification, audit and final evaluation of the project, which may be incurred after the implementation period of the Action. These cost (amount above EUR 500) have to be clearly listed in “The list of pending payments” in worksheet “Final sources of funding” in the final financial report (Annex G / Annex VI). The following details should be provided: Name of the provider, object of the contract (final audit, impact evaluation report,…), amount in EUR, due date, reference document (date and number of invoice/contract), explanation and comments (why still not paid?).

For more information, please check out Companion.

Members of an association should be entered into the membership registration book. Credentials of members and their entry and exit dates have to be included in the book. The membership entrance and annual fees can be entered as well. The decision date of the administration board of the association regarding the membership should be written as the start date of the membership.

It’s advised to keep the membership registration book up to date, because it’s a document that is checked during auditing.

For more information on book-keeping, please check out the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Interior, DG of Civil Society Relations website (only in Turkish).

You can find a sample contract here (in Turkish) for services of independent consultants or experts. You are able to revise it in accordance with your requirements.

Direct costs are project-specific costs directly linked to the performance of the project and which can therefore be booked to it directly. Direct costs are identifiable and verifiable costs, for which concrete supporting documents can be submitted as evidence. They are expenses strictly related to the implementation of the project, and exist only by consequence of its implementation.

For more information, please check out Companion.

The sum of the association is entered into the operating ledger in the beginning of each financial year. Incomes and expenses are written in the operating ledger during the financial year. At the end of each financial year, the differentiation amount between income and expenses needs to be kept either in the bank account or the cash box of the association. If the annual income of an association exceeds 600,000 TL, the general ledger should be kept. Public benefit associations should keep the ledger on the basis of balance.

For more information on book-keeping, please check out the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Interior, DG of Civil Society Relations website (only in Turkish).

The Expert/Training/Consultant report format of STGM can be accessed here.

Indirect eligible costs are not identifiable as specific costs directly linked to the performance of the project. Indirect costs may not include any eligible direct costs included in other headings of the budget. They mainly represent a small proportion of the beneficiary's overheads. Overheads are all the structural and support costs of an administrative, technical and logistical nature that are cross-cutting for the operation of the beneficiary body's various activities and cannot therefore be booked in full to the action for which the contract is awarded because this action is only one part of the beneficiary's activities.

For more information, please check out Companion.

The document registry is a ledger where inbound and outbound official documents are registered. It is the book in which documents are registered such as official letters, invitations, petition letters, etc. from the tax office or the Provincial Directorate or General Directorate of Civil Society Relations. There is no need to register membership applications in the document registry book. The document registry is not considered a financial material.

For more information on book-keeping, please check out the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Interior, DG of Civil Society Relations website (only in Turkish).

As a general rule, tasks performed by consultants, experts and/or other service providers (e.g. accountants, lawyers, translators, external IT staff, etc) are to be considered as resulting from implementation contracts (as stated in Article 10 of General Conditions). Consequently, Beneficiaries must award these contracts in accordance with Annex IV - Procurement.

These costs are thus not considered as human resources (budget heading  1) but as “Other costs, Services” or “Others” (notably budget heading  5 or 6)

For more information, please check out Companion.

An economic enterprise is an enterprise that is owned or affiliated with associations or foundations and offers commercial, industrial and agricultural services and products, excluding economic enterprises such as capital companies, joint stock companies, limited liability companies or cooperatives. The association may establish an economic enterprise in case it needs additional income to achieve its objectives other than the income it receives.

First of all, while making a decision to remove a member from membership of the association,  it will be necessary to look at whether the reasons for dismissal are regulated in the statute. If the decision to remove is based on a just cause, which is regulated in the statute as a reason for removal, the removed member has no right to object whether this reason is justified; because the member has registered to the association by accepting this charter.

There are several types of “Pre-Event Information Note” samples or templates which can be prepared in line with your needs and the context of the event. But you can find a sample here (in Turkish) and revise it in accordance with your requirements, if you want.

The info-note on "Commercial Enterprise Management for Associations and Foundations - Frequently Asked Questions" prepared by STGM gives you an overview of the subject. You can also check out STGM video series called "How to Manage Commercial Business in NGOs"

 Please note that both resources are in Turkish only.

It is recommended to use a document which covers main information regarding participants, including their signatures. You can find a sample template here​​​​​​​.

Contingency reserve is not calculated in pre-financing payments and is not included in further pre-financing installments. 

Contingency reserve can only be used for unforeseeable circumstances. The contracts do not authorize beneficiaries in advance to use the contingency reserve. It is subject to prior written authorization of the the Contracting Authority (is EUD under the direct management modality), who will make an evaluation and take a decision on a case by case basis.

When the use of the reserve is authorized, the corresponding amount will be split and allocated to the concerned budget headings according to the specific needs of the project. As the total amount of direct costs will be higher, the indirect costs will also consequently increase. This should be kept into consideration when using the contingency reserve because in any case the maximum amount of the grant as set in Article 3 of the Special Conditions cannot be changed.

For obtaining approval of contingency reserve, written request along with justification, ‘Addenda or Use of Contingency’ spreadsheet and all supporting documents such as official reports, statements, etc should be submitted to the Contracting Authority (is EUD under the direct management modality)
Situations produced by poor management by the beneficiaries may not be accepted as a reason to justify the use of the contingency reserve.

The below example is developed regarding which steps to be followed up by the beneficiary for making a request for usage of contingency reserve. 

Based on the above scenario, it’s recommended that the beneficiary prepares and submits following documents and information to the Contracting Authority (is EUD under the direct management modality) for approval of contingency reserve usage:

• Written explanation and justification about the incident that beneficiary faced with,
• The official reports, statements and minutes of law enforcements,
• The price and quotations of the new multifunctional printer,
• The filled out ‘Addenda or Use of Contingency’ spreadsheet.

While filling out the ‘Addenda or Use of Contingency’ spreadsheet, fill out all related cells and columns. Please enter ‘-1500’ to ‘Provision for Contingency Reserve’ cell under the ‘Use of Contingencies/Addenda’ column. And then, enter ‘1500’ to ‘3.3. Machines, tools, etc cell under the same column.

Based on the above scenario, the sampled spreadsheet of “Addenda or Use of Contingency” can be found here.

For more information, please check out Companion.
 

There are several types of evaluation form formats. But, you can find a sample here (in Turkish) and revise it in accordance with your needs, if you want.

Where the relevant call for proposals allows for the work performed by volunteers to be considered as acceptable co-financing, such co-financing must be considered as eligible personnel costs in accordance with articles 181, 186 and 190 FR, and must take the form of unit costs.

These unit costs will be fixed by the contracting authority and provided in the call for proposal. The value of the volunteers' work may comprise up to 50% of the co-financing, the latter corresponding to the part not financed by the EU contribution.

This type of costs must be presented separately from other eligible costs in the estimated budget. The value of the volunteer's work must always be excluded from the calculation of indirect costs. Any eligible costs incurred by the beneficiary linked to the work of the volunteer, for example travel and accommodation, may be claimed separately as eligible costs.

For more information, please check out Companion.