Want to know more about our support?

Contact us

Eligible Cost policies

Eligible Cost policies applicable to claims submitted under Invest NI Letters of Offer cover the following areas:

  • Project Labour
  • Travel and Accommodation
  • VAT
  • Methods of Payment

Project Labour

The Project Labour cost of hours spent on project activity by employees is determined by:

Project Labour cost = Eligible Hours x Project Hourly Rate

Eligible Hours

Eligible hours include hours spent by employees on eligible project activity that are:

  • Capped to a maximum of 8 hours per day
  • Supported by an attendance record that includes the 5 minimum criteria set out below:
    • Description of the activity
    • Date of the activity
    • Hours spent on the activity
    • Affirmation by the Employee
    • Appropriate authorisation
Project Hourly Rate

The Project Hourly Rate is either:

  • A unit cost as expressly stated in the Letter of Offer or;
  • An employee specific Project Hourly Rate (PHR) as determined by payroll data. (This rate is auto calculated for relevant employees from data entered onto the Claim Pack.)

Travel and accommodation

Eligible expenditure items

Eligible travel and accommodation expenditure may include the following:

  • Invoiced accommodation costs capped to a maximum rate as below

Central London & ROI

Capped to a maximum of £150 including VAT per person, per night

Rest of GB & NI

Capped to a maximum of £100 including VAT per person, per night

Rest of World

Rest of World Rates
  • Invoiced/receipted costs relating to the following types of travel:
    • Buses
    • Car rental (basic rental costs only)
    • Ferries
    • Economy class flights (including luggage and taxes, but note that business and 1st class travel is not eligible)
    • Trains
  • Invoiced/receipted costs relating to Trade Fair/Exhibition expenditure.

All claimed expenditure must be in line with the terms and conditions of the Letter of Offer and supported by receipted invoices.

Ineligible expenditure

Travel costs not listed above are deemed ineligible for grant computation purposes.

Some examples of ineligible expenditure are:

  • Subsistence/per diem allowances
  • Meals (other than breakfast when charged as part of B&B accommodation)
  • Non-economy flights
  • Mileage claims
  • Car rental fuel costs and other fuel costs
  • Taxi fares
  • Car parking
  • Travel insurance

Note – this list is not exhaustive and is provided for illustrative purposes only.

VAT

Recoverable VAT is not eligible for grant purposes.

All VAT is deemed recoverable unless satisfactory and sufficient evidence has been provided by the customer confirming VAT is permanently irrecoverable. For claim purposes, each claim which includes VAT must be supported by an Independent Accountants Report confirming that VAT is permanently irrecoverable.

The burden and costs of providing such a report shall rest with the claimant.

Methods of Payment

Only payments made through bank or credit card accounts are considered acceptable for the purposes of grant computation.

Payments must be made from an account in the name of the legal entity identified in the Letter of Offer and used solely and exclusively for business purposes.

All claimed expenditure must be supported by an itemised bank or credit card statement in the name of the legal entity identified in the Letter of Offer.

All other payment methods are not recognised for the purposes of grant computation. For example, the following methods of payment are unacceptable and not recognised for the purpose of grant computation:

  • Bitcoins/cryptocurrencies
  • Cash
  • Credit notes/vouchers/recharges
  • Part exchanges/trade ins
  • Directors loan account
  • Escrow
  • Inter-company offsets/journal entries
  • Contra settlements

Further queries regarding Invest NI Policies should be addressed to your Invest NI project lead in the first instance.