Traditionally, universities provide not only non-commercial services (e.g., academic training) but also commercial ones (e.g., contract research for third parties). The university therefore must distinguish clearly between these two business areas with regard to costs and financing in order to prove that cross-subsidization has not taken place. The aim of this mandatory separate costing is to provide proof in the annual financial statement that public funds have not been used to subsidize commercial activities.
Background
On January 1, 2007 the EU Community Framework for State Aid for Research, Development, and Innovation came into effect. Consequently, all research facilities are governed by this framework as soon as they engage in non-profit and commercial activities. ...>
Implementation of separate costing at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
The implementation of a commercial activity may only be agreed upon and begun following authorization by the president on the basis of the documents which are submitted.
Prior to the project launch, a third-party account must be created at the Finances and Procurement Office (FIN 5). To do this, the following documents are required: ...>
During project implementation. Within the context of their annual financial statement, the university must verify that it has received no state support for commercial projects. Members of staff that are financed by state subsidies are therefore required to clearly record their working hours on behalf of commercial projects. This is only possible by means of working time records. ...>
After project completion. In order to verify that costs have been fully covered, a post-calculation must be created each year and after the completion of the project, in which both costs incurred and actual hours worked during the project are to be taken into consideration. ...>