Since 30 July 2024, a Commission Decision has established a revised lump-sum amount for SME owners not receiving a salary working in Horizon Europe Actions.
In 2020, the Commission issued a first Decision C(2020)7115, which authorised the use of unit costs for the personnel costs of SME owners and natural persons not receiving a salary for the hours worked in Horizon Europe projects.
Why was the 2024 revision necessary?
Although the SME owner rate was updated annually, the initially established unit cost proved too low compared with the remuneration levels typically received by SME owners. The situation worsened due to high inflation in 2022, which further widened the gap between actual income expectations and the fixed unit rate applied.
What has changed?
To address this issue, the Commission amended Decision C(2020)7115 on 30 July 2024, increasing the unit cost applicable to SME owners and self-employed individuals not receiving a salary. The new rate replaces the previous reference based on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).
New rate
To better align with market conditions, the reference unit cost increased significantly for SME owners and self-employed individuals who do not receive a salary.
The updated monthly amount is now set at €8,745.40, for actions granted in calls published after 30 July 2024, to which the correction coefficient from the applicable MSCA Work Programme must be applied. Based on 18 working days per month, the corresponding daily rate is €485.85.
Project coordinators and financial officers should take note of this adjustment when:
- Calculating personnel costs for SME owners in ongoing or upcoming Horizon Europe projects, and
- Updating financial reporting templates or internal guidelines accordingly.
SME owners’ timesheets
As with any other personnel, SME owners must demonstrate the number of days worked on the project, and timesheets remain required to support the declared unit costs.
Due to the very small size and flat organisational structure typical of SMEs, it is often not feasible to implement a fully independent approval and control mechanism for time recording. In practice, only two options are usually possible:
- The SME owner signs and countersigns their own timesheets; or
- The SME owner and one employee both sign and countersign the SME owner’s timesheets. However, due to the lack of hierarchical separation, the employee’s signature may have limited independence.
Consequently, for very small entities, it may not be possible to establish a fully hierarchical management structure for timesheet approval. Nevertheless, a reliable and traceable time recording system can still be implemented to ensure that the number of days declared is accurate, consistent, and verifiable during audits.
In such cases, the SME owner ensures reliability by maintaining supporting and dated records (e.g., project diaries, deliverables, meeting notes) that corroborate the time declared.
This shows awareness of audit expectations and adds credibility to your system description.
