Erasmus+ budget rules explained: what you can and cannot fund

One of the most common causes of queries, delayed balance payments and partial grant recoveries in Erasmus+ projects is not poor project management — it is a misunderstanding of what the programme will and will not fund. Erasmus+ has specific, clearly defined budget rules that vary by Key Action. Knowing these rules before you build your budget — not after — is what separates a financially clean project from one that creates problems at the reporting stage.

This guide explains the budget rules for the three most widely used Key Actions — KA210, KA220 and KA1 — covering what costs are eligible, what is explicitly excluded, how each budget model works and the most common budget mistakes that cost organisations money at the final report stage.

1. How Erasmus+ Budgets Work: The Two Models

Erasmus+ uses two distinct budget models depending on the Key Action. Understanding which model applies to your project is the starting point for all budget planning — because the two models have fundamentally different logic, different documentation requirements and different risks.

The unit cost model. Used in KA1, the unit cost model calculates most budget categories automatically from predefined rates set by the European Commission. Staff costs are calculated from daily rates multiplied by working days. Travel is calculated from distance bands. Individual support (accommodation and subsistence) is calculated from daily rates by destination country. These rates are fixed — they do not vary with actual costs incurred. The grant is determined by the number of units, not by receipts.

The lump sum model. Used in both KA210 and KA220, the lump sum model provides a single predefined grant amount selected from a small set of fixed tiers — two tiers for KA210 (€30,000 or €60,000), three for KA220 (€120,000, €250,000 or €400,000). There are no receipts required for the grant itself, and the grant is paid based on demonstrated delivery of the approved activities and outputs, not on itemized spending. Where the two actions differ is in how much detail sits behind the tier you request: KA210 asks you to justify your choice narratively, while KA220 requires a detailed cost-category budget (staff days, travel, subcontracting) to arrive at and justify which of the three tiers to request. That detailed budget determines which tier is appropriate — it doesn’t change the fact that the grant itself is a fixed lump sum, not a reimbursement of the itemized total. For KA220, real costs (with invoices) do apply to specific categories like subcontracting and equipment within that cost estimate.

Feature	KA210 — Lump Sum	KA220 — Lump Sum (Detailed Estimate)	KA1 — Unit Costs
Budget basis	One of 2 fixed tiers, chosen and justified narratively	One of 3 fixed tiers, chosen and justified via a detailed cost estimate	Calculated from units × rates
Grant amount	€30,000 or €60,000	€120,000 / €250,000 / €400,000	No fixed ceiling
Receipts required	No	For real cost items only (subcontracting, equipment)	No
Payment basis	Activity delivery demonstrated	Activity delivery demonstrated against the fixed tier awarded	Units used (participants, days, trips)
Evidence needed	Activity evidence — attendance lists, minutes, outputs	Timesheets, activity evidence, invoices for real cost items	Attendance lists, participant records, travel evidence

2. Eligible vs Ineligible Costs: The Core Rules

Regardless of which Key Action you are applying for, a set of general eligibility rules applies to all Erasmus+ costs. These rules define what the programme will and will not pay for at the most fundamental level.

Cost Type	Eligible?	Conditions / Notes
Staff time spent on project activities	✓ Yes	KA220 — factored into the cost estimate that justifies your tier, via daily rates by role/seniority. Must be supported by signed timesheets.
Transnational travel costs	✓ Yes	KA1 and KA220 — via unit cost distance bands. Low-emission travel qualifies for an optional funding bonus (extra grant + travel days) — worth using where it fits, not a mandatory requirement.
Accommodation and subsistence	✓ Yes	KA1 and KA220 — via individual support daily rates by destination country.
Subcontracting (translation, design, evaluation)	✓ Yes	KA220 only — real costs. Must be justified as not deliverable internally. Core intellectual work cannot be subcontracted to non-partners.
Equipment directly necessary for the project	⚠ Limited	KA220 only — real costs. Only the project-use proportion is eligible. Standard office equipment is not eligible.
Venue hire for project meetings or events	⚠ Limited	Covered within organisational support (KA1) or subcontracting/other direct costs (KA220). Must be directly linked to a project activity.
Inclusion support for participants with fewer opportunities	✓ Yes	Real costs up to defined ceiling. Must be justified per participant with specific barrier described.
VAT	⚠ Conditional	Eligible only if the organisation cannot recover it. Non-recoverable VAT on eligible costs is itself eligible. Recoverable VAT is never eligible.
Salary of existing staff not working on the project	✗ No	Only time actually spent on project activities is eligible. General overhead salaries are not covered.
Profit or organisational overhead	✗ No	Erasmus+ grants do not fund profit margins or general organisational overhead beyond the unit cost and organisational support categories.
Costs already funded by another EU grant	✗ No	Double funding is strictly prohibited. The same cost cannot be claimed from two EU funding sources simultaneously.
Costs incurred before project start date	✗ No	Only costs incurred between the project start and end dates are eligible. Preparatory costs before the official start are not covered.
Currency exchange losses	✗ No	Exchange rate losses between grant receipt and expenditure are not eligible costs.
Fines, penalties or legal disputes	✗ No	Never eligible under any circumstances.

3. KA210 Lump Sum Rules Explained

KA210 uses a lump sum model — the simplest budget model in the programme. Understanding its logic is essential because the simplicity creates a specific accountability risk that many first-time coordinators underestimate.

How the lump sum works. At the application stage, you choose between exactly two grant amounts — €30,000 or €60,000. There is no sliding scale and no other tiers. You do not build a line-by-line budget. You do not attach cost estimates. You simply select the amount that is proportionate to the scope and ambition of your activities and justify that selection through the detail and credibility of your activity plan. The evaluator’s question is: does this activity plan justify this grant amount?

Payment structure. Payment follows a pre-financing plus final payment structure. The exact proportions and any instalment conditions are set out in your specific grant agreement and can depend on factors like your organisation’s financial capacity — don’t assume a fixed universal split. If the final report is approved in full, you receive 100% of the selected amount. If the NA judges that delivery was partial, the lump sum can be reduced proportionately or — in cases of significant non-delivery — withheld entirely.

No receipts — but evidence of delivery is essential. Because the lump sum is not based on actual costs, there are no receipts required for the grant itself. However, you must be able to demonstrate that the activities described in the approved application actually took place. Attendance lists, meeting minutes, output files, photos, email correspondence between partners and participant feedback forms are all forms of activity evidence. The NA can request this evidence at any time during or after the project period.

Choosing the right amount. The most common KA210 budget mistake is selecting the higher amount (€60,000) by default rather than selecting whichever genuinely reflects the scope of planned activities. Evaluators are explicitly asked to assess proportionality — whether the activities described justify the amount requested. A two-partner, 12-month project with three modest activities and one output does not justify €60,000. Build your activity plan first, estimate the realistic costs, then select the amount that fits. For a detailed guide see our post on Erasmus+ budget planning.

4. KA220 Budget Categories Explained

KA220 is a lump sum grant — you’re awarded one of three fixed amounts (€120,000, €250,000 or €400,000), not a reimbursement of itemized spending. What makes it more involved than KA210 is that you build a detailed cost estimate — combining unit costs for staff and travel with real costs for subcontracting and equipment — to work out and justify which of the three tiers to request. That estimate is built line by line in the application’s budget tool, distributed across work packages.

Staff costs. Staff time spent on project activities is usually the largest line in the cost estimate. It’s calculated using daily rates that vary by role/seniority and by country — check the current Programme Guide for the specific categories and rates used, since these details are updated and can be refined between programme years. The formula is: working days × daily rate = estimated staff cost for that partner on that work package. All staff time should be supported by signed monthly timesheets that record the actual days worked on the project.

Travel costs. Each transnational trip is estimated individually using distance bands — from short trips under 100km up to intercontinental trips of 8,000km or more. The unit cost per trip is fixed by band and covers the full outward and return journey as one trip per participant. Low-emission travel (e.g. train over flying) qualifies for an optional funding enhancement — worth using and mentioning explicitly where it fits your activity plan, though it isn’t a mandatory requirement.

Individual support. Accommodation and subsistence for transnational activities are estimated through daily rates that vary by destination country. The rate covers all living costs per day including travel days. Higher-cost countries have higher rates; lower-cost countries have lower rates. Always use the rates from the current Programme Guide — they are updated annually.

Subcontracting — real costs. Services outsourced to third parties — translation, external evaluation, graphic design, web development — are included in your cost estimate as itemized amounts, with invoices required as evidence. Each subcontracted service must be justified as something that cannot reasonably be provided by the partner organisations themselves. The core intellectual work of the project cannot be subcontracted to a non-partner organisation.

Equipment — real costs. Specific equipment directly necessary for project activities is included as a real cost, but only for the proportion of use attributable to the project. Standard office computers, printers and general IT infrastructure are not eligible. Equipment purchased solely for the project and clearly evidenced as necessary for a specific output is eligible — with invoices and a clear justification.

The WP1 management cap. Project management (WP1) is capped at 20% of the total project grant. This cap is enforced by the budget tool — if your WP1 staff day allocations produce a management cost above this threshold, the tool will flag it and block submission. Redistribute staff days into the implementation WPs before finalising. For full budget planning guidance see our KA220 guide.

5. KA1 Unit Costs Explained

KA1 uses a pure unit cost model — the grant is calculated automatically from the activity data you enter: participant numbers, trip distances, activity duration and destination country. There are no receipts for the unit cost categories. What you need to ensure is that the actual activity matches what was described — participant numbers, destination and duration must correspond to the approved plan.

Travel — distance bands. Funded per participant per trip using distance bands based on the distance from the participant’s home city to the activity venue. Most intra-European travel falls in the mid-range bands. Travel is funded for each participant for the combined outward and return journey as one trip.

Individual support — daily rates. A daily rate per participant covering accommodation and subsistence for each day of the activity including travel days. The rate varies by destination country. This is typically the largest single cost category in a KA1 budget. It is funded for all eligible participants — learners, staff and group leaders as applicable to the activity type.

Organisational support. A lump sum covering the applicant organisation’s coordination costs — staff time for project management, communication, participant administration and reporting. The rate is calculated per activity. For KA122 short-term projects this is the primary overhead coverage mechanism.

Preparation costs. A unit cost per participant covering pre-departure preparation — cultural orientation, language preparation, safety briefings, non-formal learning methodology for group leaders. This category specifically funds the preparation phase of mobility activities and should not be treated as surplus.

Courses and training cap for KA122. For short-term KA1 projects (KA122), the total budget allocated to “Courses and training” activities is capped at 50% of the total awarded grant — with an exception for projects where the total grant is up to €40,000, where the cap is set at €20,000. A maximum of three persons from the same sending organisation, and ten from the same mobility consortium, can be funded to attend the same course. A project built entirely around training courses will hit this cap and cannot be compliant without adding other mobility types.

Inclusion support. Additional real costs available for participants with fewer opportunities — covering higher travel costs for remote locations, disability-related support needs or other specific barriers. Claimed as real costs up to a defined ceiling, with justification per participant.

6. Most Common Budget Mistakes

Using outdated unit cost rates. Unit cost rates for staff, travel and individual support are updated annually in the Programme Guide. Budgeting a KA220 cost estimate using last year’s rates will produce incorrect calculations — some rates increase, some decrease. Always download and use the Programme Guide for the specific call year you are applying to and verify every rate before finalising the budget.

Selecting the higher KA210 amount without proportionate activities. Requesting €60,000 for a two-partner, 12-month project with two meetings and one modest output raises an immediate proportionality concern in evaluation. Evaluators are explicitly asked to assess whether the amount requested is proportionate to the activities described. Build your activity plan first and select the amount that fits — do not default to the higher figure.

KA220 project management exceeding 20% of total grant. This cap is the most common KA220 budget error and is entirely preventable. Check the WP1 percentage in the budget tool before finalising. If it exceeds 20%, redistribute staff days from management activities into the relevant implementation work packages.

Subcontracting core project work in KA220. Subcontracting is designed for specialist services that the partner organisations cannot provide — translation, external evaluation, design. It is not designed to replace the core intellectual work of the project. An application where the main output is subcontracted to a third party not in the consortium will be queried by evaluators and may be assessed as a misuse of the subcontracting budget category.

Claiming double funding. The prohibition on double funding is absolute — the same cost cannot be claimed from two EU or national funding sources simultaneously. Organisations that receive multiple grants must maintain separate financial records for each project and ensure that no cost is attributed to more than one funding source. The NA cross-checks this during financial audits and monitoring visits.

Building the budget before the work plan. The most structurally damaging budget error is designing the budget independently of the work plan and then trying to make the two consistent afterwards. The correct sequence is always: define work packages → assign activities → assign participants and staff days per activity per partner → calculate costs from the unit rates. A budget that does not emerge from the work plan will contain inconsistencies that evaluators can identify and that create problems at the reporting stage.

7. Budget Checklist

• ✅ Correct budget model identified — lump sum (KA210, KA220) or unit costs (KA1)
• ✅ Unit cost rates verified from the current Programme Guide — not last year’s rates
• ✅ Budget built from the work plan — not designed independently and retrofitted
• ✅ For KA210: correct amount (€30,000 or €60,000) selected proportionately — activity plan justifies the amount requested
• ✅ For KA210: activity evidence collection plan in place — attendance lists, minutes, output files
• ✅ For KA220: staff days calculated per partner per work package using correct rates
• ✅ For KA220: correct lump sum tier (€120,000/€250,000/€400,000) selected based on the cost estimate
• ✅ For KA220: project management cost does not exceed 20% of total grant
• ✅ For KA220: travel budgeted using distance bands — low-emission travel bonus used where it genuinely fits
• ✅ For KA220: individual support rates verified for each destination country
• ✅ For KA220: subcontracting items justified as not deliverable by partner organisations internally
• ✅ For KA220: real cost items (subcontracting, equipment) have clear justification and invoicing plan
• ✅ For KA1: courses and training budget does not exceed 50% of total grant, or €20,000 if the total grant is €40,000 or under (KA122)
• ✅ No costs planned before the official project start date
• ✅ Double funding check completed — no costs claimed from another EU funding source
• ✅ VAT eligibility checked — only non-recoverable VAT claimed where applicable
• ✅ Budget and work plan cross-checked for full consistency — every activity has a budget line