Definition of economic projects at the University of Borås:

• financed by external resources
• has revenues exceeding SEK 300 thousand regardless of source of funding (i.e. incl. co-financing)
• has a specific task and objective
• the task is limited in time and ends thereafter (or moves into a new project)
• a project manager has been appointed

When the above criteria are met, according to the University of Borås, it is a project and can be posted in the accounting system as such. If the above criteria are not met, the activity is defined as an activity instead.

The activities within a project should be able to be monitored and reported both within the university and externally to, for example, the funders.

There are external requirements for the accounting and accounting of projects and therefore the foundations for project accounting are based on an economic and project model that assumes that:

• accounting is for the university
• for each project, all costs are to be declared (full cost statement)
• all projects are to be fully financed (full cost recovery)
• a project is like an activity
• an activity/project may have several funders
• all activities are linked to a financial statement unit, normally a Faculty
• unless external funding provides full cost recovery, Faculty funding should be used
• uniform principles apply to calculation, quotation/application handling, and follow-up
• indirect costs are charged monthly to each project via trigger.