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The SME Self-Assessment questionnaire allows you to determine whether your organisation qualifies as a Micro, Small or Medium-sized Enterprise ('SME') according to the relevant rules of the European Commission.
The assessment is based on the SME Recommendation 2003/361/EC (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:124:0036:0041:en:PDF) as well as on the definition of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/sme-definition/index_en.htm).
The questionnaire comprises a series of easy-to-answer questions in logical sequence: the answer you provide will determine the next question in the sequence
To establish the SME status of an organisation, it is necessary to determine its ownership structure. The questions in the SME Self-Assessment questionnaire will help you describe the ownership structure of your organisation. Furthermore, it will help you assess whether your organisation fulfils the requirements set out in the SME Recommendation.
The SME questionnaire first requires information about your organisation (in the following example "My company"), and about any other relevant entities to which it is related.
Example: 60% of My Company is owned by GG572 Holding (the Shareholder). Other (minor) companies own shares/voting rights of My Company, each owning less than 25%.
My Company has an 80% subsidiary (the Participation) in Italy (My Italian Subsidiary). The rest of My Italian Subsidiary is owned by minor shareholders.
In a case like this, you will be asked to enter financial data of:
Access first the Participant Register. To do so, log on into the Funding & Tenders Portal and go to My Organisation(s) within Manage my area on the left side. Click on the Actions button next to your organisation and select Modify organisation. Then, scroll down to the SME data group and click on to start the SME questionnaire.
After having read the above documents, you can start the questionnaire by ticking the declaration about having read and understood the information shown. To proceed, click next. The second screen will inform you about responsibilities and potential consequences of inaccurate and false declaration made in fulfilling the SME self-assessment. After having having read these warnings, you can proceed with the questionnaire, by ticking the declaration. To continue, click next.
You are required to read the information displayed on this third screen on which you will also find ad hoc links to the relevant EU documentation (SME Definition and User Guide - i.e. 1, 2, 3 below). After having read carefully the information provided, you are required to tick the corresponding declaration box (i.e. 4 below) and launch the SME questionnaire by clicking on the Start button (5 below). |
The SME-Questionnaire step by step
All along the questionnaire you will find:
The initial questions are of 'yes/no' type; you will be required to provide input afterwards.
The icon indicates fields with date format. Click on the empty space on the left side to display a calendar and to select a date:
Some other fields are drop-down lists. Fields without icon on the right are number fields where you need to provide input manually. Whenever you provide wrong kind of input format or no input, a message will list the errors. Amend accordingly to be able to continue.
You could also encounter questions for which you need to make a declaration. Tick the corresponding box in the those cases.
Please note that, at any time, clicking on the Cancel button will take you out of the questionnaire without saving.
You will be asked first to fill in information concerning your organisation. Each answer triggers a different set of questions: You will reach the end of this first section when you are presented with the validate button. Click on it in order to validate your input. If you detect an error, please correct the relevant field. Otherwise, you can go to the following step of the questionnaire. At this point, your input has been saved as a draft (#10 above). You can leave the questionnaire by clicking the Finish later button (#11 above), and return back to it at any moment by clicking in the Participant Register application. Note: if, at a later stage, you come back to the self-assessment, you will face the same declarations as in the initial phase. You will therefore have to acknowledge them again by ticking the corresponding boxes. |
The system will ask you now to enter information concerning the "family tree" of your organisation (in this case the name of the company is Test Registration). You have to indicate here the existence of "Shareholders" related to your organisation. You will secondly be asked to fill in information concerning these shareholders, if any. As a rule, data inserted for the shareholders should be related to the same accounting period than the one previously inserted for your organisation. |
Once you have completed the Shareholder(s) section, the system will ask you to enter information concerning your Participation(s). You will therefore thirdly be asked to provide information about Participations. |
Once you have completed the Participation(s) section, the system will ask you to enter information concerning your Other Relationship(s). You will therefore be asked to provide information about Other Relationship(s). |
Once you have provided all the information for your organisation (Shareholders-Participation-Other Relationships), you will be asked to repeat the same exercise for all the entities you indicated as belonging to the "family tree". In other words, you will complete again STEPs 2, 3 and 4 for each entity listed in the "family tree". If you are introducing a complex group structure, it may happen that either:
Such events will be an indication that the entity data must not be taken into account when calculating the thresholds relevant for the SME status. |
OverviewThe table "Overview of Ownership" at the bottom of the main screen displays the entities that you declared, its corresponding financial data, ownership percentages, type of relationships as well as the parent company to which they are related. The last three columns (S for Shareholders, P for Participations and O for Other Relationships) include the information that has been completed so far. Edit data for a companyAfter creating an entity (which is done by validating the blue pane), you can edit the data at any time by clicking . Edit the Ownership Structure: ShareholdersIf you have already submitted information about the shareholder structure of a certain entity and you want to modify that structure, you can do the following:
if the rest is assumed to be held by minor shareholders.
Edit the Ownership Structure: Participations and other RelationshipsIf you forgot to add a Participation or an Other relationship, you can do it at a later stage by clicking the green check mark , corresponding to the appropriate relationship (column P or O). |
Once all the necessary information is entered, the "Ready for the results" page appears. Now is the time to check that all the information provided is correct. You can do so by reviewing it on the "Overview" section of the Ownership table. You have to submit the result of your self-assessment at this point. To do so, click on . The system will automatically direct you to the Participant Register, where you can click on Submit Changes to save the results into your organisation data. |
Using Consolidated AccountsEvery time you are asked to enter financial data for a given entity, you have the option of using consolidated accounts.
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Filling in the wizard as an affiliateIf you are an affiliate to a mother company, and you wish to use the consolidated accounts of the group your company belongs to, select Yes to the corresponding question. If your organisation is not the ultimate parent company in the consolidated accounts, you must then select No when answering the question Is Applicant to SME call the parent company of this group? Then, you provide the figures of the individual accounts of your organisation. If you provide individual figures that exceed the SME thresholds (as in the example below where the staff is less than 250 employees) the tool blocks the advancement and redirects you to a screen on which only Finish later as an option is available. Please note that for affiliates, it is necessary to add their mother company as your shareholder, in order to provide the figures from the consolidated accounts, you will first encode its shareholder, by clicking on the corresponding blue button. If the applicant’s shareholder is the parent company in the group and you wish to use consolidated accounts, you must specify which entities are included in the consolidation. In our case, it must assign as child company the Applicant to SME call. In such manner, the individual account of the applicant are not counted twice. |
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Annual balance sheet total
The annual balance sheet summarizes an organization's assets, liabilities and equity at the end of its financial year. You are requested to fill in this field with any of the two sides of the equation "assets = liabilities + equity".
Business plan
The business plan is a realistic bona fide declaration in which the entity indicates financial projections concerning the profit-and-loss account, balance sheet and forecasted staff headcount of the company. It also includes a narrative part describing the core activity of the company and its expected market position. These are the minimal requirements of the business plan. It is essential that the business plan covers the entire period (financial years) necessary for the entity to develop its business until it delivers a good or a service on a given market. In other words, it should cover all the periods necessary for the entity to generate turnover.
(Article 2 to the Annex to the SME Definition).
More details User Guide, page 13
Companies with closed accounts but no turnover yet
Companies which already have closed accounts but need more time to enter into the market and generate turnover are considered as having a "lengthy time- to-market". In general, this may happen for companies operating in specific fields - such as biotechnology, nanotechnology or health-related/medical matters - where a lengthy period of time-to-market is justified.
This kind of companies is requested to insert:
•figures from the last closed accounts, and
•figures from the business plan, including the expected turnover, and
•the investments made in research and development.
These figures are requested to demonstrate that, in spite of lack of turnover, the enterprise is engaged in an economic activity.
Consolidated Accounts
The consolidated accounts are the combined financial statements of a parent company and its subsidiaries.
(Article 6 to the Annex to the SME Definition).
More details User Guide, page 16 and User Guide, page 33-34.
Currency
Currency in which the accounts are recorded / closed.
The exchange rates used to convert national currencies into EUR are the market rates for the penultimate day of the previous month quoted by the European Central Bank.
Date of closure
The Date of closure for the accounting period.
Economic Activity
A legal entity is considered to be engaged in an economic activity, if it's involved in any form of trade or activity carried out for remuneration or financial interest in a given market. In general, any activity consisting in offering goods or services on a given market is considered as an 'economic activity'.
The following activities are not considered as economic activities:
(1) activities for which there is no financial offset;
(2) activities for which there is no given/direct market;
(3) activities for which the income generated is not distinct from the personal income of its members or shareholders.
(Article 1 to the Annex to the SME Definition).
More details User Guide, page 35
Investment in Research and Development (R&D)
Refers here to the expenses / investments occurred by an entity to enter into the market and generate future results a turnover.
Investors
These entities may be
a) Public investment corporations, venture capital companies, individuals or group of individuals with a regular venture capital investment activity who invest equity capital in unquoted businesses ('business angels') provided the total investment of those business angels in the same enterprise is less than EUR 1,250,000;
b) Universities and non-profit research centres;
c) Institutional investors, including regional development funds.
Legal Person
It is any entity (not natural person) treated as a 'person' for legal purposes (associations, foundations, companies, etc.). Legal persons can own property, enter into contracts and sue and be sued in their own name.
Parent Company (Consolidated Accounts)
It is an up-stream/holding company that consolidates the account of your entity within its own accounts. If it is not in the list, you will be asked later to provide this information.
Percentage
Shares, ownerships, voting rights, quotes/money/property invested in the company.
Public Body
Public body is any entity established as such by national law or an international organisation (e.g. ministries, departments, local and public authorities, public agencies, public universities, etc.)
Shareholder
A shareholder can be a Legal or Natural person, owning shares, voting rights, quotes/money/property in another entity.
Staff Headcount
The 'staff' headcounts covers full-time / part - time / temporary and seasonal staff. It includes:
(a) employees;
(b) persons working for the enterprise being subordinated to it and deemed to be employees under national laws;
(c) owner-managers;
(d) partners engaging in a regular activity in the enterprise and benefiting from financial advantages from the enterprise.
The 'staff' headcounts covers full-time / part - time / temporary and seasonal staff. It includes:
(Article 2 to the Annex to the SME Definition).
More details User Guide, page 23
Start-up
A start-up company is an enterprise recently created which does not have closed accounts yet. This kind of companies is requested to produce figures from a business plan.
(Article 4 to the Annex to the SME Definition).
More details User Guide, page 11
Turnover
The 'turnover' is intended as the total revenues generated from the sales of products and/or supply of services. The turnover is generally indicated in the company's profit and loss account.
Note: Turnover is not the same as profit. Profit generally means the amount of turnover remaining after all business expenses have been deducted. In comparison, turnover is generally the gross amount of income received by the business. Turnover is not the same as "other operating income". The "other operating income" can refer for example to revenue from grants, membership fees or sponsorships but it is rarely the turnover.
(Article 2 to the Annex to the SME Definition).
More details User Guide, page 13