EU Funding

Cloud and software licences: getting them right in a funded project

A perpetual licence and a monthly cloud subscription are two different animals in the eyes of a reimbursement officer — and they need separate treatment from the budget stage onward.

Northdan Soft is a software supplier, not a funding consultancy, and is not affiliated with any managing authority or development agency. Programme information is indicative — always check the conditions in the programme's official applicant guide.

A perpetual licence is paid once and stays on the company's balance sheet; a cloud subscription runs month after month, including long after the project has ended. The difference looks like an accounting detail, yet in funding it decides what you can actually claim: under the open POCIDIF 2.1 call, subscription services are eligible as regional investment aid only where they can be classified as amortisable intangible assets included in the company's assets, while cloud resources used exclusively for research and development are accepted under contracted research. Historically, the C9 call for SME digitalization under PNRR, Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, carried both licences and cloud computing services on its cost list — submissions closed on 30 June 2023 and only the payment window remains, running to 30 October 2026. The guide also obliges the beneficiary to keep the delivered solution running from its own funds for 36 months after the final payment. Verified on 30 July 2026 against the open call's guide and the SME Eco-Tech implementation procedure. Northdan delivers software under both licensing models and separates the licence line from the services line in the budget — exactly the distinction evaluators look for.

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How we help

Licence and services split in the budget

The licence line and the implementation line get their own prices and justifications, so each can be verified independently at evaluation and at reimbursement.

Cloud period sized against the implementation window

Cloud subscriptions are budgeted strictly over the project's implementation period, with a start date, an end date and a month count, so no month the authority will refuse to pay ends up in the budget.

Payment evidence prepared from the start

For every licence and subscription we supply an itemised invoice, the certificate or licence key and confirmation of activation, in the format the reimbursement file requires.

Perpetual licence, subscription or cloud: what the guides accept

The three models behave differently at reimbursement. The perpetual licence is the simplest: one cost, one asset in the books, one invoice. Subscriptions are eligible under regional investment aid only where accounting rules allow them to be recorded as amortisable intangible assets — as a rule perpetual or multi-year fixed-term licences.

Under research and development aid the test changes: subscriptions for development and test environments, managed databases, machine-learning pipelines, AI APIs and cloud compute or storage for training and testing are accepted as contracted research when used exclusively for the project. The same cloud invoice can therefore be eligible under one heading and not the other.

How we build the cloud and licence lines of the technical budget

For licences we write the product name, the number of users or seats, the licence type with its explicit period, the unit price and its role in the company's workflow. For cloud we detail the resources: hosting, storage, test environment, security services — each with a monthly rate and a number of months, aligned to the project calendar.

At acceptance we hand over the licence keys, the administration accounts and evidence that the services are genuinely running, so the acceptance protocol has verifiable technical backing.

Frequently asked questions

Are cloud subscriptions eligible in digitalization projects?

It depends on the aid type. Under regional investment aid they qualify only where they can be recorded as amortisable intangible assets included in the company's assets. Under research and development aid, cloud resources used exclusively for the project are accepted as contracted research.

How are software licences entered in a funded project budget?

With the product, the number of users, the licence type and a unit price on every line, kept separate from implementation services. Perpetual licences are recorded as intangible assets, which matters for how the authority verifies them.

What proof does reimbursement require for cloud and licences?

Besides the itemised invoice, authorities usually ask for the licence certificate or key, evidence of activation on the declared users and, for cloud, confirmation that the services were active over the invoiced period. We prepare these at every delivery.

Does the PNRR C9 call still accept applications for licences and cloud?

No — submissions closed on 30 June 2023 and only the payment window remains, with reimbursement claims accepted until 30 October 2026. Its cost list is a historical reference, not a list you can budget against today.