EU Funding

Process automation (RPA) as a cost line in a funded project

The platform a robot runs on and the application that automates the process sit on two different letters of the eligible-cost list — two letters, two regimes, one scoring consequence.

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.

Under the POCIDIF Action 2.1 guide, approved by MIPE Order 965 of 23 June 2026, process automation appears in two different places in the eligible-cost list. RPA platforms and intelligent automation software are named among the equipment the funding may buy, at letter A, point 1(a); the automation application itself is budgeted one letter below, at point 1(b), alongside software licences and cloud platform access. The distinction is not bookkeeping. Where the result of the project is an innovative software solution, a hardware share above 20% of total eligible value scores zero on the budget-correctness sub-criterion, and that sub-criterion cannot be recovered elsewhere. Two limits decide whether this list applies to you at all: Action 2.1 funds SMEs holding one of the ICT NACE codes listed in the guide and developing their own product for the market, not companies buying a robot for internal use, and the minimum non-repayable value of a project is 200,000 euro. The 20,000–100,000 euro band still circulating as a current digitalization grant belongs to the PNRR C9 I3.1 call, whose submissions closed on 30 June 2023. Verified on 30 July 2026 against the guide text and the evaluation grid annexed to it. Northdan designs and implements automations and writes the offer the evaluator compares against market prices.

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How we help

The process, not the technology, justifies the price

Our budget describes the automated flow end to end — source, rules, destination, monthly volume — so the amount requested has a concrete anchor in the company's operations.

Automations that do not break at the first change

We build on stable interfaces and rules, with exception handling and logging, so the robot still works in year two and not only at project acceptance.

Results you can demonstrate at reimbursement

Execution logs, a count of documents processed and a before/after comparison give exactly the kind of evidence project monitoring asks for.

The four places an automation can land in

Letter A, point 1(a) — equipment. This is where the guide places RPA platforms and intelligent automation software understood as the equipment automation solutions run on, next to autonomous and robotic systems, edge computing devices and IoT sensors. It is the line that counts towards the hardware share.

Letter A, point 1(b) — software applications and licences, cloud platform access, AI infrastructure and services including AIaaS, MLaaS, APIs and AI licences, plus XaaS or SaaS licences for the implementation period where accounting rules allow them to be classified as intangible assets. This is where the development of the automation is budgeted.

Letter A, point 2(c) — where the automation is built as industrial research or experimental development, the development and test environments, managed databases and cloud resources used exclusively for the project fall under contracted research. Training sits apart again, under letter B, point 3: preparing the staff the product is intended for and the staff who will maintain it, where they are employees of the beneficiary.

How we specify an automation so it can be evaluated and reimbursed

For every automated process we define the trigger, the systems involved, the processing rules, the exception handling and the final output. The price attaches to the complexity of those elements rather than to a global estimate — and the evaluator can check the proportion between effort and amount.

At acceptance the robot runs on real data in front of the beneficiary: we process a batch of documents, show the execution log and hand over the operating documentation. The acceptance protocol records concrete volumes, which makes the reimbursement far harder to contest.

Frequently asked questions

Is RPA automation an eligible cost in digitalization funding?

In the currently open POCIDIF 2.1 call it sits in two separate places in the cost list: RPA platforms are named among the equipment at letter A, point 1(a), while the automation application itself belongs with software and licences at point 1(b). No call is dedicated to automation alone, so the classification is always read from the guide of the programme you apply under.

How do you describe a software robot in the project budget?

Through the process it automates: the systems connected, the rules applied, the monthly volume of documents or transactions and the way exceptions are handled. The amount is justified by the complexity of those elements, which the evaluator can verify.

What evidence does reimbursement accept for process automation?

A demonstration on real data at acceptance, the robot's execution logs, a count of the documents processed and the operating documentation handed to the beneficiary. All of it is generated naturally if the automation genuinely runs in production.

Does an RPA platform count towards the hardware share of the budget?

It does. Platforms are listed with the equipment at letter A, point 1(a), and where the result of the project is an innovative software solution a hardware share above 20% of total eligible value scores zero on the budget-correctness sub-criterion. A line placed under the wrong letter therefore costs points, not just tidiness.