Pre-financing is the advance a consortium receives once the grant agreement is signed, so that work can start. In Horizon Europe it equals 160% of the average funding per reporting period, not a percentage of the whole grant. Until the final payment the money remains the property of the EU.
Pre-financing is a float so you can start work. Formally it is an advance: the money remains EU property and becomes yours only when the Commission approves the corresponding funding against eligible costs – normally at the final payment.
How much
Here is a common error. Pre-financing is calculated not as a percentage of the grant but as 160% of the average EU funding per reporting period – that is, the maximum grant amount divided by the number of periods.
It follows that with a single reporting period the pre-financing is lower, since 100% would mean handing over the whole grant up front.
It is paid 30 days after entry into force or 10 days before the starting date, whichever is later – never before signature. And it may be distributed only once the minimum number of beneficiaries has acceded, and only to those who have.
The insurance retention is 5–8%, not 5%
Part of the pre-financing is retained and transferred to the mutual insurance mechanism covering the risk of non-recovery. This is a range of 5% to 8% of the maximum grant amount, with the exact figure fixed in your Data Sheet.
The "5%" circulating in secondary sources comes from a worked example in the annotated agreement – it is an illustration, not a rate. Check your Data Sheet.
The retention is released at the end of the action: if the balance is positive, as a separate payment; if negative, the debt is first offset against it and the remainder returned.
The 70% rule for further pre-financing
Where a call provides additional pre-financing: use at least 70% of the previous instalment and you get the next in full. Use less and the amount is reduced by the difference between 70% and what you actually used.
Other payment facts
Interim payments together may not exceed 90% of the maximum grant amount – the rest comes as the balance. Late payment interest by the Commission runs at ECB plus 3.5%.
And separately: a payment is automatically reduced if any consortium member has outstanding debts to the EU. This happens without your consent – one more reason to check partners before signing rather than after.
Updated 27.07.2026 · Reviewed by: GetGrant editorial team
