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The adoption of a budgetary stance for 2016-2019 to support the establishment’s project

Adopted along with the initial 2016 budget, this budgetary plan sets out five seminal objectives for the period:

A 2016 budget established and reported in ‘GBCP’ format

The 2016 budget was voted in line with the new standards set out in the 7 November 2012 decree on public budgetary and accounts management (GBCP).

This reform introduces budgetary accounting setting out commitment authorisations (AE) and expenditure (outgoings) and revenue (income) flows, separate from the general accounting on which the establishment’s planning and budget tracking was formerly based. The reform therefore enriches the financial information submitted for the Board of Directors’ approval.

In technical terms, IRD has opted to implement the GBCP reform as from the 2017 financial year using the SIFC EPST financial information system, based on the SIFAC solution pooled by the AMUE, the French shared-services agency for Universities and Higher Education and Research Institutions This ambitious choice is consistent with the project to open up and pool its information system in order to make substantial savings.

Key budget and account figures

At the end of the financial year, the amount of commitments fulfilled came to €229.285 million. As a result, the budget implementation balance shows a surplus of €3.221 million with €232.052 million in revenues for €228.832 million in expenditure.

At the end of the 2016 financial year, gross working capital stood at €24.496 million versus €20.471 million in 2015, and increase of€4.024 million. The goal to gradually consolidate the net working capital (after reassignment of carryover to BR1) to a prudential level of 30 operating days has been reached. The financial margins thus re-established will make it possible to fund multi-year investment plans in the scientific, real estate and IT fields.

Cash expenses reported for 2016 stood at €226.304 million (authorised expenses) versus €229.516 million receivable income (securities issued). Taking into account the expenses and income calculated, the 2016 income statement reports a surplus of €1.957 million.

Consolidated resources to the benefit of research

Not counting TGIR, the public service grant (SCSP) rose by €268 K (up 0.14%). Against a background of efforts to turn around public accounts, this increase reflects the national priority for public research and can be seen as a sign of trust in IRD and its teams.

The room for manoeuvre thus provided, together with a policy to rationalise so-called support expenses (rents, service contracts, etc.) has been transferred to research.

On a like-for-like basis, operating resources directly reserved for research units increased 20% from 2015 to 2016 (up e2.25 million).

The rises concern regular allocations (up €1.1 million) and projected resources for the Global South via long-term assignments (up €750 K), and investment in equipment (up €400 K).

Scientific infrastructures benefited from sustained efforts. The Institute makes financial contributions to nine projects for a total forecasted commitment of €2.139 million. In 2016, two operations to which IRD is committed were launched as part of the CPER 2015-2020 phase:

An active investment policy in the areas of real estate and IT

The multi-annual real estate strategy scheme (SPSI) continues to be applied. With commitment authorisation of €1.4 million, this fund has enable investments to bring various structures up to standard, for example:

The information systems master plan was allocated €2.5 million to step up the modernisation policy, especially in the area of research with the future SIAR and the guiding systems. The SIFAC budget for an overall amount of €1.3 million over 2016-2017 is being implemented in line with the forecasts. Finally, the budget assigned to the replacement of IT infrastructures and hardware used up €315 k.