Expenditure operations
Article 73
1. Every item of expenditure shall be committed, validated, authorized and paid. At the end of the periods referred to in Article 75, the unused balance of budgetary commitments shall be decommitted. When executing operations, the authorising officer shall ensure that the expenditure complies with the Treaties, the budget, this Regulation and other acts adopted pursuant to the Treaties as well as with the principle of sound financial management. 2. The authorising officer shall make a budgetary commitment before entering into a legal commitment with third parties. The first subparagraph shall not apply to legal commitments concluded following a declaration of a crisis situation in the framework of a business continuity plan, in accordance with the procedures adopted by the Union body. 3. The authorising officer shall validate expenditure by accepting that an item of expenditure is charged to the budget of the Union body, after having checked the supporting documents attesting the creditor's entitlement as per the conditions set in the legal commitment when there is a legal commitment. For this purpose, the authorising officer responsible shall: (a) verify the existence of the creditor's entitlement; (b) determine or verify the reality and the amount of the claim through the endorsement ‘certified correct’; (c) verify the conditions according to which payment is due. Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, the validation of expenditure shall also apply to interim or final reports not associated with a request for payment in which case the impact on the accounting system will be limited to the general accounts. 4. The validation decision shall be expressed through electronically secured signature in accordance with Article 146 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 by the authorising officer or by a technically competent member of staff, duly empowered by a formal decision of the authorising officer or, exceptionally, for paper workflow, take the form of a stamp incorporating that signature. With the endorsement ‘certified correct’, the authorising officer or a technically competent member of staff, duly empowered by the authorising officer, shall certify that: (a) for the pre-financing: the conditions required in the legal commitment for the payment of the pre-financing are met; (b) for interim and balance payments in contracts: the services provided for in the contract have been properly provided, the supplies properly delivered or that the work has been properly carried out; (c) for interim and balance payments in grants: the action or work programme carried out by the beneficiary is in all respects in compliance with the grant agreement including, where applicable that the costs declared by the beneficiary are eligible. In the case referred to in point (c) of the second subparagraph, cost estimates shall not be deemed to comply with the eligibility conditions set out in Article 186(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046. The same principle shall also apply for interim and final reports not associated to a payment request. 5. In order to authorize the expenditure, the authorising officer shall, after having verified that the appropriations are available, issue a payment order to instruct the accounting officer to pay an amount of expenditure that has been previously validated. 6. Where periodic payments are made with regard to services rendered, including rental services, or goods delivered, the authorising officer may, subject to that officer's risk analysis, order the application of a direct debit system from an imprest account.