The duration of preparation of project reports depends on the good organization of teamwork between the beneficiary and project partners, as well as on the timely and systematic aggregation of information during the reporting period. It should be noted that the official language of the cross-border cooperation programmes is English, and as a result, it is necessary to make allowance for a sufficient time reserve for translation (if not all representatives of the project partners know English to the required degree).
Interim reports include narrative and financial parts. Preparation of the financial report is the most time-consuming activity. Four-monthly report represents only a narrative section (with a limited number of tables reflecting contracts concluded within the project).
It must be noted that, as a rule, submission of reports subsequently transforms into a follow-up and revision phase based on the comments received from the programme managing body (this phase may take quite a long time in some cases).
Thus, initial preparation of a 4-month report may take 1-3 weeks (with subsequent follow-up and revision of nearly 1 month); initial preparation of an interim report – 1-1.5 months (with subsequent follow-up and revision over the course of 2-3 months).