Togra for Irish producers
A walkthrough of how Togra runs an Irish production company: the S481 credit from readiness to estimate, Screen Ireland applications and rounds, company admin, recoupment and compliance.
What an Irish company gets
A company at home in Ireland works in euro and in Irish terms throughout: Revenue and the CRO, the VAT3 and PAYE Modernisation, the Organisation of Working Time Act, Garda vetting for child performers, and Irish working days for every statutory deadline.
- The S481 film credit, the S487A digital games credit and the S481A credit, each with its readiness tracker, application pack and claim stages.
- Screen Ireland's production, development, distribution and post-award schemes, Coimisiún na Meán's Sound & Vision, TG4 and the Arts Council.
- The Tab F skills development plan in Screen Ireland's own workbook, Tab J and Tab Z, and the GEDI self-identification survey for cast and crew.
- Irish-language productions: the cultural test, Sound & Vision and the TG4 packs carry the language through.
The producer's journey
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An Irish company
The company profile holds what an Irish company has: its CRO number, euro bank details, Screen Producers Ireland membership, and the two qualifying-company statements S481 asks of the producer company. Ireland as the home territory sets the credits, the statutory pages and the terms used across the slate.
Company profile. -
S481 readiness
The S481 tracker reads the tagged budget and the project's own records and checks each section of the Department's application the way it will be checked at submission. For the demo, the eligible base is €2,802,500, split into €1,108,500 of labour and €1,694,000 of goods and services, against a total cost of production of €2,969,800: the €3,199,900 budget less its Reg 12 non-qualifying lines, the same figure the estimate uses. Nine of the 22 dimensions are ready; each of the others says what is missing and links to the page that fixes it.
S481 tracker: the eligible spend and the sections still to complete. -
The credit estimate
The estimate is the four-column table an accountant builds by hand, generated from the budget: Global, Non-qualifying (Reg 12), Ineligible, Qualifying and Eligible, with a subtotal for each section of the budget. The credit is 32% of the lower of 80% of the cost of production and the eligible expenditure. It downloads as a spreadsheet or a PDF.
- €2,969,800
- Qualifying spend: the global budget less €230,100 of non-qualifying insurance, legal, bond and finance costs.
- €2,375,840
- (A) 80% of the cost of production. This is the lower figure, so it binds.
- €2,802,500
- (B) Eligible expenditure.
- €760,269
- The credit at 32%. With the Scéal or VFX enhancement set on the S481 form, the estimate adds the 40% line.
The foot of the estimate: section subtotals, the grand total and the credit. -
The Cultural Test and Industry Development Test
The eight Cultural Test criteria from the application form, each with its evidence, and the Industry Development Test answer. Revenue requires at least three criteria; the demo meets four.
S481 Cultural Test, 4 of 8. -
Screen Ireland applications
Funder applications open on a Screen Ireland tab: the production and development applications, the Production Specification Form filled from the project, the Pre-Production Fund, post-award decisions, drawdowns, progress reports, the recoupment corridor, E&O and conditions precedent. Coimisiún na Meán and the S481 packs for the Department have tabs of their own.
Funder applications, Screen Ireland tab. -
The funder calendar
One click loads the starter set and the Screen Ireland rounds for the year, and the project filter keeps the ones that match a feature in financing. Closing dates count down, and each round carries its eligibility and caps.
Funder rounds matching the demo project. -
Company admin
Cúram starts from an Irish starter pack of 15 recurring tasks: the CRO B1 annual return and financial statements, the beneficial ownership register, the VAT3 return, PAYE Modernisation, tax clearance, board minutes, the auditor's engagement, insurance renewals and the GDPR register, each with reminders. Due dates start from defaults for the company to set.
Cúram after applying the starter pack. -
Recoupment in Screen Ireland's order
The standard waterfall follows Screen Ireland's Production Funding Guidelines, with the recoupment corridor for Irish talent and the production company as its own tier ahead of the Screen Ireland loan and premium. A review strip flags where the tier order needs checking against the funder agreements. Amounts read zero until revenue is recorded.
The demo's waterfall after initialising the standard tiers. -
Compliance at a glance
The compliance view keeps the Irish statutory domains in one place: the credits, vetting and child licences, working time, Article 19 transparency, the DAC, Tab F skills and funder drawdowns. The demo has three items to attend to.
Compliance scorecard.
Also in the module, not shown here
- The S481 application, interim claim and final claim packs, the submissions log and the 21-working-day notification deadline.
- S487A for digital games and S481A, each with its own tracker and cultural test.
- The Tab F skills development plan exported as Screen Ireland's workbook, with Tab J and Tab Z.
- The GEDI self-identification survey, sent anonymously to cast and crew.
- Sound & Vision applications with their cap and state-aid checks, and the TG4 production pack.
- Working-time audits under the Organisation of Working Time Act, child licences, fixed-term contracts and pay transparency.