General FAQ

I do not have permission to open the questionnaires, what do I do?

If you cannot open the questionnaire, it means you do not have the necessary permission to do it. The permission is given by the roles assigned to you in ESN Accounts. Before asking for support, ensure you fulfil the following checkpoints:

  • You do not have a Regular Board Member role assigned to you. It is not enough to add "President", "Treasurer" or other roles in ESN Accounts, because those are not Board Members all across the network. To indicate that someone is a Board Member, besides the position role you also have to give the "Regular Board Member" role.
  • The Primary section in your profile is set to your current section. Go to ESN Accounts -> My Account -> Edit profile -> Scroll to "Primary section" and see if it's set to your current section. If not, set it now and save.
  • ESN Forms did not sync with ESN Accounts. When you get a new role, the sync between the platforms does not happen if you are still logged in to both. The changes in ESN Accounts are synced to the platform every time you log in, so what you have to do is to log out from ESN Forms and log back in. If this does not work instantly, also clear cache or check Incognito mode.

After every change, remember to log out and log back in.

Can I just send the spreadsheet filled in? No, the spreadsheet is not a valid submission of the Section/National Questionnaire. You will have to submit the forms for each part using the link available on these pages: Section Questionnaire 2025 (link) and National Questionnaire 2025 (link). Once you submit a part, the "X" will change in a checkmark (✓). Once all of them are checked, you fulfilled your requirement.
Where can I find what all the abbreviations mean? There are two places where you can find the answer: some of them are explained directly at the bottom of each question, in the small description, and the rest which are more common can be found on ESN Dictionary (link).
Do one section NOs need to feel both the Section and National Questionnaires? No, since the 2025 edition we have introduced a dedicated One-Section Questionnaire that you can find on this page: One-Section Questionnaire 2025 (link).

 

FAQ for Financial Questions

How to fill in the finance and budget questions?We know those questions are a bit harder, so make sure you read the description of each question. You will find in small letters what we want you to tell us at that question and if you need to enter a rounded/integer value (ex. income) and when we want the exact one (ex. ESNcard price). ALL values asked for finances and prices are in EURO.
In which currency should I enter the values?Always convert your local currency to EURO using the InforEuro tool (link) from the EU. Round the final value in EURO to the closest integer. DO NOT use commas, periods or other separators.
If my income has a lot of decimals, what do I do?Doesn't matter how many decimals you have, always enter the rounded values. DO NOT use commas, periods or other separators.
What if we are not allowed to manage our finances?In that case, look for options that say "we are not allowed" or just "we don't have" and then explain the reason behind it.
Which is the financial year?Financial year is usually a calendar year. So the previous financial year in this case would be 2021. But, in some cases, organisations can choose to have the financial year for them according to their Board mandate - if this is your case, tell us your info at the end of your financial year.
What is the difference between an annual budget and a financial report?Annual budget is an organisation's financial plan valid for one financial year that involves balancing the organization's income with its expenses.
How do I know if we had a surplus or a loss?Surplus: If your overall income exceeded your overall spending.
Loss: If your overall income was less than your overall spending.

 

FAQ for Section Questionnaire

How do I know if the data in ESN Accounts is correct?In the Part 1 of the Section Questionnaire you will be asked to confirm that your section data in ESN Accounts is correct. To check this, the President of the Section needs to go to the Section profile accounts.esn.org and verify the information. To facilitate the action, the link to EDIT the profile has been added in the question description.

 

FAQ for National Questionnaire

Do one-section NOs have to fill in both National and Section Questionnaire?No, since the 2025 edition we have introduced a dedicated One-Section Questionnaire that you can find on this page: One-Section Questionnaire 2025 (link).
Financial information: what is the difference between annual budget, income and surplus/loss?Annual budget is an organisation's financial plan valid for one financial year that involves balancing the organization's income with its expenses.
Income is different from profit/surplus. Annual Income = the amount of money, property, and other transfers of value you received in a year. If you don't have an actual budget plan, please leave an estimation in that field.

 

Submit a question

If you couldn't find the answer to your questions in the faq, you can submit it here and we will answer it. You can add multiple questions for the same scope. If you have questions that fit in more categories, please submit the form multiple times, dividing the questions per categories.

Please add here the email where the team can send you the answer to your question (preferably a section email).