How do you read the CSF reimbursement rule?
Through three questions: what type of action is it, what basis does the rule apply to, and what ceiling limits the funding for your company? The reference rules are 70% for planned training delivered by an external provider, 40% for unplanned training and, for in-house training, the same rates applied to a retained cost of MAD 800 per day per participant, within ceilings set according to the declared TFP. These rates are those of the CSF procedures manual of May 2006 and its Amendment No. 2 of 2 June 2014; the exact basis and the ceiling scale are dealt with below.
A word on the terms for readers new to Morocco. Special training contracts (contrats spéciaux de formation, CSF) are the scheme through which OFPPT, the Office de la formation professionnelle et de la promotion du travail and Morocco’s public vocational training office, reimburses part of the continuing training companies organise for their employees, under Law No. 60-17 on the organisation of continuing training. The vocational training tax (taxe de formation professionnelle, TFP) is the tax employers pay for the benefit of OFPPT; it is also what the CSF ceiling is calculated on.
The reading grid below separates what is known from what still has to be confirmed.
Variable | Question to ask | Reference rule | Note or open point |
|---|---|---|---|
Type of action | Was the action entered in the plan before it took place? Who delivers it: an external provider or your own trainers? | Planned: 70%; unplanned: 40%; in-house, the same rates on a retained cost of MAD 800 per day per participant | Planned: entered in the annual plan, which results from training engineering validated by the GIAC (2006 manual and Amendment No. 2) |
Calculation basis | What amount does the rate apply to? | Retained cost set by the cost schedule, which is not the same as the invoice; MAD 800 per day per participant for in-house training | Excluding VAT: the manual deems amounts exclusive of tax; ancillary costs to be confirmed with OFPPT |
Unit of the in-house retained cost | Per day and per group, or per day and per participant? | MAD 800 per day per participant | Set by the 2006 manual |
Limit on in-house training | What share of the reimbursement can come from planned in-house training? | At most 30% of the total financial participation granted (May 2006 manual) | Manual still in force, with its Amendment No. 2 |
Ceiling | What limit applies to my company? | Based on the declared TFP | Scale and method of application to be confirmed with OFPPT for your financial year |
Compliance | Is the file complete and consistent? | Documents set by the procedures manual | List of documents to be confirmed with OFPPT before filing |
The rules in this table come from the CSF procedures manual of May 2006 and its Amendment No. 2 of 2 June 2014, the reference in force; only OFPPT, after reviewing the file, sets the amount. Unofficial sources quote other rates and other ceilings: we do not use them.
The indicative calculation therefore follows two simple formulas. For an external action, the amount before ceiling is the retained cost of the action multiplied by the rate matching its type. For in-house training, it is the number of days multiplied by the number of participants and by the retained cost of MAD 800, then by the same rate: 70% if it is planned, 40% if not. The ceiling then applies and may reduce that amount.
What difference does the TFP-based ceiling make?
The ceiling limits the funding, and it is specific to each company because it depends on its declared vocational training tax. Its scale and how it is applied, per action or per financial year, are set by the procedures manual: ask OFPPT for the ones that apply to your financial year before presenting any estimate after ceiling.
The link between the TFP and continuing training is set by the law: the continuing training budget managed by OFPPT includes a percentage of the proceeds of the vocational training tax (Law No. 60-17, art. 23), whose regulatory texts remain in force (art. 32).
Three practical consequences:
- Two companies, two results. The same course, at the same price, can lead to different funding if the declared TFP differs.
- Check the TFP before the file. The ceiling is calculated on the declared TFP: check with your finance department that the company’s declarations are up to date when you build the plan. For the subsidiary of a foreign group, it is the TFP declared by the Moroccan entity that counts.
- The ceiling cannot be guessed. Its effect can only be measured with the official scale. As long as that scale is not confirmed, every estimate remains before ceiling.
Fictional example: how do you calculate an order of magnitude before ceiling?
By applying the reference rule to each action, then stopping there: without a confirmed scale, the ceiling cannot be applied. The calculations below concern a fictional example, before ceiling, with no commitment value; they are expressed in rates and participant-days, to be applied to the costs on your own quotes.
A fictional SME plans three actions in its financial year. The rules applied are the reference rules of the CSF procedures manual of May 2006 and its Amendment No. 2 of 2 June 2014. For simplicity, the example assumes that the invoiced cost of actions A and B equals their retained cost.
Action (fictional example) | Type | Basis or duration | Reference rule | Indicative calculation before ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
A. HACCP training for the production team, entered in the plan | Planned, external provider | Retained cost of the action | 70% | 70% of the retained cost |
B. Safety training ordered urgently, outside the plan | Unplanned, external provider | Retained cost of the action | 40% | 40% of the retained cost |
C. On-the-job training by an in-house trainer, entered in the plan | Planned, delivered in-house | 5 days, 4 participants, i.e. 20 participant-days | 70% of a retained cost of MAD 800 per day per participant | 20 participant-days × MAD 800 × 70% |
How to read this fictional example:
- The amount after ceiling cannot be calculated as long as the scale linked to the company’s TFP is not confirmed.
- Action C counts each participant. The retained cost of in-house training is MAD 800 per day per participant: four participants over five days make twenty participant-days.
- The cost of working time is not counted. Employees keep their salary during training (Law No. 60-17, art. 5); in this example, that cost adds to the remaining cost. The manual calculates reimbursement on the retained cost set by the cost schedule, or on MAD 800 per day per participant in-house: participants’ salaries are not part of it.
- Planning weighs heavily. If action A had been launched before being entered in the plan, the reference rule would fall from 70% to 40% of its retained cost, before ceiling: the funding would drop by more than 40%. If action B had been planned, it would rise from 40% to 70%. In-house training follows the same logic: unplanned, action C would be calculated at 40% instead of 70% (20 participant-days × MAD 800 × 40%).
- Planned in-house training has its own limit. Under the CSF procedures manual of May 2006, the reimbursement of planned training delivered in-house cannot exceed 30% of the total financial participation granted. This limit is checked against the participation granted, which is only known after review; it is therefore not applied in this example.
The same reasoning applies to engineering funded by GIAC, the “groupements interprofessionnels à l’appui du conseil”, inter-professional advisory groups set up by employers’ organisations. Their reference rule, set by the GIAC manual and its Amendment No. 1 of 2 June 2014, is 70% of the cost of the engineering excluding tax, 80% if it follows a strategic study validated by the GIAC. The MAD 100,000 ceiling applies to the amount reimbursed, not to the cost of the engineering. In our fictional example, a needs analysis followed by a training plan would therefore be funded at 70% of its cost excluding VAT, before any other check and within that ceiling.
Why can the notified amount be lower than the simulation?
Because the simulation sees neither the eligibility of each action, nor the exact basis, nor the ceiling, nor the quality of the file. OFPPT sees all of this at review.
- An action judged ineligible drops out of the calculation.
- A different basis from the one simulated, for example if some costs are excluded, reduces the amount.
- The ceiling linked to the TFP may limit the funding.
- A missing or inconsistent document weakens the action: incomplete attendance record, certificate without a number, invoice that does not match the action sheet.
- A breach of commitments can lead to the partial or total cancellation of the action (Law No. 60-17, art. 29), and amounts unduly received must be repaid (art. 31).
That is why we always present two figures to management: the full cost of the training, which is certain, and an estimate before ceiling, which is uncertain by nature. For a group finance team abroad, the same logic applies to the budget: the cost on one line, the forecast on another, never an amount treated as acquired. How to secure the file is detailed in OFPPT CSF application step by step.
How do you use the simulator without getting it wrong?
The reimbursement simulator applies the reference rules to the type of action and the cost, or the number of days, that you enter. It displays an indicative amount before ceiling, with no commitment value.
Before using it, gather:
Present the result for what it is: an order of magnitude before ceiling. For training linked to a certification project, our articles on BRCGS consultancy cost and FSSC 22000 certification cost separate what counts as training from what does not. For the overall framework, see our guide to OFPPT special training contracts for CEOs and HR.