Small Business Digital Grants Program

What is it?

The Small Business Digital Grants Program has been developed to assist Queensland small business owners in obtaining access to cutting-edge digital services and technologies for the purposes of making their business more competitive and more prosperous in the modern world, helping the national economy to grow and helping their business generate more job opportunities for others.

How much funding is your business entitled to?

Under the Small Business Digital Grants Program, the Government agrees to provide QLD business owners with funding of up to $10,000, which can be used for the purpose of buying computer hardware, software and the acquisition of other related services, including training, SEO or a new WordPress website, for example. The minimum grant is $1000. In order to receive the funding, business owners must be able to demonstrate how these purchases will improve the performance and profitability of their business and strengthen their prospects of being able to recruit more employees in the future.

Is your business eligible for funding?

In order to qualify for funding, your business must have:

• Less than 20 staff at the time of your application submission
• An ABN
• Queensland head office
• A gross revenue of less than $2 million during the last financial year
• A business that has not filed for bankruptcy/is currently in liquidation

Please note that only a single application is allowed per ABN. Those who do manage to obtain funding are ineligible to apply for further funding, under the Small Business Digital Grants Program.

Your business must be able to purchase the desired items and/or services in their entirety. Upon a successful application, you will then be refunded the cost of said items/services to a sum of up to $10,000, upon proof of purchase.

How do you apply for the grant?

Round 5 is now open and officially closes at 5pm on the 8^th of October, 2018.

Applying is easy, simply:

• Read the above criteria to check if your business qualifies
• Read the application guidelines and terms and conditions
• Apply by using the following link

How is your application assessed?

This is an application process after all; just because your business meets the funding criteria, does not necessarily mean that your application will be successful.

In addition to meeting the criteria, the chances of application being approved depend on the following factors:

• The perceived benefit(s) that your desired purchases will have on the performance of your business (growth, profit, ability to acquire more staff)
• The degree to which your purchases will improve the overall efficiency of your business and increase its ability to be successful
• The chances of your proposed expenditures creating more jobs
• The cost effectiveness of your purchases

If your application is approved, when will you be paid?

All successful applicants will be refunded 50% of their approved purchases, to a sum of up to $10,000.

To obtain the refund, successful applicants need to:

• Submit a completed acquittal document through SmartyGrants
• Send a tax invoice to the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training
• Send copies of supplier invoices and receipts, which clearly identify the total purchase costs

Find out more

To find out more about the Small Business Digital Grants Program, please refer to the application guidelines link (under the ‘How do you apply for the grant’ section, listed above) or call 13 74 68.