Don’t have the time? Outsource your application
Rewards are worth the investment
Anyone who owns a business will tell you that you have to spend money to make money. But there are plenty of government grants and incentives available to help small businesses offset the cost and risk of investing in growth.
The Federal Government gave out upwards of $287m in grants to growing small and medium sized businesses in the last financial year. On top of that, $131m was also provided under the Export Market Development Grant as well as various schemes by state and territory governments, councils, business chambers and industry players.
Where can I find these grants?
Knowing where to find and apply for grants and entitlements is key. It is also important to read the fine print and make sure that your business meets qualifying criteria.
The first place to explore for opportunities is the business arm of the Federal Government which lists all business growth schemes on www.business.gov.au.
Business owners can use the website’s Grant and Assistance tool and filter results by location, stage of business and industry. The interface is straightforward and user friendly and a few simple searches will show you what your business could qualify for.
Is it worth the time and effort?
Is it worth your while? If you know what you are looking for and you know you meet the criteria to qualify, then Yes. Competition can be tough as everyone is going for the same pool of money, so you have to do your homework and work out which grants to go for.
Applying can be a somewhat laborious process and it is important to make sure that your business ticks all the boxes.
Some grants only have one beneficiary with multiple competing applicants, while others are shared between a number of successful applicants.
You can outsource your grant applications
The rewards are there for the taking, but many business owners are put off by the volume of time and work that needs to be put into an application.
This is where outsourcing comes in. There are firms that specialise on these matters and if you have the informational material available, they can lodge an application on your behalf.
Grants and entitlements stimulate business growth and any enterprise should take advantage of opportunities that are presented to them.
Any business can get the R&D tax rebate
Some entitlements are available to any business and the R&D tax incentive is one of them. If your business invests in R&D activities, then you can apply for tax rebates.
The incentive offers a 43.3 per cent refundable tax offset on aggregated turnover below $20 million, or 38.5 per cent for over $20 million. Before applying, you must first work out what type of R&D your business carriers out – core or supporting.
The benefit:
| Revenue | Tax rebate |
| $20 million or less | 43.3% |
| > $20 million | 38.5% |
Core activities are something that hasn’t been done before and cannot be done without experimenting. The definition is broad, including new products or services or a spin off of an existing product.
Supporting R&D activity refers to a traditional method of supporting a new concept. This could be manufacturing, testing or marketing the result of the core R&D activity.
How do I keep track of my R&D projects?
Once you have worked out which classification your R&D activities fall in, it is time to start keeping activity and expenditure records.
Activity records relate to any information about the R&D activities taking place. As you would imagine, expenditure-based records keep track of costs incurred while performing the R&D activities. This includes timesheets, ledgers, financial documents and invoices.
Once you have done that, you can apply for the rebates. It’s a cumbersome process, but the rebates can work out to be quite substantial.
You can outsource the record keeping too
If the thought of keeping tabs on what you are doing in the R&D world seems to be a step too far, then you can also consider outsourcing that task too.
Records keeping might seem tedious and cumbersome, but there are plenty of firms that do it and will take the pressure off you, as long as you provide them with accurate sources of information. That could be your secretary, or it could be your R&D team specialist. It all depends on the size of the operation.
Export Market Development Grant
If you are venturing into the export market, then you need to carry out extensive research to see if your product will take off in a new country. Thats is a very expensive exercise, but
Austrade’s Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) can ease the financial burden. It allows business owners to apply for a grant based on half of the business’ total eligible expenses relating to exporting. A one off $5,000 non-reimbursable fee is charged. The grants range from $5,000 to $150,000.
Who can apply for an export grant?
You can find out if your business qualifies on Austrade’s website here, but as a rough guideline businesses must have:
- income of not more than $50 million in the grant year
- incurred at least $15,000 of eligible export expenses under the scheme (first-time applicants can combine two years expenses)
- principal status as an export business
The business also must have promoted one of the following:
- the export of goods and most services
- inbound tourism
- the export of intellectual property and know-how
- conferences and events held in Australia
Getting the right advice
Here at Dexterous, we believe that growth should always be a central tenet of doing business. Opportunities for growth and increasing employment should be explored, and we are happy to guide you on that path. Get in touch with us TODAY to grow your business.
Telephone: 1300 996 928
Email: team@dexterousgroup.com.au
