Small and medium businesses are the lifeblood of the Canadian economy. That’s why the government is investing in digital adoption plans to help businesses compete in a global market. Through the boost your business grant program, business owners can receive grants to develop a roadmap for their company’s technology future. This will facilitate an improvement in efficiency, an increase in productivity, and staying competitive in an ever-changing world.
The new program is designed to help companies become more efficient. The goal is to build up process-oriented organizations that allow workers to make timely decisions without needing constant direction. This leads to helping services be delivered more smoothly to customers.
They want to foster a culture of efficiency following the Kaizen methodology.
How this works
The Canadian government wants to provide organizations with the ability to place technology at the heart of their business strategy by hiring specifically designated consultants who can give them analysis and direction on this endeavor.
Eligibility for boost your business grant is based under the following criteria:
Be a for-profit incorporated business in Canada
Have 1 – 499 employees
Annual revenue between $500K and $100M in any of the past 3 years.
What you get
Eligible businesses can get up to a $15,000 grant towards working with a certified digital advisor in creating a plan. This grant will pay for up to 90% of the cost of this service.
At the end of this service, you will receive a completed analysis on the state of technology within your business, as well as a detailed roadmap to follow with your organizational goals in mind.
Some examples of what you might look for in a plan include:
- Analysis of current technologies and how they can be made more in line with your business objectives.
- Discovering what data can be better visualized for immediate actionable insights.
- Understanding your cybersecurity exposure, steps to mitigate your risks, and better preparation for a security audit.
- What systems and processes are better automated
- What systems are linkable for improved data synergy
With this boost your business grant, you can pay for an IT Director to step into your organization and provide a clear understanding of where you are at, and then mapping out what you need to do to get where you want to be, for a fraction of the normal cost.
Where to start
Businesses who qualify can get started at the ‘Canada Digital Adoption’ website. First you would use an existing CGKey or sign up for a new one on their website.
From this site, confirm your eligibility to the boost your business grant, then you are given access to their database of trusted advisors. You can search for and select an advisor of your choice to work with. Once your plan has been completed, you submit that plan and the invoice from your digital advisor. You will then get reimbursed 90% of the invoice cost within 30 days of submitting this plan for approval.
Any plans that come back rejected(rare) are looked at by the program and further guided on how to complete them to be in line with the requirements of the grant.
0% Interest Loan of up to $100,000
Once a digital adoption plan has been successfully completed and accepted, businesses are then qualified to receive a 5-year no-interest loan from BDC to help with implementing the strategy. Businesses with a revenue of $500K to $5M can request a loan between $25K and $50K. Business with a revenue of $5M or more can request a loan between $25K and $100K.
A business has 1 year to apply for the loan after the digital adoption plan has been accepted.
What can the loan be used for?
- Cloud accounting systems
- Customer relationship software (CRM)
- Digital marketing and SEO
- Cybersecurity
- Dashboards to track key performance indicators
- Developing automation with your finance function
- Hiring expert digital advisors
Students to the rescue!
Furthermore, the government wants to help with implementation of these initiatives by offering subsidies in hiring technology students. Once a Digital adoption plan has been accepted, businesses can request access to a youth placement provider to help the organization find a recent graduate with the skillset they need. The program can offer up to $7300 in wage subsidies towards this endeavor.
This was a basic summary of the offer from the Canada Government, and the full program guide can be found on their website here.
Argento CPA’s role in all of this
Argento CPA is an authorized Digital Advisor and brings to the table the same care and attention to this endeavor that we bring to our accounting clients.
Your business success is our bottom line. We’ll work with you every step of the way in this plan to make sure we’re meeting your needs. We’ll guide you through the entire application process as well as work with you step by step to clarify your digital roadmap.
We have the experience that can help with not only automated accounting systems, but information security, network configuration, cloud application configuration, automation, and a variety of other technologies.
Contact us today to see how we can help get you started!
