SME e-Wallet
The aim of the SME e-wallet (or KMO Portefeuille in Dutch) is to make education, knowledge transfer, advice and innovation accessible for – mainly the Flemish – SMEs. By means of the SME wallet entrepreneurs can receive financial support when using some of our consultancy services.
Rule 11 has been audited to make sure we comply with the SME e-Wallet (KMO Portefeuille) regulations. Our registration number (which you'll need to register for the subsidies) is DV.A250376.
More practical information can be found here.
How much subsidies can you receive?
The available amount of money, the so-called subsidy limit, depends on the size of your enterprise. Small enterprises can now receive subsidies for up to 30% of the fee of the study programs and advice. For medium enterprises this is a subsidy of 20%, both with a maximum of 7500 euros. For advise on Cybersecurity, those amounts are raised to 45% (small enterprises) and 35% (medium enterprises).
The size of your enterprise is determined during the first grant application in the calendar and budget year. Small enterprises have less than 50 full time employees and a maximum turnover or balance sheet total of 10 million euros. Medium enterprises have less than 250 employees and a maximum revenue of 50 million euros, or a balance sheet total of maximum 43 million euros.
For organisations which are part of a larger group, special rules might apply. Please contact us or the VLAIO department of the government when in doubt.
Please note that the grant only applies to pure Advise. The SME e-Wallet cannot be used for hands-on implementation work. We'll identify the parts of our mission were the grant might apply and discuss with you during our earliest conversations.
How does the grant work? What steps must be followed?
There are a few steps to follow to receive the grant. They must be followed in the right order, and certain deadlines are very important. Don't worry, we'll help you and follow-up.
- Register on the SME wallet website with your federal token, electronic identity card or Itsme. Sidenote: the Flemish government will send you all information to the mail adress you entered, also if that person is ill or absent, so you are advised to take a more general mail adress.
- Submit the application for the financial support. The deadline for the application is 14 calendar days after the start of the program. For this you need your NACE code, which can be found in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. Please make sure you've selected the right categories, especially if our advise consists of Cybersecurity advise!
- Deposit your share of the invoice amount (between 65% and 80% of the project amount excluding VAT). Take into account the payment terms of your banking company. Make sure you pay this amount directly to the Flemish Government (via Pluxee), not to Rule 11! The amount needs to be in the account of the government within 30 days, no exceptions!
- The Government adds the grant amount to your virtual wallet. You'll receive an email confirmation once this is done. As this is a crucial step, please inform us once this has been completed.
- After we've issued our invoice, please pay the non-VAT amount of the invoice from the SME wallet website and pay the full VAT amount directly to us. The VAT amount does not qualify for the subsidies but should be fully refundable using your regular VAT returns.
