Capability Development Grant: Simple Guide

The Importance of Capability Development Grant (CDG)

The Capability Development Grant (CDG) is an assistance program that financially helps business owners to have a foundation for their capabilities in 10 main business areas. It covers using new technologies to upgrade the standards of their service, from an expansion overseas to training staff, and more. The grant supports a huge area of capabilities that improves the initiatives to help businesses grow locally and globally.

This is one way the government supports businesses in Singapore, which makes it the best place in the world to form a business. The recognition is because of the kind of support they give to businesses.
Know more about the CDG now:

 

The Qualifying Project Costs That the CDG Supports

The grant supports 70% of qualifying projects like:

• Consultancy
• Training
• Manpower
• Certification
• Productivity improvement
• Developing new capabilities for the business to be more competitive
• Process improvement
• Costs of equipment
• Market access
• Product development

 

What Makes a Company Eligible?

• The company has to be incorporated and its business activity must be in Singapore.
• The local shareholding is at least 30%.
• Their group sales annual turnover does not go over 100 million SGD or the employment size does not exceed 200 employees.

 

Application Steps

Step 1: Pre-application

Check the eligibility of your company for CDG and see which supportable area is important to your project.

Consider using the Innovation and Capability Voucher (ICV). Determine if ICV or CDG can meet your business needs better.

Make sure your project has not begun yet because they do not support the late application.

You must submit these documents with your application:

• The latest ACRA search or information of your company and shareholders (it must be not older than 6 months).
• Most recent audited financial statements (not older than 1-year-old) and consolidated financial statements of your main company.
• Project proposal.
• Proof of quotation for the project cost and items.
• If you involved a consultant, submit their proposal.

It is not necessary to provide it to SPRING Singapore 12 months prior. Further, this is not necessary for grant support that is $30,000 or less. The SMEs only have to answer 5 questions.

Prepare this information, and use the last financial year-end and the 3-year figures that were projected as a basis from the year after project completion.

The quantitative impact indicators include remuneration and revenue of total sales. Job creation indicators include the strength of your staff, how many professionals and managers are there, etc.

The figures you give must represent the applicant company and not the corporate shareholder consolidated group.

To receive grant support of $30,00 or less, you only need to submit the key indicators according to the last financial year.

Step 2: Application

You should read the guide on how to access the portal of SPRING so you can be familiar with who must access and submit the application.

You can log on to the portal of SPRING so you can submit your application.

Step 3: Approval Process

After SPRING receives your application, one of their officers will contact you.

They will arrange a meeting with you so they can understand your company and what your project is all about from a better perspective.

You might have to edit your application if you submit incomplete information.

You might need to give your current and projected productivity indicators from the project, which depends on which industry you belong to and area of development.

SPRING will assess your application according to your needs, scope and competency of the service provider when it comes to business capability improvement. All applications are subject for approval.

When your application gets an approval, you will receive a notification in your email that you must log in to the SPRING portal so you can view and accept their Letter of Offer.

In the implementation of your project, you must make sure of the following:

• Your project records are properly maintained like timeline, project scope, deliverables, project sign-offs, and progress reports.
• Financial records are properly kept like invoices and receipts.

 

Submitting Your Application via Email

• All the emails you send must not be more than 10mb in total.
• Your file name should not exceed 10 characters – symbols are not allowed. Only use alphabets or numbers.
• The file name should have the file extension “.doc or .jpg”.
• The file name should not have macros or script.
• Zip files should not be encrypted or require a password.

 

Who Are Not Eligible?

• All the museums and organizations that are not eligible.
• Organizations with outstanding evaluation reports that come from the previous NHB grants.
• Organizations with an outstanding debt with the NHB when they apply.

 

What is the ICV Grant?

The Innovation and Capability Voucher (ICV) is worth $5000 that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) receive as an award. This is to assist these enterprises and businesses in their operations and establishment. It can be for different service providers that support this scheme.

 

Mistakes to Avoid When You Apply for the CDG:

• Do not use it to buy equipment.
• Do not use it to pay for service providers.
• Make sure you apply before going ahead and confirming the service with your vendor.

 

 

Sole Proprietors Can Apply

You may apply as a sole proprietor, but you have a low chance of getting approval. Any company that has less than 3 employees will have a very slim chance of getting approval.

They prioritize companies that have the ability to expand and open more employment for people.

This is what you need to know about the Capability Development Grant and you can contact 3E Accounting for HR Grants Consulting Services if you need assistance and more information. They are experts in getting your business started and operate smoothly.