How to digitise an SME in Spain

Oct 18, 2021 | Accounting and Tax Services

Real havoc. At first glance, this is what the harsh COVID-19 pandemic has left us with in many areas. On a health and human level, we are talking about an extremely difficult period that will go down in history. But the destruction of the business fabric has also been remarkable, with many companies having to close down both in Spain and in the rest of the world. 

However, now it is time to stand up and governments are already getting down to work. To this end, for example, in our country aid is already being distributed to promote business within the new business landscape in which we are already immersed: online. Subsidies for the digitalisation of companies that you should know about and that you could perhaps take advantage of if you are looking for how to digitise an SME in Spain or a larger company, whether recently created or because you want to make the definitive leap (and almost obligatory if you want to survive) to the online world.

Subsidies for the digitisation of companies within the SME Digitisation Plan

According to data from the INE (National Statistics Institute) from the beginning of the year, specifically from the month of February 2021, the COVID-19 had taken more than 207,000 companies with it. This figure is even more remarkable if we talk about the self-employed, as 10% of the total number of self-employed in Spain (323,000) have had to close down. In fact, of the more than 207,000 companies destroyed, 92% were micro-SMEs, which shows that the destruction of the productive fabric affects small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed much more. 

Aware of the importance of this type of companies for the Spanish economy, which are much more important in our country than in other EU countries, the aid to the self-employed and small and medium-sized enterprises are vital. European funds, national subsidies, regional aid... Governments are already granting this type of financial support, although taking advantage of the socio-cultural and economic moment: the digital one.

For this reason, the commitment they are making, above all within the SME Digitalisation Plan, is to grant 'financial lifelines' consisting of subsidies for the digitisation of companies that want to exist and play in the new online scenario. So, if you are self-employed or a manager of an SME, you should know which digitalisation grants available to you at the moment.

The SME Digitalisation Plan (2021 - 2025)

The SME Digitalisation Plan, drawn up by the Spanish Government, seeks to promote and encourage, by means of subsidies for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises. And not only in our country, but also with a view to achieving greater productivity and commercial weight at international level. For all this, these subsidies with digital transformation in the background are endowed with 5,000 million euros until 2023 and may end up facilitating the digitisation of up to 1.5 million SMEs in Spain.

Given that SMEs account for 98.9% of Spanish companies and generate almost 50% of national employment, they are crucial. This is why subsidies for the digitisation of such companies are so important. Moreover, we are still a country within the EU where SMEs and the self-employed are not very well adapted to the online world. 

SME Connectivity Vouchers

These SME Connectivity Vouchers are launched to boost the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises that incorporate basic digitisation packages. But what do these packages consist of? They consist of programmes and/or solutions that:

  • Encourage distance working through the use of modern computer equipment.
  • Boost online communication with customers and suppliers as well as internally.
  • The implementation of professional digital tools tools to assist in the performance of job functions and tasks (this is where we come in), easyapwith an ideal, fully digitalised e-invoicing solution).

This subsidy for the digitalisation of SMEs and the self-employed, promoted by the central government, has a budget of around 50 million euros for the period 2021-2023.

The Acelera PYME Plan, for the first steps 

Another subsidy for the digital transformation of SMEs is the Acelera PYME Planfocusing on three areas where small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed can generate synergies within the new labour and digital ecosystem:

  1. An extensive network of offices that will be set up with professional associations business associations, chambers of commerce y technology centres.
  2. A platform where to share different contents (strategies, plans, work, codes of good professional practice...).
  3. Organisation of cooperative seminars and workshops on the issues surrounding transformation throughout the country.

In turn, the Plan Acelera PYME has an investment of approximately 26.4 million euros between 2021-2023.

Protect Your Business, on cyber security

The third specific programme to promote the digital transformation of SMEs is known as Protect your Business. Launched by INCIBE (National Institute of Cybersecurity), it seeks to to raise awareness and educate about aspects linked to the online world (mainly cybersecurity). In turn, the Protege tu Empresa plan has an investment of around 42 million euros, also in the period 2021-2023.

Digital Toolkit

This programme has a budget of 3 billion euros. It aims to provide support for the digitalisation of enterprises by helping them to adopt and operate a variety of digital tools such as the solution for the electronic invoicing solution easyap's e-invoicing solution. Platforms like ours help SMEs and the self-employed to approach digital maturity through enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and applications for the digitisation and automation of business processes.

The Digital Toolkit, which is discussed below in relation to the Crea y Crece Law, also promotes other technical aspects of the online world, such as the digital presence of brands, the development of websites and apps, positioning and e-commerce, among others. 

The Crea y Crece Act as an aid to the digitisation of companies

For its part, as part of the Spanish Government's business recovery plan, the preliminary draft of the Crea y Crece Law has already been approved this summer 2021. draft bill of the Crea y Crece Law has already been approved this summer 2021. This law already includes several of the programmes listed above, as its main objectives are the following business creation, to help SMEs to digitalise and, consequently, to grow, as well as to avoid tax arrears.

Likewise, if we focus on what this law says, we see that it is mainly focused on the promotion of the use of electronic invoices in transactions between companies of all sizes and the self-employed. On a legal level, it is worth highlighting Article 12 of this same regulation, which has been modified with this draft bill and which states that:

  1. All Spanish companies and self-employed workers must issue and send electronic invoices in their commercial relations with other businesses and with other companies and self-employed workers. This is something that is already compulsory in relations with and between administrations, but it will become compulsory between private companies.
  2. SMEs and the self-employed shall facilitate access to the access to the invoicing software they use so that invoice recipients can read, download and print electronic invoices free of charge and without the need to use external services for this purpose.
  3. The recipients of invoices will be able to They shall be able to consult them electronically for at least the last four years. This right shall not be altered by the fact that the contract has been terminated or when the recipient has expressed a wish not to receive electronic invoices.
  4. Failure to offer customers the possibility of receiving electronic invoices shall constitute an administrative offence. It is also an administrative offence to restrict access to their invoices to those who have ceased to be customers, which may be sanctioned with a warning or fine of up to 10,000 euros. This sanction may be imposed by the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence.

At the end of the day, to conclude with this Crea y Crece Law, the aim is to promote and establish measures to digitalise business operations between SMEs and the self-employed, save on transaction costs and facilitate transparency in commercial transactions in order to reduce late payments and increase liquidity among companies. 

Various regional grants for the digitisation of companies 

However, given the decentralised nature of Spain for certain legal issues, aid to companies and the self-employed is not only that which we have been discussing at the state level. The regional governments have also started to work with different programmes and aid for the digitalisation of SMEs.

These programmes are obviously less financially significant, but they can be very useful. Without going any further, we highlight the Connected Industry 4.0 plan of Principality of Asturiaswhich was already launched between 2017-2019 with the participation of 23 beneficiary companies and which has been relaunched.

Another example is the Community of Madridwhich has a number of initiatives to help companies, including the Innovation cheque. This is a subsidy that aims to promote the use of R&D services in small and medium-sized enterprises and the promotion of teleworking.

As a last case, we cite the Basque Country. Through its programme Digital Industry 2021 programme, it promotes the incorporation of Electronics, Information and Communication Technologies (EICTs) in industrial companies (given their importance in the economy). To this end, the programme plans an annual investment of 18,000 euros per company. This is in addition to other policies, such as the well-known TicketBAIsystem, perfect for the control and traceability of commercial operations at a fiscal level.

What is clear, by way of conclusion, is that SMEs and the self-employed, which are vital to our economy, must continue to grow. But to do so, they must do so within the new ecosystem: the digital one. And in this context, what could be better than having a solution like easyap's, adapted to global policies and with the latest technology?

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