To access the subsidy for registered training, a business customer must meet the following criteria.

They must:

• have undergone a discovery session with a Regional Business Partner growth advisor
• have fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees
• be registered for GST in New Zealand (this applies to one-to-one training only)
• have a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN)
• be operating in a commercial environment; and
• be a privately owned business, or a Māori Trust or incorporation under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 or similar organisation managing Māori assets under multiple ownership.

New Zealand Business Number(external link)

Businesses should also: 

• have the potential and desire to grow
• demonstrate commitment to improving their management capability, such as seeking advice, working through the assessment process, being willing to contribute to the cost of training, and commit time to capability-building activities
• have an identified gap in their capability that can be addressed through management capability building and training.

The subsidy can be used to cover up to 50% of the training costs (excluding travel and disbursements). This is capped at a maximum of $5,000 plus GST per year.

For example, if a customer chooses to attend training that costs $2,000 plus GST, the maximum amount a growth advisor can provide is $1000 plus GST. 

Our growth advisors decide the value of the subsidy based on the needs of the eligible business.

If a service provider is found to be acting fraudulently, they will have their contracts cancelled. Fraudulent behaviour includes: 

• delivering services that are not registered under the pretence of a registered service.
• claiming for services delivered that were not delivered.
• claiming for services where the attendee did not attend. 

You can add as many team members as you need. We encourage you to regularly check who is active to ensure that members who have left your organisation no longer have access.

The primary account holder is the account owner for your organisation. This is the person who we’ll contact if we need to query anything with your account.

Step 1: Select your name in the top menu. Click on Manage Team.

Step 2: Click Add Team Member button.

Step 3: Enter your team member’s details and click Invite.

Step 4: Your invited team member will now show as Pending.

Step 5: Your invited team member will be sent an email inviting them to complete their account signup.

This includes confirming that they agree to the terms and conditions of the Regional Business Partner Network. Once they’ve agreed to the terms and conditions, the team member will show as Active.

Before you start

Events are a one-off delivery of a registered service. 

A growth advisor will request you create an event after a customer has chosen your service and is allocated funding. The growth advisor will provide details of who the customer is and how much they are funded for.

Tip: From the services dashboard you can quickly access tasks such as Add Event and Edit Service by clicking on the three vertical dots.

Once you have registered your services on the RBP Platform, a growth advisor will decide if the training is suitable for an eligible customer and approve the subsidy.

You must then create an event in the platform.

Log in(external link)

Step 1: Select Services in the navigation menu and select one of your registered services. Click on the three vertical dots, and then click Add Event.

Step 2: Complete the details in Create an Event. In the Select customer field, if this is a one-to-one service, select private in the event type and then start typing the legal name of the customer in the box provided. Their business name should reveal in the dropdown list for you to select. Click Create event.

Step 3: The customer is sent an email asking for confirmation of their participation in the event and agreement to the terms and conditions of the event. 

This needs to be completed within 14 days, otherwise the booking expires. 

A confirmation email will be sent to you when the customer has confirmed the booking. Check the event details to see the names of the people who have confirmed their attendance.

Step 4: The delivery of the service takes place.

Step 5: The customer is emailed after the event end-date asking them to provide feedback about the training service. 

If they choose to respond, their comments will be available to read at the bottom of the specific service page.

The maximum length is 6 months for an event.

If your hourly rate varies, enter the average hourly rate and include the rate range and rationale in the service description.

There are no standard reports for service providers. The ‘Claim’ page contains useful information on the amount available to claim, submitted claims, and paid claims.

Before you start

Has a growth advisor requested a proposal? To be able to respond to a proposal request, first you’ll need the customer’s advisor to request one.

This is the standard flow for a proposal.

1. An advisor requests a proposal for a service.
2. You complete the proposal.
3. You share the proposal with the customer.
4. The customer accepts your proposal.
5. The proposal is sent to the advisor for approval.
6. The advisor approves your proposal.
7. You create an event listing.
8. The advisor books the customer on the event.

Saving your proposal

It’s only possible to save our proposal from the Review step. 

If you make an edit to an earlier step, make sure you progress to the Review step to save your edit.

When the customer is sent a copy of the proposal they can review and accept the proposal.

You will receive an email when your proposal has been accepted or declined.

If your customer doesn’t like the proposal, we recommend you work with them to work out what needs adjusting. Once adjusted you can reshare the proposal with them.

If the growth advisor declines your proposal, we recommend you have a discussion with the growth advisor about why they declined your proposal.

Your customer must be invoiced for their contribution before you can claim for Management Capability Fund training services.

Claims can be made for a part-payment or for full payment. For part-payment claims, you can claim for the portion of work completed to date. Once sent for payment, the balance will become available for claiming.

When you invoice the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, you must include: 

• a purchase order number
• the name of the RBP service you are providing
• the name of the business and the names of all participants 
• a breakdown of your service and associated costs
• a declaration of your customer’s contribution, including the invoice number and the date it was paid. 

Once logged into the RBP platform, you can select a service displayed on the landing page, then select an event in the Events section at the bottom of the Service page.

This will take you to the View event page where you will see customers and their booking status. If they have confirmed, you will see their name and email address.

When you return funds to RBP, this indicates that you will not be making any more claims against the purchase order and closes the booking. Any funds not claimed will return to the growth advisors.

If your booking has not been completed or there is a balance on the purchase order that you don’t intend to claim for, you can return the funds to RBP.

This will return the remaining balance back to the RBP for the customer to use on another booking. No more claims will be possible against this purchase order once this option has been actioned.

Follow these steps to return funds to the RBP:

• Select the booking from the Available tab.
• On the right hand side there are three vertical dots, click on these and select Return Funds to RBP.
• Click OK in the pop-up message asking for confirmation you wish to return the funds.