The provider guide.

Since 12 August 2026, five operating grants are suspended until the end of 2026: consultancy, external training, business transfer, recruitment, coworking. Investment grants are maintained, including digitalisation, launch and employment cooperative.

Applications submitted before 12 August 2026 are processed and paid normally.

The ministerial order limits the measure to the 2026 financial year and says nothing about the scheme from 1 January 2027. In other words: digitalisation still works today, but the 2027 scheme is unknown. Two commercial consequences:

• never sell an assignment as “grant guaranteed”;
• check the conditions in force and prepare the documents before the assignment starts.

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1.1 Sectors: check the exact code (annex 1)

Check the NACE code of the activity concerned in the official list of admitted sectors. The general name of the sector is not enough: exclusions and exceptions, in particular for certain starter activities, depend on the exact code.

The list uses the NACE-BEL 2008 nomenclature. Also consult the official conversion table to NACE-BEL 2025 from the grant page.

Is the client a non-profit association (ASBL/VZW)? The association form does not, on its own, determine the NACE code or access to the grant. BEE states that some ASBLs and AISBLs may benefit from aid in specific cases. Check the activity concerned with the official tool, then have BEE confirm the client’s situation for this grant.

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Three categories in the form, and nothing else:

1. Digitalisation of the beneficiary’s internal processes, means of production, or products and services
2. IT security of the beneficiary
3. Technical creation or improvement of the beneficiary’s website

The word technical in category 3 matters. Development and technical improvement are covered, not editorial content, not graphic design alone, not media spend, not campaign management.

Article 8, responsible digital charter (annex 3). The beneficiary undertakes to respect these principles. The annex covers, among other things, the full life cycle of equipment and software, extending their lifespan, responsible design, accessibility including for people with disabilities, limiting data collection to what is useful (GDPR compliance), algorithmic ethics mechanisms particularly with regard to artificial intelligence, and transparency about impacts.

On AI assignments, that last point is an angle to use in the description. Showing that the solution limits data collection and includes algorithmic governance strengthens the file rather than weakening it.

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Article 9: only assignments of an exceptional nature, aimed at solving a one-off problem, are admitted.

Article 10, excluded are assignments that:

1. constitute a permanent or recurring activity of the beneficiary;
2. relate to the beneficiary’s normal operating expenses;
3. are regularly carried out through subcontracting;
4. concern a problem for which the company has sufficient in-house skills;
5. last more than six months.

Translation into client language

The test to put to the client: “What precise problem are you solving, and what is finished at the end?” If the answer has no end, it is not an eligible assignment.

The trap in point 4: if the client employs a developer, a development assignment is hard to justify. The right approach is to target the skill that is genuinely missing (AI architecture, security, automation) and to say so in the description.

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The consultant or project manager must:

• be specialised in the field concerned;
• have carried out consultancy activities for at least two years;
• demonstrate sufficiently recognised competence, supported by a list of references and practical experience;
• be independent of the beneficiary.

BEE may call on an external expert to assess the quality of the chosen consultant. In that case, the decision period is extended by one month (art. 19).

The provider company must:

• not have already delivered the beneficiary, in the past two years, two assignments of external consultancy that received aid under this order (consultancy, economic transition, digitalisation, or external labelling costs);
• invoice directly to the beneficiary;
• count the consultancy services concerned among its main activities.

Employment cooperative derogations, if the consultant is a natural person working through an employment cooperative: the cooperative may already have worked for this beneficiary; the limit then applies to the consultant personally; the cooperative invoices directly; and it need not count consultancy among its main activities.

Four points to watch for your own structure

The two years of consultancy activity. The consultant is targeted, not necessarily the company. If the company is recent, the CV must demonstrate the seniority of the consultancy activity. That is exactly what the “detailed CV listing similar assignments” requested as an attachment is for.

Consultancy among main activities. The consultancy services concerned must be among the main activities of the provider company. Check the activities actually carried out and the corresponding NACE-BEL 2025 codes with your business counter. Adding a code, on its own, demonstrates neither the actual activity, nor the specialisation, nor the required experience.

The two-assignments-in-two-years rule. The same client cannot benefit from grants through you indefinitely. Keep a table: client, date of award decision, type of aid.

Independence. No cross-shareholdings, no control link with the client.

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The question everyone asks

“Three months after notification” is a deadline, not a waiting period. The start window opens the day after the application is submitted and closes three months after notification of the award.

So yes, the client may start before having the decision. Nothing in the order forbids it: article 16 only requires that the application be received at the latest the day before the start.

Starting before the decision carries a financial risk: submission does not guarantee the award. If refused, the client bears the cost of the assignment. To be put to the client explicitly, in writing:

• Cautious option: sign, submit, wait for notification of the award before starting. Payment remains subject to compliance with the conditions, completion of the assignment and submission of the supporting documents.
• Fast option: submit, start the next day, the client bears the risk of refusal.

Supporting documents: plan for 12 months. BEE and MyBEE require receipt of the payment request and the documents listed in the decision no later than 12 months after notification of the award. This period does not start at the end of the assignment. Check the deadline in your decision.

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Base: 25% of eligible expenses, excluding VAT and taxes (art. 1).

Cumulative increases, capped at 70%:

Digitalisation ceilings:

• €10,000 maximum per beneficiary and per calendar year (art. 11, §2, 3°)
• 2 assignments maximum per beneficiary and per calendar year (art. 11, §1, 2°)
• €500 minimum grant per application (art. 15)

Article 11, §3: the number of assignments and the maximum amount are calculated on the basis of notified decisions, and the form adds that they are not recalculated in case of non-completion of the subsidised action. A file that is awarded then abandoned therefore uses up the year’s quota.

What it means in practice

The useful calculation for sizing the assignment: the €10,000 ceiling is reached at €40,000 of assignment at the base rate, at €20,000 at 50%, and at around €14,300 at 70%. Above that, every additional euro is at the client’s expense. Two separate assignments in the year change nothing about the €10,000 annual ceiling.

Exemplarity: the order of 6 July 2023 on social and environmental exemplarity applies. BEE’s “Exemplarity Guide” says whether the client can tick the box, and the proof must be attached. If the client has several establishment units in the Region, the recognition must apply either at company level or to each of the Brussels units.

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Access: mybee.brussels, then choose the Digitalisation Grant. The form saves automatically and can be resumed later.

Saving is not submitting. Complete all four MyBEE steps: complete, check, sign and send. Then keep the automatic acknowledgement of receipt. If a third party acts on your behalf, arrange the appropriate mandate; the MyBEE account and itsme signature are personal and must not be shared.

Part 1: the beneficiary company

1.1 Type (natural or legal person), name, legal form, company number, date of incorporation and CBE registration (which determines starter status), email, website, bank details. Foreign account: yes or no.

1.2 Registered office, then selection of the eligible establishment unit for which the grant is requested. Sensitive point if the client has several units: the selected one must be in Brussels and consistent with the assignment.

1.3 Distinguish the contact person from the person legally authorised to bind the company. A mandate is needed if a third party submits and follows the application on behalf of the latter. Having a different contact person does not, by itself, establish that a mandate is required.

1.4 NACE VAT codes and description of activities. This is where sector eligibility is decided: the description must match the code, and the code must be admitted.

Part 2: the grant requested

2.1 Choice of one of the three categories, description of the action, start date, end date, cost excl. VAT.

The form states that only these two dates will be taken into account in the decision. They must be consistent with the timeline in section 5 and with the attached quote. A detailed quote, itemised line by line, must be attached: no lump sum without detail.

2.2 The provider: name, company number, website (mandatory), name of the consultant or project manager, phone, email. Two yes/no questions: independence from the provider, and employment cooperative or not. Detailed CV to attach.

2.3 Increases: social exemplarity, environmental exemplarity, starter.

Part 3: documents and points of attention

Reminder of deadlines and ceilings, and processing steps.

Part 4: communication

“How did you hear about the grant?”, with a drop-down list and an “Other” field. Simple statistics for the administration, with no effect on the decision.

Part 5: declarations

5.1 De minimis. One box to tick: no de minimis aid over three years, or the list of aid received. The €300,000 ceiling is assessed over three rolling years at the level of the single undertaking, within the meaning of Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2831: enterprises connected by the control relationships set out in that text must be taken into account. Do not confuse this notion with the categories of partner and linked enterprises used to determine the size of an SME. Frequent mistake: forgetting aid received by a sister company.

5.2 Sworn declarations. Including:

• authorisation for any investigation and expert assessment;
• the expenses do not and will not receive any other aid from the Region (no regional cumulation on the same items);
• obligation to notify immediately in case of transfer, cessation or departure from the Region;
• undertaking, on pain of repayment, to maintain an establishment unit and an economic activity in the Brussels-Capital Region for three years from the award (art. 9, §1 of the ordinance of 13 October 2023);
• sincerity and completeness of the information.

The three-year clause is the one clients discover too late. To be mentioned upfront: an SME considering a move to Flanders or Wallonia within two years must know before signing.

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Some documents are only required in the corresponding situations: a mandate if a third party submits the application, a register extract for a foreign provider, proof of exemplarity if the client applies for those increases.

Everything in PDF. Prepare once and for all your BEE-format CV and an itemised quote template: those are the two documents you will attach to every file.

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• The beneficiary submits the payment request and the documents listed in the decision through MyBEE no later than 12 months after notification of the award, as stated by BEE and MyBEE.
• If BEE has received nothing, a reminder is sent at the latest one month before expiry of the deadline (art. 21).
• The grant is paid in a single instalment, after a statement of claim to be completed.
• The grant is part of the company’s taxable income and must appear in the tax return.
• Post-award obligations and checks: see the BEE “Obligations and checks” page.

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• SME with a Brussels operating site, establishment unit identified
• NACE code checked in annex 1, via the 2008 to 2025 conversion table
• Annual accounts filed; de minimis ceiling checked for the single undertaking within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, over three rolling years
• Assignment attributable to one of the three categories of article 7
• Exceptional and one-off nature demonstrable in the description
• No equivalent in-house skill at the client
• Duration of 6 consecutive months maximum, start and end dates consistent with the quote
• Fewer than 2 subsidised assignments for this client in the past 2 years with you
• Fewer than 2 digitalisation assignments for this client in the calendar year, €10,000 ceiling not reached
• Estimated grant of at least €500
• Quote itemised line by line, valid at the date of submission
• CV demonstrating specialisation, 2 years of activity and similar assignments
• Consultancy among your main activities (NACE codes)
• Mandate signed if you submit on behalf of the client
• Client informed: undertaking to stay in the Region for 3 years, taxable grant, no regional cumulation on the same items
• Choice decided and put in writing: start before or after notification
• Application received by BEE at the latest the day before the start, acknowledgement of receipt kept

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This guide explains the general rules. For a particular situation, request written confirmation from BEE (02 800 34 00 or contact form).

1. Consultant in an employment cooperative: the MyBEE form and Article 12 word the limit on the consultant’s previous assignments differently. Confirm this case before promising a client that they qualify.
2. A different deadline in a decision: prepare supporting documents on the basis of the 12 months shown by BEE and MyBEE and have any conflicting date clarified.

Check the rules in force if the application is submitted in 2027.

• Grant conditions and application procedure
• Admitted sectors, official PDF
• Order of 22 February 2024, consolidated version
• Official tool: which grants can you apply for?