Trading Online Voucher Ireland: Closed, and What Replaced It

The Trading Online Voucher is closed. Local Enterprise Office (LEO) notices say it stopped taking applications at 5pm on Friday 13 December 2024, and the Department of Enterprise announced in September 2024 that the Grow Digital Voucher replaces it. Grow Digital pays 50% of eligible costs, from €500 up to €5,000, but only for new, off-the-shelf software such as e-commerce platforms and the setup and training around it; it does not pay for a bespoke website or a custom-built store.

If you searched for the Trading Online Voucher because you want help paying for a website or an online shop, this page explains what is open now, what it funds, who qualifies, and the supplier rules, including whether the supplier has to be in Ireland. For building a product rather than a store, see LEO grants for MVP development and Enterprise Ireland funding for startups.

This is orientation, not financial or legal advice.

At a glance

The Trading Online Voucher: closed, and why you still see it

The Trading Online Voucher was a Department of Enterprise scheme, run by the LEOs, for "established micro-businesses, including sole-traders, with little or no trading online capability". The LEO Cork North and West notice states that "no applications will be accepted after this scheme closes at 5pm on Friday 13 December 2024", and LEO Monaghan called it "the FINAL opportunity for small businesses to avail of this grant."

On 19 September 2024 the Department of Enterprise said that "the new Grow Digital Voucher replaces the previous Trading Online Voucher", that it opened on 4 September, and that it funds a wider range of digital software for businesses with up to 50 employees.

You will still find the old scheme described online, including in the national LEO FAQ, which at the time of checking still describes the Trading Online Voucher Scheme and its grant of up to €2,500. The national LEO site no longer lists the voucher among its financial supports, and its own Trading Online Voucher page has no content. Treat any page offering the voucher as out of date.

What it used to fund, for reference. Under the last published terms, a business with 10 or fewer employees and turnover under €2 million, trading for at least six months, could get up to €2,500 or 50% of eligible spending excluding VAT. Eligible costs included developing or upgrading an e-commerce website, online payments or booking systems, internet-related software, an app, digital marketing strategy, training, online advertising (capped at 30% of costs) and professional photography. Brochure websites, which display products but do not sell them or take bookings, were not eligible. Own labour was not eligible, only third-party costs; three quotes were expected; and nothing spent before the approval letter counted.

What it said about suppliers. The last terms published by LEO Cork North and West say "third party costs only" and ask for three quotes, but do not say where the supplier must be located. An earlier pilot-era application form from LEO Kildare required the supplier's invoice to carry "CRO details and Tax registration number", said "Only suppliers with these basic criteria in place are eligible", and asked both applicant and supplier for a tax clearance certificate. The CRO is Ireland's Companies Registration Office. Since the scheme is closed, none of this applies to new applications, but it explains why many older guides say the supplier had to be Irish.

The Grow Digital Voucher: what is open now

The Grow Digital Voucher "offers small and medium businesses with up to 50 employees financial support to embrace digital technology."

Who is eligible. Small enterprises with between 1 and 50 paid employees, and turnover or balance sheet of €10 million or less, that:

• have completed a Digital for Business project within the previous two years;
• are not clients of Enterprise Ireland or IDA;
• are established and trading for at least six months, registered, and operate in the area of the LEO they apply to;
• are solvent, as shown in their financial statements;
• have current tax clearance from Revenue, with a tax reference number and tax clearance access number.

Companies, self-employed people and partnerships trading for profit qualify, as do certain sporting bodies and charities with trading income. Not-for-profits that do not trade, trade associations, chambers of commerce, coal and steel, primary agriculture, fishing and aquaculture, and the usual excluded activities (gambling, adult entertainment, tobacco, unauthorised cannabis products) are out. The linked-companies rule applies: if you own or are owned 25% or more by another business, you count part or all of its figures.

What it pays. "The grant aid will be 50% of eligible costs with minimum grant aid of €500 up to a maximum grant of €5,000 per application." You can have at most two Grow Digital projects, up to €5,000 in total, and a second is approved only if you show progress against your Digital for Business report.

Eligible costs.

1. Software subscriptions for business software that is new to the business and off the shelf, for a maximum of one year. You must pay the annual subscription before the grant is paid. Adding licences to software you already use does not count. Listed examples include e-commerce software, online booking, payments or appointments, customer relationship management, order management and stock control, electronic invoicing, cyber security, cloud accounting, and analytics including AI systems.
2. Training and IT configuration, where you need expert help setting up or integrating the new software, or training to use it. Training and configuration together can be no more than 50% of the overall project cost.

Ineligible costs. "Custom or bespoke software is not eligible for grant support." Systems for regulatory compliance do not qualify.

Timing. "An application must be submitted before any project expenditure is incurred or any project activity commences." You must not commit to, order, contract for or start any element of the project before you apply.

Digital for Business comes first

Grow Digital is only open to businesses that have completed Digital for Business within two years. In that support, LEO-appointed digital consultants analyse your existing systems, look for gaps, explore options and advise on implementation. The LEO page sets the same eligibility as Grow Digital, including six months' trading; the Department's September 2024 announcement said 12 months, so check with your office. The Grow Digital Voucher is meant to fund what that report recommends, so the order is: Digital for Business, then the report, then a Grow Digital application, then the spending.

Can it pay for a website or an online shop?

This is where the old voucher and the new one differ most.

• A new website. Grow Digital lists "Website Development" only "subject to the same eligibility criteria regarding it being a software subscription new to the business", and adds that it "does not support bespoke website development." A hosted site builder on a subscription may qualify; a designed and built website does not.
• An e-commerce store. E-commerce software is on the eligible list, as a new, off-the-shelf subscription. The setup, integration and training needed to get it running can be funded as IT configuration, within the 50% cap.
• A custom store. A custom theme, custom features or a store built from scratch is bespoke software or bespoke website development, and is not eligible.
• The grey area. Where configuring a platform ends and bespoke development begins is a judgement your LEO makes. Describe the work plainly in your application and ask.

Other LEO routes for a website. Some county offices list website design and development under the Priming Grant's marketing costs, for example LEO Offaly. But LEO eligibility rules exclude domestically focused retail, personal services and professional services from grant aid, so a typical local shop selling online will not qualify for Priming. A manufacturer or a business selling internationally might.

Common reasons applications fail

Only reasons the official pages give:

• No Digital for Business project completed in the previous two years.
• Spending first. Ordering, paying for or starting anything before the application is submitted.
• Bespoke work. Custom software or custom website development.
• Existing software. Extra licences for a system you already use, or a subscription that is not new to the business.
• Configuration over budget. Training and configuration above 50% of the project cost.
• Eligibility basics. Fewer than six months' trading, no current tax clearance, being an Enterprise Ireland or IDA client, applying to the wrong LEO, or not counting a linked company's figures.

Can this money pay an outside supplier, or one in another country?

Grow Digital Voucher. Configuration and training by an outside expert is an eligible cost, so an outside supplier in Ireland is clearly contemplated. On a supplier in another country, the national Grow Digital page does not say whether the supplier must be registered or located in Ireland. The official guidance does not say; ask the programme before you commit, by emailing your LEO's business adviser with the supplier's name and country.

Some county offices set rules for all their grants that may exclude a non-Irish or non-EU supplier. LEO Dublin City's claim terms, which it says apply to all grants, state: "All suppliers must be VAT registered and include all VAT on invoices, bills and quotes. Their VAT number should also be on the invoice letterhead." For website design and development, "Only work carried out by VAT registered 3rd parties will be accepted." The same page accepts invoices in other currencies, converted at the prevailing rate, so foreign invoices are not excluded as such. Under Revenue's rules, an Irish business buying services from abroad usually accounts for the VAT itself through the reverse charge, so a foreign supplier's invoice shows no Irish VAT. The official guidance does not say how an office with a rule like Dublin City's treats that invoice.

The software itself is a separate question. Most off-the-shelf platforms bill from wherever the software company is based; the national page does not restrict that either.

Trading Online Voucher. Closed, so the question no longer arises. Its last published terms did not set a supplier location, though an early form required Irish company registration details on the invoice.

What this means for Easify. We invoice in euros from our registered entity in India, and for an Irish business client the reverse charge applies, so our invoices carry no Irish VAT. In an office with a rule like Dublin City's, our invoices may not be accepted for the voucher. Ask your LEO before you choose us, and if the answer is that you need an Irish or VAT-registered supplier, choose one.

How to plan your budget around it

1. Start with Digital for Business. Without a completed project, you cannot apply for Grow Digital.
2. Choose the platform before the supplier. The subscription is the core eligible cost; configuration and training are capped at half the project.
3. Do the arithmetic. At 50%, a €4,000 project (a year's subscription plus setup) could get up to €2,000. To reach the €5,000 maximum grant, eligible costs have to reach €10,000.
4. Get the scope and price in writing. A written scope and a fixed price help many applications that ask for quotes or a project plan, and they make the line between configuration and bespoke work visible to the LEO. If you are building a product rather than a store, our €900 MVP Scoping Sprint produces a written scope with a fixed price and timeline. That is general advice: no LEO requires or accepts our document in particular.
5. Apply, wait, then spend. Nothing is ordered or started until the application is in.
6. Pay the year up front. The software subscription has to be paid annually before the grant is paid.
7. Budget for the work the voucher will not cover. Custom design, custom features and anything beyond setup are yours to fund.

Where Easify fits

We design and build websites and e-commerce stores, and we set up off-the-shelf store platforms. For a business using the Grow Digital Voucher, the part we could do is the setup, integration and training around an eligible platform, within the 50% cap; custom design and development would sit outside the voucher. Invoices are in euros from our registered entity in India. Before you choose us for a voucher-funded project, confirm with your LEO that our invoices are eligible.

Scheme details checked against official sources on 20 October 2026. Schemes change; confirm with the programme before applying.