The Management Capability Development Fund
The Management Capability Development Fund (MCDF) is a subsidy fund available to business owners or managers through The Regional Business Partner Network (RPBN). The fund helps businesses to access business training services at a subsidised cost.
To access the subsidy for registered training, a business customer must meet our registration criteria. Our growth advisors decide the value of the subsidy based on the needs of the eligible business.
The RBPN platform
The RBPN platform is an online portal system accessible by growth advisors and service providers. All registered service providers need to create services, events and claims within the RBPN platform.
You will need access to the platform to be able to register your training services, add events to those services, send proposal requests and make claims.
Already a service provider? You can log into the platform below.
Eligible subjects for training
The subsidy is for training services to support business owners and managers looking to grow and innovate.
Fraudulent behaviour
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 and claiming for services where the attendee did not attend.
Conflict of interest
You must declare any conflict or possible perceived conflicts with the Regional Business Partner Network team before any training is started.
Conflicts include potential relationship and financial conflicts between you and potential RBP customers. If you have a conflict or perceived conflict, or you are unsure if there is a potential conflict, contact us by email.
Get in touch with our team info@regionalbusinesspartners.co.nz
Creating your training services
Before you register your service, check that it meets the eligibility criteria for the RBPN Management Capability Fund. Check your information carefully, because the fund type, and price type of your service cannot be edited after you have created a training service.
It is important to note the difference in the price types you can select.
Select Per Business
If you want to set up private events, choose Per Business. Private events are for a single business only. There can be more than one attendee, so long as they are from the same business.
Select Per Person
If you want to set up public events, choose Per Person. Per Person pricing gives you the flexibility to offer your service to more than one business at a time.
How to create your services in the RBP platform
Step 1
Select ‘Services’ in the navigation menu and click ‘Add service’ button.
Step 2
Step 2: Complete the details in ‘Create a service’.
Service name
Enter a service name that best describes the type of service you deliver, for example Marketing Strategy training.
Service overview
Write a short description (one or two sentences) of the service. Maximum character count is 500.
Service description
You must provide the following information:
- training objectives
- learning outcomes (these must be measurable)
- total cost plus GST
- how the service is delivered (for example, in-person or online)
- total time commitment for the business owner/manager. Maximum character count is 2000.
You can use basic formatting (such as bold, italics, and lists) when editing your service description.
Fund type
Selection the appropriate fund type in the dropdown box. If you are unsure about what fund to select, contact a growth advisor to discuss.
Service category
Tick the service category that best describes your service. You can select a minimum of 1, to a maximum of 3.
Step 3
The newly created service will be visible on the ‘Pending’ tab until it has been reviewed by the RBPN team. Pending services are visible to growth advisors and can be escalated for priority review if required for a customer.
Step 4
You will be sent an email when your service is accepted or denied.
Remove or retire a service
Open the current or pending service. Click on the ‘Actions’ dropdown to the right of the page, and from the dropdown select ‘Retire service’.
Adding events to your training services
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.
The maximum length is 6 months for an event. If your training is delayed, the start date can’t be changed. However, the event end date can be changed if it is done before the end date.
If the training needs to be more than six months, then you should create a second event.
The hourly rate needs to reflect the hourly cost of the service. This will give the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) an indication of how much the event should cost, and what can be expected when a claim is made.
How to add an event for your service in the RBP platform
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.
Adding team members to your account in the RBP platform
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.
How to add team members
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.
Service proposal
To help businesses get the most value from capability development support, service providers are asked to submit a proposal before delivering training or advisory services.
Your proposal helps ensure the service is targeted, effective, and aligned with the business’s action plan. It also helps determine whether the service meets the criteria for co-funding through the Regional Business Partner Network.
Make sure your proposal includes:
- what the service covers
- who will deliver it
- how long it will take
- the total cost.
This process helps maintain a consistent standard of support across the network and ensures businesses receive the right help at the right time.
Proposal request process
This is the standard flow for a proposal.
- An advisor requests a proposal for a service.
- You complete the proposal.
- You share the proposal with the customer.
- The customer accepts your proposal.
- The proposal is sent to the advisor for approval.
- The advisor approves your proposal.
- You create an event listing.
The advisor books the customer on the event.
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.
How to complete a service proposal request in the RPB platform
Step 1
Select proposals in the navigation menu and click edit proposal from the menu at the right side of your proposal.
Step 2
Complete the customer details and click continue. We ask for these details again, just in case the person you’re dealing with is different to the person who registered with the RBP.
Step 3
Complete the service details then click continue. In the service field, are the details of what you’re going to deliver correct? If not, select either submit a new service or update an existing service. The service category and service description cannot be edited.
Step 4
Complete the cost and scope,and click continue.
Step 5
Complete the customer benefits and click continue.
Step 6
Review your proposal and share it with your customer.
For security reasons, a customer’s link to a proposal expires after 14 days. However, a proposal can be reshared, generating a new link for the customer to view. You can edit and reshare a proposal with a customer at any point prior to it being approved by a growth advisor.
Saving a 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.
Accepting or declining your proposal
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.
Claims
Once you have delivered your services to your customer, you will be able to upload your invoice under the claims section of the RBP platform and then select the customers you are claiming funding for.
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.
Invoice your customer first
Your customer must be invoiced for their contribution before you can claim for Management Capability Fund training services.
Make a claim within two months of end date
You will have two months from the end date of the booked event to make a claim.
Claiming for partially delivered 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 to make your final claim
Full and final claims can only be made after the event has been completed. You can only claim for a single booking per invoice.
Information you must include in your invoice to MBIE
When you invoice MBIE, 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.
Steps to make a claim
Step 1: Select ‘claims’ in the navigation menu. Click on ‘make a claim’.
Step 2: Select the booking you intend to claim against by ticking the box and clicking on ‘continue’.
Step 3: Select the participants that attended the event you are claiming for by ticking the box and clicking on continue.
Step 4: Complete the claim details and upload an invoice. Then click continue.
Step 5: To view your claim, click on the ‘submitted’ tab.
Step 6: The reconciled date is the date the invoice was checked by the RBPN team and has been sent to our Accounts Payable team to be paid.
Viewing confirmed customers
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 the customer is yet to confirm, you will see Awaiting confirmation against their name and email address.
Returning funds to RBP
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.
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