EMDG — Dos and Don'ts | Tobbie Capital Advisory
EMDG rewards planning and punishes improvisation. The don'ts on this page have each cost exporters real money.
The Rules of the Road
EMDG — dos and don'ts.
Do
- Plan the claim cycle before booking trade fairs or campaigns
- Keep every invoice and travel record in the cycle folder as you go
- Check the eligible expense categories (fairs, marketing representatives, digital campaigns, travel) before committing
- Track the annual claim caps and how your spend pattern uses them
- Lodge inside the cycle window — late spend waits a full year
- Consider a multi-year arc — consistency compounds reimbursements
Don't
- Book the trade fair first and think about EMDG later — the classic forfeiture
- Mix ineligible expenses into the claim — they drag processing time and credibility
- Assume domestic marketing costs qualify — the grant is for foreign-market promotion
- Double-claim the same spend under another program — clawbacks are enforced
- Lose receipts — Austrade checks evidence after payment too
- Miss the application window — the cycle closes and takes the year's reimbursement with it
Next Step
Exporting this year?
Free read on whether your spend pattern qualifies.
