Digitising SMEs in 2026: incentives beyond hyper-depreciation

Whenever a new incentive for digitalisation is announced, the same thing happens in many SMEs. The accountant sends a brief note, the owner glances at it, thinks they’ll consider it at their leisure, and the incentive ends up in the ‘to-be-looked-at’ folder. Then the folder fills up, the year passes, and digitalisation remains where it was: a good idea, constantly put off.

2026 has brought the issue back onto the table with ‘hyper-depreciation’, the measure that has replaced ‘Transizione 4.0’ and ‘5.0’. It works as a super-deduction: the cost of certain new capital goods is increased for depreciation purposes, with significant percentages applied to investments in interconnected assets as set out in the annexes to the law. This is good news for those buying machinery and plant. But if you manage teams on the ground, there’s one thing that needs to be said honestly.

Management software is only eligible for the scheme under certain conditions, and according to the drafts of the implementing decree, subscription-based software – the sort you pay for month by month – would be excluded. So no, it’s not fair to tell you that your subscription to a staff management tool is covered by hyper-depreciation. The reality is different, and pretending otherwise wouldn’t help anyone.

But there’s a misconception here that needs clearing up, and it’s the one that causes the most damage. Many SMEs link their decision to go digital to the availability of an incentive. If there’s a bonus, they go for it; if not, they put it off. It’s a line of thinking that seems prudent but is actually the most costly of all, because it treats digitalisation as a luxury to be financed rather than as a way to stop losing money.

The cost that no incentive will reimburse

Let’s do the real maths – the sort that doesn’t feature in any statutory table. The hours miscalculated and invoiced to the wrong client. The estimates plucked out of thin air that lead you to win contracts at a loss. The disputes you settle by giving in because you lack the evidence. The half-days spent piecing together who was where. Added up over a year, this amounts to a figure, and it’s almost always a larger figure than any incentive. It’s a cost you’re already paying right now, it’s just that you don’t see it written down anywhere.

Digitise to stop losing out, not for the bonus

The right way to look at this is the opposite of what we’re used to. Don’t ask yourself how much the government will reimburse you if you go digital, but how much it costs you each month not to have done so. The first question depends on an implementing decree and a series of conditions. The second depends solely on you, and the answer usually dispels any doubts.

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Waiting for the right incentive to digitise HR management is like putting off plugging a leak until a plumber comes round on special offer. The offer might come. In the meantime, though, the house has flooded anyway.

Where the real savings begin

The starting point for everything is simple and practical: knowing exactly how many hours each team actually works, on which site, without having to piece it together. It’s the data that brings order to quotes, secures invoices and settles disputes in two minutes. It’s not some exotic investment to tie into a bonus scheme; it’s the foundation on which everything else rests.

GeoTapp is designed precisely for this. One tap to start, one tap to finish, and a clear, geolocated record of each day remains, linked to the correct site. I’m not presenting this as the tax opportunity of the year, because a subscription fee isn’t one. I’m presenting it as the way to stop losing that money which is currently going out the door without anyone keeping track of it.

Hyper-depreciation covers certain assets, and for those it’s worth discussing it with your accountant. But digitising staff management doesn’t wait for a bonus, because every month of delay already comes at a cost. So: how much is it costing you right now not to know? Start by answering this question, by looking at how you track your hours.