Now that the CARES Act has passed, our next big project during the social distancing shutdown will be to access the Payroll Protection Program Loans (PPPL) program for affected small businesses. While many businesses, including ours, applied for loan consideration under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, the SBA was overloaded with millions of applications and the latest word is that it will take months to access these funds.
In the days leading up the the CARES Act and immediately after its passage, we communicated about the most important facets of the bill. Almost every business owner in the country has heard about the loans, which promise to lend 250% of our average monthly payroll, unguaranteed, and get us back on our feet. If you haven’t read our earlier analysis of the bill, or read the CARES Act itself, links to download some great summaries can be found here.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has stated that the regulations regarding loan applications will be available as early as today and that loan applications will be available this week… we are skeptical that a program of this size will be in place and active that quickly, in real life, but we are rapidly preparing to apply for the loans. On a behind-the-scenes level, we are actively working with bankers to identify the most expedient way to get our clients through the system and get loans issued. On a direct level, our team members are reaching out to you today to gather all of the information we need to help process the loans for you when they are available.
The law itself calls for a wonderfully easy calculation and underwriting process for the loans, and Secretary Mnuchin has stated in interviews that he expects the process to be very, very easy, but we are approaching the process as if the banks who issue the loans will require more information than Congress requires. To prepare for that, we are gathering all possible required information to have everything ready for your applications and our team members will have reached out to many of you by the time you read this. If you need help preparing for the PPPL process and are not an ongoing retainer client, please go to our CARES Act Assistance Page to get started.
#WeGotThis #CARESAct #RestaurantRelief
- Matt Hetrick, CPA
President and Owner of CPA Eats & Harmony Group