Coronavirus Pandemic: Applying for the Paycheck Protection Program for small business
As we all know, the human and economic fallout from the Coronavirus Pandemic is hitting out planet hard and quickly. As a small business owner soon to be facing a significant revenue shortfall, I submitted an application for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) when it became available on Friday, April 3rd, 2020.
As one would expect for a quickly cobbled together emergency relief package, there isn't a lot of information available about the specifics of the PPP application process. For a basic overview, I'd recommend checking out the pdf of the program's Borrower Application Form that can be found on Assistance for Small Businesses section of the US Treasury's web site. In my case, I have an existing business banking and lending relationship with Bank of America, so I applied via their web-based application which was basically on online version of the pdf application form. The Bank of America web site actually had some useful information about the program (see here), which gives a general overview of the process at their institution. They've also indicated that this is an online only program, so all communication, requests for documentation, etc. will be handled remotely.
I applied on Friday using my 2019 monthly average payroll and employer profit sharing 401k contribution numbers, with the loan amount working out to be 2.5 times that number. My hope is that this will help me keep my payroll going for an additional couple of months as my business revenues will start to dry up in the near future. Of course, the attractive part of this program is the loan forgiveness provision where the SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities.
I did receive a "We received your application" email from Bank of America this morning, so it appears that the wheels are churning on this somewhere. I'm going to have to provide documentation of my payroll and retirement plan numbers when asked, so I have started gathering that information together from my accounting and payroll records. Hopefully programs like the PPP and expanded unemployment coverage will help us keep things together until the COVID-19 virus finally burns itself out.
Best wishes to everyone out there, may you stay healthy and safe!
As one would expect for a quickly cobbled together emergency relief package, there isn't a lot of information available about the specifics of the PPP application process. For a basic overview, I'd recommend checking out the pdf of the program's Borrower Application Form that can be found on Assistance for Small Businesses section of the US Treasury's web site. In my case, I have an existing business banking and lending relationship with Bank of America, so I applied via their web-based application which was basically on online version of the pdf application form. The Bank of America web site actually had some useful information about the program (see here), which gives a general overview of the process at their institution. They've also indicated that this is an online only program, so all communication, requests for documentation, etc. will be handled remotely.
I applied on Friday using my 2019 monthly average payroll and employer profit sharing 401k contribution numbers, with the loan amount working out to be 2.5 times that number. My hope is that this will help me keep my payroll going for an additional couple of months as my business revenues will start to dry up in the near future. Of course, the attractive part of this program is the loan forgiveness provision where the SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities.
I did receive a "We received your application" email from Bank of America this morning, so it appears that the wheels are churning on this somewhere. I'm going to have to provide documentation of my payroll and retirement plan numbers when asked, so I have started gathering that information together from my accounting and payroll records. Hopefully programs like the PPP and expanded unemployment coverage will help us keep things together until the COVID-19 virus finally burns itself out.
Best wishes to everyone out there, may you stay healthy and safe!
posted by Frugal Frugalson at
2:07 PM
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