If you are a lender with $1 Billion or less in assets you can make Paycheck Protection Loans for small businesses seeking relief starting on Jan 15. All other lenders can apply as of Jan 19.
Applications will be accepted by the SBA on a limited basis through community financial institutions. The timing has been confusing causing stress on small business owners and their advisers.
AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon says he believes the full program will go live ASAP. CPA firms need to be prepared and ready. It’s expected that there will be enough funding to meet first and second draw PPP applications.
The CPA Business Funding Portal platform was launched for CPA firms by AICPA, CPA.com, and BIZ2Credit in September to help assist small businesses with PPP loan forgiveness. Thousands of firms have been using it and it has been recently updated to handle PPP2 applications with over 3,000 applications processed.
Know that small businesses should expect more scrutiny in this next round. The SBA will be doing more vetting for potential fraud and may require further validation. It is advised that businesses as well as their financial advisers get it right to avoid delays that may cause them to resubmit.
A free service is available through the portal as well as tiered subscription services for CPAs that provides a direct path to fund SBA approved loans that will allow them to receive their agent fees.
Business owners are advised to work closely with their CPAs to ensure they qualify and receive the maximum loan amount they are eligible for and to make sure the correct documents are in order.