I know this has become a very common statement: “What crazy times we live in,” how true it is. One of the ways that the federal government has attempted to assist the small business owner is through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. When the PPP was first announced, there was a large sense of urgency to get the application in to my client’s bankers. This was for good reason in that the PPP funds were limited and we were not sure how long they would last. In fact, the first round of PPP funding ran out quickly after the announcement. That is why a second round of funding was approved.
Now that my clients have received their PPP funds, there appears to be the same sense of urgency in preparing and filing the actual loan forgiveness applications. However, now is the time to relax and put together the data that is required to prepare and file these forgiveness applications. In order to input the required information and apply for forgiveness to make the PPP loans actual grants, banks use client portals made available to their customers. In truth, many portals have yet to be opened.
We are asking our clients to be patient because loan recipients have 10 months from their loan funding in order to file for their loan forgiveness. This is the time to start preparing their data that will be required to support the monies spent with the PPP funds. There should be no urgency to move through this process. When our client’s banks open up the online portals, we will be assisting where help is requested. This will be done by preparing and filling out these applications so that the they are approved on the first time applied. We want to ensure the applications do not get rejected due to lack of backup or from rushing through the process.
If you received PPP funds and are looking for assistance with the forgiveness application, do not hesitate to contact me.