Free Paycheck Protection Loan Forgiveness Tool
Free Paycheck Protection Loan Forgiveness Tool Available
If applying to have your Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiven seems intimidating, you are not alone. Maybe the thought of the paperwork has prevented you from even applying for a PPP loan. Well we have good news: help has arrived. A new online tool can simplify the process—and its free. Any business that took out a PPP loan can use the tool for free, regardless of whether they worked with a bank or a non-bank lender. The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and CPA.com released the platform this week, which is powered by software from small business lender Biz2Credit.
PPPForgivenesstool.com is a free resource to assist small business owners in automating the loan forgiveness application process for their PPP funding. Business owners, and their accountants, can use this tool to fill out their PPP forgiveness application online, receive an automatic forgiveness eligibility calculation and be provided with all the government-mandated forms needed to submit for lender forgiveness.
The SBA rules provide that it is the borrower’s responsibility to provide an accurate calculation of the loan forgiveness amount. Lenders are expected to perform a good-faith review, in a reasonable time, of the borrower’s calculations and supporting documents, but lenders do not have to independently verify the borrower’s reported information provided that the borrower:
Supplies documentation supporting its request, and
Attests that it has accurately verified the payments for eligible costs.
Early loan forgiveness applications
Many small businesses have inquired about whether they can apply for PPP loan forgiveness before their covered period expires. Businesses can apply for loan forgiveness now, but it may cost them money. We recommend that businesses wait before applying for loan forgiveness.
The interim final rule issued in June says that if a borrower applies for loan forgiveness before the end of the covered period and has reduced any employees’ salaries or wages by more than the 25% allowed for full forgiveness, the borrower must account for the excess salary reduction for the full eight-week or 24-week covered period, whichever one applies to its loan.
Under that guidance, PPP borrowers that apply early for loan forgiveness forfeit a safe-harbor provision allowing them to restore salaries or wages by Dec. 31 and avoid reductions in the loan forgiveness they receive. For example, if a borrower has a 24-week period that ends in November but wants to apply in September, any wage reduction in excess of 25% as of September would be calculated for the entire 24-week period even if the borrower restores salaries by Dec. 31.
As always, our attorneys are here to help and answer any questions about all SBA loans, including the PPP loan program. If you have not applied for a loan, we highly recommend that you consider doing so. We’ve debunked many myths about the program. There are still lenders accepting applications