U.S. Treasury Sec.Steven Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza announced that another round of Paycheck Protection Program loan applications will be accepted at the start of next week after President Trump signed new aid package into law.
"We are pleased that President Trump has signed into law the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which provides critical additional funding for American workers and small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic," Mnuchin and Carranza said in a joint statement released yesterday.
"We want to thank Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader McCarthy for working with us on a bipartisan basis to ensure that the Paycheck Protection Program is funded so that small businesses can keep hardworking Americans on the payroll."
"...We encourage all approved lenders to process loan applications previously submitted by eligible borrowers and disburse funds expeditiously. All eligible borrowers who need these funds should work with an approved lender to apply. Borrowers should carefully review PPP regulations and guidance and the certifications required to obtain a loan."
The lag time between the president's signature on the latest round of COVID-19 stimulus funding and the SBA's ability to accept applications is to give the agency time to updated its system coding to account for changes to the program - largely made to ensure that the deserving and suffering small businesses it is intended to help, and not big companies with funds on hand and easier access to funding - are the ones actually getting the money.
Loan applications will be accepted from approved lenders on behalf of "any eligible borrower."
Given the speed with which the last round of PPP funding ran out, experts are recommending that applicants maximize their chances by being as prepared as possible heading into the application process.
One key piece of advice: Get your paperwork in order, and have it ready. Documents you will need include:
Tax returns for at least 2019, but if you have 2 years of tax returns easily available, get those ready.
Payroll reports that show clearly how you achieved your total loan amount.
Legal company formation documents or organization legal structure/setup, ownership, etc.
Proof of how COVID-19 has negatively impacted your business. The easiest way to do this is to compare your sales from February to April 2019 to your 2020 sales for the same months. Also document the downturn in sales from January 2020, monthly, through the current month.