Amisight 3/22 : Monday Morning Check in With This Community

I know the Employee Retention Credit extension doesn't have specific guidance yet but if you could provide any when it becomes available, that would be fantastic!  

Anyone have any insight on EIDL reconsideration?  From this newsletter, I learned that they were available.  I applied in late November bad have not heard a word.  Many calls later, last week I was told it wasn't on the "queue.". My call prompted them to put it in, I was told.  Any thoughts on how long it should take and/or who I can call to make it move. It is 4 months today.  Thanks.

As posted before  recently and similar to Richard - I have a client who originally applied for an EIDL some months ago but the application was initially rejected. They then called the SBA on January 5th and walked them through the ownership changes they had made at the end of 2019 which apparently had confused the SBA. After this the SBA agreed to reinstate the application. The application since then has been “in processing”. The client has been calling the SBA weekly but keeps being told  to call back again the following week to check on the status. Any thoughts or suggestions as to how to get this application actually processed?  Thanks

The second draw for business PPP is halfway complete, seems to be very smooth this year.    We have the first draw for individual farms ( no employees) and evaluating second draw eligibility. 

We are working on the Employee Retention Credit which appears to be allowed even if you received PPP.   Not totally clear.

We're being asked questions on Individual (self-employed) PPP if that is even a thing.  It's not for our business, but several of our employees themselves or who have spouses who may be eligible if true. There seems to be confusion or lack of information on the self-employed.

Appreciate your doing this blog.

I fought for my reconsideration for more than 8 months constantly writing them to remind that I had applied for a larger amount than I received. I finally received a note on the portal that my loan was “In process”. 

Send emails weekly. That’s the key from what I was told. Call and write them constantly and it should pay off. Also make sure you call your local SBA office and explain where you are in the process and keep forging ahead. That’s my advice.

EIDL grant process for those of us who received the loan and not the grant.  From my understanding, there is no guidance yet?

I have an interesting experience. I did not apply for an EIDL but apparently someone else did for my company (fraudulently). The SBA direct deposited $150,000 into a bank account in a bank in another state under my business name even though they were not able to verify the name through the bank. I found out  about this when I went onto my Dunn & Bradstreet account and noticed that it stated I had received PPP monies (I did) as well as EIDL. The name of the person that applied for the loan has no ownership in my company as I am a sole owner. How does this happen?

A question about PPP1 forgiveness:
A gap of about 8 months between end of covered period and application of forgiveness..  The question about employee count at the time of forgiveness not at the end of covered period. Having a lower count at the time of forgiveness affect the decision on forgiveness even though the count was same at the end of covered  period?

My questions revolve around the  second draw PPP.  Simply put, I need more clarity on how they are defining "operations expenses" and "supplier costs."  When I told my accountant I would be able to pay my overdue bills with PPP he said that the accounting mentioned under "operations expenses"  was only for accounting software.  Is he correct? Essentially he stated that the operations costs are only for software expenses that manage those activities.  For supplier costs, the way they describe the timing confuses me.  Any details about what you expect them to allow will be helpful.  As of now I am quite confused as to what would be allowed under both of those categories. My business is still on hold as we wait for the state to lift restrictions on gathering (I am a caterer).  As vaccinations accelerate my staff and I are optimistic that people will begin to gather in the second half of the year.

Hi, Ami:) My answers below:

Do you have any open questions about PPP, EIDL, or forgiveness?  No. Received PPP1 and PPP2 and forgiveness on PPP1.  My CPA there were some questions as to timing of forgiveness on PPP1 but I believe that will unfold. 

How is your business doing?  We are up 40 percent over prior year Q120 and on track to exceed 2019 revenues and profits.

Are you feeling optimistic about the future? Cautiously optimistic.  There is so much "chaos" and "fear" right now that it is distracting.  The political environment is awful, the media is a downer but I try to ignore.  It's hard to though when you have to be on top of all the issues. 

What are the biggest challenges you are facing in your business today? Sales and marketing overall. We are a best kept secret and need to get the word out quicker. 

Thank you for all your questions and insights.  I will look to address these over the next days and weeks.

I am so late to this party! We just opened up after a week off for our "Spring Break" and boy has it been busy. 

This answers some of the questions you posed. We are seeing an uptick in our customers, however, this is also posing a huge problem for us in the way of staffing. Is anyone else finding it hard to get people to apply or call back or interviews? My immediate thought is with the issuing of the stimulus checks, people are not needing to work. I keep hearing about people needing jobs, but none seem to be coming our way. Is there something we are missing? We aren't a career type job for most people, but we pay at least as much as Target.

Can you use PPP funds to pay consultants?