CARES ACT PPP Loan Preparation

This page will be updated often. Please check back frequently.

*Disclaimer*

AdvanStaff HR is NOT a legal or tax advisor on any loan program and all situations are different. We are doing our best to outline various key points recently published.

Many banks and legal advisors are still digesting the new guidelines and application acceptance dates will vary from bank to bank based on how those banks interpret the changes.

If you have questions please open a ticket. We will get back to you ASAP by phone (if requested) or by email.

COVID-19 Coronavirus Guidance For Employers Page
Read About the CARES Act
Visit the Official SBA PPP Site
Request Tax or Other Documents

If you need help or assistance with anything at all, please open a support request.
We will respond promptly.

PPP2 – 2nd Draw Quick Highlights

Loan Amounts and “Covered Period”

  • Maximum loan is generally 2.5x average monthly payroll costs for a 12- month period, capped at $2 million
    • But… if borrower operates with an NAICS Code 72 (restaurants, hotels, etc.) then loan is based on 3.5x average monthly payroll costs ($2 million cap still applies)
  • Can use calendar year 2019 or 2020 as reference period for measuring payroll costs. Cannot use the 12 month period prior to the first draw loan
  • Businesses that are part of the same corporate group (majority owned, directly or indirectly, by a common parent) cannot receive second draw loans in a total amount of more than $4 million
  • Borrower can choose a “covered period” between 8 and 24 weeks

Second Draw Loans- Documentation

  • January 19 guidance from SBA describes documentation requirements for different entities
    • Corporations are directed to provide Form 941, state quarterly wage UI tax reports, filed business tax return, and documentation showing business was in operation on February 15, 2020
  • A borrower can provide the following as substantiation:
  • IRS Forms W-2 and Form W-3 or payroll processor reports, including quarterly and annual tax reports, in lieu of IRS Form 941
  • Records from a retirement administrator to document employer retirement contributions
  • Records from a health insurance company or TPA for a self-insured plan to document employer health coverage contributions
  • If the borrower is using same lender and same payroll timeframe as it used for PPP1 loan, and already submitted the required payroll documentation to the lender, then no additional payroll documentation needs to be submitted.

Who is eligible?

  • Must have not more than 300 employees
  • Must have used, or will use, the full amount of the PPP1 loan on eligible expenses
  • Must demonstrate at least a 25 percent reduction in “gross receipts” in a calendar quarter during 2020 relative to the same 2019 quarter
    • or annual gross receipts in 2020 were at least 25 percent lower than annual gross receipts in 2019)
    • Note: Special rules apply for businesses not in operation in 2019)

The following business are NOT eligible:

  • Businesses not operating on February 15, 2020
  • Publicly-traded companies
  • Entities that have permanently closed
  • Entities receiving Shuttered Venue Operator Grants
  • Lobbying organizations
  • Entities if the President, VP, head of an Executive department, Member of Congress, or spouse owns at least 20% of company

General rule: Must demonstrate either:

  1. Gross receipts in any calendar quarter of 2020 were at least 25 percent lower than same quarter of 2019, OR
  2. Annual gross receipts in 2020 were at least 25 percent lower than annual gross receipts in 2019

Special Rules

  • If not in business for Q1 and Q2 of 2019, gross receipts in any quarter of 2020 were at least 25% lower than either Q3 or Q4 of 2019
  • If not in business for Q1, Q2, or Q3 of 2019, gross receipts in any quarter of 2020 were at least 25% lower than Q4 of 2019
  • If not in business during 2019 but in operation on February 15, 2020, gross receipts in Q2, Q3, or Q4 of 2020 were at least 25% lower than Q1 of 2020

Second Draw Loans- The “Gross Receipts” Test

The Economic Aid Act did not define “gross receipts”

• January 6 regulations says that the term “gross receipts” is consistent with the definition of “receipts” at 13 CFR Section 121.104 (SBA regulations)

• See also SBA guidance, issued on January 19: “Second Draw Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans: How to Calculate Revenue Reduction and Maximum Loan Amounts Including What Documentation to Provide”

For a for-profit business, “Gross Receipts” are:

  • All revenue in whatever form received or accrued (in accordance with the entity’s accounting method, i.e., accrual or cash) from whatever source, including from the sales of products or services, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, fees, or commissions, reduced by returns and allowances but excluding net capital gains and losses
  • Generally, gross receipts of affiliates are included (special rules apply for acquisitions or divestitures)
  • Excluded from the definition are:
    • Taxes collected for and remitted to a taxing authority if included in gross or total income (i.e., taxes collected from customers, not taxes levied on the business)
    • Proceeds from transactions between a business and its domestic or foreign affiliates amounts collected for another by a travel agent, real estate agent, advertising agent, conference management service provider, freight forwarder or customs broker.
    • Any forgiven PPP loan or EIDL advance
  • But guidance makes clear that the following are included:
    • Subcontractor costs
    • Reimbursements for purchase a contractor makes at a customer’s request
    • Investment income
    • Employee-based costs (e.g., payroll taxes)

PPP(& PPP2) Loan Payroll Data / Reports Instructions

The Loan Application calls for “Average Monthly Payroll”

Managers can download a report from the Manager Portal to help gather this information.

Based on clarification from the Paycheck Protection Program – Interim Final Rule available as of 4/2 late evening, we understand the following:

  • Allowable expenses:
    • Gross Wages
    • SUTA
    • Other State Taxes
    • ER Paid Benefits
    • ER 401k Match
  • Disallowed expenses. The following columns have been removed from the report.
    • FICA
    • FUTA
    • Works’s Comp
    • 1099 Subcontractors

The client allocation report has been updated accordingly.

If you want payroll data now, you can run a report on your own. We suggest

  • printing a hard copy (unedited) version of the report to provide to your bank. Your bank will want an official, uneditable reports from your 3rd party payroll services (AdvanStaff HR).
  • exporting the report to be edited for the purpose of calculating the loan amount.

Now run a payroll report on your own.

  1. Log into the Manager Portal
  2. Step 1- Click on the “Report” Icon at the top of the action bar.
  3. Step 2 -Under “Payroll Reports,” click on the “Client Allocation Report” option.

Next, you will select the variables to run the report.

  1. Client Allocation Report
    1. Select: ” -OR- Enter a Pay Date Range check box
    2. Enter a custom date range in the fields to the right (i.e. 01/01/2019 to 12/31/2019)
  2. Report Parameters
    1. Allocation Format: SBA
    2. Report Type: Detail Report
    3. Field Type Column Display: Code Only
    4. Field Type Column Display Order: Before EE Info
    5. Other Parameters: “Suppress Page Break on Primary Sort (Detail Report)” check box
    6. Allocation and Sort Parameters:
      1. Select the broadest (or appropriate) range value. “Location” or “Project” may be appropriate.
  3. Run the Report

Now that you can see the report, you can print a hard copy and open the report in MS Excel and edit the file.

Print a hard copy of the report under the “Actions” pull-down at the top of the window. Your bank may prefer an official, hard copy report from AdvanStaff HR.

Next, export the report to a spreadsheet for editing.

  1. Click on the “XLS” link at the top left of the screen.
  2. Download and open the file.

You can now edit the employee payroll report

  1. Remove all unnecessary columns.
  2. Where applicable, cap employees payroll at $100,000
  3. Divide the column totals by 12 to get the monthly average
  4. Sum the monthly average totals by category
  5. Add a line with the 2.5x or 3.5x monthly multiplier depending on your industry

We will continue to develop this report. If you follow the steps above, you will get the “gross payroll” or the “Payroll Costs” that you might need to apply for the loan.

It is *probable* this number will be used to compare the employee retention rate later in order to determine the amount of loan forgiveness.

To compute the number of jobs, you need to take the average number of employees from 1/1/2020 – 2/29/2020.

Instructions

  1. Run the same Client Allocation Report as previously listed by month (custom range) for:
    1. January 2020
    2. February 2020
  2. Count the number of paid employees for each month
  3. Divide the total by 2

Because the loan forgiveness will be partially based on employee retention rate (and maintaining pay rates) you need to make sure these numbers are accurate.

Do not over state the number of active employees on the application form.

It is possible the bank requests copies of 941 or 941 equivalent reports. The tax reports are not required as mentioned in the 4/2/2020 Paycheck Protection Program – Interim Final Rule (IFR)

This language makes clear that lenders can confirm the eligible loan amount using the “required documents” as set forth in the IFR, such as payroll records, bank statements, etc., and that tax documents (such as Forms 941) are not required to be provided to lenders to qualify for the loans. And while the application does continue to reference “tax information,” it says specifically “any,” tax information, indicating that, in fact, no such “tax information” may be provided, but if “any tax information” is provided, the client employer is merely authorizing the SBA to share that information with SBA representatives and the Office of the Inspector General.

Download the explanation letters to be provided to your banker

AdvanStaff HR Explanation Letter Insert
NAPEO Explanation Letter Insert

Again, under these rules, 941s are not required to be provided to lenders in order to qualify for the loans.

However, if you decide that you this report, please make a request through the ticket system.

Additional Miscellaneous COVID-19 Tax Credit Questions

Posted 2020-4-1

Last night, the IRS released new FAQs for tax credits related to COVID-19, available here.

Read the entire article on the IRS Website (see Question 53)

Question 53 specifically mentions how tax credits for clients of a PEO will pass through the PEO to the client. All tax credits are taken at the Client level and not at the PEO level.

The abbreviated text from Section 53 is as follows

53. Can an Eligible Employer that uses a third party to report and pay federal employment taxes to the IRS get the credits

Yes, if an Eligible Employer is otherwise eligible to receive the credits, it (the common law employer) is entitled to the credits, regardless of whether it uses a third party payer (such as a professional employer organization (PEO), ….. to report and pay its federal employment taxes. The third party payer is not entitled to the credits with respect to the wages it remits on the Eligible Employer’s behalf (regardless of whether the third party is considered an “employer” for other purposes of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”)). If an Eligible Employer uses a third party to file, report, and pay federal employment taxes, certain rules for claiming/reporting the credits will apply depending on the type of third party payer the Eligible Employer uses.

……..

If an Eligible Employer uses a …. PEO to report and pay its federal employment taxes, the PEO will need to report the credits on an aggregate Form 941 and separately report the credits allocable to the employers for which it is filing Form 941 on an accompanying schedule R. The PEO does not have to complete Schedule R with regard to employers for which it is not claiming a credit. The Eligible Employer will need to provide a copy of any Form 7200 that it submitted for an advance to the PEO so it can properly report the credit on the Form 941. ………

According to the IRS, PEOs that file aggregate Form 941s will now be required to complete a partial Schedule R for any clients that take the credits.

AdvanStaff HR will assist with all of these forms

Additionally, clients that wish to claim the advance credit will file a newly created IRS Form 7200 (Advance of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19) and should provide their PEO a copy for reporting purposes. Instructions for Form 7200 are here. 

All situations are different. Information provided on this site is not legal advice and is intended for informational purposes only.