There are two separate programs from the federal government to help get your business through the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
One is called EIDL or Economic Injury Disaster Loan. You can apply for it now at www.SBA.gov . It is a very short application. The SBA reviews the application and contacts you by phone or email to ask you questions about your needs. They will tell you a loan amount and tell you the terms and ask for the reports and documents they will need to make a decision. There are emergency grants up to $10,000 that can be requested as a part of this application process which will be awarded in three days.
The timing for the SBA’s initial response is supposed to be within 4 days after submitting the application. The timing for arriving at a decision on your loan is up to 8 weeks.
The other program is the CARES Act, specifically the Payroll Protection Program. Go to your bank for this. There is difficulty in giving you advice on this, because the federal government has not told the banks how to administer these loans yet. They will be doing that the first two weeks of April.
What you should do:
You can apply for both loans, but you will not be able to use money from both funds for the same purpose – i.e. payroll, or rent, or mortgage interest.
Contact us for help deciding which program is best for you. We are deep-discounting our fees for helping you obtain government assistance. For these two programs the loan amounts are different, the terms are different, the timing is different. We will work closely with your internal accounting, your CPA and your banker to get your business on the best path for:
- Determining the most appropriate loan amount and maximize the benefits
- A loan approval and funding with the fewest delays possible
- The best relationship with your funding source going forward
There is a lot of conflicting information and advice out there about the CARES Act. You can read the act itself. The Payroll Protection Program is SECTION 1102, it’s only about 10 pages and can be found HERE.
For a summary and interpretation of the act from a U.S. Senate Committee, please see:
