Small business owners wear a lot of hats. This past year , one of those hats likely included understanding and applying for various government support programs in response to the coronavirus.

One of the most popular programs to help small businesses was called the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) . The program provided loans to small businesses, much of which could be forgiven tax-free, if used for payroll or other eligible services. But, like many government programs, this requires certain forms to be filled out, and specific information reported in order to apply for forgiveness. Thankfully the AICPA helped develop an online tool to assist with the application process.

Where is it, and what does the tool do?

Anyone can access the tool by going to https://www.pppforgivenesstool.com . You’ll be asked to enter your email to get started. After that, the online questionnaire will walk you through a series of qu estions about you, your business, and the PPP loan you received. You’ll lastly be asked to upload certain documentation required on the application.

Viola! Your part of the application is done. You’ll need to confirm the information and then the tool will automatically fill out the necessary forms to send to the government on your loan forgiveness application.

A word of caution

Although this is a handy tool to help small business owners fill out the application, it’s still important to know what information to put on the questionnaire so your application gets reported correctly. You will need to accurately report your total payroll costs, possible business rent or lease payments, utility payments, etc. Not reporting the amounts correctly can reduce the amount eligible for forgiveness, or cause trouble when they process your application. For assistance with these questions it’s best to work with a CPA or financial advisor.

Summary

The AICPA has helped create a new tool to reduce the burden of small businesses applying for PPP loan forgiveness. For those who are eligible and would still like to apply for a PPP Loan, the deadline has been extended to August, 8th . If you would like assistance with your own financial planning, we encourage you to reach out to our team.