COVID-19 Crisis: Highlights from “CARES Act – Actions for Maximizing Loan Forgiveness” RSPA Webinar

By: Jim Roddy, VP of Sales & Marketing at the RSPA

To help VARs and ISVs better navigate the CARES Act, the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), and re-opening their businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, RSPA hosted a webinar May 5 titled “CARES Act – Actions for Maximizing Loan Forgiveness.” Small business experts Bob Goldberg, RSPA’s longtime General Counsel, and Jim Kahrs, the President of SMB consulting firm Prosperity Plus, helped solution providers understand the myriad of new regulations and related best practices.

I watched the webinar live and came away with several notes that apply to VAR and ISV executives. Before we get to those, please note you can watch the entire webinar on-demand via the RSPA YouTube channel here or you can download the webinar slides here.

  • We’ve all learned we can accomplish a lot virtually.
  • Train your employees regularly on your new re-opening procedures. Review the procedures with them every week to 10 days.
  • The rules on this (CARES Act and PPP) are changing literally daily. And they’re going to continue to change. A lot of these rules are going to be figured out as they go. Check these resources from the federal government regularly.
  • Paycheck Protection Program Loans FAQs
  • PPP Interim Final Rule
  • Most important right now, you need to model what you expect your payroll, rent, and utilities are going to look like in this eight-week forgiveness period compared to what your PPP loan amount is.
  • In many cases, I’m seeing that the full loan amount is not necessarily going to be forgiven based on that eight-week period.
  • It’s important that you document everything. If you own your building, cut yourself a rent check, deposit the check, and make sure you hold onto the cancelled check.
  • I’ve heard lots of folks say, “How can I play the system?” The reality is any loopholes you see now are probably going to be closed in the upcoming weeks.
  • I think banks are going to start asking for your data earlier so they can get their money back from the SBA earlier. Banks are going to want to get the SBA to pay them back the money right away. I think they’ll want to work with the applicants to get the loan forgiveness, but you’ll have to have your documentation ready.
  • Don’t wait until the end of the eight weeks to start calculating or you could miss out on the opportunity to change how your business operates.

For additional questions related to the COVID-19 crisis, please lean on the RSPA community for guidance. Atty. Goldberg is available for member questions at Bob.Goldberg@SNFR.com and you can visit the RSPA COVID-19 Resource Center here.

Jim Roddy is the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA). He has been active in the POS channel since 1998, including 11 years as the President of Business Solutions Magazine, six years as an RSPA board member, one term as RSPA Chairman of the Board, and several years as a business coach for VARs, ISVs, and MSPs. Jim is regularly requested to speak at industry conferences and he is author of Hire Like You Just Beat Cancer. For more information, contact JRoddy@GoRSPA.org.