05/08/2020
Advice for all small business owners who have received the PPP funding and now working through the logistics of making sure to comply with the requirements to not have to pay it back. Credit to Ali Salimi for the analysis.
These are the required documents you will need to collect to provide with your PPP forgiveness application (your lender may have additional requirements):
1.) Documents verifying the number of full-time equivalent employees on payroll and their pay rates, for the periods used to verify you met the staffing and pay requirements:
(a) Payroll reports from your payroll provider
(b) Payroll tax filings (Form 941)
(c) Income, payroll, and unemployment insurance filings
from your state
(d) Documents verifying any retirement and health
insurance contributions
2.) Documents verifying your eligible interest, rent, and utility payments (canceled checks, payment receipts, account statements)
If you’re a sole proprietor, you can have eight weeks of the loan forgiven as a replacement for lost profit. But you’ll need to provide documentation for the remaining two-weeks worth of cash flow, proving you spent it on mortgage interest, rent, lease, and utility payments.
Good record keeping and bookkeeping will be critical for getting your loan forgiven—you’ll need to keep track of eligible expenses and their accompanying documentation over the eight weeks. Your lender will likely require these documents in digital format, so take the time to scan any paper documents and keep backups of your digital records.
