The US Small Business Administration (SBA) released process changes last Wednesday aimed to improve the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) approval process and reduce delays on the approval of loans.
The PPP has been a financial lifeline for countless taxpayers during the pandemic, including both commercial and not-for-profit organizations. It aims to help organization leaders keep employees on payroll and provide them assistance for their expenses.
The new improvements are announced following the letter sent by the AICPA on February 3 urging the SBA to resolve:
- Issues regarding the SBA’s E-Tran and PPP Loan Processing system to either reject or ask for more documentation for around 30% of PPP applications; and
- Information mismatches that resulted in otherwise acceptable applications being rejected.
Following through the SBA’s commitment to take additional steps to improve PPP, the federal agency made 3 changes to:
- Allow lenders to directly certify the eligibility of borrowers for first-round and second-round PPP loan applications with validation errors to make sure eligible businesses who need funds receive them as soon as possible;
- Enable lenders to upload supporting documents of borrowers with validation errors during the forgiveness process;
- Make additional communication channels with lenders to provide clearer and more frequent communications to lenders and small businesses regarding PPP issues.
How much these changes will improve the PPP process will be known as Levine and Associates team observe the implementation of these changes on the SBA’s platform and procedures.
Despite these difficulties, the SBA is proud to announce an important milestone of approving $104 billion of PPP funds to more than 1.3 million small businesses from January 11 through February 7. Do you want to process your PPP application and forgiveness with ease and connect with lenders who can prioritize you?
Levine and Associates have processed dozens of small business and non-for-profit PPP loans since the beginning of the PPP funding. Our priority is to ensure PPP approval for our clients and get the latest update on PPP guidance. Book a free no-commitment consultation with us at https://calendly.com/levine-and-associatesor send us an email at josh@levineandassoc.com.
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