The first thing you politely say is “I would like you to deal with my accountant on this. Do you want to call him/her or should I have him/her call you?”

If pushed just say that your accountant has all your records and can answer questions that you cannot as you are not a tax savvy person. Always be polite as they control the situation. Usually they are reasonable. 

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals were surprised to find out that the IRS operates in the field. And now, after a more than two-year hiatus prompted by the pandemic, at the end of June 2022, IRS Revenue Officers resumed field visits to individual taxpayer’s homes and to business taxpayer’s offices to collect delinquent tax and secure delinquent returns. Thus, for taxpayers with significant overdue tax liabilities and multiple unfiled tax returns, there is a real likelihood of an unexpected visit from the IRS. 

Naturally, for taxpayers facing such a surprise, receiving this knock on the door will result in considerable stress. Nonetheless, to paraphrase the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, the imagined anxiety may be worse than the real tax problem. Even if the role of the Revenue Officer is to collect the tax, interacting with a specific IRS employee familiar with the taxpayer’s matter provides the taxpayer with the opportunity to understand their options and begin the path towards putting their tax problems behind them. 

During this initial visit, the IRS Revenue Officer will identify themselves and show the taxpayer their credentials (called the pocket commission) as well as their HSPD-12 Federal ID card. Taxpayers should call the IRS Field Employee Verification Center at 1-844-809-4566 to verify the Revenue Officer’s identity. 

The Revenue Officer will ask for immediate (or part) payment of all delinquent accounts. The IRS will never ask for payment by prepaid debit cards, gift cards or wire transfers. If tax returns are delinquent, the IRS will request their immediate filing. Since most taxpayers visited in person are unlikely to be able to make a full payment, the goal of the Revenue Officer is to secure a financial statement and discuss other collection alternatives. At a minimum, the Revenue Officer will attempt to secure information about the taxpayer’s bank accounts assets, other levy sources, employment status and salary. If the taxpayer does not wish to—or is unable to speak at the time—the Revenue Officer will leave their contact information and ask the taxpayer to respond within two business days. It is important that the taxpayer responds. Otherwise, enforcement action will begin. 

Conclusion 

Taxpayers need to recognize that Revenue Officers wield a vast array of resolution alternatives which span the gamut from voluntary but manageable (e.g., installment agreements) to involuntary and consequential (e.g., wage garnishments and asset seizures).  Although the situation is inherently stressful, taxpayers should strive to be cordial and respectful to the Revenue Officer because this initial encounter will likely establish the tone of future interactions.

Never go through this process by yourself. Even though you will have to pay your accountant to represent you it will be well worth it.

A note with the card said Economic Impact Payment, which Wallace said assumed meant his stimulus. But nowhere did it say $600, so he still wasn’t sure.

“It did not look like an official IRS letter,” he said. “It did not. We almost tossed it aside. We almost threw it away.”

The IRS now acknowledges that some people are tossing the cards in the trash, or cutting them up, assuming they are an attempt to get them to sign up for something.

It is now issuing an alert to watch for the cards in the mail, as it is your real stimulus check, just not in the form of a check.

Why IRS is now using debit cards

The $1,200 checks last spring looked like typical tax refund checks from the U.S. Treasury.

But in an attempt to speed up the process this time, the IRS ordered several million pre-printed debit cards from Meta Bank. They don’t say $600, as the figure was decided at the last minute.

So, the debit cards are legit.

But Wallace and his wife, Caroline, don’t think the government should send out debit cards that come with an ATM fee for cashing it out.

“It’s got all of these fees that are associated with it,” she said, pointing to a list of $2 and $3 fees on the back. “So this sounded like a scam to us.”

But it’s not a scam — it’s your $600 stimulus.

If you accidentally threw yours away, you can request a new one by calling the IRS, if you can get through.

Or you may have to claim it on your federal income tax form.

So be careful, so you don’t waste your money.

Article first published on PIX 11 by John Matarese

    The IRS on Friday announced that it will start accepting and processing 2020 tax returns on Friday, Feb. 12. This is later than in most previous years, when tax season has started in January. The IRS says the delay is due to the extra time it needs for programming and testing its systems following the tax law changes made by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA 2021), P.L. 116-260, which was enacted Dec. 27.

    According to the IRS, much of the additional programming stems from the second round of recovery rebate credits authorized by the CAA 2021, which taxpayers can claim on their 2020 returns if they do not receive an economic impact payment.

    The IRS anticipates starting to issue refunds for taxpayers who claim the earned income tax credit and/or additional child tax credit in the first week of March, for taxpayers who file electronically and provide direct deposit information and have no other issues with their returns.

Haven’t received your stimulus checks yet? Use the link below to find out about the status of your stimulus check.

PPP2 overview

Congress revived the PPP as part of the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill that was signed into law on Dec. 27. The program provided $525 billion in forgivable loans over five months before it stopped accepting applications in August. The Economic Aid Act rebooted PPP (or PPP2, as some call it) with many of the same parameters as the first program but also several important differences from the original PPP.

One of the biggest changes is making PPP funding available to businesses that previously received a PPP loan. Business are eligible for a second PPP loan of up to $2 million, provided they have 300 or fewer employees, have used or will use the full amount of their first PPP loan, and can show a 25% gross revenue decline in any 2020 quarter compared with the same quarter in 2019.

Fresh PPP loans also are available to first-time borrowers from the following groups:

• Businesses with 500 or fewer employees that are eligible for other SBA 7(a) loans.
• Sole proprietors, independent contractors, and eligible self-employed individuals.
• Not-for-profits, including churches.
• Accommodation and food services operations (those with North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes starting with 72) with fewer than 300 employees per physical location.

The legislation also allows borrowers that returned all or part of a previous PPP loan to reapply for the maximum amount available to them.

PPP loan terms

As with PPP1, the costs eligible for loan forgiveness in PPP2 include payroll, rent, covered mortgage interest, and utilities. PPP2 also makes the following potentially forgivable:

• Covered worker protection and facility modification expenditures, including personal protective equipment, to comply with COVID-19 federal health and safety guidelines.
• Expenditures to suppliers that are essential at the time of purchase to the recipient’s current operations.
• Covered operating costs such as software and cloud computing services and accounting needs.

To be eligible for full loan forgiveness, PPP borrowers will have to spend no less than 60% of the funds on payroll over a covered period of either eight or 24 weeks — the same parameters PPP1 had when it stopped accepting applications in August.

PPP borrowers may receive a loan amount of up to 2.5 times their average monthly payroll costs in the year prior to the loan or the calendar year, the same as with PPP1, but the maximum loan amount has been cut from $10 million in the first round to the previously mentioned $2 million maximum. PPP borrowers with NAICS codes starting with 72 (hotels and restaurants) can get up to 3.5 times their average monthly payroll costs, again subject to a $2 million maximum.

Simplified application and other terms of note

The new COVID-19 relief bill also:

• Creates a simplified forgiveness application process for loans of $150,000 or less. Specifically, a borrower shall receive forgiveness if the borrower signs and submits to the lender a certification that is not more than one page in length, includes a description of the number of employees the borrower was able to retain because of the loan, the estimated total amount of the loan spent on payroll costs, and the total loan amount. The SBA must create the simplified application form within 24 days of the bill’s enactment and may not require additional materials unless necessary to substantiate revenue loss requirements or satisfy relevant statutory or regulatory requirements. Borrowers are required to retain relevant records related to employment for four years and other records for three years, as the SBA may review and audit these loans to check for fraud.
• Repeals the requirement that PPP borrowers deduct the amount of any Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance from their PPP forgiveness amount.
• Includes set-asides to support first- and second-time PPP borrowers with 10 or fewer employees, first-time PPP borrowers that have recently been made eligible, and for loans made by community lenders.

Congress has hammered out a new Covid-19 stimulus package that includes a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans, tax relief and other measures for small businesses.

Congress appears set to vote on the relief measures as early as Monday after leadership from both parties endorsed the new deal. Congress will ultimately pair the deal with additional legislation to fund the government for the next fiscal year. Lawmakers have repeatedly passed short-term measures to keep the government operating over the last few weeks while lawmakers hammer out a stimulus deal. It must still pass the new legislation for any of its provisions to become law.

The roughly $900 billion spending measure will include Stimulus checks of $600 per individual, an extended eviction moratorium and enhanced unemployment insurance of about $300 a week, according to a summary released by House Republicans, among a variety of school funding, vaccine and other public health-related measures.

The package also comes with a variety of measures long sought after by the business community, including:

• A new round of PPP loans, with about $284 billion earmarked for the program. It also comes with expanded eligibility for so-called 501(c)(6) nonprofits, such as local chambers of commerce, which were left out of the original program. Businesses with “severe” revenue reductions can apply for a second loan.
• Expenses paid for with PPP loans would be considered tax deductible, officially reversing an IRS decision made earlier in the year that would have seen some small businesses pay more in taxes. The ability to deduct expenses if paid for with PPP loans had been the focus of intense lobbying by small business groups.
• A fresh $20 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.

https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/tax-compliance/article/21162825/key-tax-law-changes-for-tax-year-2020

On Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020, the Small Business Administration released PPP Loan Forgiveness Application Form 3508S, which is available for borrowers meeting criteria listed on the top of the application. When you are invited to apply, you will use the new streamlined form (form 3508S) if you received a PPP loan of $50,000 or less and have not, together with your affiliates, received PPP loans totaling $2MM or more.

The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the deadline to register for an Economic Impact Payment (EIP) is now November 21, 2020. This new date will provide an additional five weeks beyond the original deadline.

The IRS urges people who don’t typically file a tax return – and haven’t received an Economic Impact Payment – to register as quickly as possible using the Non-Filers: Enter Info Here tool on IRS.gov. The tool will not be available after November 21.

“We took this step to provide more time for those who have not yet received a payment to register to get their money, including those in low-income and underserved communities,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “The IRS is deeply involved in processing and programming that overlaps filing seasons. Any further extension beyond November would adversely impact our work on the 2020 and 2021 filing seasons. The Non-Filers portal has been available since the spring and has been used successfully by many millions of Americans.”

Special note: This additional time into November is solely for those who have not received their EIP and don’t normally file a tax return. For taxpayers who requested an extension of time to file their 2019 tax return, that deadline date remains October 15.

To support the ongoing EIP effort, many partner groups have been working with the IRS, helping translate and making available in 35 languages IRS information and resources on Economic Impact Payments.

To help spread the word, the IRS sent nearly 9 million letters in September to people who may be eligible for the $1,200 Economic Impact Payments but don’t normally file a tax return. This push encourages people to use the Non-Filers tool on IRS.gov.

“Time is running out for those who don’t normally file a tax return to get their payments,” Rettig added. “Registration is quick and easy, and we urge everyone to share this information to reach as many people before the deadline.”

While most eligible U.S. taxpayers have automatically received their Economic Impact Payment, others who don’t have a filing obligation need to use the Non-Filers tool to register with the IRS to get their money. Typically, this includes people who receive little or no income.

The Non-Filers tool is secure and is based on Free File Fillable Forms, part of the Free File Alliance’s offering of free products on IRS.gov.

The Non-Filers tool is designed for people with incomes typically below $24,400 for married couples, and $12,200 for singles who could not be claimed as a dependent by someone else. This includes couples and individuals who are experiencing homelessness.

Anyone using the Non-Filers tool can speed the arrival of their payment by choosing to receive it by direct deposit. Those not choosing this option will get a check.

Beginning two weeks after they register, people can track the status of their payment using the Get My Payment tool, available only on IRS.gov.

Federal additional $300/week unemployment benefits for New Yorkers will start next week. There will be 6 weeks of benefits starting retroactively to August 01, 2020. 

The Paycheck Protection Program stood out as an early success of the government’s pandemic relief effort, but it ended with a whimper and left billions of dollars unallocated when small businesses got spooked by the ever-changing rules.

Even as Democrats and Republicans fight over other aspects of another major stimulus bill, they have largely agreed on how to revamp the PPP to restore its popularity and usefulness.

But groups representing the smallest business owners — independent contractors, the self-employed and minority-owned businesses who complained they were largely shut out of the earlier rounds of funding and for whom these changes are meant to help — are already questioning whether it will be enough.

For starters, they note that both the old and the proposed new PPP are run by the Small Business Administration, which works with businesses with as many as 500 workers, has less experience with companies with fewer than 100, and almost none with those with one or a handful of employees.

The bulk of America’s small businesses have fewer than 20 employees, but they didn’t get the bulk of the earlier PPP money and aren’t sure they’ll do better under a revised program still run by the SBA, advocates say.

For small businesses that already received one of the forgivable PPP loans, there is some good news about a possible PPP relaunch: They may be able to get a second loan, something not permitted in the original rules. That could be a lifeline for businesses that burned through the initial 24 weeks of payroll support.

In total, more than 5.1 million businesses got PPP funds before lending ended Aug. 8. The government says 51 million jobs were saved. S&P Global estimates it is closer to 13.6 million.

When the program began, $349 billion flowed out the door in less than two weeks. But the early successes were soon replaced by outrage and confusion. The public was frustrated to hear of large publicly traded companies like Potbelly or Shake Shack receiving loans.

Commercial banks tasked with distributing the money gave priority to their existing customers, leaving small businesses without a strong banking relationship scrambling to compile the needed application paperwork as the money flowed to larger businesses.

Meanwhile, rules governing how the money could be spent changed weekly, at times daily, casting doubt on what terms businesses would have to meet to have the loans forgiven. Demand plummeted. Even an extension of the program in June wasn’t enough to renew interest. While more small loans were processed in the second round than in the first, more than $126 billion was left on the table when the program ended.

Republicans want to target businesses with fewer than 300 employees that have seen sales decline by 35% or more, and to set aside $10 billion for community and rural banks to lend. Democrats want to focus on those with fewer than 100 employees that have seen sales decline by 50% or more. Both want to set aside up to $25 billion for businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

For the nation’s smallest businesses — many of which are Black-owned and have no employees — even the changes Congress is proposing may not be enough, said Ron Busby Sr., president of U.S. Black Chambers.

An estimated 41% of Black-owned businesses have permanently closed since the pandemic began, he said.

More info to follow as it happens.

Due to COVID-19, the original filing deadline and tax payment due date for 2019 was postponed from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. With many states still under travel and work restrictions due to the pandemic, some taxpayers and tax professionals alike were hoping that the date might be extended.

Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had not ruled out the possibility of pushing out the deadline, saying, “It’s something I’m thinking about.” He had indicated that he would continue to consider the idea as the date approaches.

But today’s announcement appears to rule out any additional changes. Individual taxpayers who cannot meet the July 15 due date can request an automatic extension of time to file. Keep in mind that the extension is a six-month extension from the original filing date of April 15, meaning that an extension will extend the time to file to October 15, 2020. It is not an extension from the extended due date.

If you can’t pay, help is available.

“The IRS understands that those affected by the coronavirus may not be able to pay their balances in full by July 15, but we have many payment options to help taxpayers,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “These easy-to-use payment options are available on IRS.gov, and most can be done automatically without reaching out to an IRS representative.”

Payment options are available on IRS.gov/payments to help taxpayers who can’t pay in full and some can offer taxpayers smaller penalties. That’s important since interest and late-payment penalties will continue to accrue on any unpaid taxes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2020/06/17/the-not-quite-definitive-guide-to-paycheck-protection-program-loan-forgiveness/#210bf7e35eaf

1. QUESTION: How do I get in touch with customer service phone support?

ANSWER: The highest level of official customer service is known as “tier 2” and can be reached by calling 1-800-659-2955 and asking for Tier 2.

They are unfortunately, a very limited means of support. They are able to check your application status and see the current “stage” and leave notes in your file, but unable to directly make any changes or escalate anything in a meaningful way.

Most are very nice and well meaning people but are usually poorly informed and often provided contradictory information between calls. The important thing to understand is that notes left by T2 do not actually notify a loan officer or anyone, they are simply waiting to be read if someone happens to open your file and takes the time to review the case notes. So if a T2 says they requested a change do not assume it was or will be made.

2. QUESTION: What are my chances of being approved for this loan? Can I know in advance?

ANSWER: The loan is relatively easy to get approval for by loan standards. The exact underwriting criteria the SBA is using was leaked by some helpful people and thus you can have a good understanding what your chances are.

Underwriters look for the following:-Minimum Credit Score of 570. They will pull from experian. Close to Vantage 3 model found on nav DOT com or TransUnion numbers on credit karma. They do NOT use FICO. Credit score is largest factor for approval for this loan and no exceptions are made for under 570.

-If economic injury was sustained based on formula described in QUESTION 4. If this is a negative number you will be auto declined. (SEE QUESTION 5) The SBA does not consider potential revenue lost or general expenses in the loan amount.

-Tax liens or tax issues are NOT a disqualifying factor or taken into consideration for COVID19 disaster.

-All owners on application must be either US citizens or Permanent Residents. E-2 Investor visa is NOT eligible and any attempts to appeal or add a co-borrower who is a citizen or LPR will be unsuccessful. Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities (LLE): Alien-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLEs properly registered and licensed in the state where the disaster occurred are eligible. If any member, partner, or shareholder, owning 20 percent or more of the applicant business is in the USA they must be a qualified alien.  If the alien resides outside the USA an exception may be made.3. QUESTION: I received a decline letter for “Business activity not eligible”. What can I do?

ANSWER: EIDL has a list of restricted business categories, if your type is NOT on this list and you still received this letter you may have been improperly classified.
 
The following applicants are not eligible for EIDL assistance.

7-Eleven Franchise Stores, despite what corp office says. (advance is OK)

Lending or Investment Concerns (except for real estate investments held for rental)

Multi-level Sales Distribution (Pyramid) Concerns c. Speculative Activities d. Non-profit Organizations that are not considered a Private Non-Profit

Consumer and Marketing Cooperatives. However, other cooperatives and small agricultural cooperatives meeting applicable size standards are eligible f. Not a small business concern (except for PNP of any size) g. Gambling Concerns. Concerns that derive more than one-third of their annual gross revenue from legal gambling activities.

Casinos, Racetracks, Etc. Businesses whose purpose for being is gambling (such as casinos, racetracks, poker parlors, etc.) are not eligible for EIDL assistance regardless of their ability to meet the one-third criteria established for otherwise eligible concerns.Loan packagers who derives more than one-third of their annual volume from the preparation of applications seeking financial assistance from SBA

Religious Organizations.

Political or Lobbying Concerns.

Pawn shops, when 50 percent or more of previous year’s income was derived 50 30 9 71 Effective Date: May 31, 2018 from interest

Real Estate Developers. Establishments primarily engaged in subdividing real property into lots and developing it for resale on their own account.

Life Insurance Companies.

Concerns Engaged in Illegal Activities (as defined by Federal guidelines). p. Government-owned concerns, except for businesses owned or controlled by a Native American tribe.

Concerns with Principals Incarcerated, on Parole or Probation: remain ineligible if the parole or probation is lifted solely because it is an impediment to obtaining a loan.

Concerns engaged in live performances of, or the Sale of Products, Services, of a Prurient Sexual Nature.

Businesses considered as hobbies.

Concerns Involved in Change in Ownership Situations: Concerns which had a substantial change of ownership (more than 50 percent) after the impending economic injury became apparent, and no contract for sale existed prior to that time are ineligible .

4. QUESTION: How is the loan amount calculated? How can I request a specific amount?

ANSWER: There is no way to request a specific amount, the eligible amount is calculated automatically by formula based on your inputs. There are three known formulas:

Standard Small Business: Revenue minus COGS divided by 2 minus advance, subject to maximum of 150K

Not for Profit: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20Business that collects rental property income, your offer is calculated by lost rents due to the disaster, not the standard formula. If your offer is lower than expected you may have been wrongly classified into this formula.

Agricultural businesses: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20

If the formula results in a negative number or less than your advance you will be declined for “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”

5. QUESTION: What is the maximum loan amount?

ANSWER: As of last update it is currently 150K cap. This will not change anytime soon and there will be no way to request more at present. The only way to avoid the cap is if your loan was already being obligated prior to the change by the SBA from 500K. If I hear anything new on this it will be updated here.

6. QUESTION: When will I get my portal invite?

ANSWER: Portal invites are a fully automated process and not strictly sequential but follow general group patterns. If you see someone that has a higher number than you get a portal invite it does NOT mean you were “passed over”.

Note: as of 5/30 there are a number of very early applications that are actually “stuck” in the credit pull stage (no portal invite yet, if you have the portal you do not have this issue) due to a glitch. If you have an application date of 3/29, 3/30, 3/31, or 4/01 (but no later) you may email me for information on how to get this resolved. Please be honest and accurate about your application date, I will know. If you app date is later and you still haven’t gotten your portal invite, I cannot help with this! I can’t stress that enough. 

7. QUESTION: I finally got a portal invite and accepted and submitted an amount. My application says it is “processing”, now what?

ANSWER: This is when the actual loan process starts and underwriting begins. Your application will be assigned a loan officer for review using the criteria listed in question 2.

The exact process is as follows with the actual stages from start to finish. Keep in mind that once you accept in the portal a number of things are going on behind the scenes, which is why “processing” can take a great deal of time. Once you see a loan amount in your portal, this is NOT an approved offer. It is simply a potential amount you are eligible for based on the stated formula if you pass underwriting.

Initial Call Needed (credit not ran)

LO assigned and makes decision: Declined, Duplicate, Approved[The following takes place behind the scenes and will not reflect in your portal, but will still say “processing”]

Approved: T2 Rep can now see your loan is approved on their screen. This means the Loan Officer has approved the deal and it is now going to the Senior Loan Officer. If the SLO does not approve the deal then it will go to declined.

Obligating: SLO known as a “team leader” reviews the work of the first LO to ensure everything was done correctly. Once they sign off on the deal the loan is now fully approved. The loan is being sent to the E-Tran system to receive a loan number. The loan has not yet received a loan number from E-Tran while obligating. This is the most common phase where hang ups in “processing” can error called “error in obligating”. Usually due to small technical issues or errors in your information that need to be sorted.Obligated: A loan number from E-Tran has been obtained and now closing documents can be drafted and sent to the borrower. This is when your portal would change from “processing” to approved. There may be a delay between when your offer is obligated to when it actually shows approved. I have seen it happen in as fast as 10 minutes or as long as 12 hours. You can also see approved but not have docs available. Docs will not show up until you get an email with the approval. The delay on this can be a few hours or more.

Funding: Docs are signed and the loan is automatically moved to funding stage to have treasury issue an ACH. This happens very quickly and you should see the ACH sent right after with the funds arriving in 24-48 hours on banking days. **NOTE** Currently as of 6/10 we are seeing delays in funding of up to a week or even more, as it is very backed up in the queue.** At this point you can track the disbursement with your loan number from the docs using CAWEB to see if the ACH has been sent. See CAWEB question.

Funded: Process complete, funds are successfully in your bank account. Congrats

Note: The exception to this process is that some applications which are considered easy (based on unknown factors) to approve are subject to full automation and may go straight to approval bypassing the above steps. This only happens in rare cases.

You may also see a status that says, “On-Hold” Amount $0: This status typically is when your loan was temporarily declined and is still in the reconsideration department pending possible reconsideration approval.

8. QUESTION: I now understand that processing really means “underwriting”, but how long will it actually take? What is the normal amount of time?

ANSWER: The amount of time it is normal for your portal to say “processing” is highly variable as a hundred different factors are involved behind the scenes. As of 6/10 we are seeing extended delays in processing time and obligating stage specifically. The average we are seeing is around 14-16 days total in processing. If your application has been in underwriting for greater than 14 days it may merit investigate, but not necessarily indicate a problem with your chances of approval. Do NOT panic if it seems “stuck” with no communication from anyone. This is normal.

9. QUESTION: Does contacting my congressmen or senator actually work?

ANSWER: Yes, the SBA treats congressional inquiry very carefully and will flag and sometimes white glove your application. Often they will assign a special case worker during the process. The important thing is when your local congressional office reaches out they do NOT contact the local district SBA but this email: 

focwcongressionalinquiries@sba.gov. This email is NOT for use by applicants but only official government purposes.

10. QUESTION: Help! I accidentally entered the wrong revenue or COGS on my application and my offer amount was lower than I expected, is it possible to change this?

ANSWER: Yes, but two factors are important:

You should NOT have already accepted an amount and submitted for processing in the portal. *If you already did see note below.

You have documentation to backup the changes such as Federal Tax Returns 2018 or 2019 or P&L Statements. Tax returns are strongly preferred if available.

****The important thing here is DO NOT accept the offer in the portal if you need to revise your numbers.****

*IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE OFFER: Call tier 2 support as soon as you possibly can and ask them to make the following note in your file: Loan Officer, DO NOT approve this file without calling me, the applicant, because my (revenue or COGS) figures are wrong. I have supporting docs to make the changes. Please contact me ASAP.11. QUESTION: I need to change my Rev or COGS and I already accepted an amount in the portal, Tier 2 told me to do it! Is it too late?

Answer: Unfortunately tier 2 is currently giving absolutely terrible advice in this situation. They are telling people to accept the offer in the portal to speak with a loan officer to make the revision. The problem is that once you accept you set the process in motion and then it gets obligated by treasury it is impossible to adjust. The proper time is prior to accepting. Often times loan officers never are needed, never reach out or even read these notes. I see it every day and people are stuck its the “kiss of death” advice. If you already accepted you may have time but would need to work quickly from date of submit.

UPDATE: As of 6/15 there is now a way to fix this. See question 13.

12. QUESTION: Who are you. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I am the owner of a Mid Sized accounting firm. We are assisting not only our clients but anyone who needs help. We are sharing the information, strategies, and general knowledge we have gained since the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak. We do not work at the SBA nor do we have any affiliation with the SBA.
Due to a huge volume of E-Mail be patient if we do not get back to you as quickly as we would like. We will be answering all E-Mails.

13. QUESTION: My loan was obligated, already funded, or I already accepted the amount in the portal. I made a mistake with my COGS or revenue and I am not happy with the amount. Can I change it?

ANSWER: As of 6/12 loan modifications are now being allowed. You can contact pdcrecons@sba.gov and request a “Loan Modification increase”. It is a 3-4 week process that requires documentation. A second loan will be given for the difference from the first one. It will be processed as a 20xx series loan in the old system/portal. For more details email me. Note if you have not yet accepted the offer the normal process is much faster.

14. QUESTION: I received my portal link, but when I go to create an account it just takes me to the login page. What can be done?

ANSWER: Follow these steps:

Open the email to create your portal account. Right click on the green button that says, “create your account”. Click “copy link address” or “copy hyperlink” depending on your browser.

Use a VPN service, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN (free), to connect to a VPN server in different state than yours, preferably on the opposite coast you are located.

Open an incognito browser window, or private browser session if on firefox.

Right click on the URL/web address field and paste the link you copied. Hit enter.

You should then successfully be able to create a login, enter the portal, and accept your offer.

Alternately if you don’t have a VPN or want to use one you can use a mobile phone to login incognito, with WiFi off on a cellular network, to create the account.

15. QUESTION: I was declined for “unsatisfactory credit”. What are my options?

ANSWER: You have a few options.

You can bring your vantage 3 score over 570 by paying down cards, when you are ready you can request the SBA re-pull your report and reactivate your account via pdcrecons@sba.gov

You can request to add a co-borrower that has a higher score than 570 with no open bankruptcy and run their credit to reactivate your application.You can expedite your request for a co-borrower by having this ready to go. You can also do this preemptively if you expect to be declined for credit. The co-borrower does NOT have to be involved with the business and can be anyone.

The form is available here:

Line #14 – Add the co-borrowers information under owner #1
Line #15 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Line #16 – Answer question for co-borrower.

Sign page 10, co-borrower signs.Attach and send with your co-borrower request to pdcrecons@sba.gov with your application number.

16. QUESTION: What documents are required? Will a loan officer contact me?

ANSWER: In most cases no documentation is required and everything is self certified. In some cases a LO will need to contact you to clarify some things about your business or request specific documents. In most cases you will never be contacted by or communicate with a loan officer.

17. QUESTION: Can I decline the loan and just get the advance/grant?

ANSWER: Yes, but the EIDL loan and EIDL loan Advance/Grant are on the same application, so you should not decline the loan until you receive the EIDL Advance.

18. QUESTION: What are the eligible uses of EIDL funds?

ANSWER: These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. What are all the possible uses of the funds? The wording ‘obligations that are unable to be met due to lack of revenue’ seems to be a catch all, but how much so? The EIDL working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits or for expansion.

 19. QUESTION: I received a denial letter for the reason “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”. What does this mean and what can I do?

ANSWER: This occurs when the numbers entered on your application for COGS are greater than your revenue. The SBA calculates economic injury based on the formula in question number 4. You can also be denied for this reason if the resulting number is less than your advance amount. Please note that the SBA is only taking into account revenue earned prior to the disaster date of 1/31/20 to calculate your economic injury. If your only revenue was earned after that date as a newer business you may not qualify.

If the numbers on your application were correct, you would not be eligible for an EIDL. If you made an error you can request an amendment and request reactivation of your application. I can assist with this process. You need at minimum Profit and Loss statements for the period 12 months prior to the disaster starting 1/31/20.

20. QUESTION: What is CAWEB and how can it help me track my loan disbursement and other status?

ANSWER: You can use the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding. It allows you to see disbursement status and other details related to your loan.

Using the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding.Visit caweb.sba.gov or click the link at the top of r/EIDL

Setting up an account:

You need a SBA Loan # to set up an account – for EIDL it appears on the first page of your documents, in the upper left hand area, and says “SBA Loan # XXXXXXXXXX.”

SBA loan #’s are 10 digits. Your Application # will NOT work for account set-up.

If you have a PPP Loan, you can use your SBA # for this loan to set up an account. Sometimes this # is easy to figure out, sometimes not. That has to do with an intermediary (like your bank) being involved, but if you can track down an actual SBA Loan #, you can go ahead and get registered without your EIDL loan number.

On the home page click on “Not Enrolled?” in the top left. This takes you to a screen to enter info. You may come to hate this screen, this process is very finicky.

Look at the rules for creating a User ID and Password by clicking on “Rules…” next to the fields.

Write your exact ID & password down somewhere – if you ever get locked out and call the SBA for help, they are going to tell you that Borrowers are not supposed to be able to access CAFS CAWeb. Apparently we still can, so don’t make this a big deal or maybe that will change!For user type – select “borrower” from the drop down menu.

Fill in the highlighted fields with your info. Click on the “ZIP LOOKUP” button after you enter your zip code. This auto populates some other boxes, and registration won’t work if you don’t do this.
For the country code in the phone number section enter “1” for the United States.

Financial commitment ID is your Loan # – 10 digits.

If you don’t have a landline, it has been reported that just entering your mobile number in both fields works. You will have to select 3 of their security questions, enter the Captcha image info, then hit “submit” at the bottom.

If it didn’t like the info you have entered, it will give you an error message for what part it didn’t like, and you will have to try again, which requires re-entering quite a bit of the information. It’s a pain.
But if it takes it, you’re in! There may be a verification step now as well.

Finding your loan on CAWeb

On the caweb homepage, login (if you aren’t already), it will be personalized and show your name. You have to scroll down and check the “Agree to Terms” box when you are logging in.

Click on “Borrower” in the top left, then click on “Borrower Search”. This should take you to your “Loan List” showing the loan #, borrower name, loan type, amount, and loan status.

PPP loans typically appear as “Active Un-Disbursed” – if your PPP is already funded don’t worry about that. Your EIDL will show up as “Disbursed Current” if funds are on their way. It may say something else if you look immediately after you send back you Docs, but it should change pretty quickly. Logging out and back in again will sometimes refresh the status. Loan status will say “Active Un-Disbursed” until Treasury send the funds to your bank, then it changes to “Disbursed Current”.

It depends on your bank when they post in your account (same day, next day, time).

If your banking info didn’t verify, the transaction will fail to go through, and the status will revert.

If you are not funded within 3-4 banking days, there is likely a problem – check your info in your portal, call the SBA, and then email Cue if needed.

If you click on your loan# in the list, it opens up a page with details about your loan.

There’s even a box at the bottom to check if you want electronic account statements only, but if you check that, a warning pops up about “all attached to this loan will be affected by this change”, so we recommend not selecting that option just yet.
 
21. QUESTION: I received my portal invite link, however when I go to create an account I just get the message: “The user account has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm using the link in the e-mail”. What can I do?

ANSWER: This is a known bug/error normally relating to either getting the invite ahead of schedule or other missing information in your file that would prevent the account creation from moving forward. Tier 2 cannot solve this and it need a special approach to resolve.

1. QUESTION: How do I get in touch with customer service phone support?

ANSWER: The highest level of official customer service is known as “tier 2” and can be reached by calling 1-800-659-2955 and asking for Tier 2.

They are unfortunately, a very limited means of support. They are able to check your application status and see the current “stage” and leave notes in your file, but unable to directly make any changes or escalate anything in a meaningful way.

Most are very nice and well meaning people but are usually poorly informed and often provided contradictory information between calls. The important thing to understand is that notes left by T2 do not actually notify a loan officer or anyone, they are simply waiting to be read if someone happens to open your file and takes the time to review the case notes. So if a T2 says they requested a change do not assume it was or will be made.

2. QUESTION: What are my chances of being approved for this loan? Can I know in advance?

ANSWER: The loan is relatively easy to get approval for by loan standards. The exact underwriting criteria the SBA is using was leaked by some helpful people and thus you can have a good understanding what your chances are.

Underwriters look for the following:-Minimum Credit Score of 570. They will pull from experian. Close to Vantage 3 model found on nav DOT com or TransUnion numbers on credit karma. They do NOT use FICO. Credit score is largest factor for approval for this loan and no exceptions are made for under 570.

-If economic injury was sustained based on formula described in QUESTION 4. If this is a negative number you will be auto declined. (SEE QUESTION 5) The SBA does not consider potential revenue lost or general expenses in the loan amount.

-Tax liens or tax issues are NOT a disqualifying factor or taken into consideration for COVID19 disaster.

-All owners on application must be either US citizens or Permanent Residents. E-2 Investor visa is NOT eligible and any attempts to appeal or add a co-borrower who is a citizen or LPR will be unsuccessful. Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities (LLE): Alien-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLEs properly registered and licensed in the state where the disaster occurred are eligible. If any member, partner, or shareholder, owning 20 percent or more of the applicant business is in the USA they must be a qualified alien.  If the alien resides outside the USA an exception may be made.3. QUESTION: I received a decline letter for “Business activity not eligible”. What can I do?

ANSWER: EIDL has a list of restricted business categories, if your type is NOT on this list and you still received this letter you may have been improperly classified.
 
The following applicants are not eligible for EIDL assistance.

7-Eleven Franchise Stores, despite what corp office says. (advance is OK)

Lending or Investment Concerns (except for real estate investments held for rental)

Multi-level Sales Distribution (Pyramid) Concerns c. Speculative Activities d. Non-profit Organizations that are not considered a Private Non-Profit

Consumer and Marketing Cooperatives. However, other cooperatives and small agricultural cooperatives meeting applicable size standards are eligible f. Not a small business concern (except for PNP of any size) g. Gambling Concerns. Concerns that derive more than one-third of their annual gross revenue from legal gambling activities.

Casinos, Racetracks, Etc. Businesses whose purpose for being is gambling (such as casinos, racetracks, poker parlors, etc.) are not eligible for EIDL assistance regardless of their ability to meet the one-third criteria established for otherwise eligible concerns.Loan packagers who derives more than one-third of their annual volume from the preparation of applications seeking financial assistance from SBA

Religious Organizations.

Political or Lobbying Concerns.

Pawn shops, when 50 percent or more of previous year’s income was derived 50 30 9 71 Effective Date: May 31, 2018 from interest

Real Estate Developers. Establishments primarily engaged in subdividing real property into lots and developing it for resale on their own account.

Life Insurance Companies.

Concerns Engaged in Illegal Activities (as defined by Federal guidelines). p. Government-owned concerns, except for businesses owned or controlled by a Native American tribe.

Concerns with Principals Incarcerated, on Parole or Probation: remain ineligible if the parole or probation is lifted solely because it is an impediment to obtaining a loan.

Concerns engaged in live performances of, or the Sale of Products, Services, of a Prurient Sexual Nature.

Businesses considered as hobbies.

Concerns Involved in Change in Ownership Situations: Concerns which had a substantial change of ownership (more than 50 percent) after the impending economic injury became apparent, and no contract for sale existed prior to that time are ineligible .

4. QUESTION: How is the loan amount calculated? How can I request a specific amount?

ANSWER: There is no way to request a specific amount, the eligible amount is calculated automatically by formula based on your inputs. There are three known formulas:

Standard Small Business: Revenue minus COGS divided by 2 minus advance, subject to maximum of 150K

Not for Profit: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20Business that collects rental property income, your offer is calculated by lost rents due to the disaster, not the standard formula. If your offer is lower than expected you may have been wrongly classified into this formula.

Agricultural businesses: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20

If the formula results in a negative number or less than your advance you will be declined for “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”

5. QUESTION: What is the maximum loan amount?

ANSWER: As of last update it is currently 150K cap. This will not change anytime soon and there will be no way to request more at present. The only way to avoid the cap is if your loan was already being obligated prior to the change by the SBA from 500K. If I hear anything new on this it will be updated here.

6. QUESTION: When will I get my portal invite?

ANSWER: Portal invites are a fully automated process and not strictly sequential but follow general group patterns. If you see someone that has a higher number than you get a portal invite it does NOT mean you were “passed over”.

Note: as of 5/30 there are a number of very early applications that are actually “stuck” in the credit pull stage (no portal invite yet, if you have the portal you do not have this issue) due to a glitch. If you have an application date of 3/29, 3/30, 3/31, or 4/01 (but no later) you may email me for information on how to get this resolved. Please be honest and accurate about your application date, I will know. If you app date is later and you still haven’t gotten your portal invite, I cannot help with this! I can’t stress that enough. 

7. QUESTION: I finally got a portal invite and accepted and submitted an amount. My application says it is “processing”, now what?

ANSWER: This is when the actual loan process starts and underwriting begins. Your application will be assigned a loan officer for review using the criteria listed in question 2.

The exact process is as follows with the actual stages from start to finish. Keep in mind that once you accept in the portal a number of things are going on behind the scenes, which is why “processing” can take a great deal of time. Once you see a loan amount in your portal, this is NOT an approved offer. It is simply a potential amount you are eligible for based on the stated formula if you pass underwriting.

Initial Call Needed (credit not ran)

LO assigned and makes decision: Declined, Duplicate, Approved[The following takes place behind the scenes and will not reflect in your portal, but will still say “processing”]

Approved: T2 Rep can now see your loan is approved on their screen. This means the Loan Officer has approved the deal and it is now going to the Senior Loan Officer. If the SLO does not approve the deal then it will go to declined.

Obligating: SLO known as a “team leader” reviews the work of the first LO to ensure everything was done correctly. Once they sign off on the deal the loan is now fully approved. The loan is being sent to the E-Tran system to receive a loan number. The loan has not yet received a loan number from E-Tran while obligating. This is the most common phase where hang ups in “processing” can error called “error in obligating”. Usually due to small technical issues or errors in your information that need to be sorted.Obligated: A loan number from E-Tran has been obtained and now closing documents can be drafted and sent to the borrower. This is when your portal would change from “processing” to approved. There may be a delay between when your offer is obligated to when it actually shows approved. I have seen it happen in as fast as 10 minutes or as long as 12 hours. You can also see approved but not have docs available. Docs will not show up until you get an email with the approval. The delay on this can be a few hours or more.

Funding: Docs are signed and the loan is automatically moved to funding stage to have treasury issue an ACH. This happens very quickly and you should see the ACH sent right after with the funds arriving in 24-48 hours on banking days. **NOTE** Currently as of 6/10 we are seeing delays in funding of up to a week or even more, as it is very backed up in the queue.** At this point you can track the disbursement with your loan number from the docs using CAWEB to see if the ACH has been sent. See CAWEB question.

Funded: Process complete, funds are successfully in your bank account. Congrats

Note: The exception to this process is that some applications which are considered easy (based on unknown factors) to approve are subject to full automation and may go straight to approval bypassing the above steps. This only happens in rare cases.

You may also see a status that says, “On-Hold” Amount $0: This status typically is when your loan was temporarily declined and is still in the reconsideration department pending possible reconsideration approval.

8. QUESTION: I now understand that processing really means “underwriting”, but how long will it actually take? What is the normal amount of time?

ANSWER: The amount of time it is normal for your portal to say “processing” is highly variable as a hundred different factors are involved behind the scenes. As of 6/10 we are seeing extended delays in processing time and obligating stage specifically. The average we are seeing is around 14-16 days total in processing. If your application has been in underwriting for greater than 14 days it may merit investigate, but not necessarily indicate a problem with your chances of approval. Do NOT panic if it seems “stuck” with no communication from anyone. This is normal.

9. QUESTION: Does contacting my congressmen or senator actually work?

ANSWER: Yes, the SBA treats congressional inquiry very carefully and will flag and sometimes white glove your application. Often they will assign a special case worker during the process. The important thing is when your local congressional office reaches out they do NOT contact the local district SBA but this email: 

focwcongressionalinquiries@sba.gov. This email is NOT for use by applicants but only official government purposes.

10. QUESTION: Help! I accidentally entered the wrong revenue or COGS on my application and my offer amount was lower than I expected, is it possible to change this?

ANSWER: Yes, but two factors are important:

You should NOT have already accepted an amount and submitted for processing in the portal. *If you already did see note below.

You have documentation to backup the changes such as Federal Tax Returns 2018 or 2019 or P&L Statements. Tax returns are strongly preferred if available.

****The important thing here is DO NOT accept the offer in the portal if you need to revise your numbers.****

*IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE OFFER: Call tier 2 support as soon as you possibly can and ask them to make the following note in your file: Loan Officer, DO NOT approve this file without calling me, the applicant, because my (revenue or COGS) figures are wrong. I have supporting docs to make the changes. Please contact me ASAP.11. QUESTION: I need to change my Rev or COGS and I already accepted an amount in the portal, Tier 2 told me to do it! Is it too late?

Answer: Unfortunately tier 2 is currently giving absolutely terrible advice in this situation. They are telling people to accept the offer in the portal to speak with a loan officer to make the revision. The problem is that once you accept you set the process in motion and then it gets obligated by treasury it is impossible to adjust. The proper time is prior to accepting. Often times loan officers never are needed, never reach out or even read these notes. I see it every day and people are stuck its the “kiss of death” advice. If you already accepted you may have time but would need to work quickly from date of submit.

UPDATE: As of 6/15 there is now a way to fix this. See question 13.

12. QUESTION: Who are you. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I am the owner of a Mid Sized accounting firm. We are assisting not only our clients but anyone who needs help. We are sharing the information, strategies, and general knowledge we have gained since the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak. We do not work at the SBA nor do we have any affiliation with the SBA.
Due to a huge volume of E-Mail be patient if we do not get back to you as quickly as we would like. We will be answering all E-Mails.

13. QUESTION: My loan was obligated, already funded, or I already accepted the amount in the portal. I made a mistake with my COGS or revenue and I am not happy with the amount. Can I change it?

ANSWER: As of 6/12 loan modifications are now being allowed. You can contact pdcrecons@sba.gov and request a “Loan Modification increase”. It is a 3-4 week process that requires documentation. A second loan will be given for the difference from the first one. It will be processed as a 20xx series loan in the old system/portal. For more details email me. Note if you have not yet accepted the offer the normal process is much faster.

14. QUESTION: I received my portal link, but when I go to create an account it just takes me to the login page. What can be done?

ANSWER: Follow these steps:

Open the email to create your portal account. Right click on the green button that says, “create your account”. Click “copy link address” or “copy hyperlink” depending on your browser.

Use a VPN service, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN (free), to connect to a VPN server in different state than yours, preferably on the opposite coast you are located.

Open an incognito browser window, or private browser session if on firefox.

Right click on the URL/web address field and paste the link you copied. Hit enter.

You should then successfully be able to create a login, enter the portal, and accept your offer.

Alternately if you don’t have a VPN or want to use one you can use a mobile phone to login incognito, with WiFi off on a cellular network, to create the account.

15. QUESTION: I was declined for “unsatisfactory credit”. What are my options?

ANSWER: You have a few options.

You can bring your vantage 3 score over 570 by paying down cards, when you are ready you can request the SBA re-pull your report and reactivate your account via pdcrecons@sba.gov

You can request to add a co-borrower that has a higher score than 570 with no open bankruptcy and run their credit to reactivate your application.You can expedite your request for a co-borrower by having this ready to go. You can also do this preemptively if you expect to be declined for credit. The co-borrower does NOT have to be involved with the business and can be anyone.

The form is available here:

Line #14 – Add the co-borrowers information under owner #1
Line #15 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Line #16 – Answer question for co-borrower.

Sign page 10, co-borrower signs.Attach and send with your co-borrower request to pdcrecons@sba.gov with your application number.

16. QUESTION: What documents are required? Will a loan officer contact me?

ANSWER: In most cases no documentation is required and everything is self certified. In some cases a LO will need to contact you to clarify some things about your business or request specific documents. In most cases you will never be contacted by or communicate with a loan officer.

17. QUESTION: Can I decline the loan and just get the advance/grant?

ANSWER: Yes, but the EIDL loan and EIDL loan Advance/Grant are on the same application, so you should not decline the loan until you receive the EIDL Advance.

18. QUESTION: What are the eligible uses of EIDL funds?

ANSWER: These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. What are all the possible uses of the funds? The wording ‘obligations that are unable to be met due to lack of revenue’ seems to be a catch all, but how much so? The EIDL working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits or for expansion.

 19. QUESTION: I received a denial letter for the reason “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”. What does this mean and what can I do?

ANSWER: This occurs when the numbers entered on your application for COGS are greater than your revenue. The SBA calculates economic injury based on the formula in question number 4. You can also be denied for this reason if the resulting number is less than your advance amount. Please note that the SBA is only taking into account revenue earned prior to the disaster date of 1/31/20 to calculate your economic injury. If your only revenue was earned after that date as a newer business you may not qualify.

If the numbers on your application were correct, you would not be eligible for an EIDL. If you made an error you can request an amendment and request reactivation of your application. I can assist with this process. You need at minimum Profit and Loss statements for the period 12 months prior to the disaster starting 1/31/20.

20. QUESTION: What is CAWEB and how can it help me track my loan disbursement and other status?

ANSWER: You can use the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding. It allows you to see disbursement status and other details related to your loan.

Using the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding.Visit caweb.sba.gov or click the link at the top of r/EIDL

Setting up an account:

You need a SBA Loan # to set up an account – for EIDL it appears on the first page of your documents, in the upper left hand area, and says “SBA Loan # XXXXXXXXXX.”

SBA loan #’s are 10 digits. Your Application # will NOT work for account set-up.

If you have a PPP Loan, you can use your SBA # for this loan to set up an account. Sometimes this # is easy to figure out, sometimes not. That has to do with an intermediary (like your bank) being involved, but if you can track down an actual SBA Loan #, you can go ahead and get registered without your EIDL loan number.

On the home page click on “Not Enrolled?” in the top left. This takes you to a screen to enter info. You may come to hate this screen, this process is very finicky.

Look at the rules for creating a User ID and Password by clicking on “Rules…” next to the fields.

Write your exact ID & password down somewhere – if you ever get locked out and call the SBA for help, they are going to tell you that Borrowers are not supposed to be able to access CAFS CAWeb. Apparently we still can, so don’t make this a big deal or maybe that will change!For user type – select “borrower” from the drop down menu.

Fill in the highlighted fields with your info. Click on the “ZIP LOOKUP” button after you enter your zip code. This auto populates some other boxes, and registration won’t work if you don’t do this.
For the country code in the phone number section enter “1” for the United States.

Financial commitment ID is your Loan # – 10 digits.

If you don’t have a landline, it has been reported that just entering your mobile number in both fields works. You will have to select 3 of their security questions, enter the Captcha image info, then hit “submit” at the bottom.

If it didn’t like the info you have entered, it will give you an error message for what part it didn’t like, and you will have to try again, which requires re-entering quite a bit of the information. It’s a pain.
But if it takes it, you’re in! There may be a verification step now as well.

Finding your loan on CAWeb

On the caweb homepage, login (if you aren’t already), it will be personalized and show your name. You have to scroll down and check the “Agree to Terms” box when you are logging in.

Click on “Borrower” in the top left, then click on “Borrower Search”. This should take you to your “Loan List” showing the loan #, borrower name, loan type, amount, and loan status.

PPP loans typically appear as “Active Un-Disbursed” – if your PPP is already funded don’t worry about that. Your EIDL will show up as “Disbursed Current” if funds are on their way. It may say something else if you look immediately after you send back you Docs, but it should change pretty quickly. Logging out and back in again will sometimes refresh the status. Loan status will say “Active Un-Disbursed” until Treasury send the funds to your bank, then it changes to “Disbursed Current”.

It depends on your bank when they post in your account (same day, next day, time).

If your banking info didn’t verify, the transaction will fail to go through, and the status will revert.

If you are not funded within 3-4 banking days, there is likely a problem – check your info in your portal, call the SBA, and then email Cue if needed.

If you click on your loan# in the list, it opens up a page with details about your loan.

There’s even a box at the bottom to check if you want electronic account statements only, but if you check that, a warning pops up about “all attached to this loan will be affected by this change”, so we recommend not selecting that option just yet.
 
21. QUESTION: I received my portal invite link, however when I go to create an account I just get the message: “The user account has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm using the link in the e-mail”. What can I do?

ANSWER: This is a known bug/error normally relating to either getting the invite ahead of schedule or other missing information in your file that would prevent the account creation from moving forward. Tier 2 cannot solve this and it need a special approach to resolve.

1. QUESTION: How do I get in touch with customer service phone support?

ANSWER: The highest level of official customer service is known as “tier 2” and can be reached by calling 1-800-659-2955 and asking for Tier 2.

They are unfortunately, a very limited means of support. They are able to check your application status and see the current “stage” and leave notes in your file, but unable to directly make any changes or escalate anything in a meaningful way.

Most are very nice and well meaning people but are usually poorly informed and often provided contradictory information between calls. The important thing to understand is that notes left by T2 do not actually notify a loan officer or anyone, they are simply waiting to be read if someone happens to open your file and takes the time to review the case notes. So if a T2 says they requested a change do not assume it was or will be made.

2. QUESTION: What are my chances of being approved for this loan? Can I know in advance?

Underwriters look for the following:-Minimum Credit Score of 570. They will pull from experian. Close to Vantage 3 model found on nav DOT com or TransUnion numbers on credit karma. They do NOT use FICO. Credit score is largest factor for approval for this loan and no exceptions are made for under 570.

-If economic injury was sustained based on formula described in QUESTION 4. If this is a negative number you will be auto declined. (SEE QUESTION 5) The SBA does not consider potential revenue lost or general expenses in the loan amount.

-Tax liens or tax issues are NOT a disqualifying factor or taken into consideration for COVID19 disaster.

-All owners on application must be either US citizens or Permanent Residents. E-2 Investor visa is NOT eligible and any attempts to appeal or add a co-borrower who is a citizen or LPR will be unsuccessful. Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities (LLE): Alien-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLEs properly registered and licensed in the state where the disaster occurred are eligible. If any member, partner, or shareholder, owning 20 percent or more of the applicant business is in the USA they must be a qualified alien.  If the alien resides outside the USA an exception may be made.3. QUESTION: I received a decline letter for “Business activity not eligible”. What can I do?

ANSWER: EIDL has a list of restricted business categories, if your type is NOT on this list and you still received this letter you may have been improperly classified.
 
The following applicants are not eligible for EIDL assistance.

7-Eleven Franchise Stores, despite what corp office says. (advance is OK)

Lending or Investment Concerns (except for real estate investments held for rental)

Multi-level Sales Distribution (Pyramid) Concerns c. Speculative Activities d. Non-profit Organizations that are not considered a Private Non-Profit

Consumer and Marketing Cooperatives. However, other cooperatives and small agricultural cooperatives meeting applicable size standards are eligible f. Not a small business concern (except for PNP of any size) g. Gambling Concerns. Concerns that derive more than one-third of their annual gross revenue from legal gambling activities.

Casinos, Racetracks, Etc. Businesses whose purpose for being is gambling (such as casinos, racetracks, poker parlors, etc.) are not eligible for EIDL assistance regardless of their ability to meet the one-third criteria established for otherwise eligible concerns.Loan packagers who derives more than one-third of their annual volume from the preparation of applications seeking financial assistance from SBA

Religious Organizations.

Political or Lobbying Concerns.

Pawn shops, when 50 percent or more of previous year’s income was derived 50 30 9 71 Effective Date: May 31, 2018 from interest

Real Estate Developers. Establishments primarily engaged in subdividing real property into lots and developing it for resale on their own account.

Life Insurance Companies.

Concerns Engaged in Illegal Activities (as defined by Federal guidelines). p. Government-owned concerns, except for businesses owned or controlled by a Native American tribe.

Concerns with Principals Incarcerated, on Parole or Probation: remain ineligible if the parole or probation is lifted solely because it is an impediment to obtaining a loan.

Concerns engaged in live performances of, or the Sale of Products, Services, of a Prurient Sexual Nature.

Businesses considered as hobbies.

Concerns Involved in Change in Ownership Situations: Concerns which had a substantial change of ownership (more than 50 percent) after the impending economic injury became apparent, and no contract for sale existed prior to that time are ineligible .

4. QUESTION: How is the loan amount calculated? How can I request a specific amount?

ANSWER: There is no way to request a specific amount, the eligible amount is calculated automatically by formula based on your inputs. There are three known formulas:

Standard Small Business: Revenue minus COGS divided by 2 minus advance, subject to maximum of 150K

Not for Profit: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20Business that collects rental property income, your offer is calculated by lost rents due to the disaster, not the standard formula. If your offer is lower than expected you may have been wrongly classified into this formula.
Agricultural businesses: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20

If the formula results in a negative number or less than your advance you will be declined for “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”

5. QUESTION: What is the maximum loan amount?

ANSWER: As of last update it is currently 150K cap. This will not change anytime soon and there will be no way to request more at present. The only way to avoid the cap is if your loan was already being obligated prior to the change by the SBA from 500K. If I hear anything new on this it will be updated here.

6. QUESTION: When will I get my portal invite?

ANSWER: Portal invites are a fully automated process and not strictly sequential but follow general group patterns. If you see someone that has a higher number than you get a portal invite it does NOT mean you were “passed over”.
Note: as of 5/30 there are a number of very early applications that are actually “stuck” in the credit pull stage (no portal invite yet, if you have the portal you do not have this issue) due to a glitch. If you have an application date of 3/29, 3/30, 3/31, or 4/01 (but no later) you may email me for information on how to get this resolved. Please be honest and accurate about your application date, I will know. If you app date is later and you still haven’t gotten your portal invite, I cannot help with this! I can’t stress that enough. 

7. QUESTION: I finally got a portal invite and accepted and submitted an amount. My application says it is “processing”, now what?

ANSWER: This is when the actual loan process starts and underwriting begins. Your application will be assigned a loan officer for review using the criteria listed in question 2. The exact process is as follows with the actual stages from start to finish. Keep in mind that once you accept in the portal a number of things are going on behind the scenes, which is why “processing” can take a great deal of time. Once you see a loan amount in your portal, this is NOT an approved offer. It is simply a potential amount you are eligible for based on the stated formula if you pass underwriting.

Initial Call Needed (credit not ran)

LO assigned and makes decision: Declined, Duplicate, Approved[The following takes place behind the scenes and will not reflect in your portal, but will still say “processing”]

Approved: T2 Rep can now see your loan is approved on their screen. This means the Loan Officer has approved the deal and it is now going to the Senior Loan Officer. If the SLO does not approve the deal then it will go to declined.
Obligating: SLO known as a “team leader” reviews the work of the first LO to ensure everything was done correctly. Once they sign off on the deal the loan is now fully approved. The loan is being sent to the E-Tran system to receive a loan number. The loan has not yet received a loan number from E-Tran while obligating. This is the most common phase where hang ups in “processing” can error called “error in obligating”. Usually due to small technical issues or errors in your information that need to be sorted.Obligated: A loan number from E-Tran has been obtained and now closing documents can be drafted and sent to the borrower. This is when your portal would change from “processing” to approved. There may be a delay between when your offer is obligated to when it actually shows approved. I have seen it happen in as fast as 10 minutes or as long as 12 hours. You can also see approved but not have docs available. Docs will not show up until you get an email with the approval. The delay on this can be a few hours or more.

Funding: Docs are signed and the loan is automatically moved to funding stage to have treasury issue an ACH. This happens very quickly and you should see the ACH sent right after with the funds arriving in 24-48 hours on banking days. **NOTE** Currently as of 6/10 we are seeing delays in funding of up to a week or even more, as it is very backed up in the queue.** At this point you can track the disbursement with your loan number from the docs using CAWEB to see if the ACH has been sent. See CAWEB question.

Funded: Process complete, funds are successfully in your bank account. Congrats

Note: The exception to this process is that some applications which are considered easy (based on unknown factors) to approve are subject to full automation and may go straight to approval bypassing the above steps. This only happens in rare cases.

You may also see a status that says, “On-Hold” Amount $0: This status typically is when your loan was temporarily declined and is still in the reconsideration department pending possible reconsideration approval.

8. QUESTION: I now understand that processing really means “underwriting”, but how long will it actually take? What is the normal amount of time?

ANSWER: The amount of time it is normal for your portal to say “processing” is highly variable as a hundred different factors are involved behind the scenes. As of 6/10 we are seeing extended delays in processing time and obligating stage specifically. The average we are seeing is around 14-16 days total in processing. If your application has been in underwriting for greater than 14 days it may merit investigate, but not necessarily indicate a problem with your chances of approval. Do NOT panic if it seems “stuck” with no communication from anyone. This is normal.

9. QUESTION: Does contacting my congressmen or senator actually work?

ANSWER: Yes, the SBA treats congressional inquiry very carefully and will flag and sometimes white glove your application. Often they will assign a special case worker during the process. The important thing is when your local congressional office reaches out they do NOT contact the local district SBA but this email: 

focwcongressionalinquiries@sba.gov. This email is NOT for use by applicants but only official government purposes.

10. QUESTION: Help! I accidentally entered the wrong revenue or COGS on my application and my offer amount was lower than I expected, is it possible to change this?

ANSWER: Yes, but two factors are important:

You should NOT have already accepted an amount and submitted for processing in the portal. *If you already did see note below.

You have documentation to backup the changes such as Federal Tax Returns 2018 or 2019 or P&L Statements. Tax returns are strongly preferred if available.

****The important thing here is DO NOT accept the offer in the portal if you need to revise your numbers.****

*IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE OFFER: Call tier 2 support as soon as you possibly can and ask them to make the following note in your file: Loan Officer, DO NOT approve this file without calling me, the applicant, because my (revenue or COGS) figures are wrong. I have supporting docs to make the changes. Please contact me ASAP.11. QUESTION: I need to change my Rev or COGS and I already accepted an amount in the portal, Tier 2 told me to do it! Is it too late?

Answer: Unfortunately tier 2 is currently giving absolutely terrible advice in this situation. They are telling people to accept the offer in the portal to speak with a loan officer to make the revision. The problem is that once you accept you set the process in motion and then it gets obligated by treasury it is impossible to adjust. The proper time is prior to accepting. Often times loan officers never are needed, never reach out or even read these notes. I see it every day and people are stuck its the “kiss of death” advice. If you already accepted you may have time but would need to work quickly from date of submit.

UPDATE: As of 6/15 there is now a way to fix this. See question 13.

12. QUESTION: Who are you. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I am the owner of a Mid Sized accounting firm. We are assisting not only our clients but anyone who needs help. We are sharing the information, strategies, and general knowledge we have gained since the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak. We do not work at the SBA nor do we have any affiliation with the SBA.
Due to a huge volume of E-Mail be patient if we do not get back to you as quickly as we would like. We will be answering all E-Mails.

13. QUESTION: My loan was obligated, already funded, or I already accepted the amount in the portal. I made a mistake with my COGS or revenue and I am not happy with the amount. Can I change it?

ANSWER: As of 6/12 loan modifications are now being allowed. You can contact pdcrecons@sba.gov and request a “Loan Modification increase”. It is a 3-4 week process that requires documentation. A second loan will be given for the difference from the first one. It will be processed as a 20xx series loan in the old system/portal. For more details email me. Note if you have not yet accepted the offer the normal process is much faster.

14. QUESTION: I received my portal link, but when I go to create an account it just takes me to the login page. What can be done?

ANSWER: Follow these steps:

Open the email to create your portal account. Right click on the green button that says, “create your account”. Click “copy link address” or “copy hyperlink” depending on your browser.

Use a VPN service, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN (free), to connect to a VPN server in different state than yours, preferably on the opposite coast you are located.

Open an incognito browser window, or private browser session if on firefox.

Right click on the URL/web address field and paste the link you copied. Hit enter.

You should then successfully be able to create a login, enter the portal, and accept your offer.

Alternately if you don’t have a VPN or want to use one you can use a mobile phone to login incognito, with WiFi off on a cellular network, to create the account.

15. QUESTION: I was declined for “unsatisfactory credit”. What are my options?

ANSWER: You have a few options.

You can bring your vantage 3 score over 570 by paying down cards, when you are ready you can request the SBA re-pull your report and reactivate your account via pdcrecons@sba.gov

You can request to add a co-borrower that has a higher score than 570 with no open bankruptcy and run their credit to reactivate your application.You can expedite your request for a co-borrower by having this ready to go. You can also do this preemptively if you expect to be declined for credit. The co-borrower does NOT have to be involved with the business and can be anyone.

The form is available here:

Line #14 – Add the co-borrowers information under owner #1
Line #15 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Line #16 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Sign page 10, co-borrower signs.Attach and send with your co-borrower request to pdcrecons@sba.gov with your application number.

NOTE: If you have an urgent need to have your co-borrower request expedited, please email me at cue378@protonmail.com with the subject line: “ADDING CO-BORROWER REQUESTED URGENT” I will respond within 24 hours.

16. QUESTION: What documents are required? Will a loan officer contact me?

ANSWER: In most cases no documentation is required and everything is self certified. In some cases a LO will need to contact you to clarify some things about your business or request specific documents. In most cases you will never be contacted by or communicate with a loan officer.

17. QUESTION: Can I decline the loan and just get the advance/grant?

ANSWER: Yes, but the EIDL loan and EIDL loan Advance/Grant are on the same application, so you should not decline the loan until you receive the EIDL Advance.

18. QUESTION: What are the eligible uses of EIDL funds?

ANSWER: These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. What are all the possible uses of the funds? The wording ‘obligations that are unable to be met due to lack of revenue’ seems to be a catch all, but how much so? The EIDL working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits or for expansion.

 19. QUESTION: I received a denial letter for the reason “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”. What does this mean and what can I do?

ANSWER: This occurs when the numbers entered on your application for COGS are greater than your revenue. The SBA calculates economic injury based on the formula in question number 4. You can also be denied for this reason if the resulting number is less than your advance amount. Please note that the SBA is only taking into account revenue earned prior to the disaster date of 1/31/20 to calculate your economic injury. If your only revenue was earned after that date as a newer business you may not qualify.

If the numbers on your application were correct, you would not be eligible for an EIDL. If you made an error you can request an amendment and request reactivation of your application. I can assist with this process. You need at minimum Profit and Loss statements for the period 12 months prior to the disaster starting 1/31/20.

20. QUESTION: What is CAWEB and how can it help me track my loan disbursement and other status?

ANSWER: You can use the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding. It allows you to see disbursement status and other details related to your loan.
Using the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding.Visit caweb.sba.gov or click the link at the top of r/EIDL

Setting up an account:

You need a SBA Loan # to set up an account – for EIDL it appears on the first page of your documents, in the upper left hand area, and says “SBA Loan # XXXXXXXXXX.”

SBA loan #’s are 10 digits. Your Application # will NOT work for account set-up.

If you have a PPP Loan, you can use your SBA # for this loan to set up an account. Sometimes this # is easy to figure out, sometimes not. That has to do with an intermediary (like your bank) being involved, but if you can track down an actual SBA Loan #, you can go ahead and get registered without your EIDL loan number.

On the home page click on “Not Enrolled?” in the top left. This takes you to a screen to enter info. You may come to hate this screen, this process is very finicky.

Look at the rules for creating a User ID and Password by clicking on “Rules…” next to the fields.

Write your exact ID & password down somewhere – if you ever get locked out and call the SBA for help, they are going to tell you that Borrowers are not supposed to be able to access CAFS CAWeb. Apparently we still can, so don’t make this a big deal or maybe that will change!For user type – select “borrower” from the drop down menu.

Fill in the highlighted fields with your info. Click on the “ZIP LOOKUP” button after you enter your zip code. This auto populates some other boxes, and registration won’t work if you don’t do this.
For the country code in the phone number section enter “1” for the United States.

Financial commitment ID is your Loan # – 10 digits.

If you don’t have a landline, it has been reported that just entering your mobile number in both fields works. You will have to select 3 of their security questions, enter the Captcha image info, then hit “submit” at the bottom.
If it didn’t like the info you have entered, it will give you an error message for what part it didn’t like, and you will have to try again, which requires re-entering quite a bit of the information. It’s a pain.
But if it takes it, you’re in! There may be a verification step now as well.
Finding your loan on CAWeb

On the caweb homepage, login (if you aren’t already), it will be personalized and show your name. You have to scroll down and check the “Agree to Terms” box when you are logging in.

Click on “Borrower” in the top left, then click on “Borrower Search”. This should take you to your “Loan List” showing the loan #, borrower name, loan type, amount, and loan status.

PPP loans typically appear as “Active Un-Disbursed” – if your PPP is already funded don’t worry about that. Your EIDL will show up as “Disbursed Current” if funds are on their way. It may say something else if you look immediately after you send back you Docs, but it should change pretty quickly. Logging out and back in again will sometimes refresh the status. Loan status will say “Active Un-Disbursed” until Treasury send the funds to your bank, then it changes to “Disbursed Current”.

It depends on your bank when they post in your account (same day, next day, time).
If your banking info didn’t verify, the transaction will fail to go through, and the status will revert.
If you are not funded within 3-4 banking days, there is likely a problem – check your info in your portal, call the SBA, and then email Cue if needed.

If you click on your loan# in the list, it opens up a page with details about your loan.
There’s even a box at the bottom to check if you want electronic account statements only, but if you check that, a warning pops up about “all attached to this loan will be affected by this change”, so we recommend not selecting that option just yet.
 
21. QUESTION: I received my portal invite link, however when I go to create an account I just get the message: “The user account has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm using the link in the e-mail”. What can I do?

ANSWER: This is a known bug/error normally relating to either getting the invite ahead of schedule or other missing information in your file that would prevent the account creation from moving forward. Tier 2 cannot solve this and it need a special approach to resolve.

Congress has hammered out a new Covid-19 stimulus package that includes a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans, tax relief and other measures for small businesses.

Congress appears set to vote on the relief measures as early as Monday after leadership from both parties endorsed the new deal. Congress will ultimately pair the deal with additional legislation to fund the government for the next fiscal year. Lawmakers have repeatedly passed short-term measures to keep the government operating over the last few weeks while lawmakers hammer out a stimulus deal. It must still pass the new legislation for any of its provisions to become law.

The roughly $900 billion spending measure will include Stimulus checks of $600 per individual, an extended eviction moratorium and enhanced unemployment insurance of about $300 a week, according to a summary released by House Republicans, among a variety of school funding, vaccine and other public health-related measures.

The package also comes with a variety of measures long sought after by the business community, including:

• A new round of PPP loans, with about $284 billion earmarked for the program. It also comes with expanded eligibility for so-called 501(c)(6) nonprofits, such as local chambers of commerce, which were left out of the original program. Businesses with “severe” revenue reductions can apply for a second loan.
• Expenses paid for with PPP loans would be considered tax deductible, officially reversing an IRS decision made earlier in the year that would have seen some small businesses pay more in taxes. The ability to deduct expenses if paid for with PPP loans had been the focus of intense lobbying by small business groups.
• A fresh $20 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.

https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/tax-compliance/article/21162825/key-tax-law-changes-for-tax-year-2020

On Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020, the Small Business Administration released PPP Loan Forgiveness Application Form 3508S, which is available for borrowers meeting criteria listed on the top of the application. When you are invited to apply, you will use the new streamlined form (form 3508S) if you received a PPP loan of $50,000 or less and have not, together with your affiliates, received PPP loans totaling $2MM or more.

The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the deadline to register for an Economic Impact Payment (EIP) is now November 21, 2020. This new date will provide an additional five weeks beyond the original deadline.

The IRS urges people who don’t typically file a tax return – and haven’t received an Economic Impact Payment – to register as quickly as possible using the Non-Filers: Enter Info Here tool on IRS.gov. The tool will not be available after November 21.

“We took this step to provide more time for those who have not yet received a payment to register to get their money, including those in low-income and underserved communities,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “The IRS is deeply involved in processing and programming that overlaps filing seasons. Any further extension beyond November would adversely impact our work on the 2020 and 2021 filing seasons. The Non-Filers portal has been available since the spring and has been used successfully by many millions of Americans.”

Special note: This additional time into November is solely for those who have not received their EIP and don’t normally file a tax return. For taxpayers who requested an extension of time to file their 2019 tax return, that deadline date remains October 15.

To support the ongoing EIP effort, many partner groups have been working with the IRS, helping translate and making available in 35 languages IRS information and resources on Economic Impact Payments.

To help spread the word, the IRS sent nearly 9 million letters in September to people who may be eligible for the $1,200 Economic Impact Payments but don’t normally file a tax return. This push encourages people to use the Non-Filers tool on IRS.gov.

“Time is running out for those who don’t normally file a tax return to get their payments,” Rettig added. “Registration is quick and easy, and we urge everyone to share this information to reach as many people before the deadline.”

While most eligible U.S. taxpayers have automatically received their Economic Impact Payment, others who don’t have a filing obligation need to use the Non-Filers tool to register with the IRS to get their money. Typically, this includes people who receive little or no income.

The Non-Filers tool is secure and is based on Free File Fillable Forms, part of the Free File Alliance’s offering of free products on IRS.gov.

The Non-Filers tool is designed for people with incomes typically below $24,400 for married couples, and $12,200 for singles who could not be claimed as a dependent by someone else. This includes couples and individuals who are experiencing homelessness.

Anyone using the Non-Filers tool can speed the arrival of their payment by choosing to receive it by direct deposit. Those not choosing this option will get a check.

Beginning two weeks after they register, people can track the status of their payment using the Get My Payment tool, available only on IRS.gov.

Federal additional $300/week unemployment benefits for New Yorkers will start next week. There will be 6 weeks of benefits starting retroactively to August 01, 2020. 

The Paycheck Protection Program stood out as an early success of the government’s pandemic relief effort, but it ended with a whimper and left billions of dollars unallocated when small businesses got spooked by the ever-changing rules.

Even as Democrats and Republicans fight over other aspects of another major stimulus bill, they have largely agreed on how to revamp the PPP to restore its popularity and usefulness.

But groups representing the smallest business owners — independent contractors, the self-employed and minority-owned businesses who complained they were largely shut out of the earlier rounds of funding and for whom these changes are meant to help — are already questioning whether it will be enough.

For starters, they note that both the old and the proposed new PPP are run by the Small Business Administration, which works with businesses with as many as 500 workers, has less experience with companies with fewer than 100, and almost none with those with one or a handful of employees.

The bulk of America’s small businesses have fewer than 20 employees, but they didn’t get the bulk of the earlier PPP money and aren’t sure they’ll do better under a revised program still run by the SBA, advocates say.

For small businesses that already received one of the forgivable PPP loans, there is some good news about a possible PPP relaunch: They may be able to get a second loan, something not permitted in the original rules. That could be a lifeline for businesses that burned through the initial 24 weeks of payroll support.

In total, more than 5.1 million businesses got PPP funds before lending ended Aug. 8. The government says 51 million jobs were saved. S&P Global estimates it is closer to 13.6 million.

When the program began, $349 billion flowed out the door in less than two weeks. But the early successes were soon replaced by outrage and confusion. The public was frustrated to hear of large publicly traded companies like Potbelly or Shake Shack receiving loans.

Commercial banks tasked with distributing the money gave priority to their existing customers, leaving small businesses without a strong banking relationship scrambling to compile the needed application paperwork as the money flowed to larger businesses.

Meanwhile, rules governing how the money could be spent changed weekly, at times daily, casting doubt on what terms businesses would have to meet to have the loans forgiven. Demand plummeted. Even an extension of the program in June wasn’t enough to renew interest. While more small loans were processed in the second round than in the first, more than $126 billion was left on the table when the program ended.

Republicans want to target businesses with fewer than 300 employees that have seen sales decline by 35% or more, and to set aside $10 billion for community and rural banks to lend. Democrats want to focus on those with fewer than 100 employees that have seen sales decline by 50% or more. Both want to set aside up to $25 billion for businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

For the nation’s smallest businesses — many of which are Black-owned and have no employees — even the changes Congress is proposing may not be enough, said Ron Busby Sr., president of U.S. Black Chambers.

An estimated 41% of Black-owned businesses have permanently closed since the pandemic began, he said.

More info to follow as it happens.

Due to COVID-19, the original filing deadline and tax payment due date for 2019 was postponed from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. With many states still under travel and work restrictions due to the pandemic, some taxpayers and tax professionals alike were hoping that the date might be extended.

Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had not ruled out the possibility of pushing out the deadline, saying, “It’s something I’m thinking about.” He had indicated that he would continue to consider the idea as the date approaches.

But today’s announcement appears to rule out any additional changes. Individual taxpayers who cannot meet the July 15 due date can request an automatic extension of time to file. Keep in mind that the extension is a six-month extension from the original filing date of April 15, meaning that an extension will extend the time to file to October 15, 2020. It is not an extension from the extended due date.

If you can’t pay, help is available.

“The IRS understands that those affected by the coronavirus may not be able to pay their balances in full by July 15, but we have many payment options to help taxpayers,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “These easy-to-use payment options are available on IRS.gov, and most can be done automatically without reaching out to an IRS representative.”

Payment options are available on IRS.gov/payments to help taxpayers who can’t pay in full and some can offer taxpayers smaller penalties. That’s important since interest and late-payment penalties will continue to accrue on any unpaid taxes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2020/06/17/the-not-quite-definitive-guide-to-paycheck-protection-program-loan-forgiveness/#210bf7e35eaf

1. QUESTION: How do I get in touch with customer service phone support?

ANSWER: The highest level of official customer service is known as “tier 2” and can be reached by calling 1-800-659-2955 and asking for Tier 2.

They are unfortunately, a very limited means of support. They are able to check your application status and see the current “stage” and leave notes in your file, but unable to directly make any changes or escalate anything in a meaningful way.

Most are very nice and well meaning people but are usually poorly informed and often provided contradictory information between calls. The important thing to understand is that notes left by T2 do not actually notify a loan officer or anyone, they are simply waiting to be read if someone happens to open your file and takes the time to review the case notes. So if a T2 says they requested a change do not assume it was or will be made.

2. QUESTION: What are my chances of being approved for this loan? Can I know in advance?

ANSWER: The loan is relatively easy to get approval for by loan standards. The exact underwriting criteria the SBA is using was leaked by some helpful people and thus you can have a good understanding what your chances are.

Underwriters look for the following:-Minimum Credit Score of 570. They will pull from experian. Close to Vantage 3 model found on nav DOT com or TransUnion numbers on credit karma. They do NOT use FICO. Credit score is largest factor for approval for this loan and no exceptions are made for under 570.

-If economic injury was sustained based on formula described in QUESTION 4. If this is a negative number you will be auto declined. (SEE QUESTION 5) The SBA does not consider potential revenue lost or general expenses in the loan amount.

-Tax liens or tax issues are NOT a disqualifying factor or taken into consideration for COVID19 disaster.

-All owners on application must be either US citizens or Permanent Residents. E-2 Investor visa is NOT eligible and any attempts to appeal or add a co-borrower who is a citizen or LPR will be unsuccessful. Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities (LLE): Alien-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLEs properly registered and licensed in the state where the disaster occurred are eligible. If any member, partner, or shareholder, owning 20 percent or more of the applicant business is in the USA they must be a qualified alien.  If the alien resides outside the USA an exception may be made.3. QUESTION: I received a decline letter for “Business activity not eligible”. What can I do?

ANSWER: EIDL has a list of restricted business categories, if your type is NOT on this list and you still received this letter you may have been improperly classified.
 
The following applicants are not eligible for EIDL assistance.

7-Eleven Franchise Stores, despite what corp office says. (advance is OK)

Lending or Investment Concerns (except for real estate investments held for rental)

Multi-level Sales Distribution (Pyramid) Concerns c. Speculative Activities d. Non-profit Organizations that are not considered a Private Non-Profit

Consumer and Marketing Cooperatives. However, other cooperatives and small agricultural cooperatives meeting applicable size standards are eligible f. Not a small business concern (except for PNP of any size) g. Gambling Concerns. Concerns that derive more than one-third of their annual gross revenue from legal gambling activities.

Casinos, Racetracks, Etc. Businesses whose purpose for being is gambling (such as casinos, racetracks, poker parlors, etc.) are not eligible for EIDL assistance regardless of their ability to meet the one-third criteria established for otherwise eligible concerns.Loan packagers who derives more than one-third of their annual volume from the preparation of applications seeking financial assistance from SBA

Religious Organizations.

Political or Lobbying Concerns.

Pawn shops, when 50 percent or more of previous year’s income was derived 50 30 9 71 Effective Date: May 31, 2018 from interest

Real Estate Developers. Establishments primarily engaged in subdividing real property into lots and developing it for resale on their own account.

Life Insurance Companies.

Concerns Engaged in Illegal Activities (as defined by Federal guidelines). p. Government-owned concerns, except for businesses owned or controlled by a Native American tribe.

Concerns with Principals Incarcerated, on Parole or Probation: remain ineligible if the parole or probation is lifted solely because it is an impediment to obtaining a loan.

Concerns engaged in live performances of, or the Sale of Products, Services, of a Prurient Sexual Nature.

Businesses considered as hobbies.

Concerns Involved in Change in Ownership Situations: Concerns which had a substantial change of ownership (more than 50 percent) after the impending economic injury became apparent, and no contract for sale existed prior to that time are ineligible .

4. QUESTION: How is the loan amount calculated? How can I request a specific amount?

ANSWER: There is no way to request a specific amount, the eligible amount is calculated automatically by formula based on your inputs. There are three known formulas:

Standard Small Business: Revenue minus COGS divided by 2 minus advance, subject to maximum of 150K

Not for Profit: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20Business that collects rental property income, your offer is calculated by lost rents due to the disaster, not the standard formula. If your offer is lower than expected you may have been wrongly classified into this formula.

Agricultural businesses: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20

If the formula results in a negative number or less than your advance you will be declined for “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”

5. QUESTION: What is the maximum loan amount?

ANSWER: As of last update it is currently 150K cap. This will not change anytime soon and there will be no way to request more at present. The only way to avoid the cap is if your loan was already being obligated prior to the change by the SBA from 500K. If I hear anything new on this it will be updated here.

6. QUESTION: When will I get my portal invite?

ANSWER: Portal invites are a fully automated process and not strictly sequential but follow general group patterns. If you see someone that has a higher number than you get a portal invite it does NOT mean you were “passed over”.

Note: as of 5/30 there are a number of very early applications that are actually “stuck” in the credit pull stage (no portal invite yet, if you have the portal you do not have this issue) due to a glitch. If you have an application date of 3/29, 3/30, 3/31, or 4/01 (but no later) you may email me for information on how to get this resolved. Please be honest and accurate about your application date, I will know. If you app date is later and you still haven’t gotten your portal invite, I cannot help with this! I can’t stress that enough. 

7. QUESTION: I finally got a portal invite and accepted and submitted an amount. My application says it is “processing”, now what?

ANSWER: This is when the actual loan process starts and underwriting begins. Your application will be assigned a loan officer for review using the criteria listed in question 2.

The exact process is as follows with the actual stages from start to finish. Keep in mind that once you accept in the portal a number of things are going on behind the scenes, which is why “processing” can take a great deal of time. Once you see a loan amount in your portal, this is NOT an approved offer. It is simply a potential amount you are eligible for based on the stated formula if you pass underwriting.

Initial Call Needed (credit not ran)

LO assigned and makes decision: Declined, Duplicate, Approved[The following takes place behind the scenes and will not reflect in your portal, but will still say “processing”]

Approved: T2 Rep can now see your loan is approved on their screen. This means the Loan Officer has approved the deal and it is now going to the Senior Loan Officer. If the SLO does not approve the deal then it will go to declined.

Obligating: SLO known as a “team leader” reviews the work of the first LO to ensure everything was done correctly. Once they sign off on the deal the loan is now fully approved. The loan is being sent to the E-Tran system to receive a loan number. The loan has not yet received a loan number from E-Tran while obligating. This is the most common phase where hang ups in “processing” can error called “error in obligating”. Usually due to small technical issues or errors in your information that need to be sorted.Obligated: A loan number from E-Tran has been obtained and now closing documents can be drafted and sent to the borrower. This is when your portal would change from “processing” to approved. There may be a delay between when your offer is obligated to when it actually shows approved. I have seen it happen in as fast as 10 minutes or as long as 12 hours. You can also see approved but not have docs available. Docs will not show up until you get an email with the approval. The delay on this can be a few hours or more.

Funding: Docs are signed and the loan is automatically moved to funding stage to have treasury issue an ACH. This happens very quickly and you should see the ACH sent right after with the funds arriving in 24-48 hours on banking days. **NOTE** Currently as of 6/10 we are seeing delays in funding of up to a week or even more, as it is very backed up in the queue.** At this point you can track the disbursement with your loan number from the docs using CAWEB to see if the ACH has been sent. See CAWEB question.

Funded: Process complete, funds are successfully in your bank account. Congrats

Note: The exception to this process is that some applications which are considered easy (based on unknown factors) to approve are subject to full automation and may go straight to approval bypassing the above steps. This only happens in rare cases.

You may also see a status that says, “On-Hold” Amount $0: This status typically is when your loan was temporarily declined and is still in the reconsideration department pending possible reconsideration approval.

8. QUESTION: I now understand that processing really means “underwriting”, but how long will it actually take? What is the normal amount of time?

ANSWER: The amount of time it is normal for your portal to say “processing” is highly variable as a hundred different factors are involved behind the scenes. As of 6/10 we are seeing extended delays in processing time and obligating stage specifically. The average we are seeing is around 14-16 days total in processing. If your application has been in underwriting for greater than 14 days it may merit investigate, but not necessarily indicate a problem with your chances of approval. Do NOT panic if it seems “stuck” with no communication from anyone. This is normal.

9. QUESTION: Does contacting my congressmen or senator actually work?

ANSWER: Yes, the SBA treats congressional inquiry very carefully and will flag and sometimes white glove your application. Often they will assign a special case worker during the process. The important thing is when your local congressional office reaches out they do NOT contact the local district SBA but this email: 

focwcongressionalinquiries@sba.gov. This email is NOT for use by applicants but only official government purposes.

10. QUESTION: Help! I accidentally entered the wrong revenue or COGS on my application and my offer amount was lower than I expected, is it possible to change this?

ANSWER: Yes, but two factors are important:

You should NOT have already accepted an amount and submitted for processing in the portal. *If you already did see note below.

You have documentation to backup the changes such as Federal Tax Returns 2018 or 2019 or P&L Statements. Tax returns are strongly preferred if available.

****The important thing here is DO NOT accept the offer in the portal if you need to revise your numbers.****

*IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE OFFER: Call tier 2 support as soon as you possibly can and ask them to make the following note in your file: Loan Officer, DO NOT approve this file without calling me, the applicant, because my (revenue or COGS) figures are wrong. I have supporting docs to make the changes. Please contact me ASAP.11. QUESTION: I need to change my Rev or COGS and I already accepted an amount in the portal, Tier 2 told me to do it! Is it too late?

Answer: Unfortunately tier 2 is currently giving absolutely terrible advice in this situation. They are telling people to accept the offer in the portal to speak with a loan officer to make the revision. The problem is that once you accept you set the process in motion and then it gets obligated by treasury it is impossible to adjust. The proper time is prior to accepting. Often times loan officers never are needed, never reach out or even read these notes. I see it every day and people are stuck its the “kiss of death” advice. If you already accepted you may have time but would need to work quickly from date of submit.

UPDATE: As of 6/15 there is now a way to fix this. See question 13.

12. QUESTION: Who are you. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I am the owner of a Mid Sized accounting firm. We are assisting not only our clients but anyone who needs help. We are sharing the information, strategies, and general knowledge we have gained since the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak. We do not work at the SBA nor do we have any affiliation with the SBA.
Due to a huge volume of E-Mail be patient if we do not get back to you as quickly as we would like. We will be answering all E-Mails.

13. QUESTION: My loan was obligated, already funded, or I already accepted the amount in the portal. I made a mistake with my COGS or revenue and I am not happy with the amount. Can I change it?

ANSWER: As of 6/12 loan modifications are now being allowed. You can contact pdcrecons@sba.gov and request a “Loan Modification increase”. It is a 3-4 week process that requires documentation. A second loan will be given for the difference from the first one. It will be processed as a 20xx series loan in the old system/portal. For more details email me. Note if you have not yet accepted the offer the normal process is much faster.

14. QUESTION: I received my portal link, but when I go to create an account it just takes me to the login page. What can be done?

ANSWER: Follow these steps:

Open the email to create your portal account. Right click on the green button that says, “create your account”. Click “copy link address” or “copy hyperlink” depending on your browser.

Use a VPN service, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN (free), to connect to a VPN server in different state than yours, preferably on the opposite coast you are located.

Open an incognito browser window, or private browser session if on firefox.

Right click on the URL/web address field and paste the link you copied. Hit enter.

You should then successfully be able to create a login, enter the portal, and accept your offer.

Alternately if you don’t have a VPN or want to use one you can use a mobile phone to login incognito, with WiFi off on a cellular network, to create the account.

15. QUESTION: I was declined for “unsatisfactory credit”. What are my options?

ANSWER: You have a few options.

You can bring your vantage 3 score over 570 by paying down cards, when you are ready you can request the SBA re-pull your report and reactivate your account via pdcrecons@sba.gov

You can request to add a co-borrower that has a higher score than 570 with no open bankruptcy and run their credit to reactivate your application.You can expedite your request for a co-borrower by having this ready to go. You can also do this preemptively if you expect to be declined for credit. The co-borrower does NOT have to be involved with the business and can be anyone.

The form is available here:

Line #14 – Add the co-borrowers information under owner #1
Line #15 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Line #16 – Answer question for co-borrower.

Sign page 10, co-borrower signs.Attach and send with your co-borrower request to pdcrecons@sba.gov with your application number.

16. QUESTION: What documents are required? Will a loan officer contact me?

ANSWER: In most cases no documentation is required and everything is self certified. In some cases a LO will need to contact you to clarify some things about your business or request specific documents. In most cases you will never be contacted by or communicate with a loan officer.

17. QUESTION: Can I decline the loan and just get the advance/grant?

ANSWER: Yes, but the EIDL loan and EIDL loan Advance/Grant are on the same application, so you should not decline the loan until you receive the EIDL Advance.

18. QUESTION: What are the eligible uses of EIDL funds?

ANSWER: These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. What are all the possible uses of the funds? The wording ‘obligations that are unable to be met due to lack of revenue’ seems to be a catch all, but how much so? The EIDL working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits or for expansion.

 19. QUESTION: I received a denial letter for the reason “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”. What does this mean and what can I do?

ANSWER: This occurs when the numbers entered on your application for COGS are greater than your revenue. The SBA calculates economic injury based on the formula in question number 4. You can also be denied for this reason if the resulting number is less than your advance amount. Please note that the SBA is only taking into account revenue earned prior to the disaster date of 1/31/20 to calculate your economic injury. If your only revenue was earned after that date as a newer business you may not qualify.

If the numbers on your application were correct, you would not be eligible for an EIDL. If you made an error you can request an amendment and request reactivation of your application. I can assist with this process. You need at minimum Profit and Loss statements for the period 12 months prior to the disaster starting 1/31/20.

20. QUESTION: What is CAWEB and how can it help me track my loan disbursement and other status?

ANSWER: You can use the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding. It allows you to see disbursement status and other details related to your loan.

Using the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding.Visit caweb.sba.gov or click the link at the top of r/EIDL

Setting up an account:

You need a SBA Loan # to set up an account – for EIDL it appears on the first page of your documents, in the upper left hand area, and says “SBA Loan # XXXXXXXXXX.”

SBA loan #’s are 10 digits. Your Application # will NOT work for account set-up.

If you have a PPP Loan, you can use your SBA # for this loan to set up an account. Sometimes this # is easy to figure out, sometimes not. That has to do with an intermediary (like your bank) being involved, but if you can track down an actual SBA Loan #, you can go ahead and get registered without your EIDL loan number.

On the home page click on “Not Enrolled?” in the top left. This takes you to a screen to enter info. You may come to hate this screen, this process is very finicky.

Look at the rules for creating a User ID and Password by clicking on “Rules…” next to the fields.

Write your exact ID & password down somewhere – if you ever get locked out and call the SBA for help, they are going to tell you that Borrowers are not supposed to be able to access CAFS CAWeb. Apparently we still can, so don’t make this a big deal or maybe that will change!For user type – select “borrower” from the drop down menu.

Fill in the highlighted fields with your info. Click on the “ZIP LOOKUP” button after you enter your zip code. This auto populates some other boxes, and registration won’t work if you don’t do this.
For the country code in the phone number section enter “1” for the United States.

Financial commitment ID is your Loan # – 10 digits.

If you don’t have a landline, it has been reported that just entering your mobile number in both fields works. You will have to select 3 of their security questions, enter the Captcha image info, then hit “submit” at the bottom.

If it didn’t like the info you have entered, it will give you an error message for what part it didn’t like, and you will have to try again, which requires re-entering quite a bit of the information. It’s a pain.
But if it takes it, you’re in! There may be a verification step now as well.

Finding your loan on CAWeb

On the caweb homepage, login (if you aren’t already), it will be personalized and show your name. You have to scroll down and check the “Agree to Terms” box when you are logging in.

Click on “Borrower” in the top left, then click on “Borrower Search”. This should take you to your “Loan List” showing the loan #, borrower name, loan type, amount, and loan status.

PPP loans typically appear as “Active Un-Disbursed” – if your PPP is already funded don’t worry about that. Your EIDL will show up as “Disbursed Current” if funds are on their way. It may say something else if you look immediately after you send back you Docs, but it should change pretty quickly. Logging out and back in again will sometimes refresh the status. Loan status will say “Active Un-Disbursed” until Treasury send the funds to your bank, then it changes to “Disbursed Current”.

It depends on your bank when they post in your account (same day, next day, time).

If your banking info didn’t verify, the transaction will fail to go through, and the status will revert.

If you are not funded within 3-4 banking days, there is likely a problem – check your info in your portal, call the SBA, and then email Cue if needed.

If you click on your loan# in the list, it opens up a page with details about your loan.

There’s even a box at the bottom to check if you want electronic account statements only, but if you check that, a warning pops up about “all attached to this loan will be affected by this change”, so we recommend not selecting that option just yet.
 
21. QUESTION: I received my portal invite link, however when I go to create an account I just get the message: “The user account has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm using the link in the e-mail”. What can I do?

ANSWER: This is a known bug/error normally relating to either getting the invite ahead of schedule or other missing information in your file that would prevent the account creation from moving forward. Tier 2 cannot solve this and it need a special approach to resolve.

1. QUESTION: How do I get in touch with customer service phone support?

ANSWER: The highest level of official customer service is known as “tier 2” and can be reached by calling 1-800-659-2955 and asking for Tier 2.

They are unfortunately, a very limited means of support. They are able to check your application status and see the current “stage” and leave notes in your file, but unable to directly make any changes or escalate anything in a meaningful way.

Most are very nice and well meaning people but are usually poorly informed and often provided contradictory information between calls. The important thing to understand is that notes left by T2 do not actually notify a loan officer or anyone, they are simply waiting to be read if someone happens to open your file and takes the time to review the case notes. So if a T2 says they requested a change do not assume it was or will be made.

2. QUESTION: What are my chances of being approved for this loan? Can I know in advance?

ANSWER: The loan is relatively easy to get approval for by loan standards. The exact underwriting criteria the SBA is using was leaked by some helpful people and thus you can have a good understanding what your chances are.

Underwriters look for the following:-Minimum Credit Score of 570. They will pull from experian. Close to Vantage 3 model found on nav DOT com or TransUnion numbers on credit karma. They do NOT use FICO. Credit score is largest factor for approval for this loan and no exceptions are made for under 570.

-If economic injury was sustained based on formula described in QUESTION 4. If this is a negative number you will be auto declined. (SEE QUESTION 5) The SBA does not consider potential revenue lost or general expenses in the loan amount.

-Tax liens or tax issues are NOT a disqualifying factor or taken into consideration for COVID19 disaster.

-All owners on application must be either US citizens or Permanent Residents. E-2 Investor visa is NOT eligible and any attempts to appeal or add a co-borrower who is a citizen or LPR will be unsuccessful. Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities (LLE): Alien-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLEs properly registered and licensed in the state where the disaster occurred are eligible. If any member, partner, or shareholder, owning 20 percent or more of the applicant business is in the USA they must be a qualified alien.  If the alien resides outside the USA an exception may be made.3. QUESTION: I received a decline letter for “Business activity not eligible”. What can I do?

ANSWER: EIDL has a list of restricted business categories, if your type is NOT on this list and you still received this letter you may have been improperly classified.
 
The following applicants are not eligible for EIDL assistance.

7-Eleven Franchise Stores, despite what corp office says. (advance is OK)

Lending or Investment Concerns (except for real estate investments held for rental)

Multi-level Sales Distribution (Pyramid) Concerns c. Speculative Activities d. Non-profit Organizations that are not considered a Private Non-Profit

Consumer and Marketing Cooperatives. However, other cooperatives and small agricultural cooperatives meeting applicable size standards are eligible f. Not a small business concern (except for PNP of any size) g. Gambling Concerns. Concerns that derive more than one-third of their annual gross revenue from legal gambling activities.

Casinos, Racetracks, Etc. Businesses whose purpose for being is gambling (such as casinos, racetracks, poker parlors, etc.) are not eligible for EIDL assistance regardless of their ability to meet the one-third criteria established for otherwise eligible concerns.Loan packagers who derives more than one-third of their annual volume from the preparation of applications seeking financial assistance from SBA

Religious Organizations.

Political or Lobbying Concerns.

Pawn shops, when 50 percent or more of previous year’s income was derived 50 30 9 71 Effective Date: May 31, 2018 from interest

Real Estate Developers. Establishments primarily engaged in subdividing real property into lots and developing it for resale on their own account.

Life Insurance Companies.

Concerns Engaged in Illegal Activities (as defined by Federal guidelines). p. Government-owned concerns, except for businesses owned or controlled by a Native American tribe.

Concerns with Principals Incarcerated, on Parole or Probation: remain ineligible if the parole or probation is lifted solely because it is an impediment to obtaining a loan.

Concerns engaged in live performances of, or the Sale of Products, Services, of a Prurient Sexual Nature.

Businesses considered as hobbies.

Concerns Involved in Change in Ownership Situations: Concerns which had a substantial change of ownership (more than 50 percent) after the impending economic injury became apparent, and no contract for sale existed prior to that time are ineligible .

4. QUESTION: How is the loan amount calculated? How can I request a specific amount?

ANSWER: There is no way to request a specific amount, the eligible amount is calculated automatically by formula based on your inputs. There are three known formulas:

Standard Small Business: Revenue minus COGS divided by 2 minus advance, subject to maximum of 150K

Not for Profit: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20Business that collects rental property income, your offer is calculated by lost rents due to the disaster, not the standard formula. If your offer is lower than expected you may have been wrongly classified into this formula.

Agricultural businesses: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20

If the formula results in a negative number or less than your advance you will be declined for “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”

5. QUESTION: What is the maximum loan amount?

ANSWER: As of last update it is currently 150K cap. This will not change anytime soon and there will be no way to request more at present. The only way to avoid the cap is if your loan was already being obligated prior to the change by the SBA from 500K. If I hear anything new on this it will be updated here.

6. QUESTION: When will I get my portal invite?

ANSWER: Portal invites are a fully automated process and not strictly sequential but follow general group patterns. If you see someone that has a higher number than you get a portal invite it does NOT mean you were “passed over”.

Note: as of 5/30 there are a number of very early applications that are actually “stuck” in the credit pull stage (no portal invite yet, if you have the portal you do not have this issue) due to a glitch. If you have an application date of 3/29, 3/30, 3/31, or 4/01 (but no later) you may email me for information on how to get this resolved. Please be honest and accurate about your application date, I will know. If you app date is later and you still haven’t gotten your portal invite, I cannot help with this! I can’t stress that enough. 

7. QUESTION: I finally got a portal invite and accepted and submitted an amount. My application says it is “processing”, now what?

ANSWER: This is when the actual loan process starts and underwriting begins. Your application will be assigned a loan officer for review using the criteria listed in question 2.

The exact process is as follows with the actual stages from start to finish. Keep in mind that once you accept in the portal a number of things are going on behind the scenes, which is why “processing” can take a great deal of time. Once you see a loan amount in your portal, this is NOT an approved offer. It is simply a potential amount you are eligible for based on the stated formula if you pass underwriting.

Initial Call Needed (credit not ran)

LO assigned and makes decision: Declined, Duplicate, Approved[The following takes place behind the scenes and will not reflect in your portal, but will still say “processing”]

Approved: T2 Rep can now see your loan is approved on their screen. This means the Loan Officer has approved the deal and it is now going to the Senior Loan Officer. If the SLO does not approve the deal then it will go to declined.

Obligating: SLO known as a “team leader” reviews the work of the first LO to ensure everything was done correctly. Once they sign off on the deal the loan is now fully approved. The loan is being sent to the E-Tran system to receive a loan number. The loan has not yet received a loan number from E-Tran while obligating. This is the most common phase where hang ups in “processing” can error called “error in obligating”. Usually due to small technical issues or errors in your information that need to be sorted.Obligated: A loan number from E-Tran has been obtained and now closing documents can be drafted and sent to the borrower. This is when your portal would change from “processing” to approved. There may be a delay between when your offer is obligated to when it actually shows approved. I have seen it happen in as fast as 10 minutes or as long as 12 hours. You can also see approved but not have docs available. Docs will not show up until you get an email with the approval. The delay on this can be a few hours or more.

Funding: Docs are signed and the loan is automatically moved to funding stage to have treasury issue an ACH. This happens very quickly and you should see the ACH sent right after with the funds arriving in 24-48 hours on banking days. **NOTE** Currently as of 6/10 we are seeing delays in funding of up to a week or even more, as it is very backed up in the queue.** At this point you can track the disbursement with your loan number from the docs using CAWEB to see if the ACH has been sent. See CAWEB question.

Funded: Process complete, funds are successfully in your bank account. Congrats

Note: The exception to this process is that some applications which are considered easy (based on unknown factors) to approve are subject to full automation and may go straight to approval bypassing the above steps. This only happens in rare cases.

You may also see a status that says, “On-Hold” Amount $0: This status typically is when your loan was temporarily declined and is still in the reconsideration department pending possible reconsideration approval.

8. QUESTION: I now understand that processing really means “underwriting”, but how long will it actually take? What is the normal amount of time?

ANSWER: The amount of time it is normal for your portal to say “processing” is highly variable as a hundred different factors are involved behind the scenes. As of 6/10 we are seeing extended delays in processing time and obligating stage specifically. The average we are seeing is around 14-16 days total in processing. If your application has been in underwriting for greater than 14 days it may merit investigate, but not necessarily indicate a problem with your chances of approval. Do NOT panic if it seems “stuck” with no communication from anyone. This is normal.

9. QUESTION: Does contacting my congressmen or senator actually work?

ANSWER: Yes, the SBA treats congressional inquiry very carefully and will flag and sometimes white glove your application. Often they will assign a special case worker during the process. The important thing is when your local congressional office reaches out they do NOT contact the local district SBA but this email: 

focwcongressionalinquiries@sba.gov. This email is NOT for use by applicants but only official government purposes.

10. QUESTION: Help! I accidentally entered the wrong revenue or COGS on my application and my offer amount was lower than I expected, is it possible to change this?

ANSWER: Yes, but two factors are important:

You should NOT have already accepted an amount and submitted for processing in the portal. *If you already did see note below.

You have documentation to backup the changes such as Federal Tax Returns 2018 or 2019 or P&L Statements. Tax returns are strongly preferred if available.

****The important thing here is DO NOT accept the offer in the portal if you need to revise your numbers.****

*IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE OFFER: Call tier 2 support as soon as you possibly can and ask them to make the following note in your file: Loan Officer, DO NOT approve this file without calling me, the applicant, because my (revenue or COGS) figures are wrong. I have supporting docs to make the changes. Please contact me ASAP.11. QUESTION: I need to change my Rev or COGS and I already accepted an amount in the portal, Tier 2 told me to do it! Is it too late?

Answer: Unfortunately tier 2 is currently giving absolutely terrible advice in this situation. They are telling people to accept the offer in the portal to speak with a loan officer to make the revision. The problem is that once you accept you set the process in motion and then it gets obligated by treasury it is impossible to adjust. The proper time is prior to accepting. Often times loan officers never are needed, never reach out or even read these notes. I see it every day and people are stuck its the “kiss of death” advice. If you already accepted you may have time but would need to work quickly from date of submit.

UPDATE: As of 6/15 there is now a way to fix this. See question 13.

12. QUESTION: Who are you. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I am the owner of a Mid Sized accounting firm. We are assisting not only our clients but anyone who needs help. We are sharing the information, strategies, and general knowledge we have gained since the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak. We do not work at the SBA nor do we have any affiliation with the SBA.
Due to a huge volume of E-Mail be patient if we do not get back to you as quickly as we would like. We will be answering all E-Mails.

13. QUESTION: My loan was obligated, already funded, or I already accepted the amount in the portal. I made a mistake with my COGS or revenue and I am not happy with the amount. Can I change it?

ANSWER: As of 6/12 loan modifications are now being allowed. You can contact pdcrecons@sba.gov and request a “Loan Modification increase”. It is a 3-4 week process that requires documentation. A second loan will be given for the difference from the first one. It will be processed as a 20xx series loan in the old system/portal. For more details email me. Note if you have not yet accepted the offer the normal process is much faster.

14. QUESTION: I received my portal link, but when I go to create an account it just takes me to the login page. What can be done?

ANSWER: Follow these steps:

Open the email to create your portal account. Right click on the green button that says, “create your account”. Click “copy link address” or “copy hyperlink” depending on your browser.

Use a VPN service, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN (free), to connect to a VPN server in different state than yours, preferably on the opposite coast you are located.

Open an incognito browser window, or private browser session if on firefox.

Right click on the URL/web address field and paste the link you copied. Hit enter.

You should then successfully be able to create a login, enter the portal, and accept your offer.

Alternately if you don’t have a VPN or want to use one you can use a mobile phone to login incognito, with WiFi off on a cellular network, to create the account.

15. QUESTION: I was declined for “unsatisfactory credit”. What are my options?

ANSWER: You have a few options.

You can bring your vantage 3 score over 570 by paying down cards, when you are ready you can request the SBA re-pull your report and reactivate your account via pdcrecons@sba.gov

You can request to add a co-borrower that has a higher score than 570 with no open bankruptcy and run their credit to reactivate your application.You can expedite your request for a co-borrower by having this ready to go. You can also do this preemptively if you expect to be declined for credit. The co-borrower does NOT have to be involved with the business and can be anyone.

The form is available here:

Line #14 – Add the co-borrowers information under owner #1
Line #15 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Line #16 – Answer question for co-borrower.

Sign page 10, co-borrower signs.Attach and send with your co-borrower request to pdcrecons@sba.gov with your application number.

16. QUESTION: What documents are required? Will a loan officer contact me?

ANSWER: In most cases no documentation is required and everything is self certified. In some cases a LO will need to contact you to clarify some things about your business or request specific documents. In most cases you will never be contacted by or communicate with a loan officer.

17. QUESTION: Can I decline the loan and just get the advance/grant?

ANSWER: Yes, but the EIDL loan and EIDL loan Advance/Grant are on the same application, so you should not decline the loan until you receive the EIDL Advance.

18. QUESTION: What are the eligible uses of EIDL funds?

ANSWER: These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. What are all the possible uses of the funds? The wording ‘obligations that are unable to be met due to lack of revenue’ seems to be a catch all, but how much so? The EIDL working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits or for expansion.

 19. QUESTION: I received a denial letter for the reason “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”. What does this mean and what can I do?

ANSWER: This occurs when the numbers entered on your application for COGS are greater than your revenue. The SBA calculates economic injury based on the formula in question number 4. You can also be denied for this reason if the resulting number is less than your advance amount. Please note that the SBA is only taking into account revenue earned prior to the disaster date of 1/31/20 to calculate your economic injury. If your only revenue was earned after that date as a newer business you may not qualify.

If the numbers on your application were correct, you would not be eligible for an EIDL. If you made an error you can request an amendment and request reactivation of your application. I can assist with this process. You need at minimum Profit and Loss statements for the period 12 months prior to the disaster starting 1/31/20.

20. QUESTION: What is CAWEB and how can it help me track my loan disbursement and other status?

ANSWER: You can use the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding. It allows you to see disbursement status and other details related to your loan.

Using the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding.Visit caweb.sba.gov or click the link at the top of r/EIDL

Setting up an account:

You need a SBA Loan # to set up an account – for EIDL it appears on the first page of your documents, in the upper left hand area, and says “SBA Loan # XXXXXXXXXX.”

SBA loan #’s are 10 digits. Your Application # will NOT work for account set-up.

If you have a PPP Loan, you can use your SBA # for this loan to set up an account. Sometimes this # is easy to figure out, sometimes not. That has to do with an intermediary (like your bank) being involved, but if you can track down an actual SBA Loan #, you can go ahead and get registered without your EIDL loan number.

On the home page click on “Not Enrolled?” in the top left. This takes you to a screen to enter info. You may come to hate this screen, this process is very finicky.

Look at the rules for creating a User ID and Password by clicking on “Rules…” next to the fields.

Write your exact ID & password down somewhere – if you ever get locked out and call the SBA for help, they are going to tell you that Borrowers are not supposed to be able to access CAFS CAWeb. Apparently we still can, so don’t make this a big deal or maybe that will change!For user type – select “borrower” from the drop down menu.

Fill in the highlighted fields with your info. Click on the “ZIP LOOKUP” button after you enter your zip code. This auto populates some other boxes, and registration won’t work if you don’t do this.
For the country code in the phone number section enter “1” for the United States.

Financial commitment ID is your Loan # – 10 digits.

If you don’t have a landline, it has been reported that just entering your mobile number in both fields works. You will have to select 3 of their security questions, enter the Captcha image info, then hit “submit” at the bottom.

If it didn’t like the info you have entered, it will give you an error message for what part it didn’t like, and you will have to try again, which requires re-entering quite a bit of the information. It’s a pain.
But if it takes it, you’re in! There may be a verification step now as well.

Finding your loan on CAWeb

On the caweb homepage, login (if you aren’t already), it will be personalized and show your name. You have to scroll down and check the “Agree to Terms” box when you are logging in.

Click on “Borrower” in the top left, then click on “Borrower Search”. This should take you to your “Loan List” showing the loan #, borrower name, loan type, amount, and loan status.

PPP loans typically appear as “Active Un-Disbursed” – if your PPP is already funded don’t worry about that. Your EIDL will show up as “Disbursed Current” if funds are on their way. It may say something else if you look immediately after you send back you Docs, but it should change pretty quickly. Logging out and back in again will sometimes refresh the status. Loan status will say “Active Un-Disbursed” until Treasury send the funds to your bank, then it changes to “Disbursed Current”.

It depends on your bank when they post in your account (same day, next day, time).

If your banking info didn’t verify, the transaction will fail to go through, and the status will revert.

If you are not funded within 3-4 banking days, there is likely a problem – check your info in your portal, call the SBA, and then email Cue if needed.

If you click on your loan# in the list, it opens up a page with details about your loan.

There’s even a box at the bottom to check if you want electronic account statements only, but if you check that, a warning pops up about “all attached to this loan will be affected by this change”, so we recommend not selecting that option just yet.
 
21. QUESTION: I received my portal invite link, however when I go to create an account I just get the message: “The user account has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm using the link in the e-mail”. What can I do?

ANSWER: This is a known bug/error normally relating to either getting the invite ahead of schedule or other missing information in your file that would prevent the account creation from moving forward. Tier 2 cannot solve this and it need a special approach to resolve.

1. QUESTION: How do I get in touch with customer service phone support?

ANSWER: The highest level of official customer service is known as “tier 2” and can be reached by calling 1-800-659-2955 and asking for Tier 2.

They are unfortunately, a very limited means of support. They are able to check your application status and see the current “stage” and leave notes in your file, but unable to directly make any changes or escalate anything in a meaningful way.

Most are very nice and well meaning people but are usually poorly informed and often provided contradictory information between calls. The important thing to understand is that notes left by T2 do not actually notify a loan officer or anyone, they are simply waiting to be read if someone happens to open your file and takes the time to review the case notes. So if a T2 says they requested a change do not assume it was or will be made.

2. QUESTION: What are my chances of being approved for this loan? Can I know in advance?

Underwriters look for the following:-Minimum Credit Score of 570. They will pull from experian. Close to Vantage 3 model found on nav DOT com or TransUnion numbers on credit karma. They do NOT use FICO. Credit score is largest factor for approval for this loan and no exceptions are made for under 570.

-If economic injury was sustained based on formula described in QUESTION 4. If this is a negative number you will be auto declined. (SEE QUESTION 5) The SBA does not consider potential revenue lost or general expenses in the loan amount.

-Tax liens or tax issues are NOT a disqualifying factor or taken into consideration for COVID19 disaster.

-All owners on application must be either US citizens or Permanent Residents. E-2 Investor visa is NOT eligible and any attempts to appeal or add a co-borrower who is a citizen or LPR will be unsuccessful. Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities (LLE): Alien-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLEs properly registered and licensed in the state where the disaster occurred are eligible. If any member, partner, or shareholder, owning 20 percent or more of the applicant business is in the USA they must be a qualified alien.  If the alien resides outside the USA an exception may be made.3. QUESTION: I received a decline letter for “Business activity not eligible”. What can I do?

ANSWER: EIDL has a list of restricted business categories, if your type is NOT on this list and you still received this letter you may have been improperly classified.
 
The following applicants are not eligible for EIDL assistance.

7-Eleven Franchise Stores, despite what corp office says. (advance is OK)

Lending or Investment Concerns (except for real estate investments held for rental)

Multi-level Sales Distribution (Pyramid) Concerns c. Speculative Activities d. Non-profit Organizations that are not considered a Private Non-Profit

Consumer and Marketing Cooperatives. However, other cooperatives and small agricultural cooperatives meeting applicable size standards are eligible f. Not a small business concern (except for PNP of any size) g. Gambling Concerns. Concerns that derive more than one-third of their annual gross revenue from legal gambling activities.

Casinos, Racetracks, Etc. Businesses whose purpose for being is gambling (such as casinos, racetracks, poker parlors, etc.) are not eligible for EIDL assistance regardless of their ability to meet the one-third criteria established for otherwise eligible concerns.Loan packagers who derives more than one-third of their annual volume from the preparation of applications seeking financial assistance from SBA

Religious Organizations.

Political or Lobbying Concerns.

Pawn shops, when 50 percent or more of previous year’s income was derived 50 30 9 71 Effective Date: May 31, 2018 from interest

Real Estate Developers. Establishments primarily engaged in subdividing real property into lots and developing it for resale on their own account.

Life Insurance Companies.

Concerns Engaged in Illegal Activities (as defined by Federal guidelines). p. Government-owned concerns, except for businesses owned or controlled by a Native American tribe.

Concerns with Principals Incarcerated, on Parole or Probation: remain ineligible if the parole or probation is lifted solely because it is an impediment to obtaining a loan.

Concerns engaged in live performances of, or the Sale of Products, Services, of a Prurient Sexual Nature.

Businesses considered as hobbies.

Concerns Involved in Change in Ownership Situations: Concerns which had a substantial change of ownership (more than 50 percent) after the impending economic injury became apparent, and no contract for sale existed prior to that time are ineligible .

4. QUESTION: How is the loan amount calculated? How can I request a specific amount?

ANSWER: There is no way to request a specific amount, the eligible amount is calculated automatically by formula based on your inputs. There are three known formulas:

Standard Small Business: Revenue minus COGS divided by 2 minus advance, subject to maximum of 150K

Not for Profit: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20Business that collects rental property income, your offer is calculated by lost rents due to the disaster, not the standard formula. If your offer is lower than expected you may have been wrongly classified into this formula.
Agricultural businesses: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20

If the formula results in a negative number or less than your advance you will be declined for “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”

5. QUESTION: What is the maximum loan amount?

ANSWER: As of last update it is currently 150K cap. This will not change anytime soon and there will be no way to request more at present. The only way to avoid the cap is if your loan was already being obligated prior to the change by the SBA from 500K. If I hear anything new on this it will be updated here.

6. QUESTION: When will I get my portal invite?

ANSWER: Portal invites are a fully automated process and not strictly sequential but follow general group patterns. If you see someone that has a higher number than you get a portal invite it does NOT mean you were “passed over”.
Note: as of 5/30 there are a number of very early applications that are actually “stuck” in the credit pull stage (no portal invite yet, if you have the portal you do not have this issue) due to a glitch. If you have an application date of 3/29, 3/30, 3/31, or 4/01 (but no later) you may email me for information on how to get this resolved. Please be honest and accurate about your application date, I will know. If you app date is later and you still haven’t gotten your portal invite, I cannot help with this! I can’t stress that enough. 

7. QUESTION: I finally got a portal invite and accepted and submitted an amount. My application says it is “processing”, now what?

ANSWER: This is when the actual loan process starts and underwriting begins. Your application will be assigned a loan officer for review using the criteria listed in question 2. The exact process is as follows with the actual stages from start to finish. Keep in mind that once you accept in the portal a number of things are going on behind the scenes, which is why “processing” can take a great deal of time. Once you see a loan amount in your portal, this is NOT an approved offer. It is simply a potential amount you are eligible for based on the stated formula if you pass underwriting.

Initial Call Needed (credit not ran)

LO assigned and makes decision: Declined, Duplicate, Approved[The following takes place behind the scenes and will not reflect in your portal, but will still say “processing”]

Approved: T2 Rep can now see your loan is approved on their screen. This means the Loan Officer has approved the deal and it is now going to the Senior Loan Officer. If the SLO does not approve the deal then it will go to declined.
Obligating: SLO known as a “team leader” reviews the work of the first LO to ensure everything was done correctly. Once they sign off on the deal the loan is now fully approved. The loan is being sent to the E-Tran system to receive a loan number. The loan has not yet received a loan number from E-Tran while obligating. This is the most common phase where hang ups in “processing” can error called “error in obligating”. Usually due to small technical issues or errors in your information that need to be sorted.Obligated: A loan number from E-Tran has been obtained and now closing documents can be drafted and sent to the borrower. This is when your portal would change from “processing” to approved. There may be a delay between when your offer is obligated to when it actually shows approved. I have seen it happen in as fast as 10 minutes or as long as 12 hours. You can also see approved but not have docs available. Docs will not show up until you get an email with the approval. The delay on this can be a few hours or more.

Funding: Docs are signed and the loan is automatically moved to funding stage to have treasury issue an ACH. This happens very quickly and you should see the ACH sent right after with the funds arriving in 24-48 hours on banking days. **NOTE** Currently as of 6/10 we are seeing delays in funding of up to a week or even more, as it is very backed up in the queue.** At this point you can track the disbursement with your loan number from the docs using CAWEB to see if the ACH has been sent. See CAWEB question.

Funded: Process complete, funds are successfully in your bank account. Congrats

Note: The exception to this process is that some applications which are considered easy (based on unknown factors) to approve are subject to full automation and may go straight to approval bypassing the above steps. This only happens in rare cases.

You may also see a status that says, “On-Hold” Amount $0: This status typically is when your loan was temporarily declined and is still in the reconsideration department pending possible reconsideration approval.

8. QUESTION: I now understand that processing really means “underwriting”, but how long will it actually take? What is the normal amount of time?

ANSWER: The amount of time it is normal for your portal to say “processing” is highly variable as a hundred different factors are involved behind the scenes. As of 6/10 we are seeing extended delays in processing time and obligating stage specifically. The average we are seeing is around 14-16 days total in processing. If your application has been in underwriting for greater than 14 days it may merit investigate, but not necessarily indicate a problem with your chances of approval. Do NOT panic if it seems “stuck” with no communication from anyone. This is normal.

9. QUESTION: Does contacting my congressmen or senator actually work?

ANSWER: Yes, the SBA treats congressional inquiry very carefully and will flag and sometimes white glove your application. Often they will assign a special case worker during the process. The important thing is when your local congressional office reaches out they do NOT contact the local district SBA but this email: 

focwcongressionalinquiries@sba.gov. This email is NOT for use by applicants but only official government purposes.

10. QUESTION: Help! I accidentally entered the wrong revenue or COGS on my application and my offer amount was lower than I expected, is it possible to change this?

ANSWER: Yes, but two factors are important:

You should NOT have already accepted an amount and submitted for processing in the portal. *If you already did see note below.

You have documentation to backup the changes such as Federal Tax Returns 2018 or 2019 or P&L Statements. Tax returns are strongly preferred if available.

****The important thing here is DO NOT accept the offer in the portal if you need to revise your numbers.****

*IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE OFFER: Call tier 2 support as soon as you possibly can and ask them to make the following note in your file: Loan Officer, DO NOT approve this file without calling me, the applicant, because my (revenue or COGS) figures are wrong. I have supporting docs to make the changes. Please contact me ASAP.11. QUESTION: I need to change my Rev or COGS and I already accepted an amount in the portal, Tier 2 told me to do it! Is it too late?

Answer: Unfortunately tier 2 is currently giving absolutely terrible advice in this situation. They are telling people to accept the offer in the portal to speak with a loan officer to make the revision. The problem is that once you accept you set the process in motion and then it gets obligated by treasury it is impossible to adjust. The proper time is prior to accepting. Often times loan officers never are needed, never reach out or even read these notes. I see it every day and people are stuck its the “kiss of death” advice. If you already accepted you may have time but would need to work quickly from date of submit.

UPDATE: As of 6/15 there is now a way to fix this. See question 13.

12. QUESTION: Who are you. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I am the owner of a Mid Sized accounting firm. We are assisting not only our clients but anyone who needs help. We are sharing the information, strategies, and general knowledge we have gained since the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak. We do not work at the SBA nor do we have any affiliation with the SBA.
Due to a huge volume of E-Mail be patient if we do not get back to you as quickly as we would like. We will be answering all E-Mails.

13. QUESTION: My loan was obligated, already funded, or I already accepted the amount in the portal. I made a mistake with my COGS or revenue and I am not happy with the amount. Can I change it?

ANSWER: As of 6/12 loan modifications are now being allowed. You can contact pdcrecons@sba.gov and request a “Loan Modification increase”. It is a 3-4 week process that requires documentation. A second loan will be given for the difference from the first one. It will be processed as a 20xx series loan in the old system/portal. For more details email me. Note if you have not yet accepted the offer the normal process is much faster.

14. QUESTION: I received my portal link, but when I go to create an account it just takes me to the login page. What can be done?

ANSWER: Follow these steps:

Open the email to create your portal account. Right click on the green button that says, “create your account”. Click “copy link address” or “copy hyperlink” depending on your browser.

Use a VPN service, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN (free), to connect to a VPN server in different state than yours, preferably on the opposite coast you are located.

Open an incognito browser window, or private browser session if on firefox.

Right click on the URL/web address field and paste the link you copied. Hit enter.

You should then successfully be able to create a login, enter the portal, and accept your offer.

Alternately if you don’t have a VPN or want to use one you can use a mobile phone to login incognito, with WiFi off on a cellular network, to create the account.

15. QUESTION: I was declined for “unsatisfactory credit”. What are my options?

ANSWER: You have a few options.

You can bring your vantage 3 score over 570 by paying down cards, when you are ready you can request the SBA re-pull your report and reactivate your account via pdcrecons@sba.gov

You can request to add a co-borrower that has a higher score than 570 with no open bankruptcy and run their credit to reactivate your application.You can expedite your request for a co-borrower by having this ready to go. You can also do this preemptively if you expect to be declined for credit. The co-borrower does NOT have to be involved with the business and can be anyone.

The form is available here:

Line #14 – Add the co-borrowers information under owner #1
Line #15 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Line #16 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Sign page 10, co-borrower signs.Attach and send with your co-borrower request to pdcrecons@sba.gov with your application number.

NOTE: If you have an urgent need to have your co-borrower request expedited, please email me at cue378@protonmail.com with the subject line: “ADDING CO-BORROWER REQUESTED URGENT” I will respond within 24 hours.

16. QUESTION: What documents are required? Will a loan officer contact me?

ANSWER: In most cases no documentation is required and everything is self certified. In some cases a LO will need to contact you to clarify some things about your business or request specific documents. In most cases you will never be contacted by or communicate with a loan officer.

17. QUESTION: Can I decline the loan and just get the advance/grant?

ANSWER: Yes, but the EIDL loan and EIDL loan Advance/Grant are on the same application, so you should not decline the loan until you receive the EIDL Advance.

18. QUESTION: What are the eligible uses of EIDL funds?

ANSWER: These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. What are all the possible uses of the funds? The wording ‘obligations that are unable to be met due to lack of revenue’ seems to be a catch all, but how much so? The EIDL working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits or for expansion.

 19. QUESTION: I received a denial letter for the reason “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”. What does this mean and what can I do?

ANSWER: This occurs when the numbers entered on your application for COGS are greater than your revenue. The SBA calculates economic injury based on the formula in question number 4. You can also be denied for this reason if the resulting number is less than your advance amount. Please note that the SBA is only taking into account revenue earned prior to the disaster date of 1/31/20 to calculate your economic injury. If your only revenue was earned after that date as a newer business you may not qualify.

If the numbers on your application were correct, you would not be eligible for an EIDL. If you made an error you can request an amendment and request reactivation of your application. I can assist with this process. You need at minimum Profit and Loss statements for the period 12 months prior to the disaster starting 1/31/20.

20. QUESTION: What is CAWEB and how can it help me track my loan disbursement and other status?

ANSWER: You can use the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding. It allows you to see disbursement status and other details related to your loan.
Using the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding.Visit caweb.sba.gov or click the link at the top of r/EIDL

Setting up an account:

You need a SBA Loan # to set up an account – for EIDL it appears on the first page of your documents, in the upper left hand area, and says “SBA Loan # XXXXXXXXXX.”

SBA loan #’s are 10 digits. Your Application # will NOT work for account set-up.

If you have a PPP Loan, you can use your SBA # for this loan to set up an account. Sometimes this # is easy to figure out, sometimes not. That has to do with an intermediary (like your bank) being involved, but if you can track down an actual SBA Loan #, you can go ahead and get registered without your EIDL loan number.

On the home page click on “Not Enrolled?” in the top left. This takes you to a screen to enter info. You may come to hate this screen, this process is very finicky.

Look at the rules for creating a User ID and Password by clicking on “Rules…” next to the fields.

Write your exact ID & password down somewhere – if you ever get locked out and call the SBA for help, they are going to tell you that Borrowers are not supposed to be able to access CAFS CAWeb. Apparently we still can, so don’t make this a big deal or maybe that will change!For user type – select “borrower” from the drop down menu.

Fill in the highlighted fields with your info. Click on the “ZIP LOOKUP” button after you enter your zip code. This auto populates some other boxes, and registration won’t work if you don’t do this.
For the country code in the phone number section enter “1” for the United States.

Financial commitment ID is your Loan # – 10 digits.

If you don’t have a landline, it has been reported that just entering your mobile number in both fields works. You will have to select 3 of their security questions, enter the Captcha image info, then hit “submit” at the bottom.
If it didn’t like the info you have entered, it will give you an error message for what part it didn’t like, and you will have to try again, which requires re-entering quite a bit of the information. It’s a pain.
But if it takes it, you’re in! There may be a verification step now as well.
Finding your loan on CAWeb

On the caweb homepage, login (if you aren’t already), it will be personalized and show your name. You have to scroll down and check the “Agree to Terms” box when you are logging in.

Click on “Borrower” in the top left, then click on “Borrower Search”. This should take you to your “Loan List” showing the loan #, borrower name, loan type, amount, and loan status.

PPP loans typically appear as “Active Un-Disbursed” – if your PPP is already funded don’t worry about that. Your EIDL will show up as “Disbursed Current” if funds are on their way. It may say something else if you look immediately after you send back you Docs, but it should change pretty quickly. Logging out and back in again will sometimes refresh the status. Loan status will say “Active Un-Disbursed” until Treasury send the funds to your bank, then it changes to “Disbursed Current”.

It depends on your bank when they post in your account (same day, next day, time).
If your banking info didn’t verify, the transaction will fail to go through, and the status will revert.
If you are not funded within 3-4 banking days, there is likely a problem – check your info in your portal, call the SBA, and then email Cue if needed.

If you click on your loan# in the list, it opens up a page with details about your loan.
There’s even a box at the bottom to check if you want electronic account statements only, but if you check that, a warning pops up about “all attached to this loan will be affected by this change”, so we recommend not selecting that option just yet.
 
21. QUESTION: I received my portal invite link, however when I go to create an account I just get the message: “The user account has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm using the link in the e-mail”. What can I do?

ANSWER: This is a known bug/error normally relating to either getting the invite ahead of schedule or other missing information in your file that would prevent the account creation from moving forward. Tier 2 cannot solve this and it need a special approach to resolve.

Due to COVID-19, the original filing deadline and tax payment due date for 2019 was postponed from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. With many states still under travel and work restrictions due to the pandemic, some taxpayers and tax professionals alike were hoping that the date might be extended.

Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had not ruled out the possibility of pushing out the deadline, saying, “It’s something I’m thinking about.” He had indicated that he would continue to consider the idea as the date approaches.

But today’s announcement appears to rule out any additional changes. Individual taxpayers who cannot meet the July 15 due date can request an automatic extension of time to file. Keep in mind that the extension is a six-month extension from the original filing date of April 15, meaning that an extension will extend the time to file to October 15, 2020. It is not an extension from the extended due date.

If you can’t pay, help is available.

“The IRS understands that those affected by the coronavirus may not be able to pay their balances in full by July 15, but we have many payment options to help taxpayers,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “These easy-to-use payment options are available on IRS.gov, and most can be done automatically without reaching out to an IRS representative.”

Payment options are available on IRS.gov/payments to help taxpayers who can’t pay in full and some can offer taxpayers smaller penalties. That’s important since interest and late-payment penalties will continue to accrue on any unpaid taxes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2020/06/17/the-not-quite-definitive-guide-to-paycheck-protection-program-loan-forgiveness/#210bf7e35eaf

1. QUESTION: How do I get in touch with customer service phone support?

ANSWER: The highest level of official customer service is known as “tier 2” and can be reached by calling 1-800-659-2955 and asking for Tier 2.

They are unfortunately, a very limited means of support. They are able to check your application status and see the current “stage” and leave notes in your file, but unable to directly make any changes or escalate anything in a meaningful way.

Most are very nice and well meaning people but are usually poorly informed and often provided contradictory information between calls. The important thing to understand is that notes left by T2 do not actually notify a loan officer or anyone, they are simply waiting to be read if someone happens to open your file and takes the time to review the case notes. So if a T2 says they requested a change do not assume it was or will be made.

2. QUESTION: What are my chances of being approved for this loan? Can I know in advance?

ANSWER: The loan is relatively easy to get approval for by loan standards. The exact underwriting criteria the SBA is using was leaked by some helpful people and thus you can have a good understanding what your chances are.

Underwriters look for the following:-Minimum Credit Score of 570. They will pull from experian. Close to Vantage 3 model found on nav DOT com or TransUnion numbers on credit karma. They do NOT use FICO. Credit score is largest factor for approval for this loan and no exceptions are made for under 570.

-If economic injury was sustained based on formula described in QUESTION 4. If this is a negative number you will be auto declined. (SEE QUESTION 5) The SBA does not consider potential revenue lost or general expenses in the loan amount.

-Tax liens or tax issues are NOT a disqualifying factor or taken into consideration for COVID19 disaster.

-All owners on application must be either US citizens or Permanent Residents. E-2 Investor visa is NOT eligible and any attempts to appeal or add a co-borrower who is a citizen or LPR will be unsuccessful. Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities (LLE): Alien-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLEs properly registered and licensed in the state where the disaster occurred are eligible. If any member, partner, or shareholder, owning 20 percent or more of the applicant business is in the USA they must be a qualified alien.  If the alien resides outside the USA an exception may be made.3. QUESTION: I received a decline letter for “Business activity not eligible”. What can I do?

ANSWER: EIDL has a list of restricted business categories, if your type is NOT on this list and you still received this letter you may have been improperly classified.
 
The following applicants are not eligible for EIDL assistance.

7-Eleven Franchise Stores, despite what corp office says. (advance is OK)

Lending or Investment Concerns (except for real estate investments held for rental)

Multi-level Sales Distribution (Pyramid) Concerns c. Speculative Activities d. Non-profit Organizations that are not considered a Private Non-Profit

Consumer and Marketing Cooperatives. However, other cooperatives and small agricultural cooperatives meeting applicable size standards are eligible f. Not a small business concern (except for PNP of any size) g. Gambling Concerns. Concerns that derive more than one-third of their annual gross revenue from legal gambling activities.

Casinos, Racetracks, Etc. Businesses whose purpose for being is gambling (such as casinos, racetracks, poker parlors, etc.) are not eligible for EIDL assistance regardless of their ability to meet the one-third criteria established for otherwise eligible concerns.Loan packagers who derives more than one-third of their annual volume from the preparation of applications seeking financial assistance from SBA

Religious Organizations.

Political or Lobbying Concerns.

Pawn shops, when 50 percent or more of previous year’s income was derived 50 30 9 71 Effective Date: May 31, 2018 from interest

Real Estate Developers. Establishments primarily engaged in subdividing real property into lots and developing it for resale on their own account.

Life Insurance Companies.

Concerns Engaged in Illegal Activities (as defined by Federal guidelines). p. Government-owned concerns, except for businesses owned or controlled by a Native American tribe.

Concerns with Principals Incarcerated, on Parole or Probation: remain ineligible if the parole or probation is lifted solely because it is an impediment to obtaining a loan.

Concerns engaged in live performances of, or the Sale of Products, Services, of a Prurient Sexual Nature.

Businesses considered as hobbies.

Concerns Involved in Change in Ownership Situations: Concerns which had a substantial change of ownership (more than 50 percent) after the impending economic injury became apparent, and no contract for sale existed prior to that time are ineligible .

4. QUESTION: How is the loan amount calculated? How can I request a specific amount?

ANSWER: There is no way to request a specific amount, the eligible amount is calculated automatically by formula based on your inputs. There are three known formulas:

Standard Small Business: Revenue minus COGS divided by 2 minus advance, subject to maximum of 150K

Not for Profit: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20Business that collects rental property income, your offer is calculated by lost rents due to the disaster, not the standard formula. If your offer is lower than expected you may have been wrongly classified into this formula.

Agricultural businesses: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20

If the formula results in a negative number or less than your advance you will be declined for “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”

5. QUESTION: What is the maximum loan amount?

ANSWER: As of last update it is currently 150K cap. This will not change anytime soon and there will be no way to request more at present. The only way to avoid the cap is if your loan was already being obligated prior to the change by the SBA from 500K. If I hear anything new on this it will be updated here.

6. QUESTION: When will I get my portal invite?

ANSWER: Portal invites are a fully automated process and not strictly sequential but follow general group patterns. If you see someone that has a higher number than you get a portal invite it does NOT mean you were “passed over”.

Note: as of 5/30 there are a number of very early applications that are actually “stuck” in the credit pull stage (no portal invite yet, if you have the portal you do not have this issue) due to a glitch. If you have an application date of 3/29, 3/30, 3/31, or 4/01 (but no later) you may email me for information on how to get this resolved. Please be honest and accurate about your application date, I will know. If you app date is later and you still haven’t gotten your portal invite, I cannot help with this! I can’t stress that enough. 

7. QUESTION: I finally got a portal invite and accepted and submitted an amount. My application says it is “processing”, now what?

ANSWER: This is when the actual loan process starts and underwriting begins. Your application will be assigned a loan officer for review using the criteria listed in question 2.

The exact process is as follows with the actual stages from start to finish. Keep in mind that once you accept in the portal a number of things are going on behind the scenes, which is why “processing” can take a great deal of time. Once you see a loan amount in your portal, this is NOT an approved offer. It is simply a potential amount you are eligible for based on the stated formula if you pass underwriting.

Initial Call Needed (credit not ran)

LO assigned and makes decision: Declined, Duplicate, Approved[The following takes place behind the scenes and will not reflect in your portal, but will still say “processing”]

Approved: T2 Rep can now see your loan is approved on their screen. This means the Loan Officer has approved the deal and it is now going to the Senior Loan Officer. If the SLO does not approve the deal then it will go to declined.

Obligating: SLO known as a “team leader” reviews the work of the first LO to ensure everything was done correctly. Once they sign off on the deal the loan is now fully approved. The loan is being sent to the E-Tran system to receive a loan number. The loan has not yet received a loan number from E-Tran while obligating. This is the most common phase where hang ups in “processing” can error called “error in obligating”. Usually due to small technical issues or errors in your information that need to be sorted.Obligated: A loan number from E-Tran has been obtained and now closing documents can be drafted and sent to the borrower. This is when your portal would change from “processing” to approved. There may be a delay between when your offer is obligated to when it actually shows approved. I have seen it happen in as fast as 10 minutes or as long as 12 hours. You can also see approved but not have docs available. Docs will not show up until you get an email with the approval. The delay on this can be a few hours or more.

Funding: Docs are signed and the loan is automatically moved to funding stage to have treasury issue an ACH. This happens very quickly and you should see the ACH sent right after with the funds arriving in 24-48 hours on banking days. **NOTE** Currently as of 6/10 we are seeing delays in funding of up to a week or even more, as it is very backed up in the queue.** At this point you can track the disbursement with your loan number from the docs using CAWEB to see if the ACH has been sent. See CAWEB question.

Funded: Process complete, funds are successfully in your bank account. Congrats

Note: The exception to this process is that some applications which are considered easy (based on unknown factors) to approve are subject to full automation and may go straight to approval bypassing the above steps. This only happens in rare cases.

You may also see a status that says, “On-Hold” Amount $0: This status typically is when your loan was temporarily declined and is still in the reconsideration department pending possible reconsideration approval.

8. QUESTION: I now understand that processing really means “underwriting”, but how long will it actually take? What is the normal amount of time?

ANSWER: The amount of time it is normal for your portal to say “processing” is highly variable as a hundred different factors are involved behind the scenes. As of 6/10 we are seeing extended delays in processing time and obligating stage specifically. The average we are seeing is around 14-16 days total in processing. If your application has been in underwriting for greater than 14 days it may merit investigate, but not necessarily indicate a problem with your chances of approval. Do NOT panic if it seems “stuck” with no communication from anyone. This is normal.

9. QUESTION: Does contacting my congressmen or senator actually work?

ANSWER: Yes, the SBA treats congressional inquiry very carefully and will flag and sometimes white glove your application. Often they will assign a special case worker during the process. The important thing is when your local congressional office reaches out they do NOT contact the local district SBA but this email: 

focwcongressionalinquiries@sba.gov. This email is NOT for use by applicants but only official government purposes.

10. QUESTION: Help! I accidentally entered the wrong revenue or COGS on my application and my offer amount was lower than I expected, is it possible to change this?

ANSWER: Yes, but two factors are important:

You should NOT have already accepted an amount and submitted for processing in the portal. *If you already did see note below.

You have documentation to backup the changes such as Federal Tax Returns 2018 or 2019 or P&L Statements. Tax returns are strongly preferred if available.

****The important thing here is DO NOT accept the offer in the portal if you need to revise your numbers.****

*IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE OFFER: Call tier 2 support as soon as you possibly can and ask them to make the following note in your file: Loan Officer, DO NOT approve this file without calling me, the applicant, because my (revenue or COGS) figures are wrong. I have supporting docs to make the changes. Please contact me ASAP.11. QUESTION: I need to change my Rev or COGS and I already accepted an amount in the portal, Tier 2 told me to do it! Is it too late?

Answer: Unfortunately tier 2 is currently giving absolutely terrible advice in this situation. They are telling people to accept the offer in the portal to speak with a loan officer to make the revision. The problem is that once you accept you set the process in motion and then it gets obligated by treasury it is impossible to adjust. The proper time is prior to accepting. Often times loan officers never are needed, never reach out or even read these notes. I see it every day and people are stuck its the “kiss of death” advice. If you already accepted you may have time but would need to work quickly from date of submit.

UPDATE: As of 6/15 there is now a way to fix this. See question 13.

12. QUESTION: Who are you. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I am the owner of a Mid Sized accounting firm. We are assisting not only our clients but anyone who needs help. We are sharing the information, strategies, and general knowledge we have gained since the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak. We do not work at the SBA nor do we have any affiliation with the SBA.
Due to a huge volume of E-Mail be patient if we do not get back to you as quickly as we would like. We will be answering all E-Mails.

13. QUESTION: My loan was obligated, already funded, or I already accepted the amount in the portal. I made a mistake with my COGS or revenue and I am not happy with the amount. Can I change it?

ANSWER: As of 6/12 loan modifications are now being allowed. You can contact pdcrecons@sba.gov and request a “Loan Modification increase”. It is a 3-4 week process that requires documentation. A second loan will be given for the difference from the first one. It will be processed as a 20xx series loan in the old system/portal. For more details email me. Note if you have not yet accepted the offer the normal process is much faster.

14. QUESTION: I received my portal link, but when I go to create an account it just takes me to the login page. What can be done?

ANSWER: Follow these steps:

Open the email to create your portal account. Right click on the green button that says, “create your account”. Click “copy link address” or “copy hyperlink” depending on your browser.

Use a VPN service, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN (free), to connect to a VPN server in different state than yours, preferably on the opposite coast you are located.

Open an incognito browser window, or private browser session if on firefox.

Right click on the URL/web address field and paste the link you copied. Hit enter.

You should then successfully be able to create a login, enter the portal, and accept your offer.

Alternately if you don’t have a VPN or want to use one you can use a mobile phone to login incognito, with WiFi off on a cellular network, to create the account.

15. QUESTION: I was declined for “unsatisfactory credit”. What are my options?

ANSWER: You have a few options.

You can bring your vantage 3 score over 570 by paying down cards, when you are ready you can request the SBA re-pull your report and reactivate your account via pdcrecons@sba.gov

You can request to add a co-borrower that has a higher score than 570 with no open bankruptcy and run their credit to reactivate your application.You can expedite your request for a co-borrower by having this ready to go. You can also do this preemptively if you expect to be declined for credit. The co-borrower does NOT have to be involved with the business and can be anyone.

The form is available here:

Line #14 – Add the co-borrowers information under owner #1
Line #15 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Line #16 – Answer question for co-borrower.

Sign page 10, co-borrower signs.Attach and send with your co-borrower request to pdcrecons@sba.gov with your application number.

16. QUESTION: What documents are required? Will a loan officer contact me?

ANSWER: In most cases no documentation is required and everything is self certified. In some cases a LO will need to contact you to clarify some things about your business or request specific documents. In most cases you will never be contacted by or communicate with a loan officer.

17. QUESTION: Can I decline the loan and just get the advance/grant?

ANSWER: Yes, but the EIDL loan and EIDL loan Advance/Grant are on the same application, so you should not decline the loan until you receive the EIDL Advance.

18. QUESTION: What are the eligible uses of EIDL funds?

ANSWER: These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. What are all the possible uses of the funds? The wording ‘obligations that are unable to be met due to lack of revenue’ seems to be a catch all, but how much so? The EIDL working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits or for expansion.

 19. QUESTION: I received a denial letter for the reason “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”. What does this mean and what can I do?

ANSWER: This occurs when the numbers entered on your application for COGS are greater than your revenue. The SBA calculates economic injury based on the formula in question number 4. You can also be denied for this reason if the resulting number is less than your advance amount. Please note that the SBA is only taking into account revenue earned prior to the disaster date of 1/31/20 to calculate your economic injury. If your only revenue was earned after that date as a newer business you may not qualify.

If the numbers on your application were correct, you would not be eligible for an EIDL. If you made an error you can request an amendment and request reactivation of your application. I can assist with this process. You need at minimum Profit and Loss statements for the period 12 months prior to the disaster starting 1/31/20.

20. QUESTION: What is CAWEB and how can it help me track my loan disbursement and other status?

ANSWER: You can use the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding. It allows you to see disbursement status and other details related to your loan.

Using the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding.Visit caweb.sba.gov or click the link at the top of r/EIDL

Setting up an account:

You need a SBA Loan # to set up an account – for EIDL it appears on the first page of your documents, in the upper left hand area, and says “SBA Loan # XXXXXXXXXX.”

SBA loan #’s are 10 digits. Your Application # will NOT work for account set-up.

If you have a PPP Loan, you can use your SBA # for this loan to set up an account. Sometimes this # is easy to figure out, sometimes not. That has to do with an intermediary (like your bank) being involved, but if you can track down an actual SBA Loan #, you can go ahead and get registered without your EIDL loan number.

On the home page click on “Not Enrolled?” in the top left. This takes you to a screen to enter info. You may come to hate this screen, this process is very finicky.

Look at the rules for creating a User ID and Password by clicking on “Rules…” next to the fields.

Write your exact ID & password down somewhere – if you ever get locked out and call the SBA for help, they are going to tell you that Borrowers are not supposed to be able to access CAFS CAWeb. Apparently we still can, so don’t make this a big deal or maybe that will change!For user type – select “borrower” from the drop down menu.

Fill in the highlighted fields with your info. Click on the “ZIP LOOKUP” button after you enter your zip code. This auto populates some other boxes, and registration won’t work if you don’t do this.
For the country code in the phone number section enter “1” for the United States.

Financial commitment ID is your Loan # – 10 digits.

If you don’t have a landline, it has been reported that just entering your mobile number in both fields works. You will have to select 3 of their security questions, enter the Captcha image info, then hit “submit” at the bottom.

If it didn’t like the info you have entered, it will give you an error message for what part it didn’t like, and you will have to try again, which requires re-entering quite a bit of the information. It’s a pain.
But if it takes it, you’re in! There may be a verification step now as well.

Finding your loan on CAWeb

On the caweb homepage, login (if you aren’t already), it will be personalized and show your name. You have to scroll down and check the “Agree to Terms” box when you are logging in.

Click on “Borrower” in the top left, then click on “Borrower Search”. This should take you to your “Loan List” showing the loan #, borrower name, loan type, amount, and loan status.

PPP loans typically appear as “Active Un-Disbursed” – if your PPP is already funded don’t worry about that. Your EIDL will show up as “Disbursed Current” if funds are on their way. It may say something else if you look immediately after you send back you Docs, but it should change pretty quickly. Logging out and back in again will sometimes refresh the status. Loan status will say “Active Un-Disbursed” until Treasury send the funds to your bank, then it changes to “Disbursed Current”.

It depends on your bank when they post in your account (same day, next day, time).

If your banking info didn’t verify, the transaction will fail to go through, and the status will revert.

If you are not funded within 3-4 banking days, there is likely a problem – check your info in your portal, call the SBA, and then email Cue if needed.

If you click on your loan# in the list, it opens up a page with details about your loan.

There’s even a box at the bottom to check if you want electronic account statements only, but if you check that, a warning pops up about “all attached to this loan will be affected by this change”, so we recommend not selecting that option just yet.
 
21. QUESTION: I received my portal invite link, however when I go to create an account I just get the message: “The user account has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm using the link in the e-mail”. What can I do?

ANSWER: This is a known bug/error normally relating to either getting the invite ahead of schedule or other missing information in your file that would prevent the account creation from moving forward. Tier 2 cannot solve this and it need a special approach to resolve.

1. QUESTION: How do I get in touch with customer service phone support?

ANSWER: The highest level of official customer service is known as “tier 2” and can be reached by calling 1-800-659-2955 and asking for Tier 2.

They are unfortunately, a very limited means of support. They are able to check your application status and see the current “stage” and leave notes in your file, but unable to directly make any changes or escalate anything in a meaningful way.

Most are very nice and well meaning people but are usually poorly informed and often provided contradictory information between calls. The important thing to understand is that notes left by T2 do not actually notify a loan officer or anyone, they are simply waiting to be read if someone happens to open your file and takes the time to review the case notes. So if a T2 says they requested a change do not assume it was or will be made.

2. QUESTION: What are my chances of being approved for this loan? Can I know in advance?

ANSWER: The loan is relatively easy to get approval for by loan standards. The exact underwriting criteria the SBA is using was leaked by some helpful people and thus you can have a good understanding what your chances are.

Underwriters look for the following:-Minimum Credit Score of 570. They will pull from experian. Close to Vantage 3 model found on nav DOT com or TransUnion numbers on credit karma. They do NOT use FICO. Credit score is largest factor for approval for this loan and no exceptions are made for under 570.

-If economic injury was sustained based on formula described in QUESTION 4. If this is a negative number you will be auto declined. (SEE QUESTION 5) The SBA does not consider potential revenue lost or general expenses in the loan amount.

-Tax liens or tax issues are NOT a disqualifying factor or taken into consideration for COVID19 disaster.

-All owners on application must be either US citizens or Permanent Residents. E-2 Investor visa is NOT eligible and any attempts to appeal or add a co-borrower who is a citizen or LPR will be unsuccessful. Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities (LLE): Alien-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLEs properly registered and licensed in the state where the disaster occurred are eligible. If any member, partner, or shareholder, owning 20 percent or more of the applicant business is in the USA they must be a qualified alien.  If the alien resides outside the USA an exception may be made.3. QUESTION: I received a decline letter for “Business activity not eligible”. What can I do?

ANSWER: EIDL has a list of restricted business categories, if your type is NOT on this list and you still received this letter you may have been improperly classified.
 
The following applicants are not eligible for EIDL assistance.

7-Eleven Franchise Stores, despite what corp office says. (advance is OK)

Lending or Investment Concerns (except for real estate investments held for rental)

Multi-level Sales Distribution (Pyramid) Concerns c. Speculative Activities d. Non-profit Organizations that are not considered a Private Non-Profit

Consumer and Marketing Cooperatives. However, other cooperatives and small agricultural cooperatives meeting applicable size standards are eligible f. Not a small business concern (except for PNP of any size) g. Gambling Concerns. Concerns that derive more than one-third of their annual gross revenue from legal gambling activities.

Casinos, Racetracks, Etc. Businesses whose purpose for being is gambling (such as casinos, racetracks, poker parlors, etc.) are not eligible for EIDL assistance regardless of their ability to meet the one-third criteria established for otherwise eligible concerns.Loan packagers who derives more than one-third of their annual volume from the preparation of applications seeking financial assistance from SBA

Religious Organizations.

Political or Lobbying Concerns.

Pawn shops, when 50 percent or more of previous year’s income was derived 50 30 9 71 Effective Date: May 31, 2018 from interest

Real Estate Developers. Establishments primarily engaged in subdividing real property into lots and developing it for resale on their own account.

Life Insurance Companies.

Concerns Engaged in Illegal Activities (as defined by Federal guidelines). p. Government-owned concerns, except for businesses owned or controlled by a Native American tribe.

Concerns with Principals Incarcerated, on Parole or Probation: remain ineligible if the parole or probation is lifted solely because it is an impediment to obtaining a loan.

Concerns engaged in live performances of, or the Sale of Products, Services, of a Prurient Sexual Nature.

Businesses considered as hobbies.

Concerns Involved in Change in Ownership Situations: Concerns which had a substantial change of ownership (more than 50 percent) after the impending economic injury became apparent, and no contract for sale existed prior to that time are ineligible .

4. QUESTION: How is the loan amount calculated? How can I request a specific amount?

ANSWER: There is no way to request a specific amount, the eligible amount is calculated automatically by formula based on your inputs. There are three known formulas:

Standard Small Business: Revenue minus COGS divided by 2 minus advance, subject to maximum of 150K

Not for Profit: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20Business that collects rental property income, your offer is calculated by lost rents due to the disaster, not the standard formula. If your offer is lower than expected you may have been wrongly classified into this formula.

Agricultural businesses: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20

If the formula results in a negative number or less than your advance you will be declined for “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”

5. QUESTION: What is the maximum loan amount?

ANSWER: As of last update it is currently 150K cap. This will not change anytime soon and there will be no way to request more at present. The only way to avoid the cap is if your loan was already being obligated prior to the change by the SBA from 500K. If I hear anything new on this it will be updated here.

6. QUESTION: When will I get my portal invite?

ANSWER: Portal invites are a fully automated process and not strictly sequential but follow general group patterns. If you see someone that has a higher number than you get a portal invite it does NOT mean you were “passed over”.

Note: as of 5/30 there are a number of very early applications that are actually “stuck” in the credit pull stage (no portal invite yet, if you have the portal you do not have this issue) due to a glitch. If you have an application date of 3/29, 3/30, 3/31, or 4/01 (but no later) you may email me for information on how to get this resolved. Please be honest and accurate about your application date, I will know. If you app date is later and you still haven’t gotten your portal invite, I cannot help with this! I can’t stress that enough. 

7. QUESTION: I finally got a portal invite and accepted and submitted an amount. My application says it is “processing”, now what?

ANSWER: This is when the actual loan process starts and underwriting begins. Your application will be assigned a loan officer for review using the criteria listed in question 2.

The exact process is as follows with the actual stages from start to finish. Keep in mind that once you accept in the portal a number of things are going on behind the scenes, which is why “processing” can take a great deal of time. Once you see a loan amount in your portal, this is NOT an approved offer. It is simply a potential amount you are eligible for based on the stated formula if you pass underwriting.

Initial Call Needed (credit not ran)

LO assigned and makes decision: Declined, Duplicate, Approved[The following takes place behind the scenes and will not reflect in your portal, but will still say “processing”]

Approved: T2 Rep can now see your loan is approved on their screen. This means the Loan Officer has approved the deal and it is now going to the Senior Loan Officer. If the SLO does not approve the deal then it will go to declined.

Obligating: SLO known as a “team leader” reviews the work of the first LO to ensure everything was done correctly. Once they sign off on the deal the loan is now fully approved. The loan is being sent to the E-Tran system to receive a loan number. The loan has not yet received a loan number from E-Tran while obligating. This is the most common phase where hang ups in “processing” can error called “error in obligating”. Usually due to small technical issues or errors in your information that need to be sorted.Obligated: A loan number from E-Tran has been obtained and now closing documents can be drafted and sent to the borrower. This is when your portal would change from “processing” to approved. There may be a delay between when your offer is obligated to when it actually shows approved. I have seen it happen in as fast as 10 minutes or as long as 12 hours. You can also see approved but not have docs available. Docs will not show up until you get an email with the approval. The delay on this can be a few hours or more.

Funding: Docs are signed and the loan is automatically moved to funding stage to have treasury issue an ACH. This happens very quickly and you should see the ACH sent right after with the funds arriving in 24-48 hours on banking days. **NOTE** Currently as of 6/10 we are seeing delays in funding of up to a week or even more, as it is very backed up in the queue.** At this point you can track the disbursement with your loan number from the docs using CAWEB to see if the ACH has been sent. See CAWEB question.

Funded: Process complete, funds are successfully in your bank account. Congrats

Note: The exception to this process is that some applications which are considered easy (based on unknown factors) to approve are subject to full automation and may go straight to approval bypassing the above steps. This only happens in rare cases.

You may also see a status that says, “On-Hold” Amount $0: This status typically is when your loan was temporarily declined and is still in the reconsideration department pending possible reconsideration approval.

8. QUESTION: I now understand that processing really means “underwriting”, but how long will it actually take? What is the normal amount of time?

ANSWER: The amount of time it is normal for your portal to say “processing” is highly variable as a hundred different factors are involved behind the scenes. As of 6/10 we are seeing extended delays in processing time and obligating stage specifically. The average we are seeing is around 14-16 days total in processing. If your application has been in underwriting for greater than 14 days it may merit investigate, but not necessarily indicate a problem with your chances of approval. Do NOT panic if it seems “stuck” with no communication from anyone. This is normal.

9. QUESTION: Does contacting my congressmen or senator actually work?

ANSWER: Yes, the SBA treats congressional inquiry very carefully and will flag and sometimes white glove your application. Often they will assign a special case worker during the process. The important thing is when your local congressional office reaches out they do NOT contact the local district SBA but this email: 

focwcongressionalinquiries@sba.gov. This email is NOT for use by applicants but only official government purposes.

10. QUESTION: Help! I accidentally entered the wrong revenue or COGS on my application and my offer amount was lower than I expected, is it possible to change this?

ANSWER: Yes, but two factors are important:

You should NOT have already accepted an amount and submitted for processing in the portal. *If you already did see note below.

You have documentation to backup the changes such as Federal Tax Returns 2018 or 2019 or P&L Statements. Tax returns are strongly preferred if available.

****The important thing here is DO NOT accept the offer in the portal if you need to revise your numbers.****

*IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE OFFER: Call tier 2 support as soon as you possibly can and ask them to make the following note in your file: Loan Officer, DO NOT approve this file without calling me, the applicant, because my (revenue or COGS) figures are wrong. I have supporting docs to make the changes. Please contact me ASAP.11. QUESTION: I need to change my Rev or COGS and I already accepted an amount in the portal, Tier 2 told me to do it! Is it too late?

Answer: Unfortunately tier 2 is currently giving absolutely terrible advice in this situation. They are telling people to accept the offer in the portal to speak with a loan officer to make the revision. The problem is that once you accept you set the process in motion and then it gets obligated by treasury it is impossible to adjust. The proper time is prior to accepting. Often times loan officers never are needed, never reach out or even read these notes. I see it every day and people are stuck its the “kiss of death” advice. If you already accepted you may have time but would need to work quickly from date of submit.

UPDATE: As of 6/15 there is now a way to fix this. See question 13.

12. QUESTION: Who are you. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I am the owner of a Mid Sized accounting firm. We are assisting not only our clients but anyone who needs help. We are sharing the information, strategies, and general knowledge we have gained since the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak. We do not work at the SBA nor do we have any affiliation with the SBA.
Due to a huge volume of E-Mail be patient if we do not get back to you as quickly as we would like. We will be answering all E-Mails.

13. QUESTION: My loan was obligated, already funded, or I already accepted the amount in the portal. I made a mistake with my COGS or revenue and I am not happy with the amount. Can I change it?

ANSWER: As of 6/12 loan modifications are now being allowed. You can contact pdcrecons@sba.gov and request a “Loan Modification increase”. It is a 3-4 week process that requires documentation. A second loan will be given for the difference from the first one. It will be processed as a 20xx series loan in the old system/portal. For more details email me. Note if you have not yet accepted the offer the normal process is much faster.

14. QUESTION: I received my portal link, but when I go to create an account it just takes me to the login page. What can be done?

ANSWER: Follow these steps:

Open the email to create your portal account. Right click on the green button that says, “create your account”. Click “copy link address” or “copy hyperlink” depending on your browser.

Use a VPN service, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN (free), to connect to a VPN server in different state than yours, preferably on the opposite coast you are located.

Open an incognito browser window, or private browser session if on firefox.

Right click on the URL/web address field and paste the link you copied. Hit enter.

You should then successfully be able to create a login, enter the portal, and accept your offer.

Alternately if you don’t have a VPN or want to use one you can use a mobile phone to login incognito, with WiFi off on a cellular network, to create the account.

15. QUESTION: I was declined for “unsatisfactory credit”. What are my options?

ANSWER: You have a few options.

You can bring your vantage 3 score over 570 by paying down cards, when you are ready you can request the SBA re-pull your report and reactivate your account via pdcrecons@sba.gov

You can request to add a co-borrower that has a higher score than 570 with no open bankruptcy and run their credit to reactivate your application.You can expedite your request for a co-borrower by having this ready to go. You can also do this preemptively if you expect to be declined for credit. The co-borrower does NOT have to be involved with the business and can be anyone.

The form is available here:

Line #14 – Add the co-borrowers information under owner #1
Line #15 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Line #16 – Answer question for co-borrower.

Sign page 10, co-borrower signs.Attach and send with your co-borrower request to pdcrecons@sba.gov with your application number.

16. QUESTION: What documents are required? Will a loan officer contact me?

ANSWER: In most cases no documentation is required and everything is self certified. In some cases a LO will need to contact you to clarify some things about your business or request specific documents. In most cases you will never be contacted by or communicate with a loan officer.

17. QUESTION: Can I decline the loan and just get the advance/grant?

ANSWER: Yes, but the EIDL loan and EIDL loan Advance/Grant are on the same application, so you should not decline the loan until you receive the EIDL Advance.

18. QUESTION: What are the eligible uses of EIDL funds?

ANSWER: These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. What are all the possible uses of the funds? The wording ‘obligations that are unable to be met due to lack of revenue’ seems to be a catch all, but how much so? The EIDL working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits or for expansion.

 19. QUESTION: I received a denial letter for the reason “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”. What does this mean and what can I do?

ANSWER: This occurs when the numbers entered on your application for COGS are greater than your revenue. The SBA calculates economic injury based on the formula in question number 4. You can also be denied for this reason if the resulting number is less than your advance amount. Please note that the SBA is only taking into account revenue earned prior to the disaster date of 1/31/20 to calculate your economic injury. If your only revenue was earned after that date as a newer business you may not qualify.

If the numbers on your application were correct, you would not be eligible for an EIDL. If you made an error you can request an amendment and request reactivation of your application. I can assist with this process. You need at minimum Profit and Loss statements for the period 12 months prior to the disaster starting 1/31/20.

20. QUESTION: What is CAWEB and how can it help me track my loan disbursement and other status?

ANSWER: You can use the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding. It allows you to see disbursement status and other details related to your loan.

Using the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding.Visit caweb.sba.gov or click the link at the top of r/EIDL

Setting up an account:

You need a SBA Loan # to set up an account – for EIDL it appears on the first page of your documents, in the upper left hand area, and says “SBA Loan # XXXXXXXXXX.”

SBA loan #’s are 10 digits. Your Application # will NOT work for account set-up.

If you have a PPP Loan, you can use your SBA # for this loan to set up an account. Sometimes this # is easy to figure out, sometimes not. That has to do with an intermediary (like your bank) being involved, but if you can track down an actual SBA Loan #, you can go ahead and get registered without your EIDL loan number.

On the home page click on “Not Enrolled?” in the top left. This takes you to a screen to enter info. You may come to hate this screen, this process is very finicky.

Look at the rules for creating a User ID and Password by clicking on “Rules…” next to the fields.

Write your exact ID & password down somewhere – if you ever get locked out and call the SBA for help, they are going to tell you that Borrowers are not supposed to be able to access CAFS CAWeb. Apparently we still can, so don’t make this a big deal or maybe that will change!For user type – select “borrower” from the drop down menu.

Fill in the highlighted fields with your info. Click on the “ZIP LOOKUP” button after you enter your zip code. This auto populates some other boxes, and registration won’t work if you don’t do this.
For the country code in the phone number section enter “1” for the United States.

Financial commitment ID is your Loan # – 10 digits.

If you don’t have a landline, it has been reported that just entering your mobile number in both fields works. You will have to select 3 of their security questions, enter the Captcha image info, then hit “submit” at the bottom.

If it didn’t like the info you have entered, it will give you an error message for what part it didn’t like, and you will have to try again, which requires re-entering quite a bit of the information. It’s a pain.
But if it takes it, you’re in! There may be a verification step now as well.

Finding your loan on CAWeb

On the caweb homepage, login (if you aren’t already), it will be personalized and show your name. You have to scroll down and check the “Agree to Terms” box when you are logging in.

Click on “Borrower” in the top left, then click on “Borrower Search”. This should take you to your “Loan List” showing the loan #, borrower name, loan type, amount, and loan status.

PPP loans typically appear as “Active Un-Disbursed” – if your PPP is already funded don’t worry about that. Your EIDL will show up as “Disbursed Current” if funds are on their way. It may say something else if you look immediately after you send back you Docs, but it should change pretty quickly. Logging out and back in again will sometimes refresh the status. Loan status will say “Active Un-Disbursed” until Treasury send the funds to your bank, then it changes to “Disbursed Current”.

It depends on your bank when they post in your account (same day, next day, time).

If your banking info didn’t verify, the transaction will fail to go through, and the status will revert.

If you are not funded within 3-4 banking days, there is likely a problem – check your info in your portal, call the SBA, and then email Cue if needed.

If you click on your loan# in the list, it opens up a page with details about your loan.

There’s even a box at the bottom to check if you want electronic account statements only, but if you check that, a warning pops up about “all attached to this loan will be affected by this change”, so we recommend not selecting that option just yet.
 
21. QUESTION: I received my portal invite link, however when I go to create an account I just get the message: “The user account has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm using the link in the e-mail”. What can I do?

ANSWER: This is a known bug/error normally relating to either getting the invite ahead of schedule or other missing information in your file that would prevent the account creation from moving forward. Tier 2 cannot solve this and it need a special approach to resolve.

1. QUESTION: How do I get in touch with customer service phone support?

ANSWER: The highest level of official customer service is known as “tier 2” and can be reached by calling 1-800-659-2955 and asking for Tier 2.

They are unfortunately, a very limited means of support. They are able to check your application status and see the current “stage” and leave notes in your file, but unable to directly make any changes or escalate anything in a meaningful way.

Most are very nice and well meaning people but are usually poorly informed and often provided contradictory information between calls. The important thing to understand is that notes left by T2 do not actually notify a loan officer or anyone, they are simply waiting to be read if someone happens to open your file and takes the time to review the case notes. So if a T2 says they requested a change do not assume it was or will be made.

2. QUESTION: What are my chances of being approved for this loan? Can I know in advance?

Underwriters look for the following:-Minimum Credit Score of 570. They will pull from experian. Close to Vantage 3 model found on nav DOT com or TransUnion numbers on credit karma. They do NOT use FICO. Credit score is largest factor for approval for this loan and no exceptions are made for under 570.

-If economic injury was sustained based on formula described in QUESTION 4. If this is a negative number you will be auto declined. (SEE QUESTION 5) The SBA does not consider potential revenue lost or general expenses in the loan amount.

-Tax liens or tax issues are NOT a disqualifying factor or taken into consideration for COVID19 disaster.

-All owners on application must be either US citizens or Permanent Residents. E-2 Investor visa is NOT eligible and any attempts to appeal or add a co-borrower who is a citizen or LPR will be unsuccessful. Corporations, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities (LLE): Alien-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLEs properly registered and licensed in the state where the disaster occurred are eligible. If any member, partner, or shareholder, owning 20 percent or more of the applicant business is in the USA they must be a qualified alien.  If the alien resides outside the USA an exception may be made.3. QUESTION: I received a decline letter for “Business activity not eligible”. What can I do?

ANSWER: EIDL has a list of restricted business categories, if your type is NOT on this list and you still received this letter you may have been improperly classified.
 
The following applicants are not eligible for EIDL assistance.

7-Eleven Franchise Stores, despite what corp office says. (advance is OK)

Lending or Investment Concerns (except for real estate investments held for rental)

Multi-level Sales Distribution (Pyramid) Concerns c. Speculative Activities d. Non-profit Organizations that are not considered a Private Non-Profit

Consumer and Marketing Cooperatives. However, other cooperatives and small agricultural cooperatives meeting applicable size standards are eligible f. Not a small business concern (except for PNP of any size) g. Gambling Concerns. Concerns that derive more than one-third of their annual gross revenue from legal gambling activities.

Casinos, Racetracks, Etc. Businesses whose purpose for being is gambling (such as casinos, racetracks, poker parlors, etc.) are not eligible for EIDL assistance regardless of their ability to meet the one-third criteria established for otherwise eligible concerns.Loan packagers who derives more than one-third of their annual volume from the preparation of applications seeking financial assistance from SBA

Religious Organizations.

Political or Lobbying Concerns.

Pawn shops, when 50 percent or more of previous year’s income was derived 50 30 9 71 Effective Date: May 31, 2018 from interest

Real Estate Developers. Establishments primarily engaged in subdividing real property into lots and developing it for resale on their own account.

Life Insurance Companies.

Concerns Engaged in Illegal Activities (as defined by Federal guidelines). p. Government-owned concerns, except for businesses owned or controlled by a Native American tribe.

Concerns with Principals Incarcerated, on Parole or Probation: remain ineligible if the parole or probation is lifted solely because it is an impediment to obtaining a loan.

Concerns engaged in live performances of, or the Sale of Products, Services, of a Prurient Sexual Nature.

Businesses considered as hobbies.

Concerns Involved in Change in Ownership Situations: Concerns which had a substantial change of ownership (more than 50 percent) after the impending economic injury became apparent, and no contract for sale existed prior to that time are ineligible .

4. QUESTION: How is the loan amount calculated? How can I request a specific amount?

ANSWER: There is no way to request a specific amount, the eligible amount is calculated automatically by formula based on your inputs. There are three known formulas:

Standard Small Business: Revenue minus COGS divided by 2 minus advance, subject to maximum of 150K

Not for Profit: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20Business that collects rental property income, your offer is calculated by lost rents due to the disaster, not the standard formula. If your offer is lower than expected you may have been wrongly classified into this formula.
Agricultural businesses: 6 months operating expenses year prior to 1/31/20

If the formula results in a negative number or less than your advance you will be declined for “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”

5. QUESTION: What is the maximum loan amount?

ANSWER: As of last update it is currently 150K cap. This will not change anytime soon and there will be no way to request more at present. The only way to avoid the cap is if your loan was already being obligated prior to the change by the SBA from 500K. If I hear anything new on this it will be updated here.

6. QUESTION: When will I get my portal invite?

ANSWER: Portal invites are a fully automated process and not strictly sequential but follow general group patterns. If you see someone that has a higher number than you get a portal invite it does NOT mean you were “passed over”.
Note: as of 5/30 there are a number of very early applications that are actually “stuck” in the credit pull stage (no portal invite yet, if you have the portal you do not have this issue) due to a glitch. If you have an application date of 3/29, 3/30, 3/31, or 4/01 (but no later) you may email me for information on how to get this resolved. Please be honest and accurate about your application date, I will know. If you app date is later and you still haven’t gotten your portal invite, I cannot help with this! I can’t stress that enough. 

7. QUESTION: I finally got a portal invite and accepted and submitted an amount. My application says it is “processing”, now what?

ANSWER: This is when the actual loan process starts and underwriting begins. Your application will be assigned a loan officer for review using the criteria listed in question 2. The exact process is as follows with the actual stages from start to finish. Keep in mind that once you accept in the portal a number of things are going on behind the scenes, which is why “processing” can take a great deal of time. Once you see a loan amount in your portal, this is NOT an approved offer. It is simply a potential amount you are eligible for based on the stated formula if you pass underwriting.

Initial Call Needed (credit not ran)

LO assigned and makes decision: Declined, Duplicate, Approved[The following takes place behind the scenes and will not reflect in your portal, but will still say “processing”]

Approved: T2 Rep can now see your loan is approved on their screen. This means the Loan Officer has approved the deal and it is now going to the Senior Loan Officer. If the SLO does not approve the deal then it will go to declined.
Obligating: SLO known as a “team leader” reviews the work of the first LO to ensure everything was done correctly. Once they sign off on the deal the loan is now fully approved. The loan is being sent to the E-Tran system to receive a loan number. The loan has not yet received a loan number from E-Tran while obligating. This is the most common phase where hang ups in “processing” can error called “error in obligating”. Usually due to small technical issues or errors in your information that need to be sorted.Obligated: A loan number from E-Tran has been obtained and now closing documents can be drafted and sent to the borrower. This is when your portal would change from “processing” to approved. There may be a delay between when your offer is obligated to when it actually shows approved. I have seen it happen in as fast as 10 minutes or as long as 12 hours. You can also see approved but not have docs available. Docs will not show up until you get an email with the approval. The delay on this can be a few hours or more.

Funding: Docs are signed and the loan is automatically moved to funding stage to have treasury issue an ACH. This happens very quickly and you should see the ACH sent right after with the funds arriving in 24-48 hours on banking days. **NOTE** Currently as of 6/10 we are seeing delays in funding of up to a week or even more, as it is very backed up in the queue.** At this point you can track the disbursement with your loan number from the docs using CAWEB to see if the ACH has been sent. See CAWEB question.

Funded: Process complete, funds are successfully in your bank account. Congrats

Note: The exception to this process is that some applications which are considered easy (based on unknown factors) to approve are subject to full automation and may go straight to approval bypassing the above steps. This only happens in rare cases.

You may also see a status that says, “On-Hold” Amount $0: This status typically is when your loan was temporarily declined and is still in the reconsideration department pending possible reconsideration approval.

8. QUESTION: I now understand that processing really means “underwriting”, but how long will it actually take? What is the normal amount of time?

ANSWER: The amount of time it is normal for your portal to say “processing” is highly variable as a hundred different factors are involved behind the scenes. As of 6/10 we are seeing extended delays in processing time and obligating stage specifically. The average we are seeing is around 14-16 days total in processing. If your application has been in underwriting for greater than 14 days it may merit investigate, but not necessarily indicate a problem with your chances of approval. Do NOT panic if it seems “stuck” with no communication from anyone. This is normal.

9. QUESTION: Does contacting my congressmen or senator actually work?

ANSWER: Yes, the SBA treats congressional inquiry very carefully and will flag and sometimes white glove your application. Often they will assign a special case worker during the process. The important thing is when your local congressional office reaches out they do NOT contact the local district SBA but this email: 

focwcongressionalinquiries@sba.gov. This email is NOT for use by applicants but only official government purposes.

10. QUESTION: Help! I accidentally entered the wrong revenue or COGS on my application and my offer amount was lower than I expected, is it possible to change this?

ANSWER: Yes, but two factors are important:

You should NOT have already accepted an amount and submitted for processing in the portal. *If you already did see note below.

You have documentation to backup the changes such as Federal Tax Returns 2018 or 2019 or P&L Statements. Tax returns are strongly preferred if available.

****The important thing here is DO NOT accept the offer in the portal if you need to revise your numbers.****

*IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE OFFER: Call tier 2 support as soon as you possibly can and ask them to make the following note in your file: Loan Officer, DO NOT approve this file without calling me, the applicant, because my (revenue or COGS) figures are wrong. I have supporting docs to make the changes. Please contact me ASAP.11. QUESTION: I need to change my Rev or COGS and I already accepted an amount in the portal, Tier 2 told me to do it! Is it too late?

Answer: Unfortunately tier 2 is currently giving absolutely terrible advice in this situation. They are telling people to accept the offer in the portal to speak with a loan officer to make the revision. The problem is that once you accept you set the process in motion and then it gets obligated by treasury it is impossible to adjust. The proper time is prior to accepting. Often times loan officers never are needed, never reach out or even read these notes. I see it every day and people are stuck its the “kiss of death” advice. If you already accepted you may have time but would need to work quickly from date of submit.

UPDATE: As of 6/15 there is now a way to fix this. See question 13.

12. QUESTION: Who are you. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I am the owner of a Mid Sized accounting firm. We are assisting not only our clients but anyone who needs help. We are sharing the information, strategies, and general knowledge we have gained since the beginning of the Covid 19 outbreak. We do not work at the SBA nor do we have any affiliation with the SBA.
Due to a huge volume of E-Mail be patient if we do not get back to you as quickly as we would like. We will be answering all E-Mails.

13. QUESTION: My loan was obligated, already funded, or I already accepted the amount in the portal. I made a mistake with my COGS or revenue and I am not happy with the amount. Can I change it?

ANSWER: As of 6/12 loan modifications are now being allowed. You can contact pdcrecons@sba.gov and request a “Loan Modification increase”. It is a 3-4 week process that requires documentation. A second loan will be given for the difference from the first one. It will be processed as a 20xx series loan in the old system/portal. For more details email me. Note if you have not yet accepted the offer the normal process is much faster.

14. QUESTION: I received my portal link, but when I go to create an account it just takes me to the login page. What can be done?

ANSWER: Follow these steps:

Open the email to create your portal account. Right click on the green button that says, “create your account”. Click “copy link address” or “copy hyperlink” depending on your browser.

Use a VPN service, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN (free), to connect to a VPN server in different state than yours, preferably on the opposite coast you are located.

Open an incognito browser window, or private browser session if on firefox.

Right click on the URL/web address field and paste the link you copied. Hit enter.

You should then successfully be able to create a login, enter the portal, and accept your offer.

Alternately if you don’t have a VPN or want to use one you can use a mobile phone to login incognito, with WiFi off on a cellular network, to create the account.

15. QUESTION: I was declined for “unsatisfactory credit”. What are my options?

ANSWER: You have a few options.

You can bring your vantage 3 score over 570 by paying down cards, when you are ready you can request the SBA re-pull your report and reactivate your account via pdcrecons@sba.gov

You can request to add a co-borrower that has a higher score than 570 with no open bankruptcy and run their credit to reactivate your application.You can expedite your request for a co-borrower by having this ready to go. You can also do this preemptively if you expect to be declined for credit. The co-borrower does NOT have to be involved with the business and can be anyone.

The form is available here:

Line #14 – Add the co-borrowers information under owner #1
Line #15 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Line #16 – Answer question for co-borrower.
Sign page 10, co-borrower signs.Attach and send with your co-borrower request to pdcrecons@sba.gov with your application number.

NOTE: If you have an urgent need to have your co-borrower request expedited, please email me at cue378@protonmail.com with the subject line: “ADDING CO-BORROWER REQUESTED URGENT” I will respond within 24 hours.

16. QUESTION: What documents are required? Will a loan officer contact me?

ANSWER: In most cases no documentation is required and everything is self certified. In some cases a LO will need to contact you to clarify some things about your business or request specific documents. In most cases you will never be contacted by or communicate with a loan officer.

17. QUESTION: Can I decline the loan and just get the advance/grant?

ANSWER: Yes, but the EIDL loan and EIDL loan Advance/Grant are on the same application, so you should not decline the loan until you receive the EIDL Advance.

18. QUESTION: What are the eligible uses of EIDL funds?

ANSWER: These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. What are all the possible uses of the funds? The wording ‘obligations that are unable to be met due to lack of revenue’ seems to be a catch all, but how much so? The EIDL working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits or for expansion.

 19. QUESTION: I received a denial letter for the reason “ECONOMIC INJURY NOT SUSTAINED”. What does this mean and what can I do?

ANSWER: This occurs when the numbers entered on your application for COGS are greater than your revenue. The SBA calculates economic injury based on the formula in question number 4. You can also be denied for this reason if the resulting number is less than your advance amount. Please note that the SBA is only taking into account revenue earned prior to the disaster date of 1/31/20 to calculate your economic injury. If your only revenue was earned after that date as a newer business you may not qualify.

If the numbers on your application were correct, you would not be eligible for an EIDL. If you made an error you can request an amendment and request reactivation of your application. I can assist with this process. You need at minimum Profit and Loss statements for the period 12 months prior to the disaster starting 1/31/20.

20. QUESTION: What is CAWEB and how can it help me track my loan disbursement and other status?

ANSWER: You can use the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding. It allows you to see disbursement status and other details related to your loan.
Using the Capital Access Finance System to track your EIDL after your documents have been signed and submitted through funding.Visit caweb.sba.gov or click the link at the top of r/EIDL

Setting up an account:

You need a SBA Loan # to set up an account – for EIDL it appears on the first page of your documents, in the upper left hand area, and says “SBA Loan # XXXXXXXXXX.”

SBA loan #’s are 10 digits. Your Application # will NOT work for account set-up.

If you have a PPP Loan, you can use your SBA # for this loan to set up an account. Sometimes this # is easy to figure out, sometimes not. That has to do with an intermediary (like your bank) being involved, but if you can track down an actual SBA Loan #, you can go ahead and get registered without your EIDL loan number.

On the home page click on “Not Enrolled?” in the top left. This takes you to a screen to enter info. You may come to hate this screen, this process is very finicky.

Look at the rules for creating a User ID and Password by clicking on “Rules…” next to the fields.

Write your exact ID & password down somewhere – if you ever get locked out and call the SBA for help, they are going to tell you that Borrowers are not supposed to be able to access CAFS CAWeb. Apparently we still can, so don’t make this a big deal or maybe that will change!For user type – select “borrower” from the drop down menu.

Fill in the highlighted fields with your info. Click on the “ZIP LOOKUP” button after you enter your zip code. This auto populates some other boxes, and registration won’t work if you don’t do this.
For the country code in the phone number section enter “1” for the United States.

Financial commitment ID is your Loan # – 10 digits.

If you don’t have a landline, it has been reported that just entering your mobile number in both fields works. You will have to select 3 of their security questions, enter the Captcha image info, then hit “submit” at the bottom.
If it didn’t like the info you have entered, it will give you an error message for what part it didn’t like, and you will have to try again, which requires re-entering quite a bit of the information. It’s a pain.
But if it takes it, you’re in! There may be a verification step now as well.
Finding your loan on CAWeb

On the caweb homepage, login (if you aren’t already), it will be personalized and show your name. You have to scroll down and check the “Agree to Terms” box when you are logging in.

Click on “Borrower” in the top left, then click on “Borrower Search”. This should take you to your “Loan List” showing the loan #, borrower name, loan type, amount, and loan status.

PPP loans typically appear as “Active Un-Disbursed” – if your PPP is already funded don’t worry about that. Your EIDL will show up as “Disbursed Current” if funds are on their way. It may say something else if you look immediately after you send back you Docs, but it should change pretty quickly. Logging out and back in again will sometimes refresh the status. Loan status will say “Active Un-Disbursed” until Treasury send the funds to your bank, then it changes to “Disbursed Current”.

It depends on your bank when they post in your account (same day, next day, time).
If your banking info didn’t verify, the transaction will fail to go through, and the status will revert.
If you are not funded within 3-4 banking days, there is likely a problem – check your info in your portal, call the SBA, and then email Cue if needed.

If you click on your loan# in the list, it opens up a page with details about your loan.
There’s even a box at the bottom to check if you want electronic account statements only, but if you check that, a warning pops up about “all attached to this loan will be affected by this change”, so we recommend not selecting that option just yet.
 
21. QUESTION: I received my portal invite link, however when I go to create an account I just get the message: “The user account has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm using the link in the e-mail”. What can I do?

ANSWER: This is a known bug/error normally relating to either getting the invite ahead of schedule or other missing information in your file that would prevent the account creation from moving forward. Tier 2 cannot solve this and it need a special approach to resolve.