6 Things About PPP Loan Forgiveness Small Businesses Should Know

More than $23.4 billion in PPP loans were approved for small businesses in the Pacific Northwest. As the SBA continues working with lenders nationwide on the Paycheck Protection Program, small business owners should take note of the following things when it comes to PPP loan forgiveness:

1. Approximately 66% of PPP borrowers in the region are eligible for a simplified loan forgiveness application.

Earlier in October, the SBA and Treasury released a simpler forgiveness application for PPP loans of $50,000 or less. This action streamlines the PPP loan forgiveness process to provide financial and administrative relief to America’s smallest businesses while also ensuring sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars. A majority of PPP loans are eligible for this option.

2. The estimated time to complete the simplified PPP loan forgiveness form application (loans $50,000 or less) can be as little as 15 minutes.

The simplified application has only seven items for a PPP borrower to verify and significantly reduces the time and paperwork needed for PPP loan forgiveness.

3. Businesses still need to document PPP loan money was spent on eligible expenses.

Since a key part of forgiveness for PPP loans is using the money for eligible expenses, borrowers need to provide documentation with the forgiveness application. This can include:

• Payroll documentation
• Bank account statements or third-party payroll service provider reports
• Tax forms
• Business mortgage interest payments – lender amortization schedule, receipts, cancelled checks
• Business rent or lease payments – current lease agreement, receipts, cancelled checks
• Business utility payments – invoices, receipts, cancelled checks, account statements

4. Borrowers apply for PPP loan forgiveness through their lender, not the SBA.

Borrowers can download PPP loan forgiveness applications from sba.gov/paycheckprotection and submit those and other required information to the lender that provided them with a PPP loan. Lenders have up to 60 days to review a PPP loan forgiveness application and the SBA has up to 90 days to review the forgiveness application once received from the lender. The SBA remits the amount forgiven to the lender, who has to process the forgiveness payment before notifying the PPP borrower of the amount.

5. The SBA has already started remittance to lenders.

The SBA began approving PPP loan forgiveness applications and remitting forgiveness payments to lenders for PPP borrowers Oct. 2, 2020. The SBA will continue to process all PPP loan forgiveness applications in an expeditious manner.

6. SBA Resource Partners are available to help borrowers through the forgiveness process and assist with recovery plans.

To ease small businesses through the forgiveness process and empower businesses to confidently move their business forward, the SBA Resource Partner Network – which includes Small Business Development Centers, SCORE Mentors, Women’s Business Centers and the Veterans Business Outreach Center – provide one-on-one business advising and technical assistance to small businesses at no- or low-cost.

More info on PPP

The SBA and its network of partners is here to help small businesses recover and confidently move their business forward.

Federal resources for business

SBA Pacific Northwest Regional Office

Serving Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska
2401 Fourth Avenue, Suite 400
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 553-5231 ▪ region10@sba.gov
www.sba.gov