Rise and grind, and Happy Monday.  I hope that everybody had a great weekend.  Mine got a little side railed when the SBA and Treasury department released a confusing 11-page PPP forgiveness application on Friday night without guidance back it up.  I am sure that plenty of bankers, CPA's and attorneys' heads are going to be spinning today.  I welcome them to my club.

My first piece of advice on PPP forgiveness is to take a breath and calm down.  You won’t be able to apply for forgiveness for at least 56 days after you received your PPP disbursement, and in many cases, it will not make sense to apply until after June 30th, when specific safe harbor requirements kick in.  So we all have time here.  And the only thing that is almost certain is that the rules and guidelines will change a couple of times between now and then.

The other good news is that if you followed the spirit and intent of the PPP Law, the forgiveness application will be pretty simple and straight forward for you.  If you brought your people back when you got your PPP money and kept pay levels intact, you should expect to get two months of your payroll forgiven, and have some extra money available for rent, utilities, and interest on your building.  If you are in this camp, there are a few simple decisions to make that might impact your forgiveness amount on the margin, but you can expect smooth sailing. 

The 11 page PPP application with the dozens of variables is designed to close loopholes and penalize business owners who didn't follow the intent of the law.  And this is where things get trickier.  If you are in this camp, the application will get more delicate and require a lot more thought to maximize your forgiveness.  Those who did not follow the intent of the law will be eligible for less forgiveness. 

A quick reminder that irrespective of whether your PPP gets forgiven or not when you took the money, you agreed to only use it for payroll, rent, utilities, and or interest on your building.

For those who are interested, I will be giving an Aminar of the PPP forgiveness application at 5 pm EST today.  If you can’t make it at that time, we will post the slides and a recording on the Aminar on this community site.  And as relevant changes to the PPP forgiveness process come up, I will announce additional Aminar’s on the topic.  - (MultiFunding)