Prepare for PPP forgiveness

Over the last few months, many lenders stepped up to assist with providing financial relief to thousands of small businesses when the economy began to feel the impacts of COVID-19. Loans made under the SBA’s Payroll Protection Program became the most viable option for business owners since the terms came with the added benefit of potential loan forgiveness. While the SBA worked to prepare the guidelines as quickly as the laws were being passed, lenders and fintech partners were both left scrambling to assemble solutions for incoming requests.

If anything can be learned from participation in this program it’s that allowing proper time for preparation and considering how to create more efficient processes are the most important factors in being able to adequately serve members.

So now that you’ve made it through the initial process of booking the loans it’s time to comprehensively prepare for assisting members with loan forgiveness. If loan forgiveness is not carried out perfectly, many members may have the future of their business on the line. Are you ready?

Consider how you can create more efficient processes so business owners can focus more time on running their business. You should be prepared to assist borrowers with:

  • Completing and submitting the Loan Forgiveness Application.
  • Calculating the forgiveness amount.
  • Collecting documentation to support eligible payroll and non-payroll expenses. Examples of this type of documentation include proof of payments for mortgage interest, rent, leases, utilities, and payroll.
  • Making certifications for the SBA. Certifications are statements regarding the eligibility of expenses claimed as the basis for forgiveness, the use of PPP loan proceeds for authorized purposes, the borrower’s verification of payroll and non-payroll costs and submission of verification documents, as well as the truth and correctness of all information in the application and supporting documents.

Given the SBA’s frequent issuance of additional guidance, it’s important to keep an eye out for any additional requirements that might be added.

When you consider everything that your members have on the line this cannot be something that is prepared for at the last minute. As many borrowers are beginning to enter the forgiveness application period it’s crucial that our industry is ready to respond with the same exceptional service that credit unions are widely known for.

At Lucro Commercial Solutions, we can help you automate the forgiveness application process. We’ll even provide you with a tool to help you calculate the forgiveness amount. If your credit union would like to quickly set up a custom, software-free, online business loan portal to assist with automating and centralizing the collection of applications and documents visit www.Lucro.org/DBLC to learn more or contact Heather Bosenko at heather@lucro.org.

Heather Bosenko

Heather Bosenko

Heather started at Lucro in 2013 where she's done everything from underwriting to developing and launching the CUSO's digital lending tool. Prior to that, Heather worked in the banking world ... Web: https://www.lucro.org Details