Category: Small Business
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“I’m from the government and I’m here to help”
From the first day that we discussed coronavirus relief programs I emphasized the need for all of us to be wary of the claim “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. Over the past seven years I’ve worked with well over one hundred clients hurt by superstorm Sandy but hurt even more by…
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How to compute the maximum amount of Paycheck Protection Program
On April 24 the US Treasury issued this guidance on how to calculate the maximum amount of loan under the Paycheck Protection Program. It would have been a lot more useful if was dated April 3, instead of April 24 but we have to complete the details now on how to compute the maximum loan…
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New Jersey political forecast 2020
Political forecasting is an important part of effective small business strategic management. This is a digest of the latest Politico “New Jersey Playbook” published Thursday 4/23 reporting on the latest Monmouth University statewide poll results: MARIJUANA: It looks like New Jersey will be legalizing marijuana. 61% in favor, 34% opposed. PRESIDENT AND SENATE: Biden leads…
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Status of Paycheck Protection Program application?
This comes from a real email exchange today: CLIENT: Subject: Re: status update on Payroll Protection Program Tony, I don’t believe I heard anything back from this? Has xxxxxx responded to our request? ME: Correct. No response after initial confirmation of application more than two weeks ago. I did attempt to contact the officer who…
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Change to client services agreement
This is a template for a new letter to be used beginning today: CHANGE TO CLIENT SERVICES AGREEMENT The past six weeks have been unlike anything I’ve experienced in the past 33 years of serving in the advisory profession. I responded by increasing my average daily client caseload from 3 to 5, increasing hours and…
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Small business roundup of crisis response news
The past day generated more financial news affecting U.S. small businesses than any previous day of this pandemic. While the learning curve is steep, typically 1-2 hours each day, the time requirement today and for the rest of this week will be substantially more. No doubt that after I speak with some small business clients…
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CARES Act triggers online and telephone scams
Please be aware of the increase in scams related to the CARES Act Programs. The Small Business Administration, Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of the Treasury will NOT CONTACT ANYONE DIRECTLY related to the various relief programs. In addition, bank employees will never ask for your social security number or other sensitive information via…
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Small Business Crisis Management Plan B
The new ’employee retention credit’ is a refundable payroll tax credit for 50% of qualified wages up to a maximum wage of $10,000 per employee. Wages paid starting March 13, 2020 through December 31, 2020 are eligible, even retroactively. The best way to take advantage is to integrate this cash flow benefit directly with your…
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Costs associated with Paycheck Protection Program application processing
I’ve publicized here and on other platforms that my firm and some affiliates will prepare and submit economic relief applications under the CARES Act without charge. But submitting the application is the easy part. Doing the required underlying accounting and assembling the documentation to support these loan and grants applications is potentially expensive. Of course,…
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An update on crisis relief for small businesses
Almost nothing went right in the launch of the Payroll Protection Program over the past two business days. The best advice is to keep trying and don’t give up. Don’t forget what’s happening on a state level. The state programs quickly oversubscribed but today but more relief is likely. If you are sweating bullets to…