Cloud Solution Incorporates Enhanced Administrative Capabilities to Manage PPP Loan Forgiveness and Provide Lending Solutions to CPA Clients

NEW YORK (Sept. 22, 2020) – The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), its business and technology arm, CPA.com, and fintech leader Biz2Credit today announced they are teaming up on a new platform, CPALoanPortal.com, to streamline the process for CPA firms advising small businesses both on loan forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and additional small business financing options that clients may need to fund growth.

The platform adds new CPA-centric capabilities to the automated PPP loan forgiveness tool (PPPForgivenessTool.com) the companies introduced in July that has been used by over 30,000 borrowers and more than 5,000 CPAs and financial professionals so far. It incorporates the PPP forgiveness calculator developed by the AICPA and is available to any business approved for a PPP loan. The platform produces all government forms required under the PPP program, supports calculations on payroll and other expenses, and produces a master report with the applicant’s electronic signature that can be delivered to the underwriting lender.

The basic loan forgiveness tool is included in CPALoanPortal.com, with enhanced functionality now available specifically for CPA firms to support clients more efficiently. These features include:

• Functionality that allows firms to easily aggregate clients, customize engagements and track progress on loan and financing applications
• Integration to additional lending options for clients
• Enhanced customer service for CPA firms

Two subscription tiers, premium and enterprise, are available based on the number of users and volume of loan applications a firm is managing. The original basic loan forgiveness application service remains free.

“Over the past six months, CPA firms have played a defining role with their clients around the different business relief programs, especially the Paycheck Protection Program,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “We have been helping the 44,000 firms provide advice and direction to their clients through our weekly AICPA Town Halls and resource tools. We’re now taking the next step in launching a cloud-based business relief platform for firms to use in providing these services. In many ways, this is developing into a strategic service line for firms and it is important for them to have professional tools to support it.”

The PPP is part of the CARES Act stimulus package and was designed to help businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic to maintain operations and payroll. PPP loans are forgivable if borrowers follow guidelines on payroll spending set by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury Department, which administer the loan program.

“The PPP loan forgiveness process is only the start of the journey to recovery for many small businesses,” said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora. "Many will need continued support and sound financing as the economy continues to slowly recover from the impact of the pandemic. That’s why the additional lending options we’re providing in CPALoanPortal.com are critical.

“It’s also crucial that CPAs play a key role in guiding small businesses through these decisions, particularly when it comes to financing,” added Arora, one of the nation’s leading experts in small business finance. “We’re committed to helping firms serve their clients better at this critical time and in the future.”

For more information, visit CPALoanPortal.com. The site has FAQs and other details about signing up for the new service.

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About the American Institute of CPAs

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, with more than 431,000 members in the United States and worldwide, and a history of serving the public interest since 1887. AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting. The AICPA sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, nonprofit organizations, and federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination, offers specialized credentials, builds the pipeline of future talent and drives professional competency development to advance the vitality, relevance and quality of the profession.

About Biz2Credit

Founded in 2007, Biz2Credit has arranged more than $3 billion in small business financing. Biz2Credit is focused on funding what’s next for small business. The company leverages data, cash flow insights, and the latest technology to give business owners an automated small business funding platform to fit their financial needs. With over 350 employees globally, the Biz2Credit team – made up of top-notch engineers, marketers, and data scientists – is building the next generation in business lending solutions.

Biz2Credit has been named to the Inc. 5000 and Inc. Magazine’s Private Titans list for 2020, is a three-time winner of the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and was named a Great Place to Work in 2020 and 2019. Headquartered in New York City, the company recently raised a $52M Series B round of investment in 2019.Visit www.biz2credit.com or Twitter @Biz2Credit, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Firms can now apply for domains similar to their company name.

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and its CPA.com unit have launched an application process for early access to .CPA domain names.

This process is different from sunrise and a separate non-Trademark-Clearinghouse trademark phase the organization is running.

Only CPA firms — not individual Certified Public Accountants — can apply during this early phase. Applicants who get a .CPA domain prior to general availability must put the domain to use by, at minimum, forwarding the domain to their existing website.

Applications for this phase must be received by October 31, 2020. The phase is only for registering domain names similar to the firm’s name, not generics like tax.cpa.

Domains will be allocated on a “systematic logic-based process”, according to the .CPA website. I inquired with a support agent about what this process is. The agent told me:

We have a process that we can’t share due to manipulation of the process. Please just choose domains that are most similar to your own.

It will be interesting to see how applications for the same name will be allocated.

Non-premium domain names cost $225 per year.

General Availability for .CPA begins January 15, 2021. At that point, any licensed CPA can register a domain.

AICPA likely paid more than $2 million to secure the rights to the .CPA top level domain.

The American Institute of CPAs and its technology arm, CPA.com, have begun the first phase of the rollout of their new top-level internet domain, .cpa, and are now accepting applications from CPA firms for specific addresses.

This “Brand Protection” phase of applications runs through Oct. 31, and is designed to make sure that CPA firms have an opportunity to register for .cpa URLs that match up with their current .com URLs and firm branding. Applications are limited to licensed CPA firms that agree to actively use the domains they are applying for; all applications will be considered together after the Oct. 31 deadline, with priority for any particular address given to the firm that has the corresponding .com URL.

“You can reserve your existing .com URL,” explained CPA.com president and CEO Erik Asgeirsson. “If you want another domain, then it depends on who else applies, and who has the closest URL to what’s being requested. It will be a logic-driven process.”

The goal is twofold: to help firms extend their current branding and digital positioning – and to cut cybersquatters out of the process.

“What we don’t want is people buying up domains and not using them,” said Michael Cerami, vice president of strategic alliances and business development at CPA.com. “We’re looking to be as fair as possible, and not get into auctioning these sites. We’re trying to make as fair a playing field as possible.”

Results of the “Brand Protection” phase will be released in early November. Following that, the “Early Adopter” phase will run from Nov. 5 to Jan. 14, 2021, where URLs will be available to licensed CPA firms on a first-come, first-serve basis. Starting on Jan. 15, .cpa registrations will be opened up to individual licensed CPAs.

Pricing for a standard .cpa domain is $225 a year. Premium domains — those with just two or three letters — will cost $690 a year.

Firms can register here.

More secure brands

Until relatively recently, the number of top-level domains was very small – primarily .com, .edu, .org or .gov. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the international body that registers internet addresses, has allowed that number to expand, but even now there are only around 600 TLDs, and 40 percent of websites still end in .com.

“It is expensive to get a top-level domain,” Asgeirsson explained. “It’s a complex process, you spend millions to put the infrastructure together. That’s not something a small firm can do — they’re not going to create top-level domains for their firm, but they don’t have to, because we have .cpa.”

Because ownership of a .cpa address will be limited to licensed CPAs and CPA firms confirmed by the institute and its chosen administrators, Neustar, it will significantly limit the potential for phishing and spoofing attacks by hackers looking to impersonate CPAs.

“We’ve been focusing on how domains are a foundational part of your firm – they’re used everywhere on the internet; you see them in portals, in emails, on the website,” said CPA.com director of operations Chris Cromer. “So if you’re using a less-secure domain, like .com and the other legacy TLDs, you’re putting your firm at risk.”

“If you start with a more secure domain to build your brand on, everything above will be more secure,” he continued. “It’ll keep away that cybersquatter community — every time there’s a new TLD, there’s a rush of these cybersquatters, but they can’t do that with .CPA.”

“Trust is a crucial commodity in business and on the internet, and it’s a cornerstone of the CPA profession,” said AICPA president and CEO Barry Melancon, in a statement. “The .cpa domain will signal you’re doing business with a licensed CPA firm or individual CPA, so it provides an additional level of trust, security and brand recognition in online interactions.”

Today, the AICPA and CPA.com are launching .cpa, a restricted Internet domain exclusively for the CPA profession.

Only licensed CPA firms and – starting next year – individual CPAs will be able to sign up for the new top-level domain, a term that refers to the last letters of an email address or website name (most commonly .com). The new .cpa domain has several advantages for the profession:

• It allows better, more focused branding
• It provides better security and resistance to Internet fraud
• It promotes greater trust in firms’ online interactions with clients and the public
• It demonstrates that firms are progressive and professional in the digital sphere

Restricted or protected domains such as .cpa are part of the next, more secure, generation of the Internet, what I like to think of as “Internet 2.0.” It’s no secret that Internet fraud is on the rise. The latest FBI statistics show that losses from Internet crime rose to $3.5 billion in 2019, an increase of more than 50% from 2016.

A recent Ponemon Institute survey found that 57% of small businesses reported instances of phishing or social engineering attacks in the past 12 months, many tied to fraudulent look-alike or spoofed domain addresses. For CPAs entrusted with sensitive client data, it goes without saying that a data breach, ransomware demand or other malicious attack could be devastating.

The rollout of the .cpa domain is part of a global movement aimed at improving security online. You may have noticed the introduction of restricted or protected domains, such as .bank or .pharmacy, in other sectors. Since trust is an essential component of the CPA profession, we’re early movers on this adoption curve. But it will become more and more common in business – and more recognizable to clients.

“Trust is a crucial commodity in business and on the Internet, and it’s a cornerstone of the CPA profession,” AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, said today in a press release. “The .cpa domain will signal you’re doing business with a licensed CPA firm or individual CPA, so it provides an additional level of trust, security and brand recognition in online interactions.”

We’re committed to making sure that .cpa domain names are distributed in a systematic way. Here’s how the process works:

• All firms can begin submitting applications today, Sept 1st, at domains.cpa, provided they are licensed and agree to actually use any domain names they acquire. The initial application phase runs from today until Oct. 31, with the goal of helping firms obtain domains that are most consistent with their current digital branding. No one gets to jump the queue in this initial phase – domain names will be awarded according to logic-based criteria verified by an independent third-party. Firms in this early phase will be notified of the outcome of their domain name applications no later than early November. Starting Nov. 5, firms are free to apply for any available .cpa name on a rolling, “first come, first served” basis. Beginning in January 2021, individual licensed CPAs will be able to apply.

We have a position paper that explains the benefits and background of the restricted .cpa domain in greater detail, as well as an explanatory video. For more information, or to apply for your preferred domain name, please visit domains.cpa.

Initiative is Led by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and CPA.com

NEW YORK (Sept. 3, 2020) —The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association) and CPA.com are seeking applicants for their 2021 startup accelerator program, which specializes in accounting, finance and regulatory technology.

Launched in 2017, the accelerator is open to early-stage companies in the United States and abroad. Successful applicants can tap business intelligence about the accounting profession from senior leaders of both the Association and CPA.com and gain insight from the program’s advisory board members, who have diverse backgrounds and complementary skills in entrepreneurship, startup tech companies, accounting and finance. In addition, companies can qualify for up to $25,000 in funding.

“This was a great program and opportunity for our company,” said Joey Ryan, CFO and cofounder of Gilded, a member of the 2020 accelerator cohort. “We were able to leverage the knowledge and resources of the Association and CPA.com, receive feedback from CPA firms on our service, and connect with thought leaders who are helping to drive acceptance of digital payments.”

Gilded, based in New Orleans, uses blockchain to offer seamless invoicing, payments, and accounting for global businesses.

Applications for the 2021 accelerator close on Nov. 30, 2020, and selections will be announced in January. Companies that are chosen will be featured next summer at ENGAGE 2021, one of the leading accounting and finance conferences in North America, and later in the year at the AICPA/CPA.com Digital CPA Conference, which specializes in accounting technology and practice development topics.

“The 2021 program has particular value for early-stage companies because of the lingering challenges of the pandemic,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “As a global organization, we have the ability to advise startups so they’re well-positioned to take advantage of new opportunities. We have strong relationships throughout the accounting and finance technology field that are invaluable and hard to replicate. The profession, meanwhile, benefits by getting an early look at innovation from some really smart companies.”

The startup accelerator program is open to entrepreneurial companies worldwide. To be eligible, companies should be:

• At seed or pre-Series A stage (with some exceptions)
• Have a working product or service
• Focused on financial or regulatory technology solutions

For questions about the program, please contact Kacee Johnson, strategic advisor for CPA.com, at kacee.johnson@hq.cpa.com. To apply, please visit the startup accelerator program page at cpa.com/accelerator.

About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association) is the most influential body of professional accountants, combining the strengths of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to power trust, opportunity and prosperity for people, businesses and economies worldwide. It represents 650,000 members and students across 179 countries and territories in public and management accounting, and advocates for the public interest and business sustainability on current and emerging issues. With broad reach, rigor and resources, the Association advances the reputation, employability and quality of CPAs, CGMAs and accounting and finance professionals globally.

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.