SBA Expected to Reopen for All Lenders by Friday, Jan. 15

NEW YORK (Jan. 13, 2021) –The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) expects the federal government to open up the application process for all lenders participating in the latest round of the Paycheck Protection Program by Friday, and encourages CPA firms to advance the application process for small business clients seeking relief.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) began accepting new applications on a limited basis this week through community financial institutions. But confusion about the timing for other lenders has led to anxiety among small businesses and their advisors.

“We believe the full program needs to go live as soon as possible and we fully support the Treasury Department and SBA reopening the program for all lenders by Friday,” said AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA. “What we’ve been telling CPA firms is be prepared and get to work. All indications, based on input from the Treasury and SBA, is there will be enough funding to meet all of the ‘first draw’ and ‘second draw’ PPP applications, so firms can help alleviate concerns their clients may have.”

The AICPA has been advising firms to collect key information from their clients such as average monthly payroll amounts, quarterly revenue comparisons for second draw borrowers and other required documentation to speed the process. Compared to the initial launch of the program in April 2020, firms now have substantial experience in business relief, more guidance and better tools.

The AICPA, CPA.com and fintech leader Biz2Credit in September launched a financing platform for CPA firms, the CPA Business Funding Portal, to help practitioners as they assist small businesses through PPP loan forgiveness. The portal, which has been used by thousands of firms, has been updated to accept so-called PPP2 applications and over three thousand applications have already been prepopulated.

“Small businesses should expect more scrutiny in this round of PPP applications,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “The SBA is doing more vetting for potential fraud and in some instances is asking for more validation. It’s important that businesses and their advisors get it right, so that applications don’t get held up and pushed back in the queue. That’s why we think it’s vital that firms use the more robust set of tools that are available now.”

The CPA Business Funding Portal offers a free basic service, plus tiered subscription plans for firms that want a direct path to fund loans through an SBA-approved lender to ensure they receive agent fees.

“It is critical that business owners work closely with their trusted business advisors, especially their CPA, to ensure they qualify for the maximum loan amount and provide the right supporting documentation,” said Rohit Arora, CEO and Co-Founder of Biz2Credit. “Being prepared now is the best way for businesses to ensure they get the money they need.”

AICPA executives will discuss the latest PPP developments and their implications for CPAs and their small business clients at this week’s AICPA Town Hall at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday. For more information about the AICPA’s resources for firms on PPP, please visit aicpa.org/sba. More details about the CPA Business Funding Portal can be found at cpa.com/business-funding.

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 to Play Critical Role in Navigating More Complex Eligibility Criteria for ‘PPP2’ Loans

NEW YORK (Dec. 28, 2020)–The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is a strong advocate of additional relief for small businesses and worked in recent months to prepare CPA firms for the next round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding through the development of essential tools and training. Firms are now ready to hit the ground running to aid their small business clients come January.

With last night’s enactment of the emergency Coronavirus Relief Package that includes renewed PPP funds and related assistance, new regulations will be in place early in the new year, according to the AICPA and its business and technology arm, CPA.com.

“CPA firms played a critical part in supporting small businesses over the past nine months, and will continue to fill a crucial role in helping small businesses understand new PPP eligibility criteria such as the 25% decline in gross receipts so they can apply for this much-needed relief,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “With the relief legislation now signed into law, lenders and the Small Business Administration will begin processing a new round of loan applications quickly. We’re in a much better place than we were when the original PPP was implemented. Firms have better experience, capabilities and new tools to deploy.”

The AICPA and CPA.com have been advising firms to reach out proactively to hard-pressed businesses and begin collecting key documents such as 2020 revenue, monthly payroll amounts, and the like. There are several new provisions in the $310 billion small business relief package that CPAs should take into account, such as:

• Expenses associated with forgiven PPP loans are now tax deductible, and the definition of eligible expenses is broadened to include facility modifications and personal protection equipment, among other things
• PPP loan recipients are eligible for a second draw of funding if they have 300 employees or less and can show a 25 percent decline in revenue in any 2020 quarter, compared to the corresponding 2019 quarter
• There will be a simplified loan forgiveness process (although not automatic forgiveness) for businesses that received loans of $150,000 or less
• There are some categories of newly eligible borrowers such as 501(c)(6)s and news organizations, under certain conditions
• Advances from an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) will not impact PPP loan forgiveness
• Additional money has been authorized for PPP oversight, so even small loans could be subject to random review
• Provisions of the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) have been modified to make this much-needed business relief option more widely available and more effective for small businesses

The AICPA, CPA.com and fintech leader Biz2Credit in September launched a financing platform for CPA firms, the CPA Business Funding Portal to help practitioners as they assist small businesses through PPP loan forgiveness, as well as any other small business financing options. The portal has been updated to pre-process the so-called PPP2 applications and will also incorporate the latest guidance.

“We’ll be ready to go almost immediately after the SBA issues its new forms and guidance,” said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora, one of the nation’s leading experts on small business finance. “We already have a way for CPA firms to start preparing PPP applications for their clients, and we will be ready to receive submissions as soon as the final rules are issued. The CPA portal offers an efficient, centralized platform for CPAs to manage relief funding for their small business clients, and we’ll continue to update and evolve it.”

Among other features, the CPA Business Lending Portal offers:

• A free basic service for small businesses or CPAs to use for PPP forgiveness and PPP2 applications
• A more robust set of tools in a single platform to help CPA firms manage multiple clients in a standardized way
• Payment of applicable agent fees for firms registered for one of the commercial plans available through the platform – this helps resolve a top issue for many CPAs in the first phase of PPP
• Direct integration into the SBA E-Tran system to accelerate loan decisioning times and increase decision transparency for CPA firms’ small business clients
• Access to the power of AICPA technical input and calculators

“We’re encouraging firms to leverage platforms for PPP2 versus working on the many intricacies of the legislation for their own internal calculators,” Asgeirsson said. “Building these internal tools is not the best use of their time when there is so much for them to focus on in advising their clients.”

CPA.com, the AICPA’s practice management section and Biz2Credit will hold a free webinar at 3 p.m. ET this Wednesday on the opportunity around business relief advisory services, and how utilizing a tool can help CPA firms and their clients. CPAs can also join the AICPA and CPA.com leadership for the latest on the PPP and related developments in the AICPA Town Hall series. A special recorded version of the series will be available Wednesday.

For more information, please visit cpa.com/business-funding.

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.

AICPA Urges Swift Passage of Additional Business Relief

NEW YORK (Dec. 14, 2020) – As Congress weighs renewed economic stimulus, CPA firms should be gearing up to assist small businesses whose survival depends on a new round of funding under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and its business and technology arm, CPA.com, recommend. Small businesses should be reaching out to their trusted advisors, as well.

“We are encouraging the 44,000 CPA firms affiliated with the AICPA to start identifying clients who will meet the proposed criteria for the next round of PPP,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “As part of that, they should begin the process of gathering key information, such as 2020 revenue. It’s also important for firms to put in place processes and PPP platform capabilities. Firms have a great opportunity to be much more proactive and strategic on how they support clients with this stimulus compared to the original PPP round in April.”

The AICPA is urging swift, renewed funding of the PPP and other business relief programs.

“Small businesses, the engine of our economy, continue to struggle,” said AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA. “We strongly support Congress’s efforts to deliver more relief funding as soon as possible.”

During the initial rollout of PPP, CPA firms were forced to set up manual processes to serve clients and often operated with limited guidance. To provide better support, the AICPA, CPA.com and fintech leader Biz2Credit in September launched a financing platform for CPA firms, the CPA Business Funding Portal (located at CPALoanPortal.com), to help practitioners guide small businesses through PPP loan forgiveness, as well as any other small business financing options. Versions of the portal’s tools, developed by CPA.com and Biz2Credit, have been used by more than 37,000 business owners and almost 7,000 CPA firms since this summer.

Once so-called “PPP2” funding is authorized, the portal will be quickly updated to make loan application processing efficient and aligned with the latest guided assistance, Asgeirsson said.

Among other features, the CPA Business Lending Portal offers:

• A free basic service for small businesses or CPAs advising only a few clients
• A more robust set of tools in a single platform to help CPA firms manage multiple clients in a standardized way
• Upfront integration with leading payroll providers (with more providers being added regularly) to intake data automatically from official payroll reports
• Access to the power of AICPA technical input and calculators
• Payment of agent fees for firms registered for one of the paid plans available through the platform (assuming this is permissible in PPP2, as it was in the original PPP)

“We’ve learned a lot of lessons about simplifying the application process for small businesses since PPP was first introduced,” said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora. "The CPA Business Funding Portal is built on our Biz2X Platform, which is tailor-made to the specifications of the SBA and the Treasury Department and is adaptable as regulations change. It has become a trusted platform for lenders, small business borrowers and their trusted CPA advisors.”

Arora added: “We will be ready for accounting professionals on Day 1 following the enactment of PPP2.”

For more information, please visit cpa.com/business-funding. The site has FAQs, pricing details and other information about signing up for the 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.

The Past Year Was a Time of Accelerating Change and Reinvention, says CEO of CPA.com

NEW YORK (Dec. 8, 2020) – CPA firms reaffirmed their value to small business clients in 2020, even as they reshaped the way they deliver their services, said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com.

The CPA profession’s response to workplace restrictions and pandemic-related shutdowns dramatically accelerated key firm trends such as the move to the cloud, advisory services and remote work that CPA.com has been advancing over the past decade with the Digital CPA community, Asgeirsson said during his keynote presentation at Digital CPA, held as a virtual event this year.

“We say that 2020 has become the new 2025,” he said. “The key driver of this is the acceleration of the adoption rate of technology, along with the way firms deliver client services.”

Asgeirsson noted that business agility matured significantly in the past year, with clear advantages to progressive firms that had invested in technology and innovation. And he said the sense of purpose within the profession has never been higher.

The profession’s reputation benefited, meanwhile, from the role CPA firms played in advising beleaguered small businesses seeking relief through the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans and related programs. “CPA firms really stepped up and proved their value,” Asgeirsson said. “So much so that we’re seeing business relief emerging as a new category of advisory services. While pandemic-related relief issues will run possibly into 2022, we think business funding will be a fertile new area for firms as an advisory service long after that.”

The remote work environment has also underscored the value of virtual CFO services. CPA.com is launching a new cloud-based business planning solution for firms from Jirav. The financial planning and analysis tool permits fast forecasting and budgeting, with insights presented in engaging dashboards with custom key performance indicators and tailored reports.

Asgeirsson also updated conference attendees on the progress of the AICPA’s Dynamic Audit Solution initiative, which will launch its first commercial version of an evolved audit methodology next year. He also discussed the highly successful U.S. rollout of the .cpa Internet domain, which is restricted solely to licensed CPA firms and – starting in January – licensed individual CPAs.

“This new domain is a significant move for the profession,” he said. “And we’ll be rolling this out around the world.”

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.

Jody Grunden of Summit CPA Group Brings Fresh Ideas to Virtual CFO Services

NEW YORK (Dec. 3, 2020) – Jody Grunden, CPA, a pioneer of subscription-based billing within the accounting profession, has been named the 2020 recipient of CPA.com’s Innovative Practitioner Award, which recognizes innovation in process, services and technology implementation.

Grunden is co-founder and CEO of Summit CPA Group, which offers virtual CFO services. Grunden has run a completely remote organization since 2013, which allows him to tap talent across the United States and abroad. His team specializes in creative agencies, such as advertising and marketing firms, and holds weekly video meetings with business owners to go over budgeting, cash flow management, forecasting and tax planning, among other topics. Clients aren’t invoiced – they are charged automatically through their bank accounts each week.

Subscriptions are based on the size of the company, and clients aren’t locked into long-term engagements. “If we can’t perform, then it shouldn’t be the client’s fault,” Grunden said.

A thought leader on virtual CFO services, Grunden offers courses and delivers webinars on the topic. He is also the author of two books, “"Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud," and “Digital Dollars and Cents: A Virtual CFO’s Playbook to help Digital Companies Create a Financial Roadmap to Success.”

“Jody has created a business model that’s streamlined for both his firm and his client companies, one where the connection between the service offering and client success is unmistakably clear,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “The introduction of subscription services in this context is another impressive example of practitioners bringing innovation to their offerings.”

Jenni Huotari, a partner with Eide Bailly LLP, was this year’s runner-up for the award. Huotari built a national client advisory services team for the firm and restructured its CAS service line to make it more technologically advanced.

Award winners are chosen primarily through a vote of their peers. Grunden will be honored during this year’s virtual Digital CPA event on Dec. 8, and will also be joining a panel with leaders from other progressive firms

To read more about Grunden and previous honorees, please visit the Innovative Practitioner Award page. More details about Digital CPA, including registration information, can be found at digitalcpa.com.

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.