11. Great Resources and Unanswered Questions

Today we're sharing links to great resources we've found for roasters on the "small business"

Ken Pargulski at Espresso Royale in Whitmore Lake, MI

management front.

• CPA firm's Q&A on the PPP loan. See especially the section towards the bottom on forgiveness. CLICK HERE  . For a spreadsheet to help you calculate your forgiveable amount, CLICK HERE -- created by CPA firm Capricore.
• For questions about the weekly $600 additional unemployment benefit, and your costs as an employer, see this website's overview of the DoL guidelines.
• Comment: the $600/week benefit remains an especially relevant issue for cafe-owners. Several times the advice has been given that you as the employer have the right to essentially threaten to remove that benefit from them, if you prefer to have them come back on payroll. You would do that by offering your employees a job, encouraging them to come back to work, and if they refuse, you need to be sure they refuse in writing. Then you file that with your state and the employees are no longer eligible for the UI benefit. The unanswered question, of course, which worries cafe owners is, "what is the "right" thing to do, not just what is my "right" as an employer?"  Add your comment below on how you will answer this question!

Small Biz Assoc of Michigan's (SBAM) COVID19 resources page is curated and updated daily. It's a valuable resource because they add the recordings of all the webinars and daily updates videos they are doing. If your state doesn't have a small biz association that's well organized, check this out! A lot of what they are recommending and sharing is relevant for small businesses across the country.

• https://www.sbam.org/Resources/COVID-19-Resources 
• Be sure to note the webinars, including   
• Tax implications of the EIDL, PPP, and CARES Act and with Rehmann
• What You Need to Know About Spending & Tracking Your PPP Loan  with a CPA firm  (this webinar includes a spreadsheet template to help calculate your forgiveness amount.)
• HR & Legal Strategies (Presented by Bodman Law Firm April 2, 2020

10. PPP Tips: Covered period vs. Forgiveness Period

"Speaking to you" today from the state that ranks fifth in the country for cases and fifith for the number of deaths per million residents. Testing remains in the bottom fifth, (read: public health crisis). Michigan also has the third highest unemployment rate in the nation, (read: economic crisis)! Telltale headline, "Detroit hospitals say they've begun storing bodies in refrigerated trucks to handle the surge."

Jamie Lopiccolo, CPA at Capocore, gives small biz advice.

With that grim reminder, it was helpful earlier this week to hear a few tips on how to operationalize your Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, should your roasting company be lucky enough to get one! Yesterday we learned the first $350 billion allocated for that program has been spent. Companies are being asked to wait for congress to approve more.

It appears there are two key time periods to understand. One is the "covered period" and the other is the "forgiveness period." We attempt to clarify below:

"Covered Period": Feb. 15, 2020 - Jun. 30, 2020 is the 4.5 month period in which qualified business expenses qualify to be used for the loan proceeds. Qualified business expenses are payroll, rent, interest on loans and utilities.

"Forgiveness Period": the eight weeks that commence on the day you receive your loan funds. Let's assume you receive loan funds on May 4, so your forgiveness period will be May 4 - Jun 26, 2020. This means that qualified business expenses in this period can be reported and if approved, that amount will be forgiven. The PPP regulation states that not more than 25% of the amount forgiven can be for non-payroll expenses. In other words, prioritize using PPP funds for payroll. That is the intent of the program.

On this SBAM webpage you can find the link to a recording of a great webinar given by CPA firm Capocore, titled: "What You Need to Know About Spending & Tracking Your PPP Loan." (Presented in partnership with the Michigan Association of CPAs April 13, 2020)

1. SBA Gives Early Overview of CARES Relief Package

This session with SBA officials from Michigan's SBA office gives a great early overview of the package and what it might do for coffee roasters -- in Michigan and beyond!  CLICK HERE. Worth a listen!

FYI - SBA in Michigan (SBAM) is offering daily video updates. The next one is Saturday (wow!) at 3pm, and 3pm every day next week. www.sbam.org for more info!