| The Good
This week, our clients applied for over $10.8 million in PPP loan applications which will continue to rise next week as more banks start taking applications. We are seeing small banks process and approve loans faster than big banks. This is due to most small banks not using an online application process and instead opting for customers to submit loan packages by email. Also, we saw business bankers getting involved at the small banks to facilitate getting loans approved. We had five clients receive funds this week and 25 receive approvals. We expect these numbers to rise significantly next week. The Bad With the SBA changing guidelines and the application requirements, this delayed big banks in rolling out their PPP loan programs which only added to the stress that everyone is feeling. This is also true with banks asking for different documents to support payroll, state and local taxes, employee benefits, etc. Also, we have seen some banks asking for a litany of documents that have nothing to do with payroll and related expenses. The Ugly This section should really be called Beyond Ugly! We saw this week banks turning away existing clients due to being overwhelmed or meeting their loan cap within an hour of accepting applications. Business bankers and branch managers at large banks not having a clue what is going on because bank management did not educate them. This led to misinformation being circulated which caused delays in filings. Some small banks did not help matters by deciding not to participate in the program which caused clients to scrabble to find another bank. This was not easy as most banks required applicants to be existing customers. Most online lending websites also failed with initially offering PPP loan applications and then subsequently informing customers that signed up to go back to their banks for these loans. Lastly, we still have clients that cannot apply because their bank, both big and small, has not started to take applications. Thoughts Most banks and the SBA got a failing grade on their handling of the PPP loan program rollout. In this case, the saying that bigger is better is not true as big banks struggled much more to get their act together and we saw most small banks stepping up to help their customers. Next week I will be sending out information on tracking costs to get your loan forgiven and the new Main Street Lending Program. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Core accountant or myself. Stay safe and continue to let us know how we can help. We are all in this together. |
