Biz2Credit has teamed up with the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and its business and technology arm, CPA.com to recommend that small businesses and CPA firms should be readying for a new round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) relief funds. Biz2Credit reported that 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.”
Speaking about the preparations for potential PPP rounds, Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, stated:
“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. 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.”
Biz2Credit CEO, Rohit Arora, added:
“We’ve learned a lot of lessons about simplifying the application process for small businesses since PPP was first introduced. 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.”