Paycheck Protection Program and Loan Forgiveness
A benefit of your SBA Paycheck Protection Program loan is that your loan may be forgiven if your funds are used for payroll costs, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities, and you have documentation that can substantiate it. At least 60% of the loan must be used for payroll costs. Forgiveness is based on your business maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels. Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.
When you are ready to begin the forgiveness portion of your PPP loan, you will start the process using the special link below. Here is some additional information on using the portal:
- Begin by entering the email address you used to first apply for your PPP application using linked portal below. You will then be emailed a link to the loan forgiveness application. Be sure to have your SBA loan number and your EIN (or SSN) on hand.
- Once this information is entered for authentication, the forgiveness module automatically populates borrower information. You will see that many fields are populated, but watch for parts where you will need to enter new information. You will work through the questionnaire, entering information that is relevant to the forgiveness portion of your loan and uploading additional documentation upon request.
CoVantage will review your forgiveness application and, once completed, we will submit it to SBA. CoVantage has 60 days to review your application, so we ask that you please be patient as we work through reviewing all member forgiveness applications.
Please continue to monitor your email in case we need additional documents or have questions about information you submitted. You will receive an email when we are ready for you to electronically sign your forgiveness documents; therefore, reviewing your email inbox daily is crucial. All signers on the loan MUST sign this document.
Important Information Regarding the Application Process:
- You will have the option to select an 8-week or 24-week covered period (from the date you received your PPP loan) to use for eligible payroll and non-payroll expenses paid or incurred during that time frame. For more information on this, click here.
- You can specify a payroll period that aligns with your regular payroll cycles to calculate payroll costs.
- You may save and exit the application any time and go back to it when it’s convenient for you.
- The forgiveness application will only be available through the online portal. No paper applications will be accepted.
- CoVantage staff cannot assist you with filling out the application or provide guidance on what options are best for your business. Please speak with your accountant or another trusted financial partner if you have questions about the forgiveness process.
- Please keep in mind that CoVantage is using a vendor to help facilitate the steps of the forgiveness process. Therefore, some of the emails you receive may look a little different than emails you receive directly from CoVantage.
For the most current guidance available about PPP loan forgiveness, please visit the SBA website. Additional guidance is expected to be issued so be sure to check the SBA website frequently. The SBA has also published a series of Frequently Asked Questions with answers, which is being actively updated (“SBA PPP FAQ”).
You may also wish to consult your own tax and legal advisors.
For those who did not get a chance to apply for or approved for a PPP loan that need assistance, there are other SBA relief loan programs available. These are called Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and you must apply directly to the SBA. You can apply for EIDL loans at www.sba.gov