Let us look into the crystal ball, hold on….

Hmmm, it’s not working.  So what does that mean for you?  Well, unfortunately, that means ultimately you will have to decide what is best for your individual situation. And there are so many questions and they’re not easy. Should I apply for PPP? What if my practice doesn’t reopen within the 8 week period? Maybe I should delay applying? What if my staff doesn’t want to come back on payroll? How can I make sure the loan is forgiven?  Is Bigfoot real? If we had the answer to even one of those questions we would be shouting it from the rooftop.

We, of course, can actually advise you in many of those areas. But we are just a guide. And there is no one right answer. Here is the one thing we do know.  It is named the CARES Act. Just another acronym? Maybe not. One provision of the CARES Act is what has become known as PPP or 7(a). But the full name is the Payroll Protection Act. Yes, there were a lot of political forces at play within the legislation, but the spirit of this relief was to keep people on payroll.  And that’s ultimately what you’re going to have to do if your goal is forgiveness of the debt-keep your staff on payroll or bring them back on payroll.

The focus across the country has been on the forgiveness portion-and understandably so. The risk is that you use the money in a way that isn’t forgiven. Or you don’t spend it in the prescribed time period. Or that you don’t have the right number of employees at the end of the period. Well then it’s not all forgiven and you have to repay some. But it’s the cheapest working capital you will ever borrow.  Don’t focus right now on the forgiveness portion. Those regulations haven’t even been finalized and won’t be for weeks. Focus on whether this program is right for you. Do you have employees that are valuable that you can’t risk losing? Do you offer health insurance and terminating your staff will leave them without coverage? You know most of them can’t afford that COBRA option. And let’s be selfish for a moment-you need to be paid as well, and PPP allows you to continue to draw an income during a period you otherwise probably wouldn’t.

The biggest concern we’re hearing right now: Will you get the money too soon? That leads us right back to: WHO KNOWS? But really…what’s too soon? Whenever you receive the funds it will allow you and others to be paid now while congress works out the next possible relief packages or the virus leaves us and we jump back into normal life. And it will be a quick jump! So make the best decision you can with the information you have and try to enjoy the extra time you have with your family during the quarantine. It will be gone before you know it.