Solved: Live Q&A: Restaurant Revitalization Fund for Squar... - Page 11

Ani_ · ‎04-22-2021

Hi Seller Community!

I'm excited to announce the Small Business Administration has developed a partnership with Square to distribute the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) relief to the food and drink industry. The Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) is part of the U.S. Government’s American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This plan includes a $28.6B fund for awards to eligible food and beverage business owners, administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA).

On Thursday, April 29th at 1:30-2:30 PM PST /4:30 PM-5:30 EST, we'll host a Live Q&A with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to answer any of your questions about the application process. Please make sure to ask any questions directly on this thread below. Keep in mind, the SBA will only be addressing questions related to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), not PPP.

How does the application process work?

We expect to start enabling applications for the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) on Monday, May 3rd at 12:00 PM EST. The award application program is owned by the SBA, and they are finalizing the process. We know how important these funds are to you and your business, so we are working as quickly as possible to get the application ready!

Unlike the PPP program, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund are awards and are not loans. They are not serviced as loans, and have no forgiveness component. There are no intermediary banks involved. Awards are determined by and allocated by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and not Square.

If you qualify for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant, you’ll have the option to apply Monday, May 3rd on Square Dashboard or through the SBA’s secure website. To help support applicants throughout the process, the SBA will offer phone and district office support.

Call center hotline (844-279-8898): Applicants can call this number for multi-lingual application or program support.
SBA District Offices: Applicants can reach out to their local District Office for tailored regional SBA support.

For more information about eligibility or to start your application, please visit the SBA Portal. You can also find more information about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund on the Support Center. Let us know if you have any questions for the SBA below!

Note: The SBA has announced that they will officially stop accepting applications for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) on Monday, May 24, at 8 p.m. ET.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

Ani_ · ‎04-30-2021

On Thursday 5/29, we hosted a Q&A with the US Small Business Administration about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

In the Q&A, the SBA and Square answered questions about the application process — from general eligibility requirements to more specific information that applied to individual sellers.

Here’s some important information that applies to most sellers:

When can you apply:
- Applications start on Monday 5/3 at 12:00 p.m EST / 9:00 a.m. PST.
- The SBA has a registration window open on Friday 4/30, but if you plan to apply through Square you do not need to register with the SBA.

Who can apply through Square:
- To determine if you are an eligible business type, you’ll need to visit SBA’s website (sba.gov/restaurants).
- If you processed with Square in 2019 and 2020 (Table 1 or 2 in the RRF application), you can apply through Square’s dashboard or the SBA. If you used multiple POS providers during that period or had supplemental income e.g. from online ordering apps, you can still apply with Square. You’ll be able to add supplementary income information — but the SBA may require you to provide additional documentation before you e-sign your application.
- If you began processing with Square in 2020 or 2021 (Table 3 in the RRF application), then you will need to apply through the SBA. You can get useful information from your Square account to include in your application — to learn how, please take a look at our Support Center.

Why you should or should not apply with Square:
- If you apply through Square can save time completing and submitting your application with pre filled data from your Square account.
- Submitting through Square can help you get your application in front of the SBA quickly — before the RRF funds run out.
- Square will enable you to add supplemental revenue information in your application for either Table 1 or Table 2 applicant. However, if you are a Table 3 applicant, you will need to apply via SBA because Square will not let you upload supporting documentation for eligible expenses.

How can you apply with Square:
- If you are eligible to apply through Square, you’ll need to log in to your dashboard when the application window opens, using the owner’s login. From there, you’ll find a specific RRF module from where you can start your application.
- Square will have pre-filled your application with the information we know about your business. That said, there is information we do not have access to. To complete your application as fast as possible we recommend to have the following information handy:
  - The date (day, month, and year) you began operations.
  - How many months you operate in every location. This is especially important if you operate a seasonal business.
  - Any additional income you may have earned in 2019 and 2020 that was not processed through Square. Ideally you are tracking this income by location. If this information is not available feel free to distribute this across locations ensuring the total revenue by location (through Square and other sources)stays under $5M.
  - Your PPP loan information — especially if you did not process these loans with Square.
- After submitting your award application through your Square Dashboard, you’ll need to eSign your application. Here’s how it works:
  - Open an email from Square with the title “Your RRF award application is not yet complete.” Follow the link in the email to visit the SBA portal.
  - If you see a page with the title “Third Party Signup,” you are in the right spot. Enter the text you see in the grey pixelated image in the appropriate field and click Complete Sign Up.
  - You’ll then receive an email from SBA with the title “SBA Restaurant Revitalization Fund - Password Reset E-mail.” Click the link included in the email to reset your password.
  - Once you complete your password reset, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Sign and Submit Application to sign your application via DocuSign.
  - The SBA may also require additional documentation for your application if you indicated revenue outside of Square. From the SBA portal, you will be able to upload supporting documentation to the Additional Info Needed section if required by the SBA.

How can you get help if you have more questions?
- We will try to answer as many additional questions as possible here through the weekend.
- Call the SBA call center hotline (844-279-8898): Applicants can call this number for multilingual application or program support.

Reach out to your SBA District Office: Applicants can reach out to their local District Office for tailored regional SBA support.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

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Ani_ · ‎04-29-2021

Hi @breakwaterhg! You are not able to upload documents through Square. You are able to uploading supporting documentation through SBA after submitting through Square, or you will be able to upload documents through the SBA portal and application process.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

Alexkim714 · ‎04-29-2021

Hello, will this be a live webinar where we can see demonstrations of the portal for Monday or just Q& A /? I did attend the webinar from SBA yesterday but wanted to know if there will be a demo for Square's portal today.

Question for SBA/Square:

1) Currently I have a Master Account with Square where I can toggle between 6 locations using 1 login email. They all have different EIN. On Monday will I be registering or logging in under 1 account or 6 separate account? If 6 separate, does that mean I have to create 6 different login now with Square?

2) And my understanding is that we DO NOT have to register for a login on Friday at 6am (California ) if we are applying through Square?

Ani_ · ‎04-29-2021

Hi @Alexkim714 If all locations are under the same Square account (sounds like that’s the case!) then you’ll be able to apply for multiple locations from a single Square Dashboard. 2. Correct!

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

Faithful · ‎04-29-2021

Hello,

Me again. What if we did not start our biz until 2020, not 2019? Can we still apply?

Thanks!

Ani_ · ‎04-30-2021

Hi @Faithful, You are eligible to apply through the SBA, Square would not be able to support your application.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

Wmswinery · ‎04-29-2021

How do i connect to the call today at 4:30

Tom · ‎04-29-2021

Hi @Wmswinery — thanks for checking in! There is no call — the conversation is taking place in this thread. Answers to questions will start posting today at 1:30-2:30pm PT / 4:30-5:30pm ET. Please reply here with any questions you have and keep watch for updates. Appreciate your patience.

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center

Bsferra · ‎04-29-2021

Just interested to know how the process works thru Square Dashboard as opposed to just going thru the SBA portal

Ani_ · ‎05-02-2021

Hi @Bsferra, Please see Support Center article for more information about applying through Square.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

michael28east · ‎04-29-2021

Will SQUARE have the bandwidth to support the demand expected on Monday?

Ani_ · ‎04-30-2021

We will! 🙂 @michael28east

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

Aedolfan · ‎04-29-2021

How will the Square dashboard be populated once it goes live?

Ani_ · ‎05-02-2021

Hey @Aedolfan! Square will have an RRF module on your dashboard when applications open (Monday 5/3, noon EST). If you are eligible to apply through Square, we will pre-fill your application with information you have on your Square account.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

ceps7813 · ‎04-29-2021

Will there be an obvious link on the dashboard to apply

Ani_ · ‎05-02-2021

Yes! You'll be able to see the module on the Dashboard @ceps7813.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

jsburton · ‎04-29-2021

How do we get official Square POS reports to submit through the SBA portal? We use multiple POS systems and were told in a phone call today with SBA we should apply through their portal, not Square, in this situation. However, Square reporst currently just download into generic excel spreadsheets

Ani_ · ‎05-02-2021

Hi @jsburton - You are able to download your 1099k forms from Account & Settings > Business >Tax Forms. You are also able to export a CSV report for Sales, or click to print the sales summary page, and save as a PDF.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

lickiesticke · ‎04-29-2021

For 2020 revenue can you use deposits on bank statements for all months in 2020

PureDC · ‎04-29-2021

Hi SBA , I’m looking to apply utilizing Calculation #3, for new business that opened this year 2021, but incurred qualified expenses during Feb 2020 through March 2021. Q: Looking at the required/preferred documents on the SBA site, it mentions a “CPA comfort Letter”, I don’t have a CPA but I do have an Accountant that handles the business tax prep. Can this particular letter come from an Accountant?

Bnatural · ‎04-29-2021

How to justify all costs of eligible expense for the restaurant open on January 2020, and all the work done on 2019?

Ani_ · ‎05-02-2021

@Bnatural It seems your business opened in 2020. If this is the case you will not be able to apply through Square. We recommend visiting the SBA website (sba.gov/restaurants) that includes information on documentation you will need to verify eligible expenses. If you processed with Square in 2020, you can also download your sales income from our reports section and submit in your application. You can find more information here.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

Live Q&A: Restaurant Revitalization Fund for Square Food and Beverage Sellers

When can you apply:

Who can apply through Square:

Why you should or should not apply with Square:

How can you apply with Square:

How can you get help if you have more questions?

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