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

[Ani_]

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.

[sleek]

If I use Square for some of my invoice processing but NOT as my sole POS system, should I apply through Square or SBA.gov?

[Ani_]

@sleek If you began processing with Square prior to 2020, Square will be able to support your application and provide space for external revenue.

[Woody29]

Thanks for the information.  If we started using Square in the spring of 2020 should we apply through Square or through the SBA portal since our 2019 and some 2020 will not be in Square?

Thanks,

Brett Woodland

[Ani_]

Hi @Woody29! We recommend you apply through the SBA portal.

[NicolB]

If a business uses Square as a restaurant application but also uses QuickBooks for wholesale business can we apply through Square or do we need to apply on SBA?

[Ani_]

Hi @NicolB - If you have processing data for 2019 and 2020, you will be able to apply through Square and indicate additional revenue in 2019 and 2020. You may need to upload supporting documentation through the SBA portal at a later point.

[susan112]

The SBA asks to verify onsite sales for bakeries.  How do I do that, if all our sales are onsite, so there is no specific category "On site" designation for each sale.

[NmontaSBA]

Hey @susan112,

You can supply state or local sales tax forms filed, or internally created reports from inventory management, sales reporting, or accounting software.

[808Sweetshack]

I have the same dilemma. 

[ptfairfax]

For the calculations (Table 1), do you still qualify if after subtracting PPP(s), the amount on line 4 is more than line 1 (2019)?  Although, the 2020 Gross Receipts is significantly lower than 2019.

[Ani_]

Hey @ptfairfax, If after calculating 2019 gross receipts - 2020 gross receipts - PPP loan amounts you get a number less than zero, you are not eligible for funding.

[Mfc130]

Hi, 

Just attended the SBA RRF, they said I don't need to register in SBA as I can do it with POS Square.

Wanted to confirm.

Thank you

[Ani_]

@Mfc130 That’s correct, if we have data for both 2019 and 2020 in your account and you plan to apply through Square, then there is no need to register.

[trifryguy]

We are prepared to use TABLE 3-we were not able to open the restaurant but we were able to sale merchandise online over the last few months. Will we be able to use our SQUARE Retail side for documentation?

[Ani_]

Hey @trifryguy! We recommend you apply through the SBA.

[crystalawp]

Since this is a first come, first served do we need to be concerned that the Square website will crash? Is there a back up plan if the POS option does not perform as expected?

[Ani_]

Hi @crystalawp No, we do not expect any issues. 

[MHS1]

Should I apply for the RRF through Square if all of my gross receipts were not processed through Square?  What is the advantage of doing so?

[Joe]

Hi there, @MHS1 👋 Just a quick housekeeping note here. I've gone ahead and merged your post into the live QA thread we have with the SBA. They will be answering questions on Thursday, April 29th at 1:30-2:30 PM PST /4:30-5:30 PM EST.

Cheers!

[Ani_]

Hey @MHS1 - You are able to apply through and indicate external revenue for 2019 and 2020. SBA encourages applicants who can apply through Square to do so. This is an amazing partnership we have worked together on to make sure you as an Applicant have all the data and documentation you need, in a platform you are already comfortable with. When you apply through Square, the application will be immediately submitted to SBA. 

[Grassroots1]

We are owned by a parent company who received the PPP loan, our companies have two separate EIN numbers, I would like to verify our parent company needs to file the application under their EIN.  The parent company is not eligible for the RRF.  How do I fill out the application, specially how much goes on the PPP loan information line, our share of the original loan was 12% of the total PPP loan.    I plan to submit our P&L which only shows our portion of the ppp  loan (credits).  But will it create a problem because my ppp loan amount will not equal the original loan amount granted?